FTO AUSTRALIA

I've seen this question come up lots of times, so thought I'd make a permanent thread here.

So the Idea is, if you go to a mechanic for whatever reason, and you come up with an "opinion" you would like to share, add it here.

Also, try to categorise the work if possible ie. Engine/Mechanical work, Body work, Brakes/suspension, Exhaust etc etc, along with any extra info you feel is relevant.

Ill start off by re-iterating a recommendation from Travis.

TCGPX wrote:My car went in for a service on Monday and I found out some interesting info. Went to Road and Track Services in Enfield, they have been servicing my family's cars for years, including the "warmed up" Escort I had. They also work on race cars from many different classes.

Turns out that Gill Cameron (owner) runs a 6A12 from an FTO in their Speedcar! How convenient...

My car got a run on the Dyno, so I've got a reference point for performance mods in the future. Handy.

Also they fixed the squeeking/clunking/groaning noises coming from my front suspension (Steve suddenly takes a lot more notice . We spoke on the cruise). I figured the bushes/droplinks were the problem as I seemed to have all the symptoms others on this forum and overseas were complaining about. I was going to go through and replace the whole lot in one hit. Turned out to be a loose lower control arm inner pivot bolt that was causing all the noise! She's quiet again!

They have an MUT there too. My SRS light has been on since I pulled apart my steering wheel (was really starting to pi$$ me off), thought it was going to cost me to get Mr Mitsi to plug it in and clear it. Now it's all gone

Anyway, reason for this post: good mechanics = hard to find. I'd recommend Gill to anyone in Adelaide needing a good mechanic and, lets face it, racing a 6A12 is a bonus. They are not the cheapest around (When are the better mechanics ever cheap?), but they do excellent work and they're honest.

I've mentioned the club to him, but don't think he's huge on using the net. If you go see him, mention it again as he should remember.

Hope this helps...
Travis.

Road & Track Services (S.A.) Pty Ltd
3 Collins St Enfield 5085

(08 8344 8930)

Ask for Gill

hey champ,
thanks a lot for this im from whyalla and 4 hours away but i think after i buy and replace this front end i may come up for a trip and let him have my car for a service and tune up. see what he can do. the guys up here dont have a clue. this maybe after christmas i reckon. last time the mechanic here couldnt even change my spark plugs. how much would a servive and tune up cost just need a rough price so i know.

I get my car serviced at Morpowa and have had a pretty good experience with them... also not a "cheep" mechanic but is there really such a thing.

I also know that Luca went to a mechanic in Marion who im pretty sure was Graham West who took his car for a whole week, fabricated their own tools and adjusted his tappets (amongst other things). the service alone was in the 4 figures but it did give him about 5-10 kw extra power from memory.... but this is all second hand information and could be slightly inaccurate.

Ben

Morpowa are great from what I hear... And I am all the way in NSW .. lol ...

They have a great Evo/Lancer too ...

from this thread

mikeyg wrote:id suggest morpowa at modbury, theyre performance based, so the prices are usualy a bit higher, but i can vouch for their work (just not sure about FTO'S)
They have done a custom turbo conversion for me in the past and all my servicing.

Mel_Star_1 wrote:I would recommend this guy to, as i've been to him a few times now and he's been great. The guy who actually works on my cars name is Micheal but Gill owns the place. I got his details off a post from TCGPX which is in the S.A section under 'FTO servicing in Adelaide', read that post there, as theres some useful info in it.


Road & Track Services (S.A.) Pty Ltd
3 Collins St Enfield 5085

8344 8930

Ask for Gill

rock_it wrote:Morpowa are great from what I hear... And I am all the way in NSW .. lol ...

They have a great Evo/Lancer too ...

wow that was a quick reply

For all the Adelaide Tiptronic drivers...

MV Automatics
3/1 Stirling Rd
Blackwood SA
( 08 ) 8370 0430

Just got my car back from a trans rebuild and was very happy with both the service and work done on my car.

If you want all the details on the problem, search my post on "Tip Box Problems" in the FTO Help section, I won't repeat it all here.

I dealt with Michael who knew all the right questions to ask from the moment I spoke to him.
Also gave me a good piece of advice for getting my car (going into limp mode) out to him to look at.
In my case, shifting in tiptronic mode gave me considerably more "normal" driving time before slamming into limp mode.

As mentioned full rebuild completed on quoted budget and in less time than originally quoted too .
I told him early up it was my daily driver and he said he could probably have it done in a week. Only really took him 5 days.
They also gave me a loan car which, although being old and a long way removed from my treasured FTO (Early 80's Magna), got me around in the meantime.

The other thing he offered was a valve body modification they do (They called it a "shift improver") which they have also done to a lot of Lancers with the INVECS II box.
Apparently they developed most of this working on rally Magnas with the same box.
They have worked out how to tickle up the valve body inside the trans to make it shift better and more reliable.
Although I have only just picked up the car and am still running it in, there is a fair difference I can notice already.
Shifts are slightly quicker (not halved or anything, but noticeable) so I can't wait to get her into Mivec to push it a little harder and see what she does...
The other thing which surprised me is how smooth the shifting is.
Best I can describe it is that at low throttle it "rolls" into the next gear instead of "shifting".
At times it's hard to notice it's shifting gears at all, whereas even from when I first got the car there was always a noticeable change in gears.
For an extra couple of hundred bucks while they had it opened up, I'm very happy with the results so far.

Also found a busted trans mount which they replaced while they were at it.

I've mentioned the club to him so he's aware of us.

Nice rap Trav

sorry not detailing any more

Do they also do normal servicing? My car is way overdue and now that work and uni is slowing down I actually have the time to do it.

Thought i'd make a post here to attempt to find out a good mechanic in Adelaide or surrounds for FTO. Think mine needs a tune up before too long.

kiz wrote:Thought i'd make a post here to attempt to find out a good mechanic in Adelaide or surrounds for FTO. Think mine needs a tune up before too long.

Happy to help What ya need doing?

vipfto wrote:

kiz wrote:Thought i'd make a post here to attempt to find out a good mechanic in Adelaide or surrounds for FTO. Think mine needs a tune up before too long.

Happy to help What ya need doing?

Just a pretty general check up, I will be doing a coolant flush, oil change and that sort of stuff by myself, want to replace the ignition leads and new spark plugs but can't seem to find the other 3 plugs, found the front 3 but lost on finding the others. Maybe i'm blind or they are tucked away nicely. I know they were on my Mazda MX6. Also need my timing checked, not sure if it's missing when it idles. It idles at about 500rpm, so whether it is just because of low revs i don't know. But checking the timing is always good.

Also was doing a few 0-100s last night (as i'm sure we all have) and anyways the car hits what appears to be a rev limiter at 6,500rpm all gears. I had it past that the other week (hit about 8,000rpm before gear change). So i'm not sure what has changed from last week to now. Only change being Pod filter addition but that shouldn't affect it. I checked the forum and just doing so checks on what was recommended there. Next step will be a new fuel filter, any recommendations on the best brand, cost isn't a factor because I rather use quality than cheap junk

I can sort it all for ya

As for 6,500 RPM cut how warm was engine? They have a safety to prevent high rev causing oil starvation when engine is not at correct operating temp. (not water temp thats all the gauge on dash tells you)

Send me a pm will arrange a time

vipfto wrote:I can sort it all for ya

As for 6,500 RPM cut how warm was engine? They have a safety to prevent high rev causing oil starvation when engine is not at correct operating temp. (not water temp thats all the gauge on dash tells you)

Send me a pm will arrange a time

Cheers

Well last friday night was driving for at least an hour of town driving beforehand and it worked perfectly. Last night was about 25mins of town driving and mainly driving at 120kmph on a road for a bit. So I pressumed that would be warm enough??

I won't have the FTO near Adelaide until the Weekend of 24th/25th. If your available we could work out something then, maybe do it on 24th and then 25th have the meet with ObsidianRadio as planned?

Hi Everyone

My son has a 1995 FTO (non-mivec) and it is having issues if it heats up in the sun ( no key in ignition) or if you drive it for a while all four indicators start flashing all at once. We have no idea what/where/why/how - any ideas as to what is happening here?

We are on the Fleurieu Peninsula so getting car to Enfield to see Gill is a bit hard at present due to the flashing issues.

Thanks

Millie Jane

Sorry i am unable to help have recently moved to japan