whitevanwoman
Guest
I've just had a new clutch fitted today in my Mark 6 2002 Transit and can recommend the mechanic who did it. He replaced the Dual Mass Flywheel and Clutch with a Single Flywheel conversion kit, also replacing the spigot on the gearbox (worn / missing ball bearings - he said that could be a time consuming job and could take a while to remove the worn one but had done it in 20 mins), and also the clutch slave (I think that's what he said it was) which was sticking and which was a cause of some of the problems I've been having with the clutch. He also spotted a water leak in a pipe and sorted that out too.
If we hadn't had to wait until after 3pm for a part from Ford which was ordered by 9.30am, the whole job would have been done within about 2 hours. His labour charge is £30/hour.
It was a pleasure to watch him at work, he is obviously so practiced at it that he was very fast and slick, and was like a surgeon in an operating theatre, asking his apprentice for tools like a surgeon asking a nurse for medical instruments, one after the other, knowing exactly what to do next. He had a good look at my van too, noticed that I'd had new brakes etc, and even noticed that the gear box has been off at some point in the past (before I owned it), and advised on a couple of things.
He works only on Transits and knows them inside out - whilst waiting for my parts to arrive, he also sorted out 2 other transits with ignition problems, in one case having to solve a problem creatively by hacksawing parts off an old engine to fit for the repair. I asked him how many Transit clutches he'd changed and he reckoned about 2000! And he's only 28!
He wanted me there at 8am :scared::scared::scared: so I drove down last night and stayed overnight in the industrial unit yard where he's based, (it's about 50 miles away but even despite the cost of the fuel it was worth it) and as it's out in the countryside, it's surrounded by fields so I was able to give the dogs a good walk during the day. The only problem was that there was no 3G but it has been nice to have 24 hours offline. Voda phone signal was ok though.
It's a no frills place and looks like a Transit graveyard but as I said to him, places which offer customers a cup of coffee, toilet and clean waiting room with magazines just recoup the cost of that in their charge.
My mechanic at home had said that for him to do the job would be the best part of £1k :scared:
Matt charged me £370 for his work today. I'll be going back to him for a pre-MOT check and any necessary work in October, and also, when finances allow, to get a tow bar fitted.
Here is his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MjcAutoServices
For non-facebookers : Matt Curley MJC Auto Services, Carver Hay Units, Little Hoole, Preston PR4 4SX Tel 07984 048749
Email : matt.curley @ hotmail.co.uk (remove spaces in the email address)
If we hadn't had to wait until after 3pm for a part from Ford which was ordered by 9.30am, the whole job would have been done within about 2 hours. His labour charge is £30/hour.
It was a pleasure to watch him at work, he is obviously so practiced at it that he was very fast and slick, and was like a surgeon in an operating theatre, asking his apprentice for tools like a surgeon asking a nurse for medical instruments, one after the other, knowing exactly what to do next. He had a good look at my van too, noticed that I'd had new brakes etc, and even noticed that the gear box has been off at some point in the past (before I owned it), and advised on a couple of things.
He works only on Transits and knows them inside out - whilst waiting for my parts to arrive, he also sorted out 2 other transits with ignition problems, in one case having to solve a problem creatively by hacksawing parts off an old engine to fit for the repair. I asked him how many Transit clutches he'd changed and he reckoned about 2000! And he's only 28!
He wanted me there at 8am :scared::scared::scared: so I drove down last night and stayed overnight in the industrial unit yard where he's based, (it's about 50 miles away but even despite the cost of the fuel it was worth it) and as it's out in the countryside, it's surrounded by fields so I was able to give the dogs a good walk during the day. The only problem was that there was no 3G but it has been nice to have 24 hours offline. Voda phone signal was ok though.
It's a no frills place and looks like a Transit graveyard but as I said to him, places which offer customers a cup of coffee, toilet and clean waiting room with magazines just recoup the cost of that in their charge.
My mechanic at home had said that for him to do the job would be the best part of £1k :scared:
Matt charged me £370 for his work today. I'll be going back to him for a pre-MOT check and any necessary work in October, and also, when finances allow, to get a tow bar fitted.
Here is his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MjcAutoServices
For non-facebookers : Matt Curley MJC Auto Services, Carver Hay Units, Little Hoole, Preston PR4 4SX Tel 07984 048749
Email : matt.curley @ hotmail.co.uk (remove spaces in the email address)