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My visit to Procomp
SkyUK - 2/6/13 at 12:54 AM

A member of the SKCC club went to Procomp to have his suspension set up. His complimentary post allied to the fact they are relatively close to me resulted in me doing the same thing.

In short I was quite blown away. These unassuming guys operating out of a large garage built in their garden in a residential estate are simply scientists and engineers; thorough, knowledgeable and passionate about what they do . They are surrounded by top quality measuring equipment. E.g. their tracking gauges are accurate to 13.5 minutes, and to use them accurately they take one set of measurements roll the car through 180 degrees of wheel rotation and take them again, cancelling out any equipment/setup error. And they are meticulous, they do that over and over again, removing and replacing whatever is necessary to adjust the geo until they get it right.

I love the fact they knew why they were doing everything that they do. Ask them a question and the explanation is given, clearly, and it makes sense. They *really* know their poop. But they also know what they don't know and happily related stories where they had got it wrong.

Mine was a pig. All sorts of things didn't line up so they spent some time simply re-assembling the wishbones so there was no pre-stress on any of the parts - the rear nearside upright didn't line up with the top wishbone by 10mm!

All in all they started about 10am, they gave me several cups of tea and toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch. With all the problems they were solving on the car they didn't finish until 10pm. They kept me entertained with stories borne of 2 lifetimes of racing and engineering, an intimate knowledge of the industry and how it has evolved and changed, and I learned loads from them.

2 engineers, flat out for 12 hours, and they charged me a ridiculously low £265.

I have another £500ish to add for a complete set of shocks and springs, that's my choice. I need front shocks definitely, but the rest I could have got away without.

Their shock dyno shows a graph that they consider near perfect and this is then compared to your own shocks. My fronts had far far too much compression damping which has been causing the stiffness that has bent the front wishbones. All of them have too little rebound and they explained that this is because the are bench protechs that are valved for saloon cars. They will get shocks built by protech to their valving spec and they then alter and calibrate the needles. Finally they set the adjuster knob so that the middle click is the middle of the operating range for your car, and also calibrate the shocks as a pair so 6 clicks on left has the same effect as 6 on the right. They measure the springs to make sure they are balanced and suitable.

On mine they lifted the ride height front so the wishbones were at the correct angle. The rear shocks have been bottoming as there is a clear imprint in the rubber bump stop so they lifted that too to cure the bottoming problem and rake the car, the rear is an inch higher than the front now. They set the rear toe so the thrust line is close to the direction of travel, and they reset everything else in the geo.

I had a gentle run back as I was shattered but the initial impression is one of a transformation. Can't wait for the new shocks and springs to show up - about 2 weeks as there is a backlog.

You can guess that I have no hesitation at all in recommending these guys.


HowardB - 2/6/13 at 07:29 AM

It is on my list of places to visit. In front of seaside, shops, etc. Seems that everyone is so pleased with both the people and the results.


britishtrident - 2/6/13 at 07:36 AM

It makes such difference when somebody actually knows what they are doing.


tilly819 - 2/6/13 at 08:14 AM

That is the second outstanding review i have heard about these chaps this week, sounds like they are on there way to building a very good reputation.

Tilly


NeilP - 2/6/13 at 08:35 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tilly819
That is the second outstanding review i have heard about these chaps this week, sounds like they are on there way to building a very good reputation.

Tilly


Sorry. Do a search. Matt and Ivan have been delighting people for years so I hardly think there's any need to build this reputation!

They did the front end rebuild of my mate's Westy after I pranged it at Mallory - it was way better built than Westfield after they'd finished...

I would not hesitate in any way recommending these guys - absolutely top of their game.

N.


imp paul - 2/6/13 at 08:47 AM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
It makes such difference when somebody actually knows what they are doing.





Thats all good as i dont have a clue lol, and hope one day i mite be able to get my imp set up by some one like this


mark.s - 2/6/13 at 08:51 AM

Could someone post contact details please

Mark


Myke 2463 - 2/6/13 at 09:01 AM

Contact: Ivan Gilmour or Mathew Gilmour
Address: Procomp Motorsport
6 The Parklands
Erdington
Birmingham
U.K.
B23 6LA

Tel/Fax: 0121 350 3258

http://www.procomp.co.uk/


twybrow - 2/6/13 at 09:02 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mark.s
Could someone post contact details please

Mark


Procomp


Hector.Brocklebank - 2/6/13 at 09:54 AM

So you're the one with the MK Indy R I heard about then!!!


Ben_Copeland - 2/6/13 at 05:01 PM

Need to get mine up to them too.