Sick Suzuki

The theory that if nothing is broken, don't fix it is so true. The car has been running well with an after-market headers which obviously, is illegal in the eyes of the law because there is no catalytic converter attached. Furthermore, as it is not made by Suzuki, it can never be approved by the authorities. So, into the workshop the car went to have the headers removed and revert to stock headers. At the same time, the Sunline centre-pipe was re-installed, connected to the HKS Legamax muffler. This is where the problem start. Firstly, the fitting was off. No matter how much adjustment was made, the tail pipes could not be centered. So, off to the exhaust shop to have the pipes adjusted. That's when I realized that there was a clicking sound when I turned the steering wheel. Turns out that the steering rack may have been damaged somewhat. Next problem, the muffler was knocking against some metal parts on the left side. We thought it was the coilovers that could be loose but it was not because we had them tightened. After 4 rounds of knocking, welding, heating, adjusting, nothing seems to work. This is completely frustrating. The problem has been identified. It is the centre pipe knocking across the torsion beam, part of the suspension system. Apparently, the centre pipe had to be pulled down so that the exhaust tips are centred. In doing so, the centre is too close to the torsion beam and each time the beam moves, it hits the centre pipe.

It's unbelievable. All the mechanics who tended to Nickie could not establish what was wrong. Finally, yours truly had enough sense to think through the problem and actually discovered the cause. Yet, when I explained to these 'mechanics', they have that glazed look on their faces, like as it they don't understand what I was trying to tell them. I am convinced that half of these so-called mechanics are not thinking hard enough. Understandably, they have a hard life but they are also obliged to solve problems because they are the so-called experts. Anyway, this had taught me a very important lesson; if you want something done, you got to do it yourself. Don't leave it to others. It's not that they don't bother but sometimes, solving problems does not come with the job. They would prefer to do the mundane, SOP-kind of jobs so that they are not overly taxed. I can respect that but when a customer tells you he has a problem, you have to solve it. In any case, the knocking sound has gone away. The pure stock exhaust has been re-installed linked to the Sunline centre-pipe. Life is back to normal. I can hear my music loud and clear. I don't have any fears of the authorities chasing after me because I have a loud exhaust. I have peace of mind again. There's no real difference between the HKS Legamax and the stock exhaust in terms of performance. Acceleration is just as good. Maybe this weekend, Nickie will finally have a chance to taste some B-roads. Stay tuned.