13 replies to this topic

[minimartin1]

Has anybody used sleaford mini centre before? I have live here a year and only just heard of them thru googling lots on minis. I'm thinking of getting them to do my engine swap for me as I only really know what I'm doing bodywork side
Of cars

[charie t]

Has anybody used sleaford mini centre before? I have live here a year and only just heard of them thru googling lots on minis. I'm thinking of getting them to do my engine swap for me as I only really know what I'm doing bodywork side
Of cars

Only stuck my Ka on a power run on their rolling road for a giggle, but great chaps. Don't be fooled by the farm yard look of the yard either

[minimartin1]

You would recommend then. Did u see any of there work while you was there I'll b going down on tuesday

[Jamie]

They fitted a new front end on my mini (front panel and 2 wings) and sprayed.

Quick and friendly service, would recommend for body work. plus i'm in boston so only down the road for me.

Their actually in heckington not sleaford anymore. Its only a couple of miles down the road.

Jamie

[charie t]

You would recommend then. Did u see any of there work while you was there I'll b going down on tuesday

Their place is where Jon Betts does his magazine article features, they were testing cars all day i was there not really working

[Tommyboy12]

Never been there but ive bought stuff over the phone to post and theyve given me advice over the phone too. Great guys.

[Dolly 89]

had my mini RR'd there and the service was great and got to have a look round a mk1 that they where doing for a customer it had just been sprayed and they where starting to rebuild it and it looked amazing i would highly reccomend them they are really nice friendly people but take cash as they didnt have a card machine whilst i was there about 8 months ago

[Cerberus]

The car I bought had been to Sleaford mini centre for 'preparation' before I bought it.

Apparently, the brakes were checked and adjusted, the suspension points were all greased, everything pre-checked for the MOT at another garage and it was rolling roaded and setup.

When I got the car, the front brakes were binding and contributing to a weird vibration.
One of the rear radius arms seemed to take alot of grease to say it had been done, and the grease that was in the front top arms didn't look very good having just removed them.
There was a balljoint boot that was pretty badly split, and had let water into the joint.
A number of the balljoints are quite stiff.
A CV joint boot was also split.

The wrong sort of locking wheel nuts were fitted (ones for steel wheels instead of alloys, which basically meant they weren't really doing anything).

The actual setup of the carb wasn't what it had been set to on the rolling road print out. I assume it had been rolling roaded, set to max BHP, then detuned for the MOT.


This may not all have been Sleafords 'fault', it may have been the seller that I bought the car had just asked them to give it a quick going over and say everything is fine.
But from the sounds of others experiencs, which seem pretty good, this may well be the case (I hope).


The car also passed its MOT (at somewhere else) with all the above 'features' , so hhhhmmmm, .

[Big_jim]

I used to work at Sleaford Mini Centre, about 7 years ago now.

Great guys there and fantastic service, Steve (owner) and Mike both really know their stuff and are very friendly!

I had a car set up by them on the rollers last year and it came back spot on...

They both race minis themselves and are heavily in to the autograss scene...

Hope this helps. any questions just ask...

Jim

[JonBetts]

I have known and worked with Steve at SMC for around 6-years now and am happy to have them do work on my cars, they offer a genuine service at very reasonable prices and often go out of their way to help customers without ever charging for the work, I have seen this first hand on many occasions so its not just hearsay. Their RRoad is very accurate, not exagerated like many others which was proved in a recent test I did for the mag and as Jim says they both live and breath Mini's so really know their stuff. I have also seen them do their pre MOT checks as mentioned above and they are very thorough so can only imagine that the above was a one off if it was down to them. They use an external MOT station which I also use for my own cars and they are quite strict so they always make sure cars are OK before they go there to avoid the repeat journey whenever possible.
I wouldn't hesitate to recomend them and always do to friends and family, they are currently rebuilding the engine and box on my brothers Mini.

[Big_jim]

Just to add to this, I took my non mini (205) to them just the other day to have so work done.

just shows how much I trust them....

Jim

[minimartin1]

just like to say i did this post before i had been there as never heard of it before
been down a few times to them now and they remember me n what i plan for mini n are always helpful with advice and even offered to come to my house to have a look to give a better quote of what needed doing

big jim i also live in sleaford if you ever fancy gettin ya hands dirty in a restoration ill happily accept the help with a few beers on table for you, i got inner and outer sills to do and i aint got a clue how to, think once i got into it i could manage im just scared to start n Feck it up big time

[leigh572981]

I have a b18 vtec mini with dta engine management, I would like to get it to a rolling road and set up. Does anyone know if sleaford mini centre could help me with this?

[minimad82]

The lads there are great. Helpful and reliable. Have been goin there for years and any help or advice there great even if you just ring up they always help