A Few words about me the person

A Few words about me the person,

Hello, My name is Brendan, although Its often shortened to Bren because Its easier and sounds better, I set up my own business in January 1991 retailing Military and Camping equipment, My Business is known as www.armystall.co.uk and I can be found selling my goods in Wakefield (West Yorkshie) and on ebay. I have also started my own Small Venture playing Piano Tutorial's, Quick and Cheap lessons for people wishing to learn how to play the Piano, Click here for the Details,

Aged 18 in Lanzarote

Born in Leeds in September 1972, I grew up in Leeds, Castleford, Pontefract and Now live in Wakefield. I have Three fantastic sons, The eldest was born in 1993 and the twins were born in 2000, I also have a beautiful daughter born in 2006, I've lived in Yorkshire all my life, I've never had the urge to move away although I'd prefer to live nearer the coast, at the moment its a 70 mile journey to Scarborough on the east coast if I wanted to play in the sand.

I've always seemed to have a passion for changing cars, When I started driving at 17 it was just upgrading factory items like fitting electric windows into a base model car that didn't have them, or fitting sports interiors, Music has always played a huge part in my cars, In the Mid 90's I used to believe that Subs on top of subs was the only way to go, filling the vans I used to drive with as many cabinets as possible, Deep and loud, I guess I wasn't that popular with the neighbours back then.

In November 2001 I opted for the skin head

I started dabbling with mechanics when I persisted to blow up all the engines that I had, replacing them was costing me a small fortune, My dad's a great DIY guy and had some experience in mechanics so he started me on the path of repairing rather than replacing. That's when the bigger engines started to appear.

The first time I had a bigger engine was in my D reg Astramax Van, I bought the van in 1990 as a 1300cc, it had two replacement 1300 engine's then one rebuild, then when that failed I fitted the 1400cc engine and 5 speed box, this lasted quite a while, but the rear engine mount eventually failed taking out the radiator, not a big deal, but a friend of mine mentioned that their was a 2,000cc 16v Vauxhall Astra GTE engine up for sale, This to me sounded like missile power, so with no hesitation the money switched hands and the big engine was fitted into the van.

Having a powerful engine in a Van was great fun, The shock factor was amazing. I had the "valver" van from 1996 to 2000, during this time I upset a great deal of cars, one of which was a Astra Mk3 with the Turbo lump transplanted into it, He pulled up in our local car park with the dumpvalve hissing, everyone was staring so I drove over to him, smiled and whilst nodding my head towards the road I asked if he was ready, , He said yes and we went for it, I left him big style, I slowed down many times for him to catch back up, He was let down by having an extra 2 people in and not knowing the roads as well as me. I was well pleased it was my first race against a Turbo'd Vauxhall.

I became good friend's with one of the passenger's (Kelvin) and a few months later I heard that him and his mates had also decided to do an Astramax Van up after they were so impressed with mine, they went one step further though and did the Turbo transplant, I first saw it at York Dragstrip, I even tried racing it in my Cavalier GSi 4x4, I lost..as did most things it raced, He kept the van for a while but always seemed to have problems getting it to perform consistently, I was told that he was getting fed up with it and that he'd decided to sell it, I jumped straight in and bought it,

My first drive will always stick in my mind, the sound of the engine and the exhaust was terrific, it felt fast but it was holding back. It took me a while to sort out the problem with the engine but when I did it was unbelievable, They power was so ferocious, It felt much quicker than my Astra does now even with all its extra power. The torque steer pulled my fists hard against the wheel as it accelerated snaking up the road, I did a few quarter miles in the Van, the best being 13.4 seconds, Grip was such a big problem at the dragstrip with it being Front Wheel Drive. But 13.4 seconds 3 years ago was very respectable.

Fitting the 6 Speed Box, Paddle Clutch and Quaife LSD, July 2003

Fitting DaveB's Brakes

The reason I did vans up is because I needed them to get me to the markets, I've also had a few sporty cars including The Cavalier Gsi and a Fiesta RS Turbo. The Yamaha R6 was one of my favourite toys, 172MPH top speed and 11.1 second quarter mile @ 129 MPH. I sold it soon after my wife got pregnant as I couldn't help but go as fast as it would take me and that is a recipe for disaster. So now its gone, but so has the wife, so I might just go and get the R1...its even quicker than the R6.

Talking of accidents, The Turbo van met its fate one winters night in January 2001. Going a little to fast for the conditions gave me a lesson I won't forget.

These pictures have never been shown before, This is what happens when you get carried away.

Astramax Crash Pictures

It's at this point that I decided to start building a modified car for the first time, hence the beginning of www.astraturbo.com

My 2nd passion is Music I've played the Piano since I was 6 years old, I did the grades and have just sold the original piano that I got in 1977 and treated myself to a new Yamaha Digital Piano which sounds Great, its a sure fire way to relieve stress. I've also got pretty good on the drums, I've had two sets, my current set is a Premier but this is at my parents farm due to my neighbours not really liking the sound they make. I also own 4 acoustic and 2 electric guitars, I play these on odd occasions, Rod Stewart, Guns and Roses, Poison and Bon Jovi are the songs I can play a little better than most.

One of my Pieces featured on You Tube. When You're Gone, by Avril Lavigne

In May 2003 I started to learn the guitar, I've bought an acoustic to practice on at work and have an electric one at home with a decent sized Marshall amp to give it a fair old bit of kick, The neighbours probably don't like the guitar either but it's tough luck for them this time. I'm getting really good on it now, I've got Guns and Roses version of "Knocking on heavens door", "Patience" and "So Fine" almost perfect now.

Spec Sheet

Height-6ft 1in, Weight-13 Stone 10, Chest-46 inch, Waist-34 inch, Hair (was) Light Brown, Eyes-Green / Hazel,

Below is a little list I just thought of as my favourites, to give you a little idea about the stuff I'm into,

Favourite Cars,

I really like the Ferrari 355, its got to be in red if I ever won the lottery though, no other colour would do, Along side that in the garage would be a BMW M3 Convertible, such a great looking car with masses of power too.

I love the sound of a TVR and also the Subaru Imprezza Turbo's, and I'd definitely like to own a Mitsubishi Evo 7 or 8. Also on my list would be an MR2 Turbo, quite a cheap car compared to the others but I like them a lot.

Favourite Bands,

I like guitar rock, so bands like Def Leppard, Guns n Roses, Bon Jovi, Poison, Quireboys, Aerosmith, Journey and Heart are always going to be found loitering in my glove box.

My favourite songs would have to be,

November Rain by Guns n Roses,

Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi,

So fine by Guns n Roses,

Something to Believe in by Poison,

First Time by Robin Beck, (My Ultimate favourite song of all time)

Journey's Faithfully

14 of my Favourite Albums, Not in any order

Bon jovi	Slippery When Wet	T'Pau	Bridge of Spies
Alice Cooper	Trash	Transvision Vamp	Velveteen
Guns n Roses	Appetite for Destruction	Bon Jovi	New Jersey
Rod Stewart	The best of	Aerosmith	Young Lust Anthology
Def Leppard	Hysteria	Europe	The Final Countdown
Poison	Open up and say Ahh	Heart	Brigade
Quireboys	A bit of what you Fancy	Journey	Greatest Hits

Me Playing Journey

Favourite Women,

Avril Lavigne is Perfection, I also like Shania Twain.

Things to do on an Evening out,

I've never really been into to clubbing, probably because I'm a terrible dancer but I do like a quiet drink every now and again, Watching live bands whether big or small is something I enjoy with a passion. The Casino's in Leeds are also a good place to chill especially as I'm quite lucky and manage win more times than I lose, Betting small means that my winnings will only stretch to a Pizza and a beer though.

I hope you like the www.astraturbo.co.uk website, feel free to e-mail me your views, good or bad,

Take Care,

Regards Bren, June 2007

brendangreaves@aol.com