Southways Automotive - Kit, Classic & Sports Car Specialists

Southways Automotive - Kit, Classic & Sports Car Specialists Southways Automotive is a specialist automotive workshop based on the South Coast of England.

Founded in 2009, the company's motto is to 'Keep Classics On The Road'. We at Southways Automotive are a company based on the south coast who specialise in kit cars, sports cars, classic and specialist vehicles. Covering anything from a basic service on a TVR to the full build of the record-breaking Ultima GTR, we have extensive knowledge of these specialist cars and are as enthusiastic about them as you are. The company also manufactures and produces the renowned Seven-esque SuperCat kit car, under the Southways Sports Cars division. Available in kit form or as a turn-key fully built version, we are continuing to support and evolve the (ex-Tiger Racing) SuperCat model.

The 4 post ramp is rated at 3 tonnes. Anybody know what equates to in bricks?
08/09/2026

The 4 post ramp is rated at 3 tonnes. Anybody know what equates to in bricks?

Not just old stuff this week, these two are from 2016 (which for me is basically brand new!)The Citroën C5 isn't a hydra...
07/09/2026

Not just old stuff this week, these two are from 2016 (which for me is basically brand new!)

The Citroën C5 isn't a hydraulic one - it uses normal springs, so it's basically a Peugeot 407 only less offensive-looking.
It's in for "accident damage." I use quotation marks, because on hitting a speed bump a little too hard, the owner was concerned he might have damaged something. Having taken it to another garage to be told that it'll likely be expensive, he asked for a second opinion. I found that he'd simply knocked one of the plastic arch liners off!
When I picked the car up though, it feel pretty wobbly and under-damped, so I suggested his shocks could be tired, which itself was weird because he'd just had new springs fitted somewhere else.
I also advised him that his front wishbone bushes were tiring (they were original) and that he still had a mystery knock.
That mystery solved itself when I tried to remove the OSF shock absorber and had the compressed spring try to make a surprise break for freedom!

Why?

Because the previous garage that fitted those new springs used a windy-gun to try and do up the top nut, and in doing so managed to disassemble the inner shaft of the damper! Oil gushing everywhere, spring nearly taking my head off - it was only because of the floating knuckle design that it didn't fly out and hit me, as the upright was physically in the way!

Happy to report that with new wishbones, dampers & droplinks, it's driving pretty much like a new car. Very comfy!

As for the MINI, it's a Cooper SD and it's just in for MOT and a checkover. I'm still reeling from changing the serpentine belt last year - you start a job you assume will take minutes, and end up going home late! Stupid design!

Next time I think about complaining about removing Chimaera exhaust manifolds, I'm going to remember that MINI.

I'm all about diversity here! Technically there are five cars in this image. Can you identify them?
12/08/2026

I'm all about diversity here! Technically there are five cars in this image. Can you identify them?

A regular visitor to Southways, this little MX-5 NC Sport is one of my favourite cars (when I'm not having to weld it up...
28/07/2026

A regular visitor to Southways, this little MX-5 NC Sport is one of my favourite cars (when I'm not having to weld it up). Thankfully the yearly service and MOT are all it wants today!

It's regularly serviced, rarely gives any trouble come MOT time and honestly, driving it for the first time all those years ago made me question why I owned a TVR S at the time.

So if you miss seeing TVR S' on this page, direct your hatred at this little Mazda 😊

Question:The most common cause of TVR Chimaera/Griffith wishbone bush failure is...?A. Chinese rubberB. Incorrect instal...
06/07/2026

Question:

The most common cause of TVR Chimaera/Griffith wishbone bush failure is...?

A. Chinese rubber
B. Incorrect installation
C. Vigorous driving
D. Keir Starmer

Actually it's 'E', otherwise known as missing thrust washers!

There's supposed to be a nylon washer either side of the bush to support lateral movement, and if they're missing (they often are), the bush can deform like this one causing the suspension arm to foul the chassis.

I see this SO FREQUENTLY! It won't fail an MOT, and it most likely won't knock over bumps, but believe me - they make a difference to steering, braking and NVH!

Why are they missing? Apparently cars built up to a certain point (1995-1996) never had them from new, but once TVR realised it was going to become a problem, cars were built with thrust washers. They were also included on official service bulletins to be retrofitted to earlier cars, but obviously a lot of cars never went back to TVR!

These ones are being replaced with Powerflex poly bushes, which I really like as they act like bearings. Not an advert, we bought some.

Obviously you're all having your cars maintained and serviced yearly, so your TVR specialist will note if any thrust washers are missing, catching the issue before it ruins the bush 😏

A proper 90s hero in last week for inspection. Cust reported the car torque steers.Not surprised, it goes like ****😆A fe...
05/05/2026

A proper 90s hero in last week for inspection. Cust reported the car torque steers.

Not surprised, it goes like ****😆

A few issues reported to the customer to be looking at, but overall a very nice example.

Cherished little Citroen BX 14 in today with a leaking 'octopus'.In other news, water is wet and the sky is blue.
13/04/2026

Cherished little Citroen BX 14 in today with a leaking 'octopus'.

In other news, water is wet and the sky is blue.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR SPRING! Underbody inspections at Southways Automotive!Lots of owners do a grand job of looking after t...
08/04/2026

SPECIAL OFFER FOR SPRING! Underbody inspections at Southways Automotive!

Lots of owners do a grand job of looking after their classics at home, but one commodity they often don't have is a ramp to make underbody access easier.

You'd hope that MOT tests would be sufficient in future-proofing these cars, but the reality is that MOT tests are a simple formality, and only look to see if a car passes a set criteria. Unless you have yourself a good tester, who will report back to you with advice for future care, chances are even if you pass an MOT with no advisories, it doesn't mean your car has nothing to worry about.

For just *£99* Southways can carry out a detailed underbody inspection on your car and provide a written report on the findings. It's not all about looking for problems that exist, it's about looking for problems before they arise. We don't get many nice weather days in a year, so you don't want to waste it broken down on the side of the road!

Please note:Landline phone number to the workshop (01329 446694) will be switched off in the next few weeks.For all tele...
31/03/2026

Please note:

Landline phone number to the workshop (01329 446694) will be switched off in the next few weeks.

For all telephone enquiries, please use 07395 088742. If I'm not able to answer, please leave a message or better yet, write down your enquiry on WhatsApp and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able.

Of course you can always send messages through the various social media avenues, or the chat function on the website (when it's up and running again)

I don't have a secretary, and my hands are often too oily to answer the phone!

Hi all, I'm having some website issues at the moment which I hope to resolve soon. I'd have resolved them a long time ag...
31/03/2026

Hi all, I'm having some website issues at the moment which I hope to resolve soon. I'd have resolved them a long time ago if I hadn't lost the password to it, but there we go!

It's going to be modified a bit fairly soon to adjust to the business direction (more on that later) but just to make everybody aware I haven't fallen into the ether or anything, I just forgot to renew the domain and then lost the password 😆🤦

But it will return soon!

Address

Fort Fareham Industrial Estate
Fareham
PO141AH

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