Fat Cat Motorsports

I wanted to write an acknowledgment of the outstanding support I have received from FCM. As you may have read in another thread I was having issues with my car riding on the bump stops. I called Shaik at FCM and he recommended I upgrade the stops to a set he makes in 36mm front and 46mm rear. The stock length is 62mm. I installed the new stops and immediately had severe tire rubbing going on at every bump. Eventually I hit a big enough bump to bottom the front shocks and they stuck down in the fully compressed position and would not rebound. I had to jack the car up and the shocks refused to extend even with the tires up in the air. I ordered a replacement set of Bilstein HDs and wrote Shaik an email outlining the problem.
Shaik called me today and offered to pay for the new shocks if I would send him my old ones. This level of commitment to the customer is almost unheard of and deserves notice. He has lost an angry customer and gained a loyal one in the same person. Thanks Shaik!

Y'all know I had never owned a Miata before so I did not know how the handling or ride should be. I know that everybody brags that their favorite brand of shocks is the bomb and made a terrific difference. I wonder if it is simply a matter of any new shock setup being such an improvement over the previous tired setup that the contrast is so notable. I got my new Bilstein HDs and FCM bumps intalled and WOW! People say that the Bilsteins are harsh but they are downright plush compared to riding around on the bumpstops as I was doing. I drove around this evening driving down every road that I used to avoid.:drive:

Nice to read about your refreshed suspension! It does make a world of difference, doesn't it? :D

Never heard of shocks getting stuck like yours were. Sounds a bit more than irritating, though!

Update: All Shaik's promises have come to naught..He acknowledged today that he has received my old shocks "some time ago", but he has never sent the promised spacers or the funds we agreed upon. I'll post if something changes other than reassurances from him.

I dont get it. You sent in your old shocks and he sent you new ones? He just hasn't refunded the money like he said he would? I am not trying to minimize the problem, I just wasn't following the whole story.

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Originally Posted by creek

Update: All Shaik's promises have come to naught..He acknowledged today that he has received my old shocks "some time ago", but he has never sent the promised spacers or the funds we agreed upon. I'll post if something changes other than reassurances from him.

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For what it's worth, I think he's a one man show, and he's hard to pin down. I had to call him several times to get an answer on one simple bump stop question a while back. You might try calling him again to jog his memory.

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Originally Posted by Majik

I dont get it. You sent in your old shocks and he sent you new ones? He just hasn't refunded the money like he said he would? I am not trying to minimize the problem, I just wasn't following the whole story.

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I bought the replacements locally and he volunteered to pay part of the cost. He hasn't as of yet though.

The check and the spacers arrived Friday.

Is there an update to this? How are the Bilsteins holding up with the 36mm bumps?