FE54 - making her mine.

[talkingcars]

I have just bought FE54 - a stunning pearl black mk2 ZS180 saloon from ZS Sam at a price we were both happy with. Two trains and a taxi took just over two hours to get to Sams, not bad considering the drive back is over an hour.

Before I go any further I want to say that I mean no disrespect to any of the previous owners, mechanically the car is spot on and she drives as well as my mk1 did when I bought her in 2008 at 56k, they have all loved the car and looked after her and many if not all the things I have found are probably me being picky, she is nearly 10 years old after all.

So where do we start? I think the worst bit is finding signs of previous accident repair from a heavy rear end shunt. The bottoms of both c pillers have had filler which is starting to fail, the panels at the back of the car have been seam welded rather than spot welded, the gap around the boot isn't quite even and there is signs of repainting around the openings for the rear lights.

However the repair has been to a high standard as there are no mismatchs to the paint work and as there has been no mention of an accident in all the time the car has been on the forum I guess it happened many years ago. I have a couple of ideas about how to repair the c piller flaking without having a full respray. I wouldn't be suprised if the previous 3 owners didn't even know of the repair.

I was also a bit disappointed with the number of changed fixings but these are easily changed so will be, proberbly with new ones from ebay.

My final concern after the drive home was that the seats just didn't feel as comfitable as I was expecting.

As Mrs TC ws away for a couple of days over the weekend she didn't know about the car until I picked her up from Stansted and after a frosty reception for a few minutes because "we always do things like this togeather" she warmed to the car and identified why the seats felt different, they have firmer side bolsters so are more body hugging.

Knowing I might get a bit of a reaction I spent my spare car time over the weekend doing bits on the MGF and made sure the house was clean and tidy for when she got home, it worked as I've been released to spend time on FE54.

[talkingcars]

I had Wedensday off so started swapping a few bits over from the MK1.

So far we have swapped the rear lights for the ones I smoked after I first got the MK1, the dull red suits both cars more than the bright red ones. I also swapped the bulb panels so have got LED rear lights.

Then I did a bit of steering wheel swapping - FE54 came with a TF wheel which has gone on to Mrs TC's ZR, the O/E wheel has gone back on GV51 and the R45 wheel has gone into FE54. This has meant that I have had to borrow the ZR airbag to go in GV51 but I have bought one from Cally180 so I will have a complete ZR set up.

I also had to swap rotary couplers on FE54 and the ZR as the airbag connections are different.

I swapped the dome bolts from the spoiler on GV51 for the normal bolts on FE54 (was this a project drive saving?) and the carpet mats as I prefer the grey ones, doesn't make the car so dark inside.

Finally I swapped the steering wheel cowling so I could fit the scangaugeII which has shown up that the car is running a bit cool - looks like I will be doing a thermostat change.

[petet16]

What temperature are you seeing on average ?

[talkingcars]

Plans over the next few weeks are to swap the speakers for O/E ones, the vibe focals are very good but I can't get the base from them that I like and I'm sure someone out there will appriciate them more than I do.

I will be putting all the audio from GV51 in (and giving back Mrs TC her head unit, don't think she knows it's missing yet).

Coming across will be the induction set up I designed, the battery tray arrived today, just need to order the cable etc.

I will be getting rear electrics, this will be less hasle than swapping all the bits over.

I may well swap some of the project drive parts from GV51.

[talkingcars]

What temperature are you seeing on average ?

It is taking twice as long to get up to opperating temp and it isn't going over 81'.

[petet16]

Ah yeah, thats low, mid nineties seems about right, the slow warm up certainly sounds like a stuck thermostat.

[talkingcars]

Longer term plans include
Sheddist (I'd forgotten how bad the O/E set up is).
Try and get that cruise working.
Maybe some tints and C/F wrap and black woven mesh on the grill.

and sell GV51.
(and start taking photos)

[talkingcars]

I've gone through the "have I done the right thing" stage I go through with every car and am falling in love, I even got to see the true colour of the paint the other day - lush.

[petet16]

Good project, looking forward to some pics.

Is the carpet in your mk1 better quality than the mk2.

[talkingcars]

Good project, looking forward to some pics.

Is the carpet in your mk1 better quality than the mk2.

Not sure but as I maybe swapping seats I can check it out at the same time.

[talkingcars]

some old photos here - http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=1764

[POMPSKI]

I even got to see the true colour of the paint the other day - lush.

It is isnt it? Not something we get to see every day here....

[welshone]

Well done in getting this car. Good things come to those who wait. You should know going by your signature, that was some time ago you said that :)

[andys1981]

another nice car to the fleet mate,as ian says good things come to those who wait

[talkingcars]

I didn't achieve as much as I hoped yesterday as it took me longer than I'd hoped to assemble the garden swing chair for Mrs TC but that kept her happy, then there was a F1 and finally rain.

However I did strip the H/U and all the associated leads and boxes and the dash end of the cruise control out of GV51. I also stripped the rear seats from both and swapped the rear speakers so FE54 now has an O/E back cabin.

[talkingcars]

Just a quicky today - popped in to the breakers yard and picked up the O/E terminals for the rear speakers (and the wiring for the MGF mirror), and this evening I've just spent half an hour soldering this on to the existing speaker wires so I can now run the O/E rear speakers.

There is nothing wrong with the vibe focal set up except you need to be running a separate sub to get any depth and as I'm a rock fan I need a bit of depth.

I also moved the wire that runs from the alarm to the boot from trailing through the seat opening so it now follows the main loom.

[Tomoose]

Great project, and I love your attitude to improvements. Keep the updates coming! :)

[talkingcars]

Great project, and I love your attitude to improvements. Keep the updates coming! :)

Cheers.

After supper and before Greggs I spent 15 minutes starting to run the cable for the auto changer and the sub.

[talkingcars]

F'in weather - got all the bits to do the battery to boot conversion but it is pouring with rain so I can't really be pulling out carpets and seats!

[carmadbaker]

Nice to see the old girl getting the love i could never give her :( (bloody turbo zed!)

[talkingcars]

Nice to see the old girl getting the love i could never give her :( (bloody turbo zed!)

Don't agree with that, you, Luke and Sam all had an input to her over the years.

On the way home I was looking foward to some more car time - the earlier rain had dried and the sun was out BUT as I pulled up drops of rain started appearing on the windscreen, by the time I'd had a coffee it was pouring.

By half past seven it'd stopped so I got outside. I considered fitting the servo bracket that had arrived today but as I need some bolts for that and a second person to hold the bolts on the inside as I do them up from the outside..........

Instead I got on with refitting the side trims that life beside the rear seats asI'd taken them off to run the auto changer and new RCA leads on one side and the battery to boot cable on the otherside.

I then got the rear seats back in and finally ran the battery cable to the front of the car.

Finally I popped the kick panel on the nearside of the passanger foot well off ready to run the cable. Unfortunatly that also gave me the chance to confirm that the mk2 loom doesn't have the wiring for the cruise control.

Not bad for an hours work.

[carmadbaker]

Don't agree with that, you, Luke and Sam all had an input to her over the years.
Well its true im afraid lol in her prime she was looooovely, as i got more distracted by other projects she started to get neglected (but NEVER let me down might i add!) I virtually stripped the best bits from her (due to super mega money loss after 4/5 years of ownership) and sold her on for others to attempt to bring her back to her finest! Which u appear to be doing to a very high standard, hence.. Its nice to see the old girl getting the same attention to detail and love i USED to be able to give it

[talkingcars]

Got in another hour between work and going to Sainsburys -

got the battery cable through the bulkhead,
fitted the terminal,
pulled the slack bag all the way to the boot,
finished removing the old power feed for the sub
(not point having a battery in the boot and powering the sub from the front)
and removed the Megarazin High Capacity System & Battery Performance Monitor from the battery ready for relocating.

Another positive came when Mrs TC asked to drive FE54 to the supermarket, she never asks to drive and doesn't particularly enjoy it, however she did like driving this one which was strange as she didn't like the mk1 and only drove it twice in 5 1/2 years.

Today it's dry - I've got all the bits to finish moving the battery and a couple of other jobs and I've got all day.............might even take some photos ;)

[talkingcars]

Link to the battery monitor - http://pivotjp.com/product/vs-m/img/vs-m_catalog-e.pdf

[peterzs]

Going to be difficult to decide which one of the fleet to take to meets/shows!!!

:whistle::whistle::whistle:

[petet16]

"when Mrs TC asked to drive FE54" I can see where this is going :laugh:

[talkingcars]

Not much progress in the last month as I put some time into getting the MGF ready for our 2013 roadtrip, this year we drove down to Italy and spent 3 nights in Verona which enabled us to visit Venice, Palma and Modena (inc. the museum). Prior to departure I got the cruise control kit I bought before last years roadtrip working, still needs fine tuning but defiantly worth it for long runs.

Unfortunately on the ferry back I found the cause of the coolant usage, a leak from the cambelt end of the engine so I spent the following week trying to get to the water pump, I am still to get the alternator drive wheel off but a cordless impact wrench is now on order.

Back to FE54 - I have finished running the autochanger and RCA leads, fitted the autochanger under the shelf instead of on the floor, fitted the boot mounted warning triangle and last night fitted the battery tray and started sorting the rest of the boot to fit the mk1 carpet, Dans strut brace and my battery box.

I have also prepared GV51 for the front seat and carpet swap, just need a dry day to to complete the swap.

Today I'll be off to the local breakers to find the rear electric window bits as at the very least I want to fit the electrics while the interior is in bits. The last trip yielded a Rover 820 interior light so wiring this and the MGF mirror are another job that needs doing.

[peterzs]

Saw Rimmers had some cheap rear window electric stuff.

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/ItemList--MG-ZS-Auto-Glass--m-12878--outlet-true

Dont know if thats what you are after??

[talkingcars]

Thanks Pete but I should be able to get everything I need for under £20.

[peterzs]

even better!!

[talkingcars]

Cost me £30 :(

[peterzs]

must have a good scrappy.

Ones near me have zilch!!!!

[talkingcars]

The local one has 3 sections - one that is open every day which I can manage to visit in a lunch break but that had nothing suitable when I looked last week. Then there is a restricted access area which has newer cars but I didn't have time last week to look there, finally there is a proper old style area with double stacked cars (used to be triple stacked) which is now only open on Saturdays.

There were several Rover 400's and civics, 1 mk1 120 and nothing else suitable. Only a couple had rear electrics so I decided on the one at the end of a row as it had more room on one side.

I had got the bits out of one door when some chap appeared and broke all scrap yard etiquette and started removing the front seats, in 30 years I've never had someone else start removing bits from a car I am working on! I wasn't quite sure what he was doing so I decide the quickest thing to do was to help him, I took one seat out while explaining how to do the other, it did make getting the consol out a bit quicker and I did get the £2.20 in change :mad:

[talkingcars]

And fitted..............

[welshone]

Good work :)

If you ever need another pair of hands just give me a shout. I'm always up for a bit of car play :)

[peterzs]

Used to love the scrappy, about 4 high and then the crane would come and start moving one off the next pile.

Had to shout and wave to let the operator know you were working in the car.

Bit before all this Health and Safety, stuff!!!

[talkingcars]

Good work :)

If you ever need another pair of hands just give me a shout. I'm always up for a bit of car play :)

OK - will do.

[talkingcars]

Busy day today - not quite sure why but I was awake at 7!
Sun was hinting that it might cut through the clouds, forecasts were similar -
perfect for ripping out the seats and carpets to swap them round -
eventually I was outside by 10 and it started to spit with rain so I decided to to the rear electrics -
3 hours later both sides were done -
rain had got heavier and eased and eventually the sun was out -
only one thing to do -
I'd already undone the seats and seat belts and rear consol -
I've now got the earlier seats and carpet in FE54 and the door seals back on (they've only been off for 6 weeks)
but a lack of energy at 9pm stopped me from doing any more than dropping the mk2 capet and the xpower seats into GV51 -
anyone fancy buying it to use as a track car, will save me refitting the carpet.

[talkingcars]

Forgot to mention that I found £2.30 in FE54, found nothing in GV51.

[ZS]

and the xpower seats into GV51 -
anyone fancy buying it to use as a track car, will save me refitting the carpet.

Forgot to mention that I found £2.30 in FE54, found nothing in GV51.

You are more than welcome to give me GV51 for free in its current condition :p I'll squeeze it in the garage and rebuild from the ground up on a limited budget, long term :fish:

You could always take that £2.30 you found in FE54 as payment lmao :rofl:

[talkingcars]

You could always take that £2.30 you found in FE54 as payment lmao :rofl:

LOL - some of it was under the carpet so proberbly got there when the alarm was fitted (along with 3 christmas tree clips that have no home anywhere in the car, a random bolt and several cable trimings and several alarm cables routed under the middle of the footwells - true pro's they were).

[ZS]

LOL - some of it was under the carpet so proberbly got there when the alarm was fitted (along with 3 christmas tree clips that have no home anywhere in the car, a random bolt and several cable trimings and several alarm cables routed under the middle of the footwells - true pro's they were).

Christmas tree clips, from doorcard I would guess? But wow, wires under the footwells? Still sounds like she's getting a lot of well deserved attention by your hands :) and soon will be in tip top condition :weakbench:

[talkingcars]

These were really long, 3 times the length of the ones in the doors.

[ZS]

These were really long, 3 times the length of the ones in the doors.

Green ones? - Other than that no idea...

When I first got the car there were two huge Fuses in the footwell, I've only seen the same fuses on our UPS at work since... lol

[talkingcars]

No, black.

[talkingcars]

Heated front screen arrived today - getting it fitted on Monday.

When I first ordered it I never dreamed that it wouldn't be going in GV51.

[petet16]

Good news, did you get a new top strip with it.

[talkingcars]

Sort of, the guy was delivering the screen when some one came out of the office with a jiffy bag containing the top strip.

[talkingcars]

and now the screen is fitted - thought about doing it myself but felt that going the pro's to do it while I was at work was a better idea - am I going to regret not keeping the old screen?

Also I was contemplating removing the sunstrip when I first got the car, now it's not there I feel a bit naked, shall I replace it - "Shaz n Dave" anyone?

[peterzs]

Could always get those big fluffy dice!!

:whistle::whistle::whistle:

[carmadbaker]

How do you wire it in dude? You thinking seperate switch or are you going to piggy back the rear screen button to do both?

[talkingcars]

Undecided at the moment, the tails are just loose for the time being.

[carmadbaker]

Undecided at the moment, the tails are just loose for the time being.

Some clever wiring and relay logic trickery and you could possibly have it as follows:
1st press: rear screen on
2nd press: rear screen and front screen on
3rd press: all off

Or

1st press for 2+ secs: front screen on
2nd press for 2+ secs: front screen off with no affect to rear screen?

Could fit a different colour LED next to the original in the switch to indicate its status... Would be pretty cool!

[petet16]

Your over thinking it Dan:smile1:

[carmadbaker]

im an overpaid underworked spark... need something to fill the void!!!! ;)
Im a firm believer in KISS but sometimes the little extra thought and engineering skill is SO worth the effort

[petet16]

ok, just to give you something to chew on, the front screen is 2 separate elements, just to add an extra dimension to the permutations

[Skillen]

im an overpaid underworked spark... need something to fill the void!!!! ;)
Im a firm believer in KISS but sometimes the little extra thought and engineering skill is SO worth the effort

Hey if you're that bored have a lovely trip up to Cumbria and you can wire mine in for me with the heated rear.

[talkingcars]

I've considered moving the lock switch and having 2 switches and/or connecting it to the remote start so the front screen comes on as well.

[Skillen]

I've considered moving the lock switch and having 2 switches and/or connecting it to the remote start so the front screen comes on as well.

What about an even fancier way of putting it into the demist function on the ATC?
Possible?
It already auto cancels itself after a set time so one press of that and the aircon screen demister/screen heater comes on then off it goes later on.

[talkingcars]

That's getting super complex as I suspect that is an electronic setting in the ATC ECU.

[Skillen]

That's getting super complex as I suspect that is an electronic setting in the ATC ECU.

It gives a signal to at least the fans to kick into full speed and the vents to move so maybe a way of saying (when these two events happen together then activate this circuit)

That's probably the way I'd like to do it to keep it all oem.
I wonder if technozen would be able to tell me :/ *hmmm*

[talkingcars]

Been another quite week due to Mrs TC's shed - we bought a cheap £99 shed about 7 or 8 years ago from Wickes as Gemma didn't like sharing my "secret hoarders" shed full of "rubbish" (car parts to you or me). Over the last couple of years it has been subsiding and becoming unstable. Also the gap between the 2 sheds was becoming filled with DIY leftovers so independantly we had both been looking at replacing the shed.

Last year work was taken over by Wolseley (former car manufacturer and now building materials supplier) and this weekend was set as the first full stock count under the new owners, a few weeks ago we were given the go ahead to clear the depot of all non moving, damaged or obsolete stock and the staff were free to have anything that was going - I spoke to Gemma who agreed that I could build a shed but I musn't bring the materials home until I was ready to use them - fair enough to be honest - only problem was that I had to bring them home there and then or they'd go in the skip - the result is 200 tonuge and grove floor boards, 7 fence posts and 30 decking joists.

I've knocked togeather a side and started on a back panel, emptied and cut up the old shed, cleared lots of the DIY left overs and lots of car parts (including the last of the bits I'd saved from my first 2 cars, the Lada was scrapped in 1988 and the mini in 1992!)

This morning we've levelled the base from the old shed, I like to have the shed raised on joists so that air can circulate underneath and for some reason one corner had dropped by about 3 inches, I suspect it was the foxes we had a couple of years ago digging their access to the space underneath. This afternoon after the end of the F1 I hope to get the side and back in place.

And I have done something on the ZS's, I swapped the alloy x-power one from GV51 with the MG owners club plastic tax disc holder in FE54.

[talkingcars]

You lot found that interesting didn't you!

Made a bit of progress on the shed so tonight I decided to fit the DAB Kenwood in, the mk2 has 2 openings at the pack of the slot that you don't get in the mk1, but still not enough space to get all my wiring in so I cut a slot on the left hand side using a junior hacksaw blade.

It went in ok but the stretch for the DAB aerial is a bit too much so that will need re-arranging. Also there is a sort of buzzing in the front speakers when playing music from the auto changer. And I have issues with wiring the steering wheel controls - see seperate thread.

It'll be nice to have some company on the way to work.

[stamford]

These new head units are getting chunkier at the back, I had to hack the inside of my mk1 a fair bit to fit the iphone docking head unit, no way could the plugs fit.

[peterzs]

I find the valves on mine take soooo long to warm up, must get a DAB.

And Talkingcars, think we were all knacked from the shed building.

I have the "leaning shed of Bournemouth", getting so bad I hope it doesnt collapse when I'm moving stuff, that must be in there somewhere!!!!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[talkingcars]

So apart from washing FE54 prior to going to MGSD I've not done anything to her, it's been shed, shed, shed - the extension now has a side, a back, floor (all in tongue and grove) and shelf uprights and I've been making the shelves.

The only car thing I've done is replace the water pump on the F. I managed to get the alternator drive pulley undone with my new toy, a Ryobi one+ impact driver, took all of 2 seconds. I then struggled for a while to understand how the manual cambelt adjuster works before deciding to just undo the water pump bolts until the tension was eased enough to slip the cambelt off, I reassembled it the same way and was impressed to get it all back together and an initial bleed done.

I'm not so happy to have had to top it up a couple of times although just a little. I was happy enough to take her to West Wittering on Sunday and then to work today, until the N/S hydroelastic suspension failed on the way back!

[peterzs]

Oops, can you stll get the units?? or is it a scrappy yard hunt.

[talkingcars]

Not sure what has gone yet, I just parked it up and walked away.

There are some components available out there so I should be able to get something.

[talkingcars]

Washed her again :)

Fitted some locking wheel nuts.

(And stripped the transferring engine bay parts out of GV51)

[talkingcars]

Side airbags swapped so I have the correct ones for the car, only took 40 minutes, nice to see the SRS light to go out.

[petet16]

Good progress being made :thumbsup:

[talkingcars]

Swapped the drivers door card this evening, I hadn't realised how different they are.

Not only is the winder switch different the plate it mounts to is so had to swap this.

Then the insulation on the back is different, suprizingly the later card has a big lump of polystyrene behind the armrest that isn't on the early one. Needless to say this got transfered.

Finally there is an infill section at the back end of the earlier card that serves no obvious purpose.

I'm gonna have to refit the battery on GV51, you can't fit the card with the glass up.

[Skillen]

Swapped the drivers door card this evening, I hadn't realised how different they are.

Not only is the winder switch different the plate it mounts to is so had to swap this.

Then the insulation on the back is different, suprizingly the later card has a big lump of polystyrene behind the armrest that isn't on the early one. Needless to say this got transfered.

Finally there is an infill section at the back end of the earlier card that serves no obvious purpose.

I'm gonna have to refit the battery on GV51, you can't fit the card with the glass up.

Mine have my crossovers in those polystyrene bits not. They're good for that!
I put both of mine on multiple times with the glass up and then realised it was far easier with the glass down too!

They also have a different handle colour I thought!
So I swapped those too.

[talkingcars]

They also have a different handle colour I thought!
So I swapped those too.

I hadn't noticed that as I did the swap in the falling dark and been jumping in and out of the car today in to much of a hurry to notice.

[talkingcars]

The colour match is close enough but in day light I notice that because the mk2 surround is slightly shorter than the mk1 surround so it doesn't quite cover the hole.

Yesterday I completed the exchange on seats so now the mk1 has a nice mk2 interior and 180 seats with grey inserts.

FE54 has mk1 door cards and O/E speakers.

Just taking 5 minutes before swapping boots around.

And the shed has a roof.

[talkingcars]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/533648_689094621107808_1739475290_n.jpg

Since taking this photo I've added a front by using the side of the other shed and added a roof to the whole thing.

[welshone]

A well set out place to store car parts :D

[talkingcars]

Yeah, there is now a work bench across the front :)

I've just swapped the boots on both cars, definite signs of accident repair with several welds across the back of the spare wheel well and the end of a welding rod stuck to the boss for the spare wheel bolt.

Also the usual swimming pool which has now drained out of the 2 holes I drilled.

Bored of cars now so lets go shedding.............

[talkingcars]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/p75x225/1003750_698261450191125_218236026_n.jpg

and as it looks at close of play tonight.

[peterzs]

Looking good!!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[talkingcars]

Talk about frustrating.

Thought I'd sort out the headlight bulbs now the nights are drawing in.
N/S headlight was brighter than the O/S.
O/S full beam wasn't working.
Wanted to fir my LED side light bulbs.

Changed the O/S bulbs with no problem.
Couldn't find my spare LED 501's so the sidelight didn't get changed.

Started on the N/S full beam, couldn't get the clip to go back until eventually it fell out, no problem, my long reach magnet on a stick got it out of the bowl but there's not enough room to get it back in without taking the battery out.

So I thought I'd leave that and just do the headlight, darn clip falls out!

OK then, as the battery has to come out I may as well finish moving it to the boot, turns out that due to the rear end repairs I can't get the tray as far back as I did in GV51 so the box I had built does not fit over the battery!

[peterzs]

Apart from that, it all went smoothly!!!!

Is a pain when it all goes tits up, but nowadays I start on a job expecting it to all go wrong.

End up, doing it up and taking it to my friendly garage.

:rambo::rambo::rambo:

[talkingcars]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/532173_727684287248841_717691359_n.jpg

[welshone]

Very tidy, i like :thumbsup:

[petet16]

Looking good.

[DuckFeet]

How are you finding the difference in the two with the manifolds on the MK2? You just need some nice lightweight wheels now, perhaps in grey :carrrot:? And more pics of the car required, two mentions of washing her with no picture of the result - tut.

[talkingcars]

How are you finding the difference in the two with the manifolds on the MK2? You just need some nice lightweight wheels now, perhaps in grey :carrrot:? And more pics of the car required, two mentions of washing her with no picture of the result - tut.

I don't think the mk2 has manifolds, the mk1 doesn't.

Not changing the exterior of the car, I've got the Maestro for that, this is meant to be an enhanced version of the standard car and it is my daily driver after all.

The quality of the fittings on the mk1 are defiantly better than the mk2, well they were until I swapped them, I still need to add the second horn, I still hesitate to use it for fear of ridicule.

I have washed it again, did the ZS, ZR and F, washed and dried in under an hour but no photos as it was dark.

More importantly - I now have power in the shed - :mbounce:

[talkingcars]

Just reading back - I didn't update after earlier posts.

I managed to get all the bulbs in after much fiddling, only to find that the full beams were pointing to the trees, nobody had told me that the bulbs are the other way up to the dipped beams.

With that sorted and blue tungsten side light bulbs I am now happy, the colour of the Philips Blue Lighters is much better than O/E bulbs and the extra wattage makes a lot of difference.

I've not got the battery in the boot to work properly yet, I suspect the battery I've fitted isn't quite up to the job and due to the Clifford I daren't take the front one out until the back one is working properly.

I haven't devoted much time to the car as TBH I'm not in a car frame of mind at the moment - I need to be, MOT is due in a month, there is a knocking on part load at part power from the front, the disks are shot, I've only just started wiring up the heated screen, she hit 90k yesterday so the belts are on borrowed distance as well as borrowed time now........................

[petet16]

What are the issues with the battery to boot James ?, when I did mine I eventually ended up with a diesel battery and higher output alternator.

[talkingcars]

When I did GV51 I stuck a brand new battery in the boot, disconnected the old one and she was fine until the battery was about 4 years old and stopped holding charge overnight.

With FE54 I followed the same fitting pattern except I made my one power cable rather than one out of a M3 that needed extending. I then took the 6 month old battery (the replacement for the first battery) out of GV51 and stuck it in the boot of FE54 and connected it. I then disconnected the front battery.

There wasn't enough power from the rear battery to start her so I temporally connected the front one to start her. Then disconnected it so the rear one would charge. I tried this several times and then got bored.

I should really bring the rear battery in and do a recondition charge - Mrs TC will be pleased as I can now do this in my workshop.

[peterzs]

sounds a good hide away.

Hope its all sorted for next month.

:wizard::wizard::wizard:

[talkingcars]

Tried getting a bit done yesterday afternoon after getting back from Sainsburys but with an hours light left I wasn't that hopeful.

Started by dealing with the wires that I had already soldered to the tails for the heated front screen. I am using some cable left over from laying a heated floor in the conservatory, as I had one length each of blue and brown I soldered each end to the tails from the window. Today the first thing I did today was snip the cables, big mistake as I then loosened the cover over the wiper chamber and discovered the grommet for the wiper electrics is at the drivers side and the near side cables only just reach.

Simples me thinks, shorten the driver side cable and lengthen the passenger side by soldering more wire on - easy 'cept me gas powered soldering iron decided to lose power and now hardly melts butter, let alone solder.

CBA to get out an extension lead and most are on xmas lights anyway. This will just have to wait.

So I go to put it all back together and decide to sort the drivers wiper at the same time as the fitting keeps sliding along the arm and I'm worried that the blade will fall off leading to some metal arm on glass action - it would appear that at some point someone has closed up the loop on the arm so that the fitting slides over it, another simples - open up the loop - just made it worse - now I have a passenger wiper on the drivers side and a trip to the scrappy booked............

[petet16]

Not much help now.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/petet16/100_2348_zpsbb4dfce8.jpg

[talkingcars]

Didn't you make a new hole at the passenger end for yours?

[petet16]

Yes, just behind the engine bay fuse box.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y142/petet16/100_2349_zps6340d216.jpg

[talkingcars]

The trip to the scrappy on the 24th was a fail - direct road closed due to fallen trees, picked up a chip on the windscreen, road to scrappy flooded so had to go a different way, scrappy closed, direct road appeared to be now open so went back that way only to end up helping the chainsaw gangs by removing branches from the road in 3 locations.


However the trip on the 28th went better. Sadly Welshones ZS had gone so no wiper arms from that, a R45 donated instead (£2) along with the seat airbag plugs so I can adapt the ones in GV51 to work with mk2 airbags. I also found a mk2 R25 with chrome vent rings and a TM clock.

Then on new years eve £8.44 for a pair of aero blades from ECP and I now have wipers again.

I wasn't convinced by the chrome rings but Mrs TC liked them so I fitted them yesterday, I even managed to reconnect all the veins, well on three, the forth (well first one I tried) has died a horrible death so tomorrow will see another trip to the scrappy.

Rather than replacing the whole vent I have found a way to remove the rotating part by levering between the open and closed marks.

Finally I think I got to the bottom of the battery to boot problem - the battery was knackered even though it is less than a year old. Last night I charged it for a couple of hours at 2 amps and it went from 8 volts to 14.4 volts in a couple of hours, should take about 8 hours. Also the reading on the charger was changing by about half a volt when it should be steady. A couple of hours after coming off charge it was down to 12.54v and this morning it was at 11.74. By the time I got it to Halfords at 3pm it was down to 8 "amps".

[petet16]

It sounds like the battery has expired early.

I like the chrome vents they make the oe Silver ones look cheap and nasty.

[talkingcars]

Leaving it in GV51 for several months unused for several months didn't help.

Since day one I've planned to spray the O/E rings to match the door inserts, I still may.

[talkingcars]

I got a vent but not the one I went for, the car that gave up the rings had gone, strange thing was that it was in the middle of a row which was untouched sincce last visit except a few that had gone from the middle ncluding the ZR.

No, I was walking around aimlessly when I noticed two of them sitting under the wheel arch of a Jag, strange.

£2 lighter and I was on the way home.

[Maxfly]

Nice lucky find then, I prefer the 45 vent rings too, they feel better to operate too IMO.

[talkingcars]

Nice lucky find then, I prefer the 45 vent rings too, they feel better to operate too IMO.

I'd agree about the operation, defiantly turn more smoothly. However I always leave them closed so it makes little odds.

P.S. You win the prize for reply 100.

[Maxfly]

I'd agree about the operation, defiantly turn more smoothly. However I always leave them closed so it makes little odds.

P.S. You win the prize for reply 100.

I'm the opposite, mine are near always open lol.

I shall wait patiently for my telegram from the auld yin now :D

[talkingcars]

Just tried the new soldering iron on the heated screen tails - not heating enough to melt the solder, thinking this can't be right I tried it on some other cable and boom, soldered in 10 seconds, I guess the heated floor cable must be treated to dissipate heat quickly - ebay here I come for some more suitable cable.

[talkingcars]

So I bought some 40amp cable - just tried soldering it but it's still not taking it, possibly because the wind is a tad strong! Gonna shot to the local factors and buy some crimp terminals!

On the plus side, I've eventually wired up the MGF mirror.

[petet16]

Crimp terminals should give you a good sound connection.

[talkingcars]

but I`m after an electrical connection.......

I wanted soldered connections as they are less prone to damp problems.

-------------------------------
posted from my TV

[petet16]

I see what you did there.

[talkingcars]

Well, that went well, not!

Got the cable for the heated screen all in place - both sets of tails crimped and run through the grommet for the wiper wiring, through the bulk head to the inner fusebox, then under the dash and out of the other bulkhead grommet to the engine bay fuse box along with a trigger wire for the relays. I then connected the relays next to the inner fusebox and the cables to the engine bay fuse box as per Petes "how to".

Everything was done and the tools away by 5pm. The relays were clicking on and off when I operated the HRW switch and the front screen heated.

At 10.30pm we went out to collect my daughter and friends from the airport, dropped the other two home and got back here for about midnight - the screen worked well.

Then at 6am I got in the car for work - the battery was completely flat, not even enough charge for the clock! Jumped it and drove to work where I disconnected the main power lead and the relay & fuse for the HRW. At 4.30 when I finished the battery was just as dead.

Jumped her again and drove home - disconnected the switching lead to the relays and now have no more battery drain!

So I guess I'll be looking at relays on Saturday.

On the plus side - I emptied the boot for the girls luggage - I'm sure the car is quicker.

[petet16]

Have your relays failed ?

[Ritchy]

A misplaced constant live perhaps or a dodgy relay

[talkingcars]

Not sure but I've done something wrong wiring the relays.

[petet16]

Did you splice into the hrw feed to operate the relays ?.

[talkingcars]

Yeah, the blue/yellow in the white plug under the external fusebox.

[petet16]

Strange if you've you've got a drain to earth from there, are your relays still operating for the front screen.

The Blue and Yellow is ignition controlled, so it shouldn't be live with the ignition off, and the front screen is on a timed cycle like the hrw.

Just a random thought, you're not using latching relays ?.

[talkingcars]

Strange if you've you've got a drain to earth from there, are your relays still operating for the front screen.

The Blue and Yellow is ignition controlled, so it shouldn't be live with the ignition off, and the front screen is on a timed cycle like the hrw.

Just a random thought, you're not using latching relays ?.

http://www.extremeautoaccessories.co.uk/pics/1304710880.jpg

That's not latching is it.

[petet16]

It doesn't look like it, to be sure it would need 12v and an earth applied to terminal 85 & 86, if it clicks when you apply power, and then clicks again when you remove power it's a normal relay, if it doesn't click when you remove power then it's a latching relay.

[petet16]

The coil symbol between 85 & 86 is for a normal relay, so non latching.

[talkingcars]

85 - connected to blue/yellow - 12v when engine running and HRW is on, 0v at other times.
86 - connected to earth - 12v when engine running and HRW is on, 0v at other times.
87 - connected to constant live - 12v at all times.
30 - connected to front screen - 12v when relay on, 0v when relay off.

That all makes sense - what doesn't is no resistance between the switched live 85 and earth regardless of it being connected to the relay or not.

How can it cause battery drain when plugged to the relay?

[petet16]

That's very odd, the readings for the relays are fine, I can't really see how it can be draining the battery.

I would have said that the heated screen draining the battery was a Red Herring, but for the fact that it doesn't do it when the feed for the relays are disconnected.

Where have you taken the 12v feed for terminal 87 from.

[talkingcars]

Where have you taken the 12v feed for terminal 87 from.

The same terminal in the engine bay fusebox as you did.

[petet16]

Hmm, so like mine, the only splice into the original loom is the feed into the Blue/Yellow to terminal 85.

[talkingcars]

I copied your how to......Was going to stick a fusible link into the engine bay fuse box once I had it working......wish I had done it earlier.........swapping the connections over on the relays I managed to brush the unfused feed against one of the earth connections and it appears to have killed the BCU!

Symptoms are no power to anything what so ever despite there being 12v everywhere,
fuel gauge and temp gauge at top of gauges,
when you remove one of the fuses under the dash (for the BCU I think) and refit you can hear something in the engine bay connecting,
after a few minutes the fuel pump relay starts pulsing the fuel pump,
remove the relay and the cooling fan cuts in!,
disconnect the battery and the temp gauge drops to zero,
and the best bit
connect the battery in the boot (which isn't finalised yet) and my booster pack and everything comes to life but not enough power to start the car,
connect the main battery again and she starts,
disconnect the boot battery and booster,
the car runs for a few minutes and dies completely.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

I think the Clifford alarm doesn't help so that's coming out, it's more hassle than it's worth anyway as the only cool part about it is the remote start which is more of an intermittent remote start.

If that doesn't cure it the BCU will go down to technozone for a diagnostics, I'll to get a second fob coded for it and while he has it probably new relays.

[petet16]

That's a pita, hopefully removing the Clifford solves it.

[peterzs]

Bummer, Talkingcars.

Hope you can sort it, for not too much cash!!

[talkingcars]

Four hours and the Clifford is out, just need to work out what they did to the central locking as this isn't working at the moment.

[carmadbaker]

That clifford has always been a pain in my bottom!! Never got installed correctly as far as im concerned and the £1000 it cost me was no where near worth it!!
Best thing is to get rid of it! I would imagine they spliced into the central locking loom near the bcu, it might have a loom adapter on it or something. If you want to harass the installers they are called AutoSparx

[talkingcars]

The clifford is completely disconnected now and the central looking working properly.

[petet16]

whoop :yay:

[talkingcars]

So I go to reconnect the battery and there's a flash from where it's bolted to the slam panel! At some point the bolt in the O/E location has sheared so the earth has been fitted to where the O/E filter bolts would be.

Unfortunately the O/E has since been refitted so the rubber airfilter mounts don't hold the earth firmly in place.

I've now fitted it to the earth point under the fusebox.

[talkingcars]

I was going to get Technozone Paul to code me a new fob and write out the speed locking but as Mrs TC wants her car back I've relocated the BCU to a more accessible location, not saying where but it'll make life easier when relays fail.

(I don't suppose any of the P/O of FE54 have the second O/E fob knocking around in that draw in the kitchen?)

[carmadbaker]

I only had one key mate and i was the 2nd owner :(

[talkingcars]

I only had one key mate and i was the 2nd owner :(

Cheers for confirming that. I've got 2 keys but only 1 fob, not a problem, I'll run down to Brighton and get technozone Paul to program one.

[talkingcars]

Brilliant weather for playing with cars so yesterday (after the fortnightly trip to Sainsburys) I spent four hours trying to pump the suspension on the F to come to the conclusion the low loss valve on the pump is knackered, the owner of the pump confirmed that he's not used it since it was given to him.

And this morning started with a lecture on cars and how I need to get them sorted - that was a green light to go and get stuck in so I did, by 8.30 I was outside.

I thought the diplomatic thing to do was sort a couple of things on Mrs TCs ZR - four hours later she had her side skirts back on (must have been off for at least two and a half years). At the same time I did her rally flaps, no, not those, the ones I bought for her birthday last March.

I was going to fit the tow bar on FE54 (I've got a tow ball mounted cycle rack that I've promised to use this summer for cycle rides in the country) but thought I ought to finish reinstalling the interior first - I ran out of steam so gave in and just hovered her out.

[talkingcars]

..........I was going to fit the tow bar on FE54 (I've got a tow ball mounted cycle rack that I've promised to use this summer for cycle rides in the country) but thought I ought to finish reinstalling the interior first - I ran out of steam so gave in and just hovered her out.

Sorry, cut that a bit short - my ribeye was calling......and then top gear and then fast and nuts.

I've lost my fog light switch..........when I unplugged the console I plugged all the switches back on to their leads, however upon refitting I find the rear fog light switch wasn't there. And as I've tidied up and hoovered her out I am stumped.

Refitting the headunit was as frustrating as always, I had previously trimmed the appature but was still struggling so have now cut a slot all the way along one side so the wiring can be slid along as the head unit is pushed into place.

[talkingcars]

I've got a new fog switch c/o a mk2 ZR at the local scrappy, also got a second HRW switch which may become adapted...........

Today I've gone to fit the tow bar from GV51 knowing that it'd proberbly be too short, not a problem as I could get a longer swan neck, however it sits too high and would require the bumper to be cut which is a big no.

Frustratingly Thule don't seem to fit the version they do for the mk2 45 will fit.

This is even more frustrating as the nearside exhaust mount is welded to the nearside towbar bracket.

Gonna mess in my shed instead.

[talkingcars]

Towbars - £160 because this ones a tad wrong - pah - I'm gonna engineer me some extender plates so have bought some scrap 8mm steel plate - cutting it will be easy but it looks like I'll be buying a piller drill stand so I can drill the holes, oh well, another tool.............

On a different subject - removing the clifford and refitting the earth seems to have cured the electic proplems and the heated front screen is brill - want one for the F now.

[petet16]

Yep, heated screens rock.

[peterzs]

Coming on.

:clap::clap::clap:

[talkingcars]

Fitting instructions for tow bar - remove insulation from top of chassis rail to locate marks for drilling.....

James' version - drill up from underneath through the two large holes in the underside of the chassis rail to locate main bolt location and enlarge from above with a countersink drill, then use these holes to place the upper plate before marking and drilling the other holes.

Worked great on the passanger side and meant I could easily fit the battery plate properly.

Then I went to do the same on the drivers side, oh, what's this in the way? According to the Rimmers site it's one of these http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID003507 (no. 7)

I'll have to do it from above so off comes the insulation except there are no marks! So with educated guess work I worked out roughly where one of the main holes should be and drilled pilot holes until I located the correct position, enlarging this more or less took in the other pilot holes.

I then used this to locate and drill the other holes.
Cooking on gas now - not quite, from the previous rear end damage this side of the floor isn't flat so the bolts on the inner side don't reach far enough to bolt the reinforcining plate up. Simples, I got a pair of longer bolts.
Fitted the plate.
Now to the outer plate - bother - same problem - I've now sourced the second set of longer bolts.

[Lukeus101]

Did you get that folder ok mate? :)

[talkingcars]

Yes thanks Luke
and thanks to smoky Blair too.

Was going to post last night but had the drunken phone call from Mrs TC asking me to rescue her from the demons of a night out with the girls from work.......scary stuff LOL.

[talkingcars]

Not much to report - been busy sorting GV51, the lads R100, Mrs TC's ZR and the maestro and decorating.

Last week we took FE54 to Wales for a week staying in Carmarthen for three nights and Montgomery for another two. We did some fossiling on a couple of days, visited St Davids and Snowdonia and even ended up in a massive factory outlet centre and Mrs TC didn't want to spend hours shopping - if you get a woman like that - likes cars - hates shopping - don't let go.

The car ran well - Welsh roads are so suited to the ZS180, towards west, mid and north Wales there are so few cars you can really enjoy it. The only concern I had was the car seeming to miss a few times after filling up at Porthmadog but eventually I realised I was so laid back I was taking hills and bends in 5th and not 3rd! :whistle:

[peterzs]

Good driving roads around Wales, glad its going OK.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[talkingcars]

So I've had a few issues recently - first off was the clutch hydraulics - I had intended fitting the Sheddist that came with the car but sold that, then there was the used one that came from the scrap yard but I sold that, finally there was the one on GV51 but that will be going in the maestro when I swap engines.

I was aware that the change was getting worse so had decided to get some bits togeather and make my own version. Unfortunatly (and typical for me) I'd left it too late.......

We have just had a chimney removed due to damp problems caused by the loft extension company plastering the loft room to the chimney rather than leaving the required cap! The result was our bedroom ceiling starting to collapse, we had it removed from the roof and through our bedroom and had the walls and ceiling plastered. I then replaced the floor with T&G as the 102 year old floor boards were knackered. We then rebuilt the built in wardrobes I built 10 years ago and refitted the interior with IKEA stuff. They were out of stock of 2 key components so I decided, after work to drive the 30 miles from work to the local store in south London (Croydon) to get these, not a wise idea the afternoon the M25 was closed nearby for 3 hours.

After queing for 30 minutes the clutch started to get near impossible to engage so I decided to abhort the trip and turn around, 200 yards from the turn the car wouldn't go into first so I switched off hoping to start in gear BUT the car wouldn't start, the starter was really sluggish!

I managed to roll across the road on to the ghost island. 20 minutes later I managed to start the engine and, while rolling down the slight slope slip into gear. I don't know how, but I managed to get across 2 lanes of traffic, up to the turn and on to the southbound carrage without stopping or changing gear.

Using clutchless changes I got into 5th and cruised down the whole length of the M23, I slipped into 3rd, again clutchlessly, off the main road and onto the back roads towards Horsham. Using the clutch to help going back into 4th the peddle went to the floor and stayed there.

I somehow managed the last 8 miles without the need for clutch pulling up outside the house 50 minutes and 30 miles from where the car broke down.

[peterzs]

Oops.

Hope you can sort the hydraulics.

:wave::wave::wave:

[talkingcars]

I had quick coffee and a search of the "workshop" and I found my box of O/E clutch hydraulics and exactly where I thought they should be!

At 19.07 I was back outside.

The old bent and damaged slave bracket was off quickly showing that it had bent at the back end allowing the engine to body earth become loose explaining why the car was struggling to start.

I didn't fancy changing the whole system so studied the joint between upper and low sections, it looked very much like the compression joint found on many small bore hydraulic systems. Rather than try and find the Rover "special" tool I used Mrs Robinson and her five lovely daughters!

I then realised that the old slave was missing the plunger so I guess this fell of when the peddle went to the floor.

The best of bracket and slave were fitted, air filter refitted and tools put away and it was only 20.20, nice when a problem is quickly resolved.

[peterzs]

Lucky you still had all the bits, I normally dump them out and find I wanted something a couple of days later!!!

:smile1::smile1::smile1:

[talkingcars]

Before I built the workshop I'd still be looking now.

[talkingcars]

Next we had the no start problem detailed in another thread - http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=28366

I am still having P0131 code coming up each day and P0141 which switches on the MIL every few days -TG for the Scangauge.

Once home from holiday I shall look into replacing all the probes, although I suspect the main problem is the damaged wiring behind the block which requires unplugging and repairing.

[p_b82]

Lucky one there, as i understand it it is 'easier' to clutchless change on a petrol than a diesel, I only managed 4 miles and second gear in mine when it went.

and that required a friend to drive, when I got out to push as it would not quite fire in second, and 1st would have taken us forever..... it is a very sureal experience running after you own car to jump in, knowing that it can't stop without stalling again lol.

glad you made it home, and got it sorted nice and quickly though!

[talkingcars]

The ZS180 PG1 is the only PG1 I've driven extensivly that has been able to change well clutchlessly, the ZR160 is okay but the 2.0 O series version just doesn't like it at all.

When driving manual trucks I tend to clutchless change 90% of the time because the clutch is so heavy.

If you want to change into neutral when on over run a small blip of the gas to raise the revs by a couple of hundred RPM helps, or sometimes even makes it possible.

It is a skill I'd recomend practicing when the clutch is working for such events.

[talkingcars]

Next came the exhaust.

The one that came with the car was blowing a lot and I suspected that it was the flexi joint as the system hung quite low and caught on the speed humps (read as Himalayan foothills) on the way into work. Normally I avoid them but on the day the sensors failed I caught one quite hard as I was rushing home to get a job offer conformation letter (I got the job but turned it down).

I had the Powerflow duplex system I'd had made up for the mk1 that I wanted to fit so with a week before the annual run to the M-in-L and the blow was getting too much I decided to change it over.

Friday night after work I parked the car with the front wheel on the kerb to raise it up a bit, tried to reach the joint for the rear box, decided it was easier to pop the wheel off and was then amazed how easily the bolts came undone and the rear box came off.

My son arrived at this point to give me a hand, mostly passing spanners etc.

The wheel went back on, the back came down, the front went up and I slid underneath to do the middlebox to cat bolts, the O/S one came undone easily but the N/S one managed a couble of turns and seized up, proberbly not helped by working from the O/S.

I decided to have a go at undoing the down pipe to cat joint to slide both pipes out as one. As soon as I got under there the skys opened so called it a day, Friday.

The following morning I was up early and started at the down pipe joint, all 3 bolts were dead easy to remove. All that was left was the post cat lambda probe. I put the spanner on it to find it wasn't even hand tight - the source for the blow!

[talkingcars]

Then came reasembly.

I had bought all new gaskets, clamps and hangers, these turned out to be shorter by about 30% than the old ones which goes a long way to explain why the system was so low.

I roughly assembled the rear and mid sections, powerflow made this as a slip over joint, and it went togeather like a ring on a finger. I then did the same for the cat and to the down pipe. It must have looked funny with me lying under the car lifting bits of exhaust with feet, knees, hands, etc. while I attached the hangers.

I got it all togeather and tightened up, attached the second tail pipe, another slide over joint and she fired up first turn of the key and settled down to a nice burble.

I went indoors to grab my phone prior to going for a test drive, just in case. There was a test messege from my lad saying he was on the way up to give me a hand - typical children!

He and Mrs TC were outside the house when I returned, both making approving noises and saying how it doesn't look too bad being 2" inside the mk2 bumper, personally I don't agree so will either be extending the pipes slightly or getting powerflow to do it.

She sounds so much nicer and has so much more mid range torque - definatly worth the effort.

It's been on for a couple of weeks and at least 3 times Mrs TC has commented on how nice it sounds. She then commentd "child" yesterday as we went through a tunnel on the motorway when I dropped the window a bit, slipped out of gear and blipped the throttle - LOL.

And the burble on high RPM overrun is superb.

[petet16]

But that's the law in tunnels

[talkingcars]

Having got the exhaust done quicker than expected and only having to use power tools to cut the bolt to seperate the cat and centre box I decided to fit the BMC CDA.

I estimated it would take half an hour, told Mrs TC it would take an hour and in the end it took 47 minutes. I forgot to take off the lower battery tray mount so will have to take it out again at some point as the bracket I made for the ECU mounts on here.

I am well impressed with the inlet tempretures so far, at speed on the motorway I'm seeing ambiant or ambiant +1. With a bit of tiding up I should see this much of the time.

[talkingcars]

Not updated this for a while as I haven't done much on her in a while.

In the second week in November one of the rear brake pads reached it's limit. Unfortunately we needed a working "proper" car ) for the impending first visit of the mother-in-law the following weekend, Mrs TC's ZR did the job. I had the nearly new calipers and discs from GV51 to fit but no time so FE54 got parked up and I used the F for myself until Christmas.

Once Christmas day was out of the way I located the bits including the braided hoses I bought for GV51 about 5 years ago, just couldn't find the plastic brackets that I need to use.

I replaced the calipers etc, left on the Monday wasn't too bad, one of the screws for the disc came out, the other required drilling but the thread span out of the hole, surprisingly the screws from GV51 were still in one of the discs so I used one of these.

Then on Tuesday I did the right, both screws were well knackered so drilled both out, "cleaned out the threads in the holes but damaged the thread at the top of the hole so the screw didn't quite grip. Apart from that it went ok, just need to find some longer screws.

[talkingcars]

I then checked the lights, all are fine except the N/S/R, after cleaning up the contacts it seams that the LED bulbs are failing AND the one for the fog fell out and into the lens!

Jobs I need to do for the MOT are fix the heater circuit for the rear lambda probe as it keeps triggering the MIL. It was damaged when the wiring for the cam sensor failed in August.

I need a new front number plate where Mrs TC reversed into it, and, then blamed me!

I shall also check for rust around the front foot wells, just in case.

The O/S/F CV joint has failed, should have got the garage to replace it when they did the boot for the last MOT. I might get them to do it this time, they only want £70 labour.

[talkingcars]

And don't let me forget to get them to bleed the brakes, as they do a complete fluid change it's £40 well spent in my book.

[peterzs]

Saves a lot of hassle, for £40.

Must admit my one goes into a garage for the usual freeing off calipers/pads.

:clap::clap::clap:

[Dan1971]

Don't forget to get them to bleed the brakes.

[talkingcars]

Once Christmas day was out of the way I located the bits including the braided hoses I bought for GV51 about 5 years ago, just couldn't find the plastic brackets that I need to use.

Found 'em. They were in a box with the door handles I had been preparing for GV51.......Can now get the braided hoses fitted and the brakes bleed.

The only other thing I've done to day is bought some new battery terminals as the cheap ones I'd bought looked tatty and the negative was missing the clamp bolt anyway, I was sure these were the primary cause of the starter being slow to turn over.

I fitted a pair of these

http://i1.adis.ws/i/washford/184450?$pm_large$

not cheap but very shiny
and she seemed to turn over a bit better.

[talkingcars]

....So far we have swapped the rear lights for the ones I smoked after I first got the MK1, the dull red suits both cars more than the bright red ones. I also swapped the bulb panels so have got LED rear lights.......

..........Finally I swapped the steering wheel cowling so I could fit the scangaugeII which has shown up that the car is running a bit cool - looks like I will be doing a thermostat change.

So after an MOT fail (http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=29159) this weekend I bought some new unsmoked rear lights and replaced the thermostat -

[peterzs]

good luck with the re-test.

;););):wizard::wizard::wizard:

[talkingcars]

Bit more meat on the story -

I did all the usual checks before booking the car in for the MOT and made sure I was happy. I went in to the garage on the Monday and asked them to bleed the brakes, replace the O/S CV joint (£80 for labour was worth it at this time of year) and the MOT. He asked if they could keep it over night as they were busy for a couple of days but as it isn't practical to get to work at 6am by public transport I booked it in for Thursday when they were quieter.

I drop the car off at 6am, put the keys through the door and cursed as I hadn't turned off the MIL light. At the end of work at 4pm I went back to pick it up, a little chuffed as they hadn't rung to say it had failed on X,Y or Z. He produced the bill with no mention of MOT! Turned out he hadn't written it down, to be fair he took a mechanic off another job to do it there and then.

Like an expectant father I sat in the waiting room, listening to them doing the emissions test thinking they are spending a long time doing that. They were as he was really surprised by the readings.

When he came back in with a long list I knew it wasn't all good.

Fail for high emissions at idle and at fast idle, no cat, brake peddle creeping down, drivers seat not moving as it was intended and both rear reflectors excessively deteriorated so that it's function is impaired.

Advisories on coating on both stop lights but not impairing light output, N/S CV boot deteriorating, EML on, rear tyre profiles different to front, exhaust mountings split (these were new in the summer) and veh has under body corrosion.

[talkingcars]

Rear lights are easy - I pop to the breakers yard and get some - they had 2 saloons and charged me £30! More than I sold the ones I had from FE54!

Cat not too bad - I have 2 here, just not the best time of year for lying under the car.

Emissions - they thought it was down to the decat but I am convinced that it is the damaged wiring for the no.1 sensor of the rear bank, same issue that caused me problems in the summer and is producing the EML light.

Drivers seat - loose bolt?

[petet16]

Does the seat slide at all, it sounds like the lever may not be disengaging the locking mechanism

[talkingcars]

The seat slid back all the way but wouldn't slide all the way foward again with someone sitting on it but did when empty. It didn't rock so suggested a problem with the runners.

I got my T50 bit out and tightened all the bolts, 3 were tight but the N/S/F bolt was about one turn loose, all tightened and it works fine.

[talkingcars]

It gets more exciting.

On the way home the fan on the aircon wouldn't swtch off!

Oh pooh - I do have a spare hedgehog so hoped that was the problem.

On friday it was fine - spooky.

I did a self test just in case - all fine.

[talkingcars]

Then on Friday night we went to the pub and had a couple and finished of the night with a lot of Rum so slept well.

Fast foward to saturday evening and my next door neighbours knocking on the door to complain about the comotion and car alarm at 3am and their lodger was going to open the window and shout at us for the noise. She also went on to complained that we constantly slam our doors - I showed her what a slammed door really sounded like. She then complained me about me sneezing. Finally she added that "all the neighbours are talking about us and one of them wanted to get a group togeather to come and confront us" but she wouldn't say who or about what.

More than slightly shocked by this we went to check with the neighbours to make sure we wern't doing anything wrong.

Someone told us that the lithuanian builder and his polish girlfriend were upset because I sometime park outside their house, on a public road, no dropped kerb and no parking restrictions. I knew this because if ever I do they block my drive.

He also told me that my alarm had gone off and he tried knocking us up so I could turn it off. Apparently it was a constant sound rather than the usual alarm sound and he thought it was going from the back of the car.

I think it must have been a soaky sounder.

However I am still asking myself why next door couldn't knock first thing in the morning to say there was an argument outside in the middle of the night and the alarm was going off. Mind you she is the one who complained about my daughter having a sleepover and even our cats upsetting her dog (they are petrified of the ugly beast) and our christmas lights.

Me, I'm the guy who knocked on their door when they moved in to advise them that neighbours who've left windows open have got broken into, they ignored me, and got broken into! Or offered the lituanian the lend of my starter pack when his van wouldn't start or told his girlfriend that her car windows were open.

And the reason for the "lynch mob", because I had 4 cars and only ever used one of them at any one time, next door have 3 vehicles and parking for 3 but only park hers on the drive, we have 3 with parking only for the F, and 3 other neighbours have 2 or 3 cars each..............

Rant over :)

[talkingcars]

And theres more

I popped the standard lights in on Saturday afternoon, an easy job except the rear fogs refuse to light - suspected BCU relay fault.

[talkingcars]

And finally for this weekend.

On Sunday I went out to refit the cat, ummed and arghed about the best way to get underneath and decided to have a look at the dodgy lambda probe first which lead me to pop the engine cover off to see what was involved in changing the non working thermostat to find it was leaking so had to be changed for the one I've had in the shed for 2 years.

That also lead to me changing the inlet for the one I got off a scrap yard ZT that had a 2010 manufacturing stamp on it so nearly new.

Car started first turn of the key and warmed up properly with no leaks and a nice warm heater as it should.
And although the old inlet wasn't noisy I'm sure the new one was quieter.

[talkingcars]

So weekend two of the MOT repairs dawned with snow on the ground!

It had melted by the time I got going so it was out with the trolly jacks and axle stands and on with the biggest water proof coat I have.

Didn't take long to change the cat but, as I knew it wouldn't, didn't sort the open loop/closed loop issue.

[carmadbaker]

You sir have the patience of a saint! She seems to be giving you no end of rubbish! Need more zed owners like you bud! i found the reason that clifford was playing up too btw, looks like water had got into the main control board and basically rusted away a quater of the board and its components! Hence why it started playing up. Swiftly found its way to the bin :)

[talkingcars]

Sorry to hear that Dan.

Pre-empting that the lambda probe would need to come out I tried to undo it with a C spanner while I was under there but it didn't budge so decided I'd need to get a lambda probe wrench or socket. While breaking for lunch (3 bacon and 2 egg sarnie) I checked online at Halfords (bicycle peddle), ECP (7 piece kit) and screwfix (a sink) to see who listed either. I tried machine mart who have several but are at least 25 miles away, their store finder said Brighton is only 7 miles.

I jumped in the F and drove to Crawley (8 miles) and checked Halfords and ECP and predictably neither had anything, they did recommend a local factors who are good for tools but pointed out that they were closed on Saturday afternoons.

Dejected I bought some crimp butt terminals from ECP and came home.

I was either going to have to make the spanner work or cut the wires and use a socket.
I didn't want to use a hammer to start the probe moving as the last time I did that, on the F, it took the thread out of the hole which was replacement manifold time!

I offered up the spanner, hit it the wrong way with my fist, hit it the right way with my fist again and it moved.

Brought it indoors and repaired the damaged sections of wire with the butt terminals and went to refit. As it is tight under the car I plugged the probe lead into the loom and lowered it down, got under the car and teased it through only for the plug to separate as the locking tab had dropped off when I undid it.

I repeated plugging from above and the second time managed to get it all refitted.

Time to road test - I only drove about 500 yards before the loop started switching - success - the scangauge temp was only reading 67' at this point so I thought I was on a winner - 4 miles of dual carriage way and still switching - then it went open loop and stayed open loop :( .

When I got home I popped the bonnet to see that the plug had separated - today I'll reconnect it and use one of Mrs TCs headbands to hold it together - there are loads around the bathroom and bedroom so I doubt she'll miss one.

Tomorrow is retest - lets see what happens.

[talkingcars]

That didn't work - even ensuring the plug is in she isn't switching after a 10 minute drive, guess the probe is coming out again and I'll replace all the wire :(

[talkingcars]

Nor did swapping the plug over onto the probe that came off the F - think I shall be buying a new probe - a little frustrated.

[M17TT180]

One of those fist shaking sweating moments right there.

[petet16]

Frustrating

[talkingcars]

I left 40 foot tyre marks leaving one road junction to left off a bit of steam, worked a bit.

I've done a click and collect on a probe from ECP but I do wonder why the OBD2 fires up codes for the heating crcuit on both front and rear sensors.

[talkingcars]

So £47 and a bit of lying under the car in the road when the thermostat shows -0.6 later and we are still open loop.

Check both both probes and wrigle the wires and shes going closed loop.............

[petet16]

Damaged wiring you think ?

[talkingcars]

Definatly, as long as it holds togeather long enough for the emmisions retest it'll go on the list of fixes required.

[talkingcars]

FFS

Brakes bleed properly and working.
Seat OK.
Cat on.
Emissions passed.
Rear reflectors ok

BUT

no brake lights and no rear fogs.

I spent a bit of time outside the garage trying to work out what was wrong but electrical faults are not easy to trace without any info except the diagram on the underside of the engine bay fuse box, the internal listing was missing when I got the car.

In the end I gave up and came home driving as if I had no brakes.

On the way someone pulled out in front of me so I went to jab the horn - no horn :(
The flip side is that it made it easier to work out where the fault was, the fuse in the engine bay had gone.

Now we have brake lights and fog lights but still no horn.

If you've been paying attention you'll remember that I had an issue a couple of weeks ago with the horn sounding continuously for ten minutes - that was the day after the first test, next day I swapped the lights and had no fogs, don't remember checking the brake lights.

I guess that the heavy rain that night got into the horn, internally earthing it causing it to sound until eventually the fuse gave way.

[grimmy]

Not having the best of times with it right now have you james?At least you have got on top of most of them by now,as for the horn they are attrocious I am on my fourth horn on my car suppose at some point I should try and relocate it to somewhere the water won't get to as much.:slap:

[talkingcars]

The first time Mrs TC heard the horn she laughed, I have a twin horn that came off a meastro I broke to on at some point.

I was wondering why I didn't notice the symbol on the fuse box so I went and checked, it is a fusion of rear fogs and brake like symbols and impossible to read with my eye sight.

[talkingcars]

MOTed and now taxed :)

Emissions are spot on, CO at tickover is NIL, Nadda, zero.

Now to get it back to decat and smoked lights.

[andys1981]

good to hear james

[talkingcars]

Thanks Andy.

It's a long time since I've had a chance to open her up, I'd forgotten how could the ZS is until I tried to get home in a hurry today, all the hassle faded away.

[talkingcars]

The tinted lights went straight back on but the decat is still hanging around .

The latest drama has been the air con.
When I picked her up from Sam nearly two years ago he mentined that the fan sometimes made a strange noise so he just switched it off and back on, I have been doing the same while planning to swap in the one that was still residing in the remaining hulk of GV51.

Over the last couple of weeks the fan hasn't been coming on for quite a while after starting the car and the last couple of days not at all. In the back of my mind was the fan not spinning would put more current through the hedgehog causing it to burn out.

Ideally in this warmer weather I'd be driving the MGF but I think work would suss that I have actually got two and the broken one sitting in the works car park is a bit of a rouse.
This means I have to take in the ZS which, being a black car, is a bit warm inside after sitting in the sun all day so I could do with the air con working.

Tonight was the final straw, she was 38'c inside when I got in!

When I got home I we had a quick discussion and Mrs TC said it wouldn't take long to sort her car for Saturday. If only she knew......

I made a coffee, dropped the fan out and it seemed quite stiff so I shot around to my sons and dropped the one out of GV51 (I also picked up the spoiler and the headlights ready to take up to POL).

I came back and drank the coffee, tried the older fan which also didn't work.
I then started searching the shed for the spare hedgehog from the abandond "climate control in a Mk1" project, only took 30 minutes but it was exactly where I didn't think it would be.

I then nearly gave up trying to split the plug on the spare one, but eventually I won. Knowing the correct methord made the one in the car much easier to deal with.

Testing it all before reinstalling showed it all working, and all back togeather I was getting cooled air out of the vents - happy days and all in an hour, half of which was in the shed.

[talkingcars]

and to round off the day - I'm now supping an Old Speckled Hen, I never drink on a school night, must be getting POL fever.

[Dan1971]

Result

[ZS]

Can I have the old broken hedgehog please? :bow:

[talkingcars]

Can I have the old broken hedgehog please? :bow:

No, I plan to refurb it and keep it as a spare.

(unless the offer is big enough).

[ZS]

No, I plan to refurb it and keep it as a spare.

(unless the offer is big enough).

That's cool, it seems the IC in mine has gone, so only options are a new one (which can't find anywhere!) or find a broken one and refurb it with the hope it's only the "normal" failure in the second hand one...

[talkingcars]

Sam - there is a chap called Bren on MGRover.org who is taking a hedgehog with him to sell, not sure how to find him.

I'll also have my broken one.

James

[talkingcars]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/q87/s480x480/11188475_1098736040143662_7467712239003690005_n.jp g?oh=c37ed87cd304ba37dfe1acfc2ee446ed&oe=55D533FF&__gda__=1440113898_5b608046097df785ec59ec4713a5e93 d

[carmadbaker]

i remember buying it at about 25k ish :(

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/dan4bex/S6300471.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/dan4bex/media/S6300471.jpg.html)

how she looked when i purchased the old beast
I really really miss this car :( if i could have any of my cars back (in as bought condition/mileage/age) FE54 would be it!

[talkingcars]

She doesn't look a lot worse when she's been washed although the damage on the O/S/R is showing where the filler has popped again.

[talkingcars]

Feed up with the puney mk2 horn (and that it doesn't currently work) so I picked up the twin horns from a MGF

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/talkingcars/temporary_zpsawbsuxrw.jpg (http://s169.photobucket.com/user/talkingcars/media/temporary_zpsawbsuxrw.jpg.html)

I flipped them over and drilled an extra hole in the brackets so I could fit them slightly proud of the radiator. I have fitted them where the upper mounts of the O/E airfilter housing bolt using the MGF bolts as they are shorter and wont dig into the top of the radiator.

Next job is to wire them up.

[talkingcars]

Still to wire up the horns, I want to change the relys in the BCU first.

More recently I haven't used FE54 much as I have been having problems with the battery draining, I'd jump it off one of the other cars or the starter pack and run it a bit to put some charge in the battery. Come the morning there wouldn't be enough oompah to get her going.

A couple of weeks ago I took the battery off and gave it a recondition which went as it should so the battery appeared to be ok.

My assumption was that there was a battery drain somewhere so I decided to sort it out, again I took the battery off and gave it a 2amp charge up to 14.4v. Before I put it back in the car the following morning I rechecked the voltage - 12.2v!

Guess it's new battery time......

[adam]

Just had to replace the battery in mine too, had a Yuasa on it and it's died after a year! I've replaced with a larger one now to help cold starting but it barely fits in the tray area so I guess a battery to boot conversion is needed!

[jc600]

Nice build thread, I'd recommend a Bosch S4 battery. better cold crank. Got one on my Escort and fires up straight away now even if it's been sat a couple of weeks. :)

[talkingcars]

I have a Halfords but I think it is out of warranty, it was a replaced under warranty anyway.

I have been looking at diesel ones, they are £54 from eurocarparts against £45 for O/E spec for thsseir cheap ones.

[petet16]

I've got a 75 diesel battery, but it won't fit if you still have the standard battery tray in the engine bay

[talkingcars]

I have a Halfords but I think it is out of warranty, it was a replaced under warranty anyway.

I have been looking at diesel ones, they are £54 from eurocarparts against £45 for O/E spec for thsseir cheap ones.

The warranty runs out on the Halfords battery on the 22nd of Feb BUT when I checked the voltage on it yesterday it is the same voltage (measured to two decimal places) as it was in October.

I've got a 75 diesel battery, but it won't fit if you still have the standard battery tray in the engine bay

I got the diesel one, as the battery is now in the boot the extra length is not a problem (except where one places it on top of the number plate lead - http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=30482) - the car now starts better as I'd hope.

[talkingcars]

I've been a bit busy recently with bits and pieces.

With the MOT coming up at the start of February I decided to go for an early one before Christmas to give me the long break to fix any problems. and there were some -

1) Leak from exhaust post cat - replaced the gasket and bolts for a tighter fit.
2) Loose exhaust - refitted or replaced rubber hangers.
3) Rust perforation under drivers footwell - was a pin ***** hole so was easy to sort.
4) Rust on engine subframe - not even sure what this means.
5) No horn - sorted - http://www.themgzs.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=30442

There were also advisories for
1) Damaged wiring for post cat O2 sensor - have done a cover up on this for the time being
2) Cloudy head lights - Maguire's headlight stuff made an improvement.
3) Rust under passenger footwell - will sort when the weather is better.
4) Discs and pads worn but not to excess
5) Tape on rear wing covering damage..................it came like that honest.

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been as good as I hoped so I only managed to finish the above yesterday - car is booked in on Wednesday and if she passes she'll get the new discs and pads.

[talkingcars]

So yesterday Mrs TC wanted to go out for a romantic walk around one of the local historic towns and we ended up in Arundel.

After a couple of hours we returned to FE54 see wouldn't start, happily turned over but no start.

I checked the codes on the scan gauge, P0138 and P0141 which refer to the broken wiring on the rear O2 sensor and P0340 - cam sensor!

I had this 18 months ago when it transpired the wiring for the rear exhaust manifold O2 sensor had been damaged on the exhaust. I checked the three engine management fuses in the engine bay fuse box, sure enough one had blown.

I took out the one for the hazard lights and popped it in the slot and the car started. As we drove down the road with me apologising for not going on somewhere for a meal I demonstrated what I had done by switching on the hazard lights. Um, they worked.

Then I realised the radio and the clock weren't working..............ops, wrong fuse.

Watching the scan gauge as I drove showed that the engine management fuse had gone again (car was running open loop as it had no O2 info), just as well it will still run without a camshaft signal, just wont start.

We got home as it got dark so I grabbed a torch and peaked down the back of the engine and sure enough the O2 sensor was resting on the exhaust manifold. I reached down (watch that hot manifold) and pulled the wiring up and away from the exhaust, replaced the fuse and she's been fine today (6 starts and running closed loop).

Last weekend when I tided up the wiring for the rear sensor I tucked the offending wiring into a spare clip, that was a mistake.

[talkingcars]

And an update to the MOT situation - pass with advisories for front pads and discs on limit and a broken mount on the cat - I didn't need an excuse to put the decat back on or some better discs.

[talkingcars]

Just got hold of some ZT folding mirrors.................

[Lukeus101]

Got any recent pics of her? Would be good to see it again :)

[talkingcars]

Got any recent pics of her? Would be good to see it again :)

Not at the moment, I'll do some at some point.

[Lukeus101]

Will look forward to it :beer:

[carmadbaker]

Your commitment to this car is impeccable, never wavers!
Miss this car VERY much
Sounded beautiful on the piper cat back, decat and manis
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/dan4bex/th_V271208_1944.mp4 (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/dan4bex/V271208_1944.mp4)

[talkingcars]

And an update to the MOT situation - pass with advisories for front pads and discs on limit and a broken mount on the cat - I didn't need an excuse to put the decat back on or some better discs.

So last week I replaced the discs and pads, the discs came off GU51 when I first had her and fitted groved discs, the pads are EBC yellowstuff - fuel consumption has gone up as braking distances have reduced ;)

[talkingcars]

16-3-14 I've got a new fog switch c/o a mk2 ZR at the local scrappy, also got a second HRW switch which may become adapted...........

Today I've gone to fit the tow bar from GV51 knowing that it'd proberbly be too short, not a problem as I could get a longer swan neck, however it sits too high and would require the bumper to be cut which is a big no.

Frustratingly Thule don't seem to fit the version they do for the mk2 45 will fit.

This is even more frustrating as the nearside exhaust mount is welded to the nearside towbar bracket.

Gonna mess in my shed instead.

30-3-14 Towbars - £160 because this ones a tad wrong - pah - I'm gonna engineer me some extender plates so have bought some scrap 8mm steel plate - cutting it will be easy but it looks like I'll be buying a piller drill stand so I can drill the holes, oh well, another tool..............

Yesterday I happened to see the back of my car from a distance and thought that the exhausts sit at the same height on the mk2 and the mk1 so why doesn't the tow bar.

Today I was at home as we were having smart meters fitted so I dragged the tow bar out of the shed and 3 hours it was on the car, would have been quicker if I hadn't been also dealing with "meter man".

I had to loosely fit every bolt and gradually go round tightening them up as the rear end isn't as square as it should be. And the tow hitch was a b1tch to get on as it is against the bottom of the bumper so will need a bit of fettling to be perfect.

However I can go and get me an engine for the F.

[peterzs]

Good to see you still have the love.

:):):)

[talkingcars]

Friday night - panic setting in (ok, a tad worried), not wired up the plug for the tow bar.....

and I need to use the trailer tomorrow morning before 8.....

so

as it gets dark I'm trying to identify wiring colours and Mrs TC wants a lift at 7.30..........

It seemed to be ok.

[talkingcars]

Saturday morning came so it was down to my rented garage to hitch up the trailer -

both tyres are flat

and half the lights on the trailer aren't working!

I dragged the trailer home (800 yards) and started trying to find a resolution to the flat tyres.

I rapidly realised that we weren't going get this sorted and 150 miles up the road in an hour and a half so contacted the chap with the MGF parts and put it off until next week.

Instead I did this -

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/talkingcars/WP_20161009_17_14_46_Rich%202_zpslqa3wlq8.jpg (http://s169.photobucket.com/user/talkingcars/media/WP_20161009_17_14_46_Rich%202_zpslqa3wlq8.jpg.html )

[talkingcars]

"What have you done?" you may ask.

This -

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/talkingcars/WP_20161008_12_22_47_Rich_zps5x5ygywp.jpg (http://s169.photobucket.com/user/talkingcars/media/WP_20161008_12_22_47_Rich_zps5x5ygywp.jpg.html)

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/talkingcars/temporary_zpslvqkc7hl.jpg (http://s169.photobucket.com/user/talkingcars/media/temporary_zpslvqkc7hl.jpg.html)

I'm really pleased with this, and using bits of "rubbish", the hinges are from a broken floor socket and the box for the light socket was a broken exterior RCD socket.

[p_b82]

nice and tidy way of doing that so it is not visible when not in use - like it :)

[ZS]

Mains power (3 pin plug socket) as well? Is that so you can charge your phone whilst sitting in the trailer? :trampoline:

[talkingcars]

Not quite but I am looking for a socket so I can plug in jump leads rather than uncovering the battery that is buried in all the rubbish in the boot and if ever I get around to the LPG the filler will be there too.

[talkingcars]

So nothing to report recently really, I haven't been driving her because she desperately needs an oil change, gearbox fluid change and one of the CV boots has split leading to a CV joint starting to fail.

I should of been doing these but got engrossed in changing the sub frames on my F to TF (hydragas to conventional springs) which involved breaking a TF and ended up buying a later more powerful engine which requires a rewire of half the car....

And before I'd finished Mrs TC came up with the bright idea of a hot tub (I'm not really objecting as I have arthritis) and she wanted it on a deck, not just big enough for the tub but 35 square meters.....

https://scontent.flhr3-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19420591_1794341593916433_1021177253409263453_n.jp g?oh=3727b2fb35a5acaf936c8070c6e3e251&oe=59C32199

What you can't see is the 5 cubic meters of removed soil to get the depth for the supporting joists or the 80 concrete blocks laid in the corner to support the tub.

All the rubbish had to gout through the conservatory in buckets and all the inbound materials came over the fence (and our neighbours garden when they were out) using my hiab crane truck.

We finished decking yesterday and Mrs TC painted it with sealant stain today while I did the above jobs on FE54.

or I would have done - despite regularly starting her the battery was completely dead, a booster pack wouldn't work, a jump from the ZR wouldn't work and even the battery from the F connected by jumps leads was a waste of time. She wasn't even turning.

When the first coat of sealant had dried (and the F1 finished) I could get to my spare batteries, fitted the one from the TF (charged in January) and she started first turn of the key! Unfortunately too late to do anything useful.

And one little moan - one of my wonderful neighbours decided to report FE54 as not taxed and abandoned so I had a letter, upon return from holiday politely informing me the car is untaxed and will be removed, I don't know where the council checked by a quick on the DVLA site confirmed tax and a quick check on askMID confirmed insurance.

[stamford]

Hot tub, hope it's not a 5 minute wonder, most people I know have used them very little and sold them.

So the ZS was all legal then? Even a neighbour can find out if it's MOT'd so no excuse, obviously not computer savvy!

[peterzs]

Always one.

[Dan1971]

My, what a big deck you have .... ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9858ev8E94

[talkingcars]

So the ZS was all legal then? Even a neighbour can find out if it's MOT'd so no excuse, obviously not computer savvy!

You'd have thought the council would have checked before sending out threatening letters.

It's the second time they have done it, the first time was the ZR.

[talkingcars]

Two months in and the tub gets used almost every day, the only time we don't is when it's very windy, windy enough to move the parasol we use when it's wet.

[peterzs]

:fish::fish::fish::fish:

:):):)

[talkingcars]

And the car has had a bit of love too.

I got the garage to swap the failed CV joints and plate the rusty jacking point, although I can do both it isn't practical outside here parked on the double yellows.

They also did the MOT (failed on front number plate being blue?).

Last night I did an oil change, today I intend to do the gear box fluid.

[talkingcars]

From picking up the keys to putting them down again was 55 minutes, and that included pouring the used oil out of the oil drain can into an empty can to measure the volume and to take to the tip.

I was surprised how thin the old oil was, although it was as black as expected.
I got out 1.8 litres so was defiantly due to be topped up.

[talkingcars]

The above needs clarification - that was changing the gearbox oil.

The gearbox is much quieter now and more willing to go in to first and reverse, not perfect but better.

And in preparation of going to Spain tomorrow I popped into the local Kwik fit and got the A/C topped up, only to hear about the terrorism in Barcelona where we are heading later next week - thoughts with all those involved.

[talkingcars]

Sad day today - I made a 375 faultless mile round trip in FE54 to buy her replacement, my ten years in ZS's is coming to an end.

[ZS]

Sad day today - I made a 375 faultless mile round trip in FE54 to buy her replacement, my ten years in ZS's is coming to an end.

What did you get instead? Sad to see her go, I still miss that car, but sometimes needs must

[Dan1971]

Wow.....no for sale thread.... where has it gone and what do you have now?

[stamford]

Didn't see that coming.

[talkingcars]

I've gone for an Alfa Romeo 159 but won't pick it up until mid April.

The ZS needs some TLC but I don't really have the time with the F and the Maestro.
I do have one person interested in FE54 but it may well be advertised once the Alfa arrives.
Mrs TC's ZR will also be going.

[stamford]

Sounds like a nice change. Sometimes we need them.

[p_b82]

Hope the new car gives you as much joys as the Zs has over the past 10 years :)

[talkingcars]

I hope so too but I do still have two F's and a T16 maestro to play with.

[peterzs]

always loved the Alfa's, shame the ZS and ZR are going, but we all move on. Least the F's and T16 will keep you out of trouble.

:):):)

[talkingcars]

Another sad day, FE54 has gone, sold to someone who I know will give her the TLC I couldn't.

[peterzs]

:no::no::no:

[talkingcars]

Hopefully the new owner is happy, if they are it's :):):)

[ZS]

Hopefully the new owner is happy, if they are it's :):):)

I reckon the new owner will be happy once they have spent a weekend or two working on her :)