My 1st ZS, Damaged project...

[Southside_ZS]

Hi all, Quite new to this site. Im a member on most of the MG and Rover sites out there, Some people may know me. lol.

Anyway In the past few months i've started buying damaged MG-Rovers and fixing them up as they get written off so easily now a days and its a shame to see some good cars go to waste. I do a proper job on them, Im a fully qualified mechanic and learnt a fair bit of bodywork at college. Only thing i dont do is the painting but i've got a good friend who has his own bodyshop so he does all the paintwork for me dirt cheap. So far this year i've done a ZT, a ZR and now just bought this ZS. First ZS i've owned, had loads of MG-R's in the past excpet a ZS. Anyway picked it up off ebay for £850 looking like this...

http://i20.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/f5/08/ffd1_1.JPG

http://i23.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/f5/09/0134_1.JPG

http://i8.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/f5/09/0261_1.JPG

Its the 1.8+ only got 33k on the clock. Needs o/s/r suspension sorting but all parts for that are included in the sale. Needs an o/s/r door and theres a dent in the o/s/f wing which may pop out. When i get it home i'll give it a good going over and i'll post pics of progress as i go along. Another one saved from the breakers anway. :thumbsup:

[XPCobra]

good to see them being saved from the scrapyards, just hope you fix it properly and dont take shortcuts, and that the chassis isnt damaged/twisted

[Southside_ZS]

good to see them being saved from the scrapyards, just hope you fix it properly and dont take shortcuts, and that the chassis isnt damaged/twisted

Never cut corners mate. I like to do them properly im very fussy. Chassis isn't bent just the rear trailing arm.

I bought the ZT looking like this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/8253_4.jpg

Finished it off like this..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture236.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture237.jpg

Cant find the pics of my ZR damaged but it was front end, now looking like this...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture273.jpg

[XPCobra]

has the chassis been measured? or just looked at by eye ( for paint/sealer cracks etc)

[stamford]

It's good to see MG's being given a second chance, far too many are being written off. Keep us informed of the good deeds :D

[Witnes$]

It's good to see MG's being given a second chance, far too many are being written off. Keep us informed of the good deeds :D

Yeah agreed, It takes so little damage to write them off these days.

[Southside_ZS]

has the chassis been measured? or just looked at by eye ( for paint/sealer cracks etc)

Its only Cat D, if it was chassis damaged it would be Cat C on an 02 plate

[Z Scotland]

That looks like a quality job on the zt & zr:fez:

[Southside_ZS]

Got this delivered today. Alot less work than i was expecting to be honest. Rear suspension wise all thats wrong is the rear trailing arm has kinked pulling the wheel in and the rear arm between the bottom of the strut and the underbody has bunt round on the bush. Nothing structual at all which im pleased about. This pic shows what i mean...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture293.jpg

Also gave it a wash as it turned up exactly as it looks in the 1st post i made. It was caked in mud. Washed it all off to reveal the whole car covered in scuffs. Every panel. I was gutted thinking i was going to have to have pretty much the whole car painted. But with a bit of elbow grease, a bottle of G3 and a bottle of Meguires all the marks came off which im pleased about and happy now :D. Shame really as the cars looks to have been well cared for, full service history e.t.c its just once they get written off the insurance and salvage guys just throw them about and dont care if they get damaged in transport or in the yards. Anyway only did the one side, roof, bonnet and rear as the other side and front bumper need paiting so wasn't worth cleaning up.

Heres the side i did, sideskirt just needs 2 new clips then can be clipped back on..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture294.jpg

Then i got one with the ZR in and the ZS looking sorry for itself with broken number plate courtesy of delivery driver and badly placed ratchet straps :evil:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture295.jpg

[Boot Hill Bandit]

Will you sell the ZS once its finished dude? :shifty: Would be worth your while keeping us updated on all the progress and bits as you are doing now ;)

Jim

[mattie007]

Sure thats the same ZS!
Amazing job! :smart:

You could earn a decent living out of doing this!

[carl-mgzs]

that G3 works wonders with paint work!l ooking good!

[SharronB]

Wow ! your very talented hun! you should do it full time, its nice to see someone care about the MG's ! its a shame to see them go to the scrapyard when really there is sod all wrong with them.
Keep up the good work! (and more pics!) :clap2:

[Southside_ZS]

You can see one of the marks i had to get out on the 1st pic in my 1st post. Going down from by the bootlid across the quater under the petrol flap. These were all over the car. G3 FTW :trampoline:

[stamford]

Good work fella!

[davidkp]

good work mate. i did this once to an old r200 that my neighbours were selling, just needed a new front quater pannel and bumper. got those bits from the scrappies for cheap.

bought the car for 150 and sold it for 600

great if you're a student like me :D

will you be selling the zed mate? i've seen you on themgzr and saw you were fixing the zed, never knew that you did it pro

[Boot Hill Bandit]

hows things going dude?

Jim

[sarah]

wow, you've done a brilliant job of those cars and the ZT looks amazing...

well done to you :thumbsup:

[Andyf]

I would love to be able to do stuff like that, good to see Zed's being kept on the road, nice one

[Southside_ZS]

Not done any work on it since last weekend other thn getting some new clips for the sideskirt and clipping it back on. I work 9-5 mon to fri so i only really get weekends to work on them. More of a hobby than anything else. Im one of these people that likes to keep busy all the time.

Anyway picked up a new rear door in the right colour yesterday for £30 off a 45. May have a front door lined up aswell so should get them fitted on sun and i'll start the suspension strip down aswell.

[JIMZS180]

Outstanding job on the ZT...almost showroom condition!!!

[Southside_ZS]

Well, stripped suspension down today. Few seized bolts slowed work down a bit but all stripped in the end. Need to take both arms to a garage now to get the drum taken off one and the disc setup swapped off the bent one onto the good one. I would do it myself but bolts are way to tight and my airguns nowhere near powerful enough.

Heres a pic of the two, new and old. You can see the bush bent and the actual arm kinked....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture299.jpg

Also got a new rear door. Theres a couple of small dents in it which need sorting but its the right colour which saved me alot of hassle...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture300.jpg

[stamford]

The fooked one is well out of shape. No damage to the chassis then? Just shows how stiff the chassis actually is.

[Southside_ZS]

The fooked one is well out of shape. No damage to the chassis then? Just shows how stiff the chassis actually is.


Nope, luckily the bushes are all placed perfectly and took all the impact. Everything had just twisted round on the bushes rather than damaging the bodywork, quite clever really.

[Southern Storm]

A proper MG saviour. Well done that man.

[Southside_ZS]

Just a quick one, pretty much finished it off today with new front door and wing, just got to fit the new MG badge on the front grill then get a new numberplate. Need to give it a another good valet aswell as its been sitting on my drive a while and its filthy. MOT runs out August so im going to put 13months on it the end of this month then sell it on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/Southside_86/Picture307.jpg

Bring on the next one :mml:

[stamford]

Top job there!

I take it you have decent supplier of used parts then ;)

[Maxxed_Ross]

you are some bloke, I wish I had the time and space to be doing that

very nice work!

[rbull51]

good stuff. another mg saved....

[Southside_ZS]

Top job there!

I take it you have decent supplier of used parts then ;)

Yeah myself, lol. Got a storage container with a fair few panels in. If i see bits cheap on ebay e.t.c i buy them in just incase i pcik a car up in the future that needs the bits.

Just to list a few i've got 2 mk2 ZR front bumpers, 1 mk1 zr rear bumper, 1 mk1 25 rear bumper, 1 mk2 25 front bumper, 1 mk1 25 front bumper, 1 mk2 25/zr smooth tailgate, pair of mk2 zr/25 headlights, Set of ZT V8 18" alloys, 2 sets of mk2 ZS 180 wheels, 2 sets of 17" straights, complete ZT front suspension setup, plus loads of other bits and bobs. :smartass:

[Maxxed_Ross]

good grief! That's some haul of bits

Where is this storage container? Got a postcode for it? (lol only joking)

[Southside_ZS]

I could do with the car off my drive asap really now as i need the room. If anyones interested i'd let it go now for £1550. Its mot'd until aug 28th. If not i'll mot it end of this month and put 13months on it. I'll be advertising it for around £1800ono then though.

[stamford]

Well, it sounds like you have your head screwed on right for sure!

I was a bit cryptic in my original question..................as for the decent supplier bit...............I think you may know who I was referring to :whistle: