Clown car
 

So this is my clown car that I picked up last Thursday....

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps81648000.jpg

Thought I'd start a thread to document how she progresses.

Initial thoughts, I love the mk2 ZS and this really did fit the bill of what I wanted, low-ish mileage on 62k, 1.6 so cheap to run and I didn't pay a lot for it at all. However the bad points...

- lashings of purple
- speakers almost all blown
- sloppy gearstick
- Fly eyed headlights
- headlights misty, scratched and melted
- HID kit
- LOUD Duplex exhuast
- suspension has been 'played with'
- heaters don't blow hot
- Big scratch on boot
- Broken rear door handles

So a few niggles to fix. I've already de-stickered it, de-wind deflectored it, de-HID'd it, fixed one of the rear handles as it came with a replacement (although it was a Honda item which is a different shape internally) and have the following goodies coming in the post and bought...

Dark Ice sloppy gearstick bush, new heater resistor, new headlights, new interior light, black mesh, spray paint for purple bits, new headlight bulbs.

I aim to make her a bit more subtle so probably going to remove the rear wing, unsure whether to keep or just sell, remove the duplex and fit something a bit quieter and single pipe. Want to fit some coilovers and eventually will fit my ITB's, Emerald and some vvc exhaust cams in a year or so's time.

So i'll keep you all updated with pics as and when i take them! :mml:

Not a bad base to start from, not liking the purple much but the wheels seem to look okay. Plenty of things on the 'to do list'.

Yup, lots to do but it gives me something to tinker with which is great. I've missed tinkering with my car and when I had the BRM you couldn't tinker too much without losing the BRM-ness of it. So this is a perfect canvass :D

Used to belong to my mate michael. Drives nice!

Yeah I've heard that he owned it. It does drive nicely apart from the sloppy gearstick, knocking from suspension and rubbish tyres, lol. I don't exactly trust it in a corner at the moment which is why I'm looking for some coilovers and possibly fitting some of my BRM wheels which have decent rubber on.

Are you sure the suspension has been messed with?
Looks about standard from here.
If you measure the distance from centre of the hub to the arch we can compare.

I'd keep the boot spoiler, without it you car will just look like a MGed Rover 45.

Suspension has definitely been played with, it knocks over every bump on the road and has some weird handling characteristics in corners. I've no faith in it tbh, hence looking for some coilovers.

Brand new suspension on ebay at a decent price -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGZS-Front...item2322864360

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGZS-Front...item232286479d

The seller is South Lakes Minis who are better than Rimmers IMHO.

so did you not buy the car off michael then,was it sold to somebody else first,then they have sold it on?

Cheers Mr Talking.

Michael sold it to the guy down south for 1800ish. Lost a fair amount on it.

I bought it from a chap in Grantham for £950, bit of a bargain even with the niggles.

Was being advertised using the same pics, but owner in Lincs ... He had it up for £1000, so either there's something wrong with it, or the purple was simply too much for him !

Yup, that's the chap from Grantham. His missus bought it and decided it was too slow, with them moving house too he needed to sell quick. As I've said there's a fair few niggles but nothing that can't be sorted with a bit of time and effort.

Certainly nothing insurmountable there, look forward to how it develops:)

I object to it being called a clown! Those things are scary, this is not lol!

Ok, maybe clown is a bit harsh but it does make me laugh every time I look at it :trampoline:

Interesting problem this morning, I pushed the button to lower the window about 3" which was fine then it wouldn't go back up. Just had the doorcard off and it's all fine now.

Don't you just love MG-Rovers! :D

Randomness, love it, I used the wash wipe this morning, normally you get 5 wipes + 1 after an interval, the wipers wouldn't stop until I switched the ignition off, opened and closed the drivers door.:laugh:

Love it! :bounce:

That just reminded me as well, I lifted my wiper away from the windscreen this morning to scrap off the condensation and the blade fell to pieces. Another niggle to fix!

On the plus side bits have started arriving at home to start fixing and tinkering with her and I've managed to knock £70 off the price of some brand new KW V1 coilovers, whoop!

That may be an SCU issue, similar happened to mine

So it looks as though my tinkering with the door card today has done something to the interior handle as I had to exit through the passenger side door tonight, haha! Another job for me to look at.

In better news some replacement headlight goodness arrived...

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...pse7f4528c.jpg

Nice headlights, new, or refurbed ?.

Second hand, need a bit of cleaning and probably some polishing to brighten up a bit more but they're a million times better than the melted things that are currently on there.

I think possibly so, it's done the wiper thing twice, and each time the horn has sounded when locking the car beforehand.

I've just jury rigged the drivers inside door handle now, looks like the previous owner has broken all clips on the handle!!

New one on order :D

No hanging about, headlights look pretty fresh for second hand:)

Is your sounder on pete?

Mine ?, yes, could be sogginess I 'spose.

How bad are the ones that are on there mate? They worth selling or completely Knackered?
Dan

Bad! All marked where the fly-eye stuff had been on for too long and also the HID's have melted the outer lens creating a nice white patch and the plastic is rippled if you run your hand over it.

Very bad then lol no problem :)

Aye just thought it might be worth a looky see:)

I might pop it out and have a look see inside it.

More bits arrived today; xsara washer jets, wipers, interior light, new expansion cap and new interior door handle! Whoot!

Few jobs done so list is getting smaller....

New headlights - bought, arrived, to be fitted
New bulbs - bought, will fit to new headlights
Fix sloppy gearstick - bought, to be fitted
Fix heater resistor - bought, waiting for
Get rid of purple mesh - bought, to be fitted
Get rid of purple mirrors - spray bought
Fit xsara washer jets - have to look in to why these just trickle out so not fitted for now
Fix/replace speakers
Look in to electric windows (very slow)
Replace exhaust with single pipe
Remove mega-spoiler
Tidy up engine bay - stainless bolts here, to be fitted
New brakes
New suspension - ordered

Adam the washers are due to the pump having all the power of an asthmatic hamster. Some have changed for a ford focus pump others have a pump for each nozzle. The windows is due to the rubbers needing some lubrication:)

Ah, cheers matey! Good info there, looks like I'll be upgrading the pump in that case.

For the washers it may be worth fitting a one way valve between the pump and nozzles, it improved mine with a standard pump, but I eventually swapped the standard pump for a better one.

I'd make sure that the hoses are all clear before messing with pumps etc.
I still have the standard pump, anything more powerful would be too much.

Ok cheers guys, I'll give the pipes, etc a once over!

In other news these arrived :joker:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ps24b22cb6.jpg