My ZS 180 thread

[Ricwin]

Originally Posted by pheelay

An amp for the fronts is a very worthwhile upgrade. It's not too difficult to run uprated cable into the doors if you would rather ditch the OEM cables, by drilling a new hole through the door-to-body electrical connection. I'm not convinved that it makes a big difference. The bigger problem, I found, is ridding the door of rattles. I have 6.5" Focals in the 180 mounted on 22mm MDF spacers but they rattle like crazy if the bass isn't reduced right down.

To minimize potential rattles from concentrated areas (such as inside the doors) I'm considering using a sub to disperse the deep low tones throughout the car more evenly :P
Besides, my musical preference is more long the lines of classical and rock; rather than hippety hoppety or such like. So massive amounts of bass are not a requirement. A small active sub was more than enough in my previous car.

[Ricwin]

Fitted the rear crossovers and speakers a few days ago. The speakers are slightly larger than oem rear hatchback speakers. Theres more bulk around the cone and as such they don't mount correctly, even though they are the same size (13cm/5.25")
Need to find a place to mount the rear tweeters now. Potential electric rear window conversion on the way.


And finally got round to replacing the front bulbs with new ones bought months ago. Sadly this went terribly wrong.
The LED 501 sidelight bulbs don't slide into the sidelight holder all the way, so they don't illuminate the headlight as much as a standard 501 bulb.
The LED H11 foglight bulbs were DOA. Not sure if I can get a refund on them as they were purchased a while ago.
And the previous owner had already replaced all four H7's with Osram Nighbreakers so I've wasted money there.

[andy-81]

you could try fitting the tweeters in the C pillar trim?

[Ricwin]

Managed to replace the rear speakers with a set of Infinity Reference 5010 components. Sounds much better than the standard speakers.
And using a pair of tweeter brackets supplied with the speakers, I've found a place to mount the tweeters without making too
much of a mess of the OEM look (at least, I don't think they are noticeably out of place or ott)










Currently applying layers of AG EGP for the coming months of bad weather. And after a quick wash this afternoon:

[Ricwin]

Not had an update for a while, but with PoL this month I booked a week off work and got on with some jobs.

Replaced the bulbs with an Ebay special multipack from Aceparts. Four H7's, two H11's and two 501's. All with a nice crisp white light.

A few months ago I found a splitter on Ebay for £30 + P&P; £200 cheaper than Rimmer Bro's. Finally got round to sanding and spraying it just to find out its a fibreglass copy and slightly larger than standard; it protrudes into the wheel arch about 1cm each end. Fitted it to the bumper on Thursday then put that back on the car on Friday ready for PoL on Saturday. For my first real attempt at spraying anything, I think it looks ok. Its not perfect but I wasn't expecting perfect from a couple of rattle cans and 1200g wet & dry. The car looks like a 180 now though.

Replaced the front and rear MG badges with some new inserts. The originals were looking very worn and faded. The new ones are black and silver, and combined with the black mesh certainly make the front end look more striking. I bought them from MGbadges.com along with a tax disc holder.

The tailgate has been de-wipered because it was just bugging me. Its not as though the wiper was faulty, but looking at it across the rear spoiler put me in mind of a crosshair which was out of place. It had to go.
I covered the hole with a ZR favourite: Tap hole stopper, from B&Q. It was chrome effect but I've colour coded it to match the car. Its not exactly noticeable anyway, but the rear end looks tidier now without the wiper.

Heres some pictures.

First of all is the car before PoL. It was washed and 'detailed' on Monday, this pic was taken on Friday after the bumper + splitter was put back on. I'm not impressed with Zymol Glasur.




The next few are at PoL. Pics taken by the MG-Rover.org Merseyside Meet Photographer

[daytona365]

Heres my pic of your car.......you were in same field, just bit further away, nearer the factory end..

[Ricwin]

Originally Posted by daytona365

Heres my pic of your car.......you were in same field, just bit further away, nearer the factory end..

Fantastic. Did you recognize my car or did it just draw your attention as being fairly normal compared to some (like Hellkefs blue + yellow MK2?) LOL

I came in with the MG-R.org Merseyside lot, but we were quickly split up into various areas. Spotted a few from TheMGZS there, in particular was a blue MK1 180 with the perfect reg, parked in the corner near the 75/ZT area....

It was a great day all round. And PoL is getting more and more popular every year.
The organization wasn't great this year though. And one chavtastic ZR was blasting out terrible music in the same area as the ZS's lol

[daytona365]

Originally Posted by Ricwin

Fantastic. Did you recognize my car or did it just draw your attention as being fairly normal compared to some (like Hellkefs blue + yellow MK2?) LOL

I came in with the MG-R.org Merseyside lot, but we were quickly split up into various areas. Spotted a few from TheMGZS there, in particular was a blue MK1 180 with the perfect reg, parked in the corner near the 75/ZT area....

It was a great day all round. And PoL is getting more and more popular every year.
The organization wasn't great this year though. And one chavtastic ZR was blasting out terrible music in the same area as the ZS's lol

They didnt have enough marshals, they were asking for extra helpers on the facebook page. I emailed Gemma, but never got a reply. Plus the chav ZR you talk about was right behind my car....Nearly burst my eardrums while I was trying to eat my lunch. If I wanted to hear that sort of noise Id go to Glastonbury lol.........

[Ricwin]

Apart from the lack of marshals, they designated the area's in the most absurd manner. They were informed that 150+ 75's and ZT's were going to turn up, yet allocated them a small area which could fit less than 70.
Heck 110 Metro's turned up in convoy lol

All of the other MG's were supposed to fit into the same field we were in: that wasn't going to happen and as we saw it didn't happen.
They should have put the 75's and ZT's where we were, moved us into 'D' field along with the majority, and moved the Austin/various older cars into the 75/ZT area.

The MG's could have had the upper half and Rovers in the lower or vice versa if they wanted to keep the marques separate, but trying to cram all of the ZR/ZS/F/TF's into our field wasn't a good plan. I did notice the miles of red tape around the field this year limiting the usable space. The BRM's couldn't have their hill this year, nor could Metropower.

It may have been a bit shambolic considering the amount of cars which turned up, but I and everyone else certainly appreciates the effort which goes into making PoL happen.

[waynester]

Originally Posted by Ricwin

Fitted the rear crossovers and speakers a few days ago. The speakers are slightly larger than oem rear hatchback speakers. Theres more bulk around the cone and as such they don't mount correctly, even though they are the same size (13cm/5.25")
Need to find a place to mount the rear tweeters now. Potential electric rear window conversion on the way.


And finally got round to replacing the front bulbs with new ones bought months ago. Sadly this went terribly wrong.
The LED 501 sidelight bulbs don't slide into the sidelight holder all the way, so they don't illuminate the headlight as much as a standard 501 bulb.
The LED H11 foglight bulbs were DOA. Not sure if I can get a refund on them as they were purchased a while ago.
And the previous owner had already replaced all four H7's with Osram Nighbreakers so I've wasted money there.

I ordered some LED sidelight/front foglight bulbs, but not fitted yet as it looks like it could be a labour intensive job. Are the front fogs simple to replace?

I also bought uprated xenon style main bulbs for (hopefully) improved night vision - standard the lights really are poor. I can actually drive using full beam..& not a single flash from other drivers! Fitting the bulbs also means removing the battery just to gain access!