Mk2 mg zs 180 xpg

[Big-Jay]

Originally Posted by jc600

Nice Zed, keep up the good work.

Cheers bud !

Originally Posted by peterzs

Cracking car you have there, what a interesting read, glad to see such good pics and all you have done so far!!

Thanks mate !

Originally Posted by hansligg

looking to get a service done on my 180 sometime this month, but wondering to see what spark plugs you get first and how easy they are to remove old sparks and replace as ive heard its quite a delicate procedure in a 180

Hi hansligg,

I'll be getting these plugs - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6x-NGK-IRI...-/360475871018

Being NGK you know you'll be getting a quality plug and good longevity being iridium. I've done a bit of research on the subject of changing the plugs, the fronts are straight forward to change, it's looks as if the rear bank will be the difficult ones.

I'll take a few pictures of the process and then stick them up on here when I'm done !

Jay.

[grimmy]

Originally Posted by Big-Jay

Cheers bud !



Thanks mate !



Hi hansligg,

I'll be getting these plugs - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6x-NGK-IRI...-/360475871018

Being NGK you know you'll be getting a quality plug and good longevity being iridium. I've done a bit of research on the subject of changing the plugs, the fronts are straight forward to change, it's looks as if the rear bank will be the difficult ones.

I'll take a few pictures of the process and then stick them up on here when I'm done !

Jay.

The rears aren't that bad to be honest.using the correct tools makes it as easy as any others.

[talkingcars]

If you have a universal joint extension to fit your socket and can do things by feel the rear plugs are as easy as the front ones.

[Big-Jay]

Originally Posted by grimmy

The rears aren't that bad to be honest.using the correct tools makes it as easy as any others.

Originally Posted by talkingcars

If you have a universal joint extension to fit your socket and can do things by feel the rear plugs are as easy as the front ones.

Cheers guys, that's good to know !

I'll dig my UJ out of the garage ready for when I get the plugs then.

Jay.

[Big-Jay]

Hi guys,

Been down to the scrappy this weekend to pull a drivers side arch liner of a scrap ZS as the one on mine was broken.

Decided to change it out yesterday but when I removed what was left of the old one it all looked a bit crusty so I removed the wing to get a better look -



After a quick session with the wire cup on my grinder these are the results. The holes for the plastic screw clips that hold the arch liner up have rotted out -



So I cut out the rot -



This is where I was planning to weld some new metal in but to be honest I hate patch welding and would rather replace the complete panel if possible. So I had a quick look through rimmer brothers and found that I could buy the complete genuine valence reinforcement panel to the tune of £2.71 for the drivers side and £2.83 for the passengers which has also rotted out in the same place. Safe to say these are now ordered and on the the way.

Here's a link to rimmers website, the panels are numbers 6 & 7 if anyone was wondering - http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID003339

So now it's just a case of drilling out a few spot welds and replacing the complete panels. A bit more work but it'll be a much tidier job.

I removed the side skirt to have a closer look at the condition underneath -



All looked good with no rust what so ever until we got to the jacking point which looked very suspect -



Went at it with the grinder which revealed this -



I've very roughly cut the worst of the rot out and sprayed a bit of zinc primer on for the time being until I source some thicker gauge steel to repair this area -



To be fair, I was expecting it to be worse than what it was but its really not too bad at all, believe me I've seen a lot worse !

I haven't checked the passenger side jacking point yet but I'm guessing it's probably going to be in similar condition.

[Dan1971]

Well .... at least you found it and have the ability to repair it. For me - it'd get spotted at the MOT and then cost me the value of the car to get it repaired.

[top_man_eldo]

Good job there, always wanted to have a go at welding. Might be worth having a look inside the inner sills and checking what they're like. Mine had rotted out severely.

[Maxfly]

Christ that's scary seeing holes in her like that but that's proper job repairs your doing bud. Good work!

[Rockey5uk2001]

Seen this far in the flesh last week.

Looks good!

top guy too!

[talkingcars]

Originally Posted by Big-Jay

So now it's just a case of drilling out a few spot welds and replacing the complete panels. A bit more work but it'll be a much tidier job..

It'll probably be quicker spot welding in the new panel than seam welding all the way around the patches.