niggles - how serious ?

[BountyHunter]

i went and looked at a Wedge yesterday and it has a few niggles.

dash lights innoperative
wipers innoperative
drivers window wont shut, possibly off runner
boot wont open
didnt want to idle properly
slightly mouldy carpets
drivers seat wet (presumably due to window)
slightly damaged front spoiler
instruments not working properly (rev counter was erratic and the volt meter was reading a slight minus figure regardless of what was happening)


are any of these things i should worry too much about ???


on a 2nd note im rather tall and shall we say a "big build"
now i managed to get in and out of the car ok, but it was a somewhat tight fit.

obviously i could fit a smaller steering wheel to make a bit of a difference but i also seem to recall a few threads about people using different seats to standard (which i now cant find) but does anyone know which (if any) alternative seats might actually lower the seat height at all and/or even move it slightly backwards.

[pwd95]

Electrickery can be labour intensive unless you can DIY as you probably know. Not sure about the seats but they are only 4 bolts I think to remove. But if the price is right & you have the time to fiddle, might be worth a punt. Where abouts is it?

[jmorgan]

Leccy on these can be simple. Or a bloody mare.

Dash lights, do you mean instrument or switch lights? Latter have fibre optics fed from a bulb. If its the instruments then they could be related to the wiper issue (without looking at the diagram). Could be easy, could be dash out, well dash out is easier anyway. On the 400 its is relatively easy.

Boot could be a knackered solenoid. You would need to see if the feed is getting to it. Solenoid can be changed.

Idle. Well, many things simple and complicated.

Window. Not had a great deal of mucking with them but if memory serves its a motor screwed to the door operating a winder (scissor?) and a groved channel the glass sits in.

If you are handy with a multimeter or knows someone who is it does not sound too daunting, as Custer once said entering a valley

With a little thought the damp can be sorted.

How bad is the damage and to what section of the spoiler?

Rev counter. Mine went south and it was 108 squids for a refurb however it was knackered, yours sounds like there are underlying gremlins poking the leccy up 'oles it don't want to go? Could be a coil connection issue?

[BountyHunter]

pwd95 said:

Electrickery can be labour intensive unless you can DIY as you probably know. Not sure about the seats but they are only 4 bolts I think to remove. But if the price is right & you have the time to fiddle, might be worth a punt. Where abouts is it?

im no good with electrics myself, but have 2 friends who have worked in the electronics industry who have agreed to help if i buy the car.

its about 80 miles away, so not too far.

price is good, but the niggles ive found werent mentioned in the ad.

[BountyHunter]

jmorgan said:

Leccy on these can be simple. Or a bloody mare.

Dash lights, do you mean instrument or switch lights? Latter have fibre optics fed from a bulb. If its the instruments then they could be related to the wiper issue (without looking at the diagram). Could be easy, could be dash out, well dash out is easier anyway. On the 400 its is relatively easy.

Boot could be a knackered solenoid. You would need to see if the feed is getting to it. Solenoid can be changed.

Idle. Well, many things simple and complicated.

Window. Not had a great deal of mucking with them but if memory serves its a motor screwed to the door operating a winder (scissor?) and a groved channel the glass sits in.

If you are handy with a multimeter or knows someone who is it does not sound too daunting, as Custer once said entering a valley

With a little thought the damp can be sorted.

How bad is the damage and to what section of the spoiler?

Rev counter. Mine went south and it was 108 squids for a refurb however it was knackered, yours sounds like there are underlying gremlins poking the leccy up 'oles it don't want to go? Could be a coil connection issue?

dashboard lighting, not switch illumination (though i didnt even think of checking that)

i take it its possible to get into the boot then somehow ?

not handy with mulitmeter, but as mentioned before i have friends who are.

spoiler i need to have a proper look inthe daylight, but not "too" bad i think


im very tempted by the car, but just want to make sure im not buying myself a whole heap of hassle.

Edited by BountyHunter on Thursday 17th December 10:04

[jmorgan]

Very important you check the chassis out.

Edit. What I should have said is check out the chassis especially the outriggers. 400 or 350? Outrigger rot is not the end of the world, I have had corner sections done without much hassle. 350 and the bottom sill comes off, 400 it does not.

Boot. Entry with no leccy is top secret. Can the owner not show you?

Edited by jmorgan on Thursday 17th December 10:23

[BountyHunter]

jmorgan said:

Very important you check the chassis out.

Edit. What I should have said is check out the chassis especially the outriggers. 400 or 350? Outrigger rot is not the end of the world, I have had corner sections done without much hassle. 350 and the bottom sill comes off, 400 it does not.

Boot. Entry with no leccy is top secret. Can the owner not show you?

assuming the other faults arent too serious then checking the chassis is something i plan to do when i go for a 2nd look (was too cold and wet last night)

boot entry - he said and i quote "there is a way to do it, but i dont know how"

[SEvans]

If you are prepared to put the time in yourself then none of the issues sound too bad. On the other hand paying someone to fix them could get very expensive. Maybe the rev counter and rough idle problems are connected and point to an electrical problem. The windscreen wiper problem may be an issue if it's with the motor, as I'm not sure where you will get a replacement. I'd check out the rest of the car and see how it drives. If these are the only faults and the price is right.....

[rev-erend]

Some wedges have a switch under the dash that allows the dash lights to be turned off.. might be woth checking / wiggling.

[C O Jones]

If it's the Rover steering column there is a rheostat mounted just by the light switch, this is for dimming the dash lights.

I think TVRs have more bulbs in them which consume more milliamps, this can burn out the rheostat (did on mine).

ISTR that there is one position that is full brightness that still works. You could replace it with a higher rated pot - I haven't bothered.

Russ

[peaktorque]

I thought my dash lights were inoperable until I found a little twisty knob on the side of the steering cowl.

[GV]

I found the best way to deal with electrical problems is to find a new live & earth connection chop out the old and reconnect with the new. Did that recently with my dash lights...

[Transmitter Man]

With the niggles it means the current owner does not care and just wants rid.

Start at half his asking price!

Phil
420 SEAC

PS. +1 re clean the earth and get the ohm meter out.

[grahamw48]

peaktorque said:

I thought my dash lights were inoperable until I found a little twisty knob on the side of the steering cowl.

Likewise. lol!

I think the wiper problem would bother me...mot failure, and isn't it a custom wiper motor ?

Electrics.....lots of time and messing about.

Window winding mech' been there done that. Again, mainly fiddling about in confined space, possibly having new parts fabricated.

Why don't people just put a cover over the blinkin car if it leaks ?
How to ruin a nice (and expensive) interior without really trying.

- Can never understand that one.

[BountyHunter]

grahamw48 said:

I think the wiper problem would bother me...mot failure, and isn't it a custom wiper motor ?

Why don't people just put a cover over the blinkin car if it leaks ?
How to ruin a nice (and expensive) interior without really trying.

- Can never understand that one.

yeah i did a search on here and discovered the wiper motor could be a bit of a stumbling block - though someone did say it can generally be refurbished.
presumably it was working quite recently though as its got 10 months MOT

cover - well yes i make you totally right
not expensive and saves loads of potential problems (and the cash involved in sorting them out)

Edited by BountyHunter on Friday 18th December 00:33

[SEvans]

BountyHunter said:

yeah i did a search on here and discovered the wiper motor could be a bit of a stumbling block - though someone did say it can generally be refurbished.
presumably it was working quite recently though as its got 10 months MOT

Edited by BountyHunter on Friday 18th December 00:33

It is a custom job mainly because it's one wiper arm doing the whole sweep of near 180 Deg. The Motor itself is very similar to a TR7 unit, but the gears and switch block are specific to the Wedge. There are lot's of other things it could be like the switch but if you did need a motor you could probably pick one up from a car that is being scrapped. Cheers Steve