Shed ahead... 75
Discussion
Service day, as tomorrow it'll tick over a measly 135,000 miles. I believe MG Rover originally specified 15,000 mile intervals, however for various reasons I drop that interval to 10,000 miles, with a second interim oil and filter change every 5,000 miles. I know it needs a wash but I'm sure Storm Dennis will take care of that on the M5 tomorrow.
Today will be oil and filter, air filter and crankcase breather filter. The fuel filter is reasonably new and the pollen filter I haven't got in stock..
The oil filter housing is easily accessed, being at the front of the engine and close to the top. A BFO 36mm hex socket on a half inch drive takes care of the filter cap. Meanwhile, underneath a 15mm hex socket has already removed the plug, let the old oil drain and refitted a cleaned up plug with new sealing washer. You'll notice a fair amount of paper towel around the filter housing...
While the filter housing won't pour oil everywhere, the alternator is just underneath - the paper helps avoid dripping oil onto things I don't want oil on while lifting out the paper element. This shows how easy the filter is to access, a dream compared to some cars...
Once the new filter is in place, the system is filled up with fresh Mannol 10w-40, conforming to the various required specs. It takes about six litres to fill.
Next up, less messy jobs.. Air and PCV filter. The removal of five captive screws has this panel off..
...revealing the cylindrical air filter element.
Simply lifts out and the fresh new element goes in, a nice snug fit.
Next up is the crankcase breather filter or PCV filter. For some reason, MG Rover failed to specify this item in the original servicing schedule, as such it's often overlooked which can be bad news - a blocked PCV filter can cause plumes of black exhaust smoke, rough running and so on. Land Rover used the same engine in the original Freelander Td4, however they did list the PCV as a service item. As such it's easy to get hold of a new filter and seals, usually about £7-8.
A bracket holding fuel lines/injector wiring (I think?) needs to be unscrewed first, just to allow space for the PCV housing to be lifted out.
Then a T30 makes quick work of removing the four (in my case three...) captive screws to release the housing. You can lift the whole thing up about half an inch, before it needs to be tilted forwards to clear the surrounding gubbins and removed completely. The filter element comes with it and is saturated in oil.
Lift out the securing bracket, bin the old element and O-ring at the base..
Refit with supplied new O-ring, new element and push the securing bracket back into place, that's half the job done.
Second half is to remove the old seals and replace with new. I don't know who manufacturers these, but they're always an absolutely perfect fit. Probably my favourite part of the whole job, they're oddly satisfying to fit...
While I have the car up on ramps, I go underneath and have a poke about with my plenum drain clearing pokey stick. The plenum drains are mostly accessible from the top, however there's one I can only access from underneath, going up between ARB and driveshaft gaiter. A poke clears the mud and silt and allows any water to drain from the plenum, important on a 75 as it houses the ECU.
Other levels are checked, topped up where needed and everything given a visual check over. Nothing much required which is always good. On a side note, the front wings make a useful storage area for the various fixings that come off during a service..
Tyre pressures all checked and happily all at 36psi, no adjustments required. Only a small adjustment required to one of the windscreen washer jets, the aim had gone off on one, sorted with a watchmakers screwdriver. To finish, a tidy up and all the old bits thrown in a box for disposal. That ought to be it until 140,000 miles, when the oil is drained again and I'll think about throwing in a new pollen filter.
Bus update. EDIT: Apologies about photo quality, not sure what’s happened there..
Onwards...
Having spent a large portion of the disaster year that is 2020 on furlough, my usual annual mileage of circa 22k miles has significantly dropped off. Nevertheless, it’s afforded me time to spend fettling the big old Rover. I’m reluctant to say that boredom has stepped in, but I have found myself getting into some fairly hefty projects on the old Longbridge barge, given that it’s been possible to leave the car “U/S” for a few days without worrying about needing it for the commute. Worst case scenario, I have a pair of classics lying about, which can and have been drafted in as temporary dailies while the estate receives some TLC.
During lockdown, some idle titivating saw an old chrome RAC badge find its way onto the front of the car. I’m not really a fan of AA/RAC badges adorning the grilles of modern cars, it seems a little silly but hey, a nationwide lockdown was in full swing and there’s only so many times you can cut the grass before you go insane. The point of insanity is indicated thusly when an RAC badge fixes itself to the front of your car. I also pondered whether the removal of the roof rails would reduce wind noise, so they were whipped off one evening. Whether noise levels have changed or not remains undetermined; my wife to be tells me that I’m deaf. I call it selective hearing.
Eventually however, as sanity was restored, lockdown was eased. Just in time, as a trip to Wales was on the cards to see the 75/ZT guru, Jules. I had an issue with a rear brake disc which manifested itself during the long summer of foraging the garage for RAC badges, however I was also in the middle of doing the brakes on my ‘53 Traction Avant, so space and willpower to bugger about with Rover brakes was in short supply. The reverse sensors had packed up too and required a T4 computer to diagnose where the issue lay. So mid August, we set forth to Colwyn Bay.
I shall spare the details of fault finding the reverse sensor circuit problems, but in short both the reverse sensor ECU and one of the sensors had packed up. Jules also sniffed out a worn wheel bearing, so that was replaced while he worked his magic on the brakes. To finish, I came away with functioning reverse sensors courtesy of a new sensor and ECU, new rear discs and pads, a new rear wheel bearing and to top it off, a high note horn. As part of the cost saving exercise conducted at MG Rover in the early noughties, the high note horn was binned off, leaving the low note only. With the proper horns fitted, the old girl now gives her best impression of an approaching Amtrak to those ahead.
A few weeks later, during a spell of glorious early September weather, I decided to pull out the rear wheel arch liners and inspect for rot, before treating the arches to a coat of Bilt Hamber Dynax.
Surprisingly, no horrors were found, so the arches had two coats of the Dynax stuff, getting into as many nooks and crannies as I could.
Special attention was given to the drivers side, as a fuel vent pipe runs through a hole in the metalwork to the tank under the rear seat. It’s become known for these to let water in on 75/ZT’s, causing rot under the rear seat. I applied a healthy amount of black silicone sealant to the hole, finishing off nicely against the black Dynax wax. Although it was the intention to get the whole underside protected this year, I’m just glad I’ve done the bits where mud and moisture gets trapped behind the liners.
Next up on the never ending list of things to do, the IPK screen. My car had something called a “Driver Intelligence Pack” from new, consisting of reverse sensors (ahem... fine now, thank you), rain sensing wipers, auto dimming rear view mirror and the IPK screen; an LCD message panel between the speedometer and tachometer. Three thing in life are guaranteed; death, taxes, and for lines of failed pixels to appear on your Rover’s IPK screen. Supposedly up to 12 lines of failed pixels in repairable, however mine had 47 failed rows..
As you see, reading the trip computer becomes pure guesswork. Not the end of the world however the screen also doubles up as the tell-tale for things such as rear fog lights; it is not entirely inconceivable that a scrupulous MOT tester could fail it for the tell-tale not working properly. The screen also displays warning messages, I feel more comfortable being able to read the warnings as opposed to guessing which component is about to self destruct.
Luckily, and unsurprisingly given the absolutely brilliant 75/ZT community, there’s a chap who managed to get a run of brand new IPK screens manufactured in Singapore, utilising an improved method of ribbon bonding within the screen, resulting in a brand new screen that won’t fail like the originals. I managed to secure one in the new batch, once they were ready a trip was planned to go and see the mastermind behind it, Rick, over in Essex.
Within 20 minutes of arriving, Rick had the new IPK installed and tested, all working in perfect order. You’ll have to take my word for it, as I haven’t taken an “after” pic, but it’s made a huge difference having the thing legible again. A big thanks to Rick for going to the effort of sourcing and developing these new screens!
I then headed off to elsewhere in Essex and then off to rural Suffolk to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen for a while (pre higher tier lockdowns I might add!). I ended up covering 500 miles that day, yet getting home at 2am was surprisingly easy - it reinforced to me just how good a 75 is at swallowing up the miles. Aside from an X350 Jag, I struggle to think of something else in this sort of price bracket that I would have rather spent the day in, progress just felt effortless and I enjoyed every minute of the drive.
The final project in this instalment, the headliner.
Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve started to notice some light saggage occurring above the front seats. However in true form of any old British car, the saggage has decided to get worse. A broken rear washer pipe dumped a fair amount of pink washer fluid into the rear of the headlining in February, accelerating the degradation at the rear. Then, one day while washing the car, I noticed the headlining had started falling down above the rear side windows..
In addition, the front edge where it meets the windscreen had started peeling too. The question was posed to the Rover beards about the best way to go about fixing it, hoping that there would be an easy, fairly quick solution that didn’t involve removing the entire headliner. In the end, it became apparent that the best, long term solution would be the difficult, slow process of removing the entire headliner and trim with brand new material. The problem lay in the fact that the foam backing to the headlining material was disintegrating through a mixture of age, vibration and that stonking heatwave during the big lockdown. There was no tidy way of re using the original material, so binning it and starting fresh was the way to go. Brilliant, what a way to cut my teeth into vehicle upholstery, having never done anything like it before... *facepalm*
I contacted an automotive upholstery company in Sandbach who sent me a couple of samples of material, to try and obtain the best colour match. Satisfied, I went ahead and ordered a 3m x 1.8m roll, plus adhesives, which I reckoned would be plenty for my headliner. Next involved removing the old headliner. In a 75, there’s a fibreglass board, to which the material is bonded to, held to the roof by the A, B, C and D pillar trim, the various sun visor mounts, grab handles, interior courtesy lights and so on. Removal wasn’t too bad, however the wiring harness for various interior lights runs up the A pillar, then is glued in position to the back of the board using a hot glue gun. Not the easiest thing to prise off before extracting via the tailgate, all while having your hands stabbed by a million invisible glass fibres!
Once out, the material was inspected - this discolouration is due to the washer pipe leak...
The old material was peeled off and filed in the wheelie bin, leaving the remnants of the tatty old foam backing. A stiff brush made light work of removing the old foam, leaving a “clean” board to which the new material would be applied.
Now, I could have done with an extra two pairs of hands during the fitting of the new material. Unfortunately, I was riding solo on this one, so I didn’t take any photos during the 2.5m wrestling match to get the thing stuck down with as few wrinkles and creases as possible. However, this was the finished article, after the labour intensive task of cutting out the many different holes and apertures for things to sit in later on.
I will take a rare moment to blow my own trumpet here, and say that I’m rather chuffed with the results for a first attempt. Not perfect, but tidy enough. However I still had to reunite the thing with its soulmate from Longbridge. Like gluing the material, reinstalling was a bit of a wrestling match and thus, I have no “during photos”. However, the finished article is presentable and lifts the interior (and ceiling) nicely.
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end. However, work on bringing the big old Rover back to its former glory is far from finished. Since completing the above, I have sourced a genuine walnut burr dashboard from a Cowley car, along with a walnut handbrake lever (rocking horse poo) to finish off the interior. These are yet to make it into the car, but progress is being made, slowly but surely.
Onwards...
Having spent a large portion of the disaster year that is 2020 on furlough, my usual annual mileage of circa 22k miles has significantly dropped off. Nevertheless, it’s afforded me time to spend fettling the big old Rover. I’m reluctant to say that boredom has stepped in, but I have found myself getting into some fairly hefty projects on the old Longbridge barge, given that it’s been possible to leave the car “U/S” for a few days without worrying about needing it for the commute. Worst case scenario, I have a pair of classics lying about, which can and have been drafted in as temporary dailies while the estate receives some TLC.
During lockdown, some idle titivating saw an old chrome RAC badge find its way onto the front of the car. I’m not really a fan of AA/RAC badges adorning the grilles of modern cars, it seems a little silly but hey, a nationwide lockdown was in full swing and there’s only so many times you can cut the grass before you go insane. The point of insanity is indicated thusly when an RAC badge fixes itself to the front of your car. I also pondered whether the removal of the roof rails would reduce wind noise, so they were whipped off one evening. Whether noise levels have changed or not remains undetermined; my wife to be tells me that I’m deaf. I call it selective hearing.
Eventually however, as sanity was restored, lockdown was eased. Just in time, as a trip to Wales was on the cards to see the 75/ZT guru, Jules. I had an issue with a rear brake disc which manifested itself during the long summer of foraging the garage for RAC badges, however I was also in the middle of doing the brakes on my ‘53 Traction Avant, so space and willpower to bugger about with Rover brakes was in short supply. The reverse sensors had packed up too and required a T4 computer to diagnose where the issue lay. So mid August, we set forth to Colwyn Bay.
I shall spare the details of fault finding the reverse sensor circuit problems, but in short both the reverse sensor ECU and one of the sensors had packed up. Jules also sniffed out a worn wheel bearing, so that was replaced while he worked his magic on the brakes. To finish, I came away with functioning reverse sensors courtesy of a new sensor and ECU, new rear discs and pads, a new rear wheel bearing and to top it off, a high note horn. As part of the cost saving exercise conducted at MG Rover in the early noughties, the high note horn was binned off, leaving the low note only. With the proper horns fitted, the old girl now gives her best impression of an approaching Amtrak to those ahead.
A few weeks later, during a spell of glorious early September weather, I decided to pull out the rear wheel arch liners and inspect for rot, before treating the arches to a coat of Bilt Hamber Dynax.
Surprisingly, no horrors were found, so the arches had two coats of the Dynax stuff, getting into as many nooks and crannies as I could.
Special attention was given to the drivers side, as a fuel vent pipe runs through a hole in the metalwork to the tank under the rear seat. It’s become known for these to let water in on 75/ZT’s, causing rot under the rear seat. I applied a healthy amount of black silicone sealant to the hole, finishing off nicely against the black Dynax wax. Although it was the intention to get the whole underside protected this year, I’m just glad I’ve done the bits where mud and moisture gets trapped behind the liners.
Next up on the never ending list of things to do, the IPK screen. My car had something called a “Driver Intelligence Pack” from new, consisting of reverse sensors (ahem... fine now, thank you), rain sensing wipers, auto dimming rear view mirror and the IPK screen; an LCD message panel between the speedometer and tachometer. Three thing in life are guaranteed; death, taxes, and for lines of failed pixels to appear on your Rover’s IPK screen. Supposedly up to 12 lines of failed pixels in repairable, however mine had 47 failed rows..
As you see, reading the trip computer becomes pure guesswork. Not the end of the world however the screen also doubles up as the tell-tale for things such as rear fog lights; it is not entirely inconceivable that a scrupulous MOT tester could fail it for the tell-tale not working properly. The screen also displays warning messages, I feel more comfortable being able to read the warnings as opposed to guessing which component is about to self destruct.
Luckily, and unsurprisingly given the absolutely brilliant 75/ZT community, there’s a chap who managed to get a run of brand new IPK screens manufactured in Singapore, utilising an improved method of ribbon bonding within the screen, resulting in a brand new screen that won’t fail like the originals. I managed to secure one in the new batch, once they were ready a trip was planned to go and see the mastermind behind it, Rick, over in Essex.
Within 20 minutes of arriving, Rick had the new IPK installed and tested, all working in perfect order. You’ll have to take my word for it, as I haven’t taken an “after” pic, but it’s made a huge difference having the thing legible again. A big thanks to Rick for going to the effort of sourcing and developing these new screens!
I then headed off to elsewhere in Essex and then off to rural Suffolk to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen for a while (pre higher tier lockdowns I might add!). I ended up covering 500 miles that day, yet getting home at 2am was surprisingly easy - it reinforced to me just how good a 75 is at swallowing up the miles. Aside from an X350 Jag, I struggle to think of something else in this sort of price bracket that I would have rather spent the day in, progress just felt effortless and I enjoyed every minute of the drive.
The final project in this instalment, the headliner.
Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve started to notice some light saggage occurring above the front seats. However in true form of any old British car, the saggage has decided to get worse. A broken rear washer pipe dumped a fair amount of pink washer fluid into the rear of the headlining in February, accelerating the degradation at the rear. Then, one day while washing the car, I noticed the headlining had started falling down above the rear side windows..
In addition, the front edge where it meets the windscreen had started peeling too. The question was posed to the Rover beards about the best way to go about fixing it, hoping that there would be an easy, fairly quick solution that didn’t involve removing the entire headliner. In the end, it became apparent that the best, long term solution would be the difficult, slow process of removing the entire headliner and trim with brand new material. The problem lay in the fact that the foam backing to the headlining material was disintegrating through a mixture of age, vibration and that stonking heatwave during the big lockdown. There was no tidy way of re using the original material, so binning it and starting fresh was the way to go. Brilliant, what a way to cut my teeth into vehicle upholstery, having never done anything like it before... *facepalm*
I contacted an automotive upholstery company in Sandbach who sent me a couple of samples of material, to try and obtain the best colour match. Satisfied, I went ahead and ordered a 3m x 1.8m roll, plus adhesives, which I reckoned would be plenty for my headliner. Next involved removing the old headliner. In a 75, there’s a fibreglass board, to which the material is bonded to, held to the roof by the A, B, C and D pillar trim, the various sun visor mounts, grab handles, interior courtesy lights and so on. Removal wasn’t too bad, however the wiring harness for various interior lights runs up the A pillar, then is glued in position to the back of the board using a hot glue gun. Not the easiest thing to prise off before extracting via the tailgate, all while having your hands stabbed by a million invisible glass fibres!
Once out, the material was inspected - this discolouration is due to the washer pipe leak...
The old material was peeled off and filed in the wheelie bin, leaving the remnants of the tatty old foam backing. A stiff brush made light work of removing the old foam, leaving a “clean” board to which the new material would be applied.
Now, I could have done with an extra two pairs of hands during the fitting of the new material. Unfortunately, I was riding solo on this one, so I didn’t take any photos during the 2.5m wrestling match to get the thing stuck down with as few wrinkles and creases as possible. However, this was the finished article, after the labour intensive task of cutting out the many different holes and apertures for things to sit in later on.
I will take a rare moment to blow my own trumpet here, and say that I’m rather chuffed with the results for a first attempt. Not perfect, but tidy enough. However I still had to reunite the thing with its soulmate from Longbridge. Like gluing the material, reinstalling was a bit of a wrestling match and thus, I have no “during photos”. However, the finished article is presentable and lifts the interior (and ceiling) nicely.
Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end. However, work on bringing the big old Rover back to its former glory is far from finished. Since completing the above, I have sourced a genuine walnut burr dashboard from a Cowley car, along with a walnut handbrake lever (rocking horse poo) to finish off the interior. These are yet to make it into the car, but progress is being made, slowly but surely.
carinaman said:
Interesting stuff. Looking forward to the wood updates.
Early cars had real walnut burr veneer, later cars, such as mine, had plastic imitation wood. This early dashboard has far greater depth and lustre, the “AIRBAG” script is beneath the lacquer and the gaps around the vents are much tighter. The later, plastic versions lacked the lustre and had a plastic airbag badge stuck to the surface. The whole set was acquired from a breakers yard for £15, only a small amount of polish, followed by a coat of wax and they look basically new.
Breadvan72 said:
This is quality shedding, OP. Once you have found the joy of bangernomics, there is no turning back. I bitterly regret my foolish engagement with new cars and main dealers for a short time in the 90s. I am also regretting selling my 2005 Jaguar X Type Estate shed, which was a very fine luxo-waft AWD trash hauler, but I ran out of car storage space.
Thanks, however I suspect the shed-like intentions are diminishing away at a rapid rate of knots! It seems I’ve got a bug whereby the aim is to fix/repair every little scuff or issue, no simple task but there’s something perversely rewarding in going to great lengths to improve or restore something that is worth so little. I really ought to get another hobby...
d_a_n1979 said:
Great car and project
Just read through from the beginning
Lovely colour car too; sits so well on those wheels
I've had a few MG ZTs and a ZT-T, all V6 190s; never got into diesels but if I needed a tourer and only had a few £k to spend; these would always be on the list alongside BMW E46 and E39 tourers (what I own now; but in a different league with it being a Jap import) etc
I did have a ZT over winter 16/17; nearly bought a R75 touring 1.8T from someone selling theirs on the 75/ZT forums in Derby but was beaten to it by a day
Thanks, not many people like this style of alloy, however I agree with you, they suit the car well. Just read through from the beginning
Lovely colour car too; sits so well on those wheels
I've had a few MG ZTs and a ZT-T, all V6 190s; never got into diesels but if I needed a tourer and only had a few £k to spend; these would always be on the list alongside BMW E46 and E39 tourers (what I own now; but in a different league with it being a Jap import) etc
I did have a ZT over winter 16/17; nearly bought a R75 touring 1.8T from someone selling theirs on the 75/ZT forums in Derby but was beaten to it by a day
I’d love to try a 190 at some point, although I suspect it would be in Rover format if I did - a nice Connie SE with slush box and 2.5KV6.... I almost went for a ZT-T earlier in the year, a 260, but by the time I’d thought about it, the car had disappeared. A shame but it’s still an itch to be scratched..
The diesels aren’t too bad really. I like them, mainly because of the decent fuel economy and their ability to do huge mileage. That being said, the soundtrack is never going to appeal. Luckily, above about 10mph the engine note becomes more of a distant hum or purr, if you can ever refer to a diesel as purring....
d_a_n1979 said:
I'd defiantly consider a ZT-T 260 if/when I sell my E39 touring; but I wouldn't step back to a 190 I don't think
Just too underpowered for my liking & not a fan of the auto's at all in them; still a great car though if someone needs an estate and with not too silly a price tag etc
Well that’s the bonus with these, price tags are usually a bargain, given what you can get for the money. Long live depreciation! Just too underpowered for my liking & not a fan of the auto's at all in them; still a great car though if someone needs an estate and with not too silly a price tag etc
Breadvan72 said:
Seems a bit steep to me! mercedeslimos said:
I've noticed in the four years my parents have had their Tourer, the prices of similar cars (and not exactly tripping over them in this part of the world) are rising gradually. I gave 495 notes for a car with three months test in December 2016, and it's probably had a grand's worth of maintenance in that time. However, trying to find a similar (pre-facelift, 2004) car is nigh-on impossible, Someone was looking for 550 for a 2002 Tourer with an ECU that had had a bath and wouldn't run. It's hard to keep them as sheds, as they get under your skin. At the start, it was just a cheap old smoker for them, now they really love the car and it wants for nothing. Never going to be the cleanest cosmetically (especially with some of the roads and other drivers here!) but I look after it well mechanically and you'll never see the end of one if you look after it.
They absolutely get under your skin. My car in this thread was bought as an honest attempt at shedding, the problem being though that by and large, it was a really tidy example. Couple that with it soon getting under my skin, it didn’t take long until I started “sorting” little bits.. polishing headlights, replacing faded badges and so. Suddenly, three years on and it’s getting bigger things sorted.. new headlining, new IPK screen, a refurbished set of spare alloys shortly to be clad with new Continentals and so on. I like to think that mine will be a “survivor”, with a bit of luck and the continued support from HSBC. Export56 said:
I had a ZTT auto cdti 129 bhp estate from new in 2003 as company car, kept it for 4 years 85k. Looked and drove well enough. Only problems I had were. Alternator failed, LH front front damper went both at 85k. I did check and its still on the road and done 190k miles, so someone's enjoyed it.
Weird problem though was that in prolonged heavy misty rain the air filter got damp and it used to kill the MAF and it went into limp mode, got through 4 before Rover and Lease company refused to replace any more. In the end unplugged the MAF and it drove fine.
I cant see how I was the only person to own one that this happened, so why Rover gave up I have no idea. Yours may be fine, but good to be aware if you are stranded 200 miles from home in a car that wont do over 50 in limp mode. ( the rac man did it the first time for me).
I must say, I haven’t heard of that issue before. Good to know though, in case it ever happens! Weird problem though was that in prolonged heavy misty rain the air filter got damp and it used to kill the MAF and it went into limp mode, got through 4 before Rover and Lease company refused to replace any more. In the end unplugged the MAF and it drove fine.
I cant see how I was the only person to own one that this happened, so why Rover gave up I have no idea. Yours may be fine, but good to be aware if you are stranded 200 miles from home in a car that wont do over 50 in limp mode. ( the rac man did it the first time for me).
spreadsheet monkey said:
rxe said:
Renault 5 thermostat in the top hose rather than fixing the real one: full marks for quality shed bodging! 
Well-documented upgrade for the Rover 75!https://www.dmgrs.co.uk/products/rover-75-mg-zt-cd...
We decided to bolt the winter wheels on today.
I bought a spare set of alloys in 2018 for £48 off eBay, had them refurbished and then clad in then-brand new Dunlop Winter Response 2’s, 195/65R15. This will be their third winter season on the car, despite being the same size as the normal/summer set, they do seem to give a smoother ride. I put it down to the softer compound.
Here’s one of the winter tyres sitting atop one of the summer tyres; they’re a Pirelli Verde-something. Quite noticeably different, the directional tread pattern, extra sipes and larger gaps between tread blocks, perfect for little stones to get jammed in!
I’ll bin the summer Pirelli’s off for next year, although they’ve got a tiny bit of life left in them, they don’t seem to ride or handle too well. Rears are down to 3mm or so anyway, and given I can have new Continental PC6’s fitted and balanced for less than £70 a corner, I think I’ll do that.
A PITA without a lift, but once the thing is safely in the air, it takes merely 30 seconds to swap the wheels over.
Job done. Now, start praying for snow...
Round here though, even if it doesn’t snow, the colder temperatures combined with all the surface flooding, thick layers of mud covering the lanes and layers of wet, rotting leaves makes the winter tyres worth the swap. Snow and ice is a bonus, but I’ve found in previous winters these tyres give the 75 just that extra bit of grip, should you unexpectedly need it, even in mild winter conditions.
The wheels coming off always get treated to a full clean, inside and out. Although, not today; too cold, damp and it’s already dark outside. Something to do another time.
In other Rover related news, I fitted an early, real walnut dash to the interior, which I acquired from a breakers yard for about £15. It’s a far superior item to the later, plastic wood-effect dash that mine had fitted originally. First of all unlike the later plastic version, the real wood dash has veneer applied to a metal backing, less prone to flex and thus less squeaks in cold weather. The gaps around the vents are far tighter and generally has a much deeper lustre than the plastic version. Photos to follow..
I bought a spare set of alloys in 2018 for £48 off eBay, had them refurbished and then clad in then-brand new Dunlop Winter Response 2’s, 195/65R15. This will be their third winter season on the car, despite being the same size as the normal/summer set, they do seem to give a smoother ride. I put it down to the softer compound.
Here’s one of the winter tyres sitting atop one of the summer tyres; they’re a Pirelli Verde-something. Quite noticeably different, the directional tread pattern, extra sipes and larger gaps between tread blocks, perfect for little stones to get jammed in!
I’ll bin the summer Pirelli’s off for next year, although they’ve got a tiny bit of life left in them, they don’t seem to ride or handle too well. Rears are down to 3mm or so anyway, and given I can have new Continental PC6’s fitted and balanced for less than £70 a corner, I think I’ll do that.
A PITA without a lift, but once the thing is safely in the air, it takes merely 30 seconds to swap the wheels over.
Job done. Now, start praying for snow...
Round here though, even if it doesn’t snow, the colder temperatures combined with all the surface flooding, thick layers of mud covering the lanes and layers of wet, rotting leaves makes the winter tyres worth the swap. Snow and ice is a bonus, but I’ve found in previous winters these tyres give the 75 just that extra bit of grip, should you unexpectedly need it, even in mild winter conditions.
The wheels coming off always get treated to a full clean, inside and out. Although, not today; too cold, damp and it’s already dark outside. Something to do another time.
In other Rover related news, I fitted an early, real walnut dash to the interior, which I acquired from a breakers yard for about £15. It’s a far superior item to the later, plastic wood-effect dash that mine had fitted originally. First of all unlike the later plastic version, the real wood dash has veneer applied to a metal backing, less prone to flex and thus less squeaks in cold weather. The gaps around the vents are far tighter and generally has a much deeper lustre than the plastic version. Photos to follow..
SirGriffin said:
Lovely car, lovely colour, I had 5 of them when they were cheap and could barely be given away, now the values are (rightly) increasing for good ones.
All mine were V6's except one, a tourer like yours, which was the derv version. I'm not a big derv fan, and didn't rate the economy - I had as much as 39mpg on the motorway with the 2.5.
The Renault 5 thermostat "bodge" works well, and I've actually done it on other cars too! Checking the vitron rings can be worthwhile, and check also the intercooler pipe, as it can become squidgy with oil and balloon under acceleration, dulling performance - a metal replacement from the BMW 5 series can be made to fit.
Vital to check the Shanon tube under the n/s wheelarch, as it rots and falls off, leaving the air intake pointing down towards the road where it can ingest stones and water with disastrous results. New ones are a fortune, just use 70mm neoprene hose from eBay for £10.
If the car refuses to start with less than 1/4 of a tank of fuel, the in tank pump has failed - the pump from a Peogeot 406 fits in the in-tank carrier, and only costs approx £30.
Cooling fan issues do not require the de-gassing of the aircon etc, instead the cooling fan shroud can be carefully cut around the aircon pipes to remove.
All valid points. I have no experience of owning a V6 version, although I would like to try one at some point. The diesel suits my needs though as usually I’d ask the car to be doing circa 20-25,000 miles per annum. The main disadvantage of the diesel is the soundtrack, something that a V6 would address. All mine were V6's except one, a tourer like yours, which was the derv version. I'm not a big derv fan, and didn't rate the economy - I had as much as 39mpg on the motorway with the 2.5.
The Renault 5 thermostat "bodge" works well, and I've actually done it on other cars too! Checking the vitron rings can be worthwhile, and check also the intercooler pipe, as it can become squidgy with oil and balloon under acceleration, dulling performance - a metal replacement from the BMW 5 series can be made to fit.
Vital to check the Shanon tube under the n/s wheelarch, as it rots and falls off, leaving the air intake pointing down towards the road where it can ingest stones and water with disastrous results. New ones are a fortune, just use 70mm neoprene hose from eBay for £10.
If the car refuses to start with less than 1/4 of a tank of fuel, the in tank pump has failed - the pump from a Peogeot 406 fits in the in-tank carrier, and only costs approx £30.
Cooling fan issues do not require the de-gassing of the aircon etc, instead the cooling fan shroud can be carefully cut around the aircon pipes to remove.
This one has viton rings, the originals had swelled up. Also had a new intercooler pipe in February, as you said, the old one had become saturated with oil.
The Shanon tube is a new one on me though, was that a V6 issue? The intake on the diesel runs from the top of the radiator grille, through ducting over the engine into the air box at the back, by the plenum. I’ve recall hearing about the Shanon tube being mentioned, but not sure if that was in KV6 circles..?
Well a loud, metallic twang at 1am on a Tuesday morning could only mean one thing; a broken spring. The next morning the ride height was suspiciously low on the front offside corner, after jacking up the car and securing it on axle stands I found the final top coil wrapped round the damper ram, along with the bearing and rubber isolator.
Annoyingly, the car was booked in to visit the Rover guru, Jules, in just three weeks’ time to have new top mounts and front springs. Doubly annoying, the spring had broken at the top in such a way that the broken shard was pressing into the turret, loosing the ability to steer and therefore drive. Luckily, I had no requirement to use the car for four weeks...
I decided it would be best to source a pair of quality road springs, along with new top mounts and bearings. I would endeavour to replace the broken spring on the driveway, then move the car to Jules’ to get it all sorted. Unfortunately, the strut-to-hub pinch bolt was both seized solid and rounded off, so the strut had to come off with the hub. After a few days soaking in plusgas, all nuts and bolts came undone quite happily. Strut removed and placed upon a temporary bench, the spring was holding onto the edge of the top mount merely by a thin layer of flaking rust. A basic set of compressors were quickly attached and took the strain in case the spring slipped, before the old top mount and spring were removed.
However, my basic compressors weren’t man enough to compress the new spring sufficiently to refit it along with new top mount. With failing daylight, the whole strut was lobbed in the back of our Series 2 Land Rover and taken to a local garage, who subsequently very kindly assembled the new spring and top mount using their hydraulic compressor, for free! Unfortunately, after I got home I realised the bearing wasn’t sitting quite right; the garage chaps hadn’t quite centred the bearing and as a result it wasn’t flush on the top mount. However, the inner race still turned by hand, so I figured it would be sufficient to get to Jules’. As it would turn out, that was the least of my worries...
Car reassembled, fast forward a few weeks...
It’s been said before, but you always know you’re in the right place when the woods are full of Rovers! A beautiful sunny day in North Wales beckoned. I even found a fellow BRG Tourer to park next to. Almost 300,000 miles collectively between these two.
Jules wasted no time getting my Tourer on the ramp. Within an hour or so, the nearside strut and hub were on the bench. Like the offside, the pinch bolt was seized and rounded. As long as we didn’t need a new damper, it didn’t matter particularly. Remember I mentioned my local garage not quite getting the bearing centred? Well this is what it was like on the nearside...
This was fitted by another local garage to me about three years ago, it was so far from centred that the inner race was cutting through the damper ram bush. I’m also not convinced they replaced the top mounts either, given the fact they look like they’ve been in the ocean for three years. This is why I exclusively bring my 75 to Colwyn Bay now, Jules has ended up fixing so many issues “fixed” by other garages, he knows which brands produce parts made from cheese and which are decent, he doesn’t cut corners and if he finds an issue or a problem, he almost certainly has the part in stock to sort it there and then.
Unfortunately on this occasion, it was at this point he discovered one of those little issues, little being that the nearside damper was completely knackered. Remember I mentioned that seized pinch bolt? Yeah.
No problem however, we are in safe hands here. It appears there is a solution for everything, the solution here being to whisk the whole strut/hub assembly away in the nearest functioning 75 to the Windsor chaps down the road, who have excellent persuasion skills with knackered bolts. Half an hour later, the strut reappears, hub separated, ready for the reassembly. At the same time, the decision is made to replace both front dampers with new TRW units, along with the new front Supaflex springs from X-Part and top mounts and new bearings, also from X-Part.
By 4pm it’s all back together, feeling fresh and without me being so concerned that a rusty old spring is about snap and take out the tyre!
As the car has ticked over 145k miles, I’ve given it a full service; oil and filter, fuel filter, air filter, crankcase breather filter, topped up other levels and generally tidied up a few loose ends.
As the winter wheels were put away for summer, I inspected the summer set on Pirelli’s and decided they could do with replacing. Four brand new Continental Premium Contact 6 take their place in 195/65R15 guise, at £68 a corner fitted and balanced, they’re another joy of small wheels! Cheapness in comfort.
To finish off, a replacement enamel rear badge was fitted in place of a fast-fading gel thing, from a chap in the 75/ZT community. Small details like this do help finish off the car, it can’t always be the expensive oily and springy bits that nobody sees...
Annoyingly, the car was booked in to visit the Rover guru, Jules, in just three weeks’ time to have new top mounts and front springs. Doubly annoying, the spring had broken at the top in such a way that the broken shard was pressing into the turret, loosing the ability to steer and therefore drive. Luckily, I had no requirement to use the car for four weeks...
I decided it would be best to source a pair of quality road springs, along with new top mounts and bearings. I would endeavour to replace the broken spring on the driveway, then move the car to Jules’ to get it all sorted. Unfortunately, the strut-to-hub pinch bolt was both seized solid and rounded off, so the strut had to come off with the hub. After a few days soaking in plusgas, all nuts and bolts came undone quite happily. Strut removed and placed upon a temporary bench, the spring was holding onto the edge of the top mount merely by a thin layer of flaking rust. A basic set of compressors were quickly attached and took the strain in case the spring slipped, before the old top mount and spring were removed.
However, my basic compressors weren’t man enough to compress the new spring sufficiently to refit it along with new top mount. With failing daylight, the whole strut was lobbed in the back of our Series 2 Land Rover and taken to a local garage, who subsequently very kindly assembled the new spring and top mount using their hydraulic compressor, for free! Unfortunately, after I got home I realised the bearing wasn’t sitting quite right; the garage chaps hadn’t quite centred the bearing and as a result it wasn’t flush on the top mount. However, the inner race still turned by hand, so I figured it would be sufficient to get to Jules’. As it would turn out, that was the least of my worries...
Car reassembled, fast forward a few weeks...
It’s been said before, but you always know you’re in the right place when the woods are full of Rovers! A beautiful sunny day in North Wales beckoned. I even found a fellow BRG Tourer to park next to. Almost 300,000 miles collectively between these two.
Jules wasted no time getting my Tourer on the ramp. Within an hour or so, the nearside strut and hub were on the bench. Like the offside, the pinch bolt was seized and rounded. As long as we didn’t need a new damper, it didn’t matter particularly. Remember I mentioned my local garage not quite getting the bearing centred? Well this is what it was like on the nearside...
This was fitted by another local garage to me about three years ago, it was so far from centred that the inner race was cutting through the damper ram bush. I’m also not convinced they replaced the top mounts either, given the fact they look like they’ve been in the ocean for three years. This is why I exclusively bring my 75 to Colwyn Bay now, Jules has ended up fixing so many issues “fixed” by other garages, he knows which brands produce parts made from cheese and which are decent, he doesn’t cut corners and if he finds an issue or a problem, he almost certainly has the part in stock to sort it there and then.
Unfortunately on this occasion, it was at this point he discovered one of those little issues, little being that the nearside damper was completely knackered. Remember I mentioned that seized pinch bolt? Yeah.
No problem however, we are in safe hands here. It appears there is a solution for everything, the solution here being to whisk the whole strut/hub assembly away in the nearest functioning 75 to the Windsor chaps down the road, who have excellent persuasion skills with knackered bolts. Half an hour later, the strut reappears, hub separated, ready for the reassembly. At the same time, the decision is made to replace both front dampers with new TRW units, along with the new front Supaflex springs from X-Part and top mounts and new bearings, also from X-Part.
By 4pm it’s all back together, feeling fresh and without me being so concerned that a rusty old spring is about snap and take out the tyre!
As the car has ticked over 145k miles, I’ve given it a full service; oil and filter, fuel filter, air filter, crankcase breather filter, topped up other levels and generally tidied up a few loose ends.
As the winter wheels were put away for summer, I inspected the summer set on Pirelli’s and decided they could do with replacing. Four brand new Continental Premium Contact 6 take their place in 195/65R15 guise, at £68 a corner fitted and balanced, they’re another joy of small wheels! Cheapness in comfort.
To finish off, a replacement enamel rear badge was fitted in place of a fast-fading gel thing, from a chap in the 75/ZT community. Small details like this do help finish off the car, it can’t always be the expensive oily and springy bits that nobody sees...
245k, well done, Sir! I’m aiming for the big 200k, but given that she gets whatever she needs she needs it, I can’t see why quarter of a million or beyond would be unobtainable...
A front spring going is nothing short of a PITA, I was lucky that mine went A) while I am still furloughed so I had no rush to get it sorted immediately, and B) broke at the top so there was no risk of the (literally brand new!) tyre being destroyed. I assume you have the tyre protectors fitted, just in case?
A front spring going is nothing short of a PITA, I was lucky that mine went A) while I am still furloughed so I had no rush to get it sorted immediately, and B) broke at the top so there was no risk of the (literally brand new!) tyre being destroyed. I assume you have the tyre protectors fitted, just in case?
mercedeslimos said:
It's my parents' car, I just chose it and look after it!
I think it has protectors, like clear plastic sheathing over the bottom of the springs
Tyre protectors are metal plates that bolt to the bottom of the spring cup on the strut, they have a lip which is designed to retain the spring should it break - without them the spring is likely to embed itself in the tyre! I think it has protectors, like clear plastic sheathing over the bottom of the springs
You can get a pair for about £20 I believe, worth having if they prevent a catastrophic motorway blowout...
End of Summer '21 update; an expensive year of Rovering!
As we approach the final couple of months of 2021, there's plenty of reflection to be had on the past year running the "shed" 75. In all fairness, this car is no longer a shed, despite being originally acquired years ago as a shed.
Despite the relatively tidy exterior and interior on this car, the bit inbetween always let it down; the sills and door shuts. The original ROVER kick plates had seen their fair share of stone-encrusted shoes and boots over the years, so I decided there was room for improvement by replacing the kick plates with new old stock items and polishing up the paintwork with varying grades of polish and a rotary pad on a drill.
Before
During
After. They scrubbed up well for something approaching 150k and 18 years old.
For the many faults and criticisms of Rover Group and MG Rover, you cannot fault their paint; they knew how to paint a car. The quality and thickness of the paint even in the door jams is still impressive, it puts many contemporary manufacturers to shame.
One for the "Parking next to the same model" thread, a quick visit to B&Q to find some 8ft lengths of timber revealed another 75 enthusiast also lurking in the wild. We chatted for a while, in fact I found another 75 lurking in the wild last week; the owner also only too happy to have a chat about Rovers! It's always pleasant to find like-minded individuals out there, most folk seem to dismiss these cars on a whim.
Every so often, life throws a curve ball. Spot what's wrong with this 75 (no, the fact it's not in a scrapyard is not the correct answer!)
Bugger. I'd noticed for a while that the mirror housing was slightly loose on the mounting, nothing major, just a little play. While washing the car, it became apparent that the looseness rating had evolved from slightly to majorly, before I knew it I had amputated the mirror from the car merely by holding it, left attached only by the wiring for the electric adjustment and heating elements.
The timing was slightly awkward, as once I'd finished cleaning the car I was due at the local (10 miles away type local..) Covid-19 vaccination centre for my jab, something I didn't really want to miss or postpone. With the mirror dangling on the bodywork, there was no way I would be driving it like that..
Luckily, I knew that in my spares department I had a couple of spare mirrors. It wouldn't match the other side but the main focus was simply to sort a repair and get my jab. Drop the window, pull the anti-pinch trim off and remove a single screw from the door card. That gives you access to the three 8mm bolts that secure the mount to the outside of the door, whip these out (without dropping any down inside the door card), unclip the electrical connector and you're half way.
As the Haynes book of suggestions would say, replacement is the reverse of removal. A spare mirror was fitted in place and I made it to my jab with time to spare. I swapped the green/chrome mirror covers over a week later or so, just to regain some form of symmetry. I later inspected the broken mirror to investigate the cause of failure, it seemed there was metal fatigue in the mechanism that allows it to fold. My guess it that the mirror had been smacked at some point in its life, weakening the metal ring, either in a car park or out on the road. I often fold the mirrors when parked so I assume the folding motion over the years accelerated the fatigue of the metal ring that eventually failed. Another reason why I always like having spare parts in the garage.
Next up we launched into some major driveway works/re-landscaping at home, so the 75 was relegated to whichever spare bit of garden or driveway we could find, to avoid being in the way of diggers, dumpers and wheelbarrows.
New parking areas now in use, plus redesigned access in and out of the driveway; something we'd intended doing for a long time, really pleased it's now done. We didn't plan on doing it this year originally, but glad we did. Makes entering/leaving a bit more interesting that the previous driveway.
The old Traction in the background has now found a new home too, which means the 75 can live indoors now, something I'm looking forward to over winter as the frosty mornings start appearing.
Back in June, the car ticked over 150,000 miles. A big mileage to some, a small mileage to others. In 75 CDTi terms, plenty of life left in the old girl yet. 150k meant it was due an interim service, just oil and filter this time, however I use the opportunity to top up any other fluids at the same time and give the car a general once-over.
From memory I use 10-40w and Mahle filters, always an easy job, just slightly tedious! As I type, the car has just rolled over 154k, meaning a "big" service will be due in another 1000 miles; oil and filter again, air filter, fuel filter, PCV filter and the pollen filter. I do a big service every 10k, with interim oil again every 5k, with anything else required as and when it's needed.
So far this year (2021), the car has had a fair old bit of attention, mostly to the front end;
- New lower arm and bush (other side was replaced last year)
- New track rod end recently
- New front springs
- New front dampers
- New strut/hub pinch bolts
- New top mounts and bearings
- New front discs and pads (rear discs and pads replaced last year along with a brake fluid change and rear wheel bearing)
- Replacement sill jacking pad (they occasionally fall off...)
- At least three headlamp bulbs..
- Rear door cards fixed so they no longer rattle
- Front footwell courtesy lights added
- Replacement door mirror
Recently I also discovered that my in-tank fuel pump has likely given up, as I can no longer hear it whirring away. This means the under-bonnet pump is taking up the strain, something which cannot be left unresolved forever, however it does mean in the interim until it's sorted that I must keep the fuel level above 1/4 of a tank. Anything less and the car will fail to proceed, with the recent fuel panic-buying and subsequent shortages, not the ideal time to have lost a fuel pump! The car is due up to see Jules in about three weeks, so it'll be sorted then. The car still drives, just I must remember to keep a reasonable amount of fuel onboard. I've adjusted my work commute to avoid a majority of motorways without hard shoulders for the time being, just in case.
Below was a trip to Yorkshire back in June, glorious weather!
As we approach the final couple of months of 2021, there's plenty of reflection to be had on the past year running the "shed" 75. In all fairness, this car is no longer a shed, despite being originally acquired years ago as a shed.
Despite the relatively tidy exterior and interior on this car, the bit inbetween always let it down; the sills and door shuts. The original ROVER kick plates had seen their fair share of stone-encrusted shoes and boots over the years, so I decided there was room for improvement by replacing the kick plates with new old stock items and polishing up the paintwork with varying grades of polish and a rotary pad on a drill.
Before
During
After. They scrubbed up well for something approaching 150k and 18 years old.
For the many faults and criticisms of Rover Group and MG Rover, you cannot fault their paint; they knew how to paint a car. The quality and thickness of the paint even in the door jams is still impressive, it puts many contemporary manufacturers to shame.
One for the "Parking next to the same model" thread, a quick visit to B&Q to find some 8ft lengths of timber revealed another 75 enthusiast also lurking in the wild. We chatted for a while, in fact I found another 75 lurking in the wild last week; the owner also only too happy to have a chat about Rovers! It's always pleasant to find like-minded individuals out there, most folk seem to dismiss these cars on a whim.
Every so often, life throws a curve ball. Spot what's wrong with this 75 (no, the fact it's not in a scrapyard is not the correct answer!)
Bugger. I'd noticed for a while that the mirror housing was slightly loose on the mounting, nothing major, just a little play. While washing the car, it became apparent that the looseness rating had evolved from slightly to majorly, before I knew it I had amputated the mirror from the car merely by holding it, left attached only by the wiring for the electric adjustment and heating elements.
The timing was slightly awkward, as once I'd finished cleaning the car I was due at the local (10 miles away type local..) Covid-19 vaccination centre for my jab, something I didn't really want to miss or postpone. With the mirror dangling on the bodywork, there was no way I would be driving it like that..
Luckily, I knew that in my spares department I had a couple of spare mirrors. It wouldn't match the other side but the main focus was simply to sort a repair and get my jab. Drop the window, pull the anti-pinch trim off and remove a single screw from the door card. That gives you access to the three 8mm bolts that secure the mount to the outside of the door, whip these out (without dropping any down inside the door card), unclip the electrical connector and you're half way.
As the Haynes book of suggestions would say, replacement is the reverse of removal. A spare mirror was fitted in place and I made it to my jab with time to spare. I swapped the green/chrome mirror covers over a week later or so, just to regain some form of symmetry. I later inspected the broken mirror to investigate the cause of failure, it seemed there was metal fatigue in the mechanism that allows it to fold. My guess it that the mirror had been smacked at some point in its life, weakening the metal ring, either in a car park or out on the road. I often fold the mirrors when parked so I assume the folding motion over the years accelerated the fatigue of the metal ring that eventually failed. Another reason why I always like having spare parts in the garage.
Next up we launched into some major driveway works/re-landscaping at home, so the 75 was relegated to whichever spare bit of garden or driveway we could find, to avoid being in the way of diggers, dumpers and wheelbarrows.
New parking areas now in use, plus redesigned access in and out of the driveway; something we'd intended doing for a long time, really pleased it's now done. We didn't plan on doing it this year originally, but glad we did. Makes entering/leaving a bit more interesting that the previous driveway.
The old Traction in the background has now found a new home too, which means the 75 can live indoors now, something I'm looking forward to over winter as the frosty mornings start appearing.
Back in June, the car ticked over 150,000 miles. A big mileage to some, a small mileage to others. In 75 CDTi terms, plenty of life left in the old girl yet. 150k meant it was due an interim service, just oil and filter this time, however I use the opportunity to top up any other fluids at the same time and give the car a general once-over.
From memory I use 10-40w and Mahle filters, always an easy job, just slightly tedious! As I type, the car has just rolled over 154k, meaning a "big" service will be due in another 1000 miles; oil and filter again, air filter, fuel filter, PCV filter and the pollen filter. I do a big service every 10k, with interim oil again every 5k, with anything else required as and when it's needed.
So far this year (2021), the car has had a fair old bit of attention, mostly to the front end;
- New lower arm and bush (other side was replaced last year)
- New track rod end recently
- New front springs
- New front dampers
- New strut/hub pinch bolts
- New top mounts and bearings
- New front discs and pads (rear discs and pads replaced last year along with a brake fluid change and rear wheel bearing)
- Replacement sill jacking pad (they occasionally fall off...)
- At least three headlamp bulbs..
- Rear door cards fixed so they no longer rattle
- Front footwell courtesy lights added
- Replacement door mirror
Recently I also discovered that my in-tank fuel pump has likely given up, as I can no longer hear it whirring away. This means the under-bonnet pump is taking up the strain, something which cannot be left unresolved forever, however it does mean in the interim until it's sorted that I must keep the fuel level above 1/4 of a tank. Anything less and the car will fail to proceed, with the recent fuel panic-buying and subsequent shortages, not the ideal time to have lost a fuel pump! The car is due up to see Jules in about three weeks, so it'll be sorted then. The car still drives, just I must remember to keep a reasonable amount of fuel onboard. I've adjusted my work commute to avoid a majority of motorways without hard shoulders for the time being, just in case.
Below was a trip to Yorkshire back in June, glorious weather!
d_a_n1979 said:
Really annoyed a few years back when I was after an 'over winter car' I missed out on a 2.5 KV6 R75 touring as I couldn't get down the day before the seller sold it; really low miles too!
That's a shame, that. Good, tidy examples of the 75, especially in Tourer form are becoming hard to find nowadays. A quick scan on AT suggests less than a handful of Tourers on the market. When I bought mine four years ago, there were at least a few pages to scroll through, plenty of choice. When good ones do pop up, they don't hang around for long. r44flyer said:
Like Trigger's broom this car
My opinion is that with high enough mileage, every part becomes a consumable part..! Especially with the state of some roads here... Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff