SORNing over the winter
Discussion
I'm putting my MX5 as SORN over the winter, as I can't afford the engine swap it needs this side of Christmas. Just wondering what tips people had on preparing it for a extended time left standing? It is in a garage which has a bit of a leaky roof so not a totally dry environment.
It only has water as coolant at the moment due to multiple coolant flushes etc recently, so obviously the first port of call is changing that to anti-freeze.
Battery is brand new, but a trickle charger may be a good investment as it's a proper dry cell one.
Other than that handbrake off and in gear... anything else?
It only has water as coolant at the moment due to multiple coolant flushes etc recently, so obviously the first port of call is changing that to anti-freeze.
Battery is brand new, but a trickle charger may be a good investment as it's a proper dry cell one.
Other than that handbrake off and in gear... anything else?
Chrisw666 said:
If it needs an engine swap why do you need to worry about the coolant?
Could freeze as it is now and damage rad / pipes etc? Or are you saying just drain the coolant completely - it still runs and drives and would need to be driven somewhere next year to do the swap when time comes.It wasn't clear in your first post that it still runs. If it was me (and I'm no expert) I would give the car a fresh lot of anti freeze, new oil and pump the tyres up to a higher than usual pressure. I'd be tempted to stick some extra grease or other lubricants on any of the bits that would normally move on a regular basis too.
Fill it with the correct amount of antifreeze regardless if you're thinking of driving it to wherever it's going to have it's engine change at, otherwise you'll be going there without core plugs I guess!
Other than that, bit of air n the tyres and handbrake off, neutral gear. I parked my Quantum up around 3 years ago after getting fed up with it needing constant attention, trying to get it back on the road at the minute and all it's needed is turbo seals, which is what was wrong with it when it was parked up. I didn't bother putting it on stands or oil down the bores etc, wasn't worth it and it started up fine on the fuel that was in there from 2008
Other than that, bit of air n the tyres and handbrake off, neutral gear. I parked my Quantum up around 3 years ago after getting fed up with it needing constant attention, trying to get it back on the road at the minute and all it's needed is turbo seals, which is what was wrong with it when it was parked up. I didn't bother putting it on stands or oil down the bores etc, wasn't worth it and it started up fine on the fuel that was in there from 2008
You say it still runs - in which case I suggest SORN is almost certainly a false economy. Nothing a car likes less than being parked up in a damp garage for the winter and left unused, so get it out for a run round the block every week or two. And if you can get a wire up to the garage roof buy a £10 solar trickle-charger from Maplin.
Leptons said:
Just out of interest why are you changing the whole engine when it only needs a cylinder head?
Because it just seems the most cost effective solution, only slightly more than sourcing a used head and getting the gasket changed, and as I'm reliant on others doing the work so labour costs need to be factored in. Also bearing in mind it must have overheated in the past, has had a bodge-monkey work on it at some point and has got hot once with me so who knows what other damage it may have internally.If you're trying to work out costs, I bought a donor for it's engine as it was fairly strong, but turned out that there was a spark plug stuck in situ, and I had a paranoia about a bottom end knock after about 3 months of the transplant.
Local engine centre took the engine out, did a crank regrind, bored the block out to 1mm oversize, new pistons, rods and mains, new head gasket, new valves, new seals a mild port, polish and skim on the head, put it back together again and into the car with new fluids for just shy of £700. That was a CVH turbo engine, I can't imagine yours being massively more complex
Local engine centre took the engine out, did a crank regrind, bored the block out to 1mm oversize, new pistons, rods and mains, new head gasket, new valves, new seals a mild port, polish and skim on the head, put it back together again and into the car with new fluids for just shy of £700. That was a CVH turbo engine, I can't imagine yours being massively more complex
andy-xr said:
If you're trying to work out costs, I bought a donor for it's engine as it was fairly strong, but turned out that there was a spark plug stuck in situ, and I had a paranoia about a bottom end knock after about 3 months of the transplant.
Local engine centre took the engine out, did a crank regrind, bored the block out to 1mm oversize, new pistons, rods and mains, new head gasket, new valves, new seals a mild port, polish and skim on the head, put it back together again and into the car with new fluids for just shy of £700. That was a CVH turbo engine, I can't imagine yours being massively more complex
I can get an engine change for anything between £400-1000 lowest being a risky breakers sourced engine and highest being a low mileage engine sourced and fitted by a good specialist with the work warrantied and the engine guaranteed a good runner and with brand new service items. It's just not cost effective doing engine work on mine, a head gasket change alone is £3-400 and I haven't seen many heads below about £150-200.Local engine centre took the engine out, did a crank regrind, bored the block out to 1mm oversize, new pistons, rods and mains, new head gasket, new valves, new seals a mild port, polish and skim on the head, put it back together again and into the car with new fluids for just shy of £700. That was a CVH turbo engine, I can't imagine yours being massively more complex
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