MG ZR 160- the donor?
Discussion
Smoking around in an s1 Elise every day and being the stereotypically tight Scotsman, I've been keeping my eyes open for a ZR 160 in order to get a potentially cheap power upgrade. Problem being its quite rare to find one locally.
Until Thursday.
I spotted one advertised just a few miles away which looked in good condition and was a very good price. Not perfect on the outside, but still in very good nick and it is spotless inside!
Despite being advertised as spares or repair due to a dead battery and not having been used in a while it still had a couple months mot and runs well.
Best bit? It was well under a grand, and only has 26,500 miles.
The main justification for buying this was the fact it has the 160bhp vvc engine and with that mileage and no visible leaks this looked to be about the best deal possible for this engine.
On top of this, the exhaust has been replaced fairly recently, all brake flexi hoses are new, discs, pads and tyres are all fine, the windscreen was replaced less than two years ago and there appears to be no leaks on the engine or the car itself.
It has no record of the timing belt being done (ever?) So i'm doing it before I turn the engine over again, but it needs nothing else so I now have a serious problem with this.
Buying this for the engine was the main justification for buying it.
My mum and brother already have a 5 door MGZR in the same colour which has effectively become a communal car and we have no need whatsoever for a second one.
But it is far too good to be ripping the engine out of and if I do so, I'll end up on a very big guilt trip!
MOT runs to the end of June so I think I'll run about in it until then and see what the test says, but assuming it then passes I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it!
But it's a very clean little hatchback with very low mileage, 160bhp, no rattles and it was safely within shed money. It would have been very rude not to buy it!
Until Thursday.
I spotted one advertised just a few miles away which looked in good condition and was a very good price. Not perfect on the outside, but still in very good nick and it is spotless inside!
Despite being advertised as spares or repair due to a dead battery and not having been used in a while it still had a couple months mot and runs well.
Best bit? It was well under a grand, and only has 26,500 miles.
The main justification for buying this was the fact it has the 160bhp vvc engine and with that mileage and no visible leaks this looked to be about the best deal possible for this engine.
On top of this, the exhaust has been replaced fairly recently, all brake flexi hoses are new, discs, pads and tyres are all fine, the windscreen was replaced less than two years ago and there appears to be no leaks on the engine or the car itself.
It has no record of the timing belt being done (ever?) So i'm doing it before I turn the engine over again, but it needs nothing else so I now have a serious problem with this.
Buying this for the engine was the main justification for buying it.
My mum and brother already have a 5 door MGZR in the same colour which has effectively become a communal car and we have no need whatsoever for a second one.
But it is far too good to be ripping the engine out of and if I do so, I'll end up on a very big guilt trip!
MOT runs to the end of June so I think I'll run about in it until then and see what the test says, but assuming it then passes I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it!
But it's a very clean little hatchback with very low mileage, 160bhp, no rattles and it was safely within shed money. It would have been very rude not to buy it!
I'm erring towards keeping it if the MOT goes well I think!
The 1.4 we have is showing its age and doesn't have that much grunt but isn't that bad to drive really, so I'm quite looking forward to getting the belt done and getting this on the road properly. Sadly it's actually the second most powerful car I've owned!
It's got air con as well, though again I'm not going to fiddle with that until after the mot.
Brakes may need bled though.
I'd had a look at getting another civic type r last year, but didn't find a good one then house maintenance put that on hold. So while this isn't going to be near a type r for performance, it's good bang for the buck if it behaves.
I'll need to find some cassettes though, I'm assuming there probably aren't many ZR 160s still rocking a tape deck!
The 1.4 we have is showing its age and doesn't have that much grunt but isn't that bad to drive really, so I'm quite looking forward to getting the belt done and getting this on the road properly. Sadly it's actually the second most powerful car I've owned!
It's got air con as well, though again I'm not going to fiddle with that until after the mot.
Brakes may need bled though.
I'd had a look at getting another civic type r last year, but didn't find a good one then house maintenance put that on hold. So while this isn't going to be near a type r for performance, it's good bang for the buck if it behaves.
I'll need to find some cassettes though, I'm assuming there probably aren't many ZR 160s still rocking a tape deck!
Just in case you've not heard of them:
http://www.kmaps.co.uk
Reasonable amount of extra power for not much money
http://www.kmaps.co.uk
Reasonable amount of extra power for not much money
I always wanted one of these when I had my Elise, for similar reason.
I never bought one, but if it was in good nick I'd never have scrapped it, they're cool little things, I like them. If I did put the engine in an Elise, I'd have been tempted to stick 118bhp Elise engine in the Rover (MG) and carry on using it as a run around. Still pretty fun I'd have thought, they're nice cars with less power than that.
I never bought one, but if it was in good nick I'd never have scrapped it, they're cool little things, I like them. If I did put the engine in an Elise, I'd have been tempted to stick 118bhp Elise engine in the Rover (MG) and carry on using it as a run around. Still pretty fun I'd have thought, they're nice cars with less power than that.
Ian974 said:
Smoking around in an s1 Elise every day and being the stereotypically tight Scotsman, I've been keeping my eyes open for a ZR 160 in order to get a potentially cheap power upgrade. Problem being its quite rare to find one locally.
Until Thursday.
I spotted one advertised just a few miles away which looked in good condition and was a very good price. Not perfect on the outside, but still in very good nick and it is spotless inside!
Despite being advertised as spares or repair due to a dead battery and not having been used in a while it still had a couple months mot and runs well.
Best bit? It was well under a grand, and only has 26,500 miles.
The main justification for buying this was the fact it has the 160bhp vvc engine and with that mileage and no visible leaks this looked to be about the best deal possible for this engine.
On top of this, the exhaust has been replaced fairly recently, all brake flexi hoses are new, discs, pads and tyres are all fine, the windscreen was replaced less than two years ago and there appears to be no leaks on the engine or the car itself.
It has no record of the timing belt being done (ever?) So i'm doing it before I turn the engine over again, but it needs nothing else so I now have a serious problem with this.
Buying this for the engine was the main justification for buying it.
My mum and brother already have a 5 door MGZR in the same colour which has effectively become a communal car and we have no need whatsoever for a second one.
But it is far too good to be ripping the engine out of and if I do so, I'll end up on a very big guilt trip!
MOT runs to the end of June so I think I'll run about in it until then and see what the test says, but assuming it then passes I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it!
But it's a very clean little hatchback with very low mileage, 160bhp, no rattles and it was safely within shed money. It would have been very rude not to buy it!
Until Thursday.
I spotted one advertised just a few miles away which looked in good condition and was a very good price. Not perfect on the outside, but still in very good nick and it is spotless inside!
Despite being advertised as spares or repair due to a dead battery and not having been used in a while it still had a couple months mot and runs well.
Best bit? It was well under a grand, and only has 26,500 miles.
The main justification for buying this was the fact it has the 160bhp vvc engine and with that mileage and no visible leaks this looked to be about the best deal possible for this engine.
On top of this, the exhaust has been replaced fairly recently, all brake flexi hoses are new, discs, pads and tyres are all fine, the windscreen was replaced less than two years ago and there appears to be no leaks on the engine or the car itself.
It has no record of the timing belt being done (ever?) So i'm doing it before I turn the engine over again, but it needs nothing else so I now have a serious problem with this.
Buying this for the engine was the main justification for buying it.
My mum and brother already have a 5 door MGZR in the same colour which has effectively become a communal car and we have no need whatsoever for a second one.
But it is far too good to be ripping the engine out of and if I do so, I'll end up on a very big guilt trip!
MOT runs to the end of June so I think I'll run about in it until then and see what the test says, but assuming it then passes I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it!
But it's a very clean little hatchback with very low mileage, 160bhp, no rattles and it was safely within shed money. It would have been very rude not to buy it!
I've been getting prepared for doing the timing belt on it on Friday, starter motor is out to lock the flywheel and timing covers are off.
I can't tell if they've been replaced, but as the belts still have "rover" printed on them and the service history has all been for a couple of Indy's, I'm working on the assumption they're the 13 year old originals!
Now the sun is back out and I'm getting the roof back off the Elise on the daily grind, I'm getting in the summer mood with it again and I dont think i want to fiddle with it much for now. More power would be good, but while the Elise isn't the fastest thing on the road by a long shot, it's got enough power to be fun and it doesn't really struggle to the redline at the moment anyway.
Also while swapping the engine itself is simple, if a fair heap of work, I don't really fancy the headache of rewiring the car to take a vvc at the moment, so i think the mg will be remaining intact for the time being.
While the miles are low on the ZR, I need to get it running, build up some trust in it and find the inevitable faults!
And anyway, I love the seats
I can't tell if they've been replaced, but as the belts still have "rover" printed on them and the service history has all been for a couple of Indy's, I'm working on the assumption they're the 13 year old originals!
Now the sun is back out and I'm getting the roof back off the Elise on the daily grind, I'm getting in the summer mood with it again and I dont think i want to fiddle with it much for now. More power would be good, but while the Elise isn't the fastest thing on the road by a long shot, it's got enough power to be fun and it doesn't really struggle to the redline at the moment anyway.
Also while swapping the engine itself is simple, if a fair heap of work, I don't really fancy the headache of rewiring the car to take a vvc at the moment, so i think the mg will be remaining intact for the time being.
While the miles are low on the ZR, I need to get it running, build up some trust in it and find the inevitable faults!
And anyway, I love the seats
Got the timing belt, fuel filter and oil changed over Friday and Saturday and stuck on a spare pipercross induction kit we had knocking about (it's a 1.8 3 door hatchback with 17's and a bodykit, might as well!)
I've done a couple belts on other k series engines before and despite now being a 4 pot with two timing belts, this wasn't really any worse to do. Only problem was a new alternator and air con belt being slightly longer than the old one, so that's been left for now.
Finally took the car for a proper drive, while the brakes are a little spongey and clutch will probably need done at some point this doesnt matter, the car is as much fun as you could hope for!
Before getting a proper drive in it I was reluctant to describe it as a hot hatch, but it really is. A 172/182 or civic type r would be a bit quicker and sharper. But even for 4-5 times the price of this I was struggling to find a decent civic last year and while a 172/182 can be found for around a grand, timing belts isn't something I'd want to tackle on those and getting that done would add a reasonable chunk of cost onto the car. It's not quite going to compare with those on performance or handling, but due to value for money, for me it doesn't have to.
I can absolutely understand why people would want to bung the engines from these into an Elise, but this one is definitely staying. Towards the redline it sounds a lot like my old civic did with the induction kit on, it's hilarious fun!
I've done a couple belts on other k series engines before and despite now being a 4 pot with two timing belts, this wasn't really any worse to do. Only problem was a new alternator and air con belt being slightly longer than the old one, so that's been left for now.
Finally took the car for a proper drive, while the brakes are a little spongey and clutch will probably need done at some point this doesnt matter, the car is as much fun as you could hope for!
Before getting a proper drive in it I was reluctant to describe it as a hot hatch, but it really is. A 172/182 or civic type r would be a bit quicker and sharper. But even for 4-5 times the price of this I was struggling to find a decent civic last year and while a 172/182 can be found for around a grand, timing belts isn't something I'd want to tackle on those and getting that done would add a reasonable chunk of cost onto the car. It's not quite going to compare with those on performance or handling, but due to value for money, for me it doesn't have to.
I can absolutely understand why people would want to bung the engines from these into an Elise, but this one is definitely staying. Towards the redline it sounds a lot like my old civic did with the induction kit on, it's hilarious fun!
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