MG ZT 260 SE Saloon
Discussion
Hi All,
Picked this up about a month ago. Wanted to put a thread together, but decided to wait for a few things to stack up. I know Spinakerr has his 260 Tourer on here, one of his many reader's cars threads I have thoroughly enjoyed reading! Unfortunately I don't have his mechanical competence, so please keep your expectations low
I will have a go at basic things but anything complicated it will go and see a specialist.
A bit of background. I've always been a bit of an MG/Rover fanboy (weird I know), having had a 25 in the past and immediate family having other models. My daily drive these days is a Twinair engined Alfa Mito, and for a while I've wanted something to run alongside as a 'modern classic', originally considering going all in on Alfas and getting some form of GTV/Spider. Without putting a downer on the thread, my usual outside of work activities involve stuff like gym and cycling, however I suffer with Crohns Disease, it can be a bit of a b
h, and if its giving me a bad time I can't do those sorts of things. It gets me down and I tend to then just vegetate in front of the telly feeling sorry for myself. So I wanted something that would still give me something in life when I'm having a rough time, whether that's taking it out, tinkering, or just giving it a damn good clean!
After reading more recent posts on Spinakerr's thread, I looked out of curiosity on Auto Trader to see what the market for 260s was like. Saw this car, viewed it the next day, and picked it up the following weekend! My first V8, and quite a good way of balancing out the 2 cylinders of the daily! On a classic policy it's actually cheaper than the Alfa to insure.
The ZT is an 04 Facelift, in X Power Grey, its an SE so its full spec with heated seats, Harmon Kardon audio (more on that later), Powerfold Mirrors, and even an electric rear blind. It's also fitted with the X Power Exhausts so it sounds fantastic, and has a couple of other upgrades including a larger Accufab throttle body, and uprated MSD Coils. It's on 79,000 miles, and comes with a massive folder of invoices going back roughly the last ten years, all the MOT certificates, and the original sales invoice. It has had a number of owners but they all appear to have been enthusiasts on the two-sixties forum so I've been able to track down more of the car's past.
Obligatory collection day petrol station photo...
Picked the car up from a nice chap in Newbury who had owned it for the last five years, and its had a lot of recent/fairly recent work including new Bilstein Struts on the rear (fronts are older but have also been replaced), the 2 Bilstein Diff Dampers, Brake Discs and Pads, New Steering Rack, ABS ECU Refurb, Gearbox and Diff Oil Changes, and Engine Oil/Filter service every year well within the 5k intervals. Serviced in January and MOT to December. The subframes are good, and have been rust protected in the past, something I will look to keep up during my ownership.
Got it home and although it was relatively clean, it was not my kind of clean, this is after...
It wasn't long before the old girl started to throw up a couple of issues. When the car was up to temp I could smell burning coolant, further investigation suggested that engine was fine and that the leaks were coming from valves for the car's heating system. Anyone familiar with the 260 will know that the heating system on these cars is a bit of a bodge, being a cut down version of the FWD system thanks to a sodding great V8 getting in the way, and these 3 way valves are a known weak point, and both of them seemed to be leaking.
One is located externally in the plenum, and the other is located internally on the side of the matrix, in the drivers footwell. The internal one had been replaced and was weeping from a poorly seated hose so that was a quick fix...Then finally we got a couple of days without rain so I decided to tackle the plenum valve given that an uprated part from the two-sixties forum had been provided in a box of bits with the car (that should have been a clue eh)...
The pollen filter is in this area too, given that the wiper arms and plenum covers had to come off to get this far, its no surprise that the filter is rarely changed. In fairness this one had been, but as I was in there anyway, I put a new one in, and carried on with the valve...
Despite it's very obvious protestations, it's definitely not "OK". The leak drips down towards the exhaust, hence the burning coolant smell.
Out...
New Valve, yes it's pretty much a 3 way central heating valve with an actuator attached...
Fitted and cleaned the surrounding areas while I was there...
I've kept an eye on it since and so far it appears to be a success! Quite pleased with myself!
Next up was to start to look at the sort of things that I am a bit better at doing. The rear window trim had seen better days. On the ZT these are actually the very same chrome 75 items but coated in some sort of rubber/plastic/crap that perishes.
Weather has been very much against everyone at the moment, but things like this really niggle me, so stripped it down and then went for a semi permanent fix...
I bought some satin black vinyl and covered over the stripped trim. From a distance it does the job, and as a temporary fix I'm quite happy, but when we finally have more dry weather I will revisit and trim it up a little better where its not sitting great, or just try again. I may even remove the trim in the summer and plastidip it, but for now it does the job and takes the eye away from visible chrome and peeling mess...
Sticking (ahem) with the black vinyl theme, today I wrapped the lower section of the rear bumper. Maybe not to some people's taste, but I think it adds a OEM+/Modern touch. Also the facelift ZR and ZS both had black lower sections, but for whatever reason they didn't do it on the ZTs...
I've also been going around the interior with adhesive felt/dampening tape to stop vibration/rattle/leather rubbing/plastic rubbing.
That brings me up to date but there is a list to slowly work though as follows...
- Paintwork is generally very good, but there are some chips and scratches that need touching in/flatting/polishing - can do myself. Also need one or two dents pulled on the Nearside. I know a good PDR guy.
- Headlining is starting to sag and needs a retrim - again I can do this myself, and I've seen a video of the headlining coming out through a front door.
- Door fabric panels are baggy and need a retrim - I can do this.
- Alloys need a refurb. They were done in 2015 but the finish is starting to fail. The wheels are not kerbed. Will go for OE style Shadow Chrome finish.
- There is an annoying squeak over uneven surfaces at low speed coming from the NSR that needs investigating.
- The rear bumper has seen a minor bit of action years ago and the repair has started to fail and the paint has cracked
- OSR Sill is starting to look very slightly suspect for rust around the jacking point. This is common to 75s. I have a contact to sort this and the bumper repair above. Will likely get done in winter when the car will be off the road.
- The handbrake is almost non existent. There is a mod that can be done with a compensator from a MINI, and I'll get some new shoes (apparently Peugeot 607 items fit!), in the hope that improves it. Handbrake Cables are a last resort as they are NLA so would have to get some made up.
- The chinese android head unit that has been fitted in the past is pretty poor. The radio function is terrible with no DAB, and it doesn't utilise the HK Subwoofer or parcel shelf speakers (they are basically disconnected). I have the original Nav unit, so may reinstate this and then bluetooth through the CD Changer connection, or fit a new unit with carplay and DAB and get the HK Sub/Amp wired in to it as it is possible to get working but awkward. NSR door speaker is on its way out too so maybe a speaker upgrade is in order.
- As great as the car sounds, it's quite droney at 50/60 mph. I'm going to add some sound deadening to the boot and rear passenger area. I have this ready to go, just need to get around to it.
- General rust protection/prevention particularly the subframes.
- Some new plates. I don't like the black border around the rear one at the moment - yes I'm that picky
- The technical grey finish on the dash is a bit dull. May look into wrapping (NOT carbon), or getting it painted.
Well, that's about it so far other than just getting out and enjoying it. In the month its been with me, it's had more comments than any other car that I've owned, and I work in Automotive with a lot of car enthusiasts. The old girl gets a lot of love!
Hopefully I haven't bored you all to death getting to the end of this post! Will keep updating as I do stuff with it. Cheers!
Picked this up about a month ago. Wanted to put a thread together, but decided to wait for a few things to stack up. I know Spinakerr has his 260 Tourer on here, one of his many reader's cars threads I have thoroughly enjoyed reading! Unfortunately I don't have his mechanical competence, so please keep your expectations low
I will have a go at basic things but anything complicated it will go and see a specialist.A bit of background. I've always been a bit of an MG/Rover fanboy (weird I know), having had a 25 in the past and immediate family having other models. My daily drive these days is a Twinair engined Alfa Mito, and for a while I've wanted something to run alongside as a 'modern classic', originally considering going all in on Alfas and getting some form of GTV/Spider. Without putting a downer on the thread, my usual outside of work activities involve stuff like gym and cycling, however I suffer with Crohns Disease, it can be a bit of a b
h, and if its giving me a bad time I can't do those sorts of things. It gets me down and I tend to then just vegetate in front of the telly feeling sorry for myself. So I wanted something that would still give me something in life when I'm having a rough time, whether that's taking it out, tinkering, or just giving it a damn good clean!After reading more recent posts on Spinakerr's thread, I looked out of curiosity on Auto Trader to see what the market for 260s was like. Saw this car, viewed it the next day, and picked it up the following weekend! My first V8, and quite a good way of balancing out the 2 cylinders of the daily! On a classic policy it's actually cheaper than the Alfa to insure.
The ZT is an 04 Facelift, in X Power Grey, its an SE so its full spec with heated seats, Harmon Kardon audio (more on that later), Powerfold Mirrors, and even an electric rear blind. It's also fitted with the X Power Exhausts so it sounds fantastic, and has a couple of other upgrades including a larger Accufab throttle body, and uprated MSD Coils. It's on 79,000 miles, and comes with a massive folder of invoices going back roughly the last ten years, all the MOT certificates, and the original sales invoice. It has had a number of owners but they all appear to have been enthusiasts on the two-sixties forum so I've been able to track down more of the car's past.
Obligatory collection day petrol station photo...
Picked the car up from a nice chap in Newbury who had owned it for the last five years, and its had a lot of recent/fairly recent work including new Bilstein Struts on the rear (fronts are older but have also been replaced), the 2 Bilstein Diff Dampers, Brake Discs and Pads, New Steering Rack, ABS ECU Refurb, Gearbox and Diff Oil Changes, and Engine Oil/Filter service every year well within the 5k intervals. Serviced in January and MOT to December. The subframes are good, and have been rust protected in the past, something I will look to keep up during my ownership.
Got it home and although it was relatively clean, it was not my kind of clean, this is after...
It wasn't long before the old girl started to throw up a couple of issues. When the car was up to temp I could smell burning coolant, further investigation suggested that engine was fine and that the leaks were coming from valves for the car's heating system. Anyone familiar with the 260 will know that the heating system on these cars is a bit of a bodge, being a cut down version of the FWD system thanks to a sodding great V8 getting in the way, and these 3 way valves are a known weak point, and both of them seemed to be leaking.
One is located externally in the plenum, and the other is located internally on the side of the matrix, in the drivers footwell. The internal one had been replaced and was weeping from a poorly seated hose so that was a quick fix...Then finally we got a couple of days without rain so I decided to tackle the plenum valve given that an uprated part from the two-sixties forum had been provided in a box of bits with the car (that should have been a clue eh)...
The pollen filter is in this area too, given that the wiper arms and plenum covers had to come off to get this far, its no surprise that the filter is rarely changed. In fairness this one had been, but as I was in there anyway, I put a new one in, and carried on with the valve...
Despite it's very obvious protestations, it's definitely not "OK". The leak drips down towards the exhaust, hence the burning coolant smell.
Out...
New Valve, yes it's pretty much a 3 way central heating valve with an actuator attached...
Fitted and cleaned the surrounding areas while I was there...
I've kept an eye on it since and so far it appears to be a success! Quite pleased with myself!
Next up was to start to look at the sort of things that I am a bit better at doing. The rear window trim had seen better days. On the ZT these are actually the very same chrome 75 items but coated in some sort of rubber/plastic/crap that perishes.
Weather has been very much against everyone at the moment, but things like this really niggle me, so stripped it down and then went for a semi permanent fix...
I bought some satin black vinyl and covered over the stripped trim. From a distance it does the job, and as a temporary fix I'm quite happy, but when we finally have more dry weather I will revisit and trim it up a little better where its not sitting great, or just try again. I may even remove the trim in the summer and plastidip it, but for now it does the job and takes the eye away from visible chrome and peeling mess...
Sticking (ahem) with the black vinyl theme, today I wrapped the lower section of the rear bumper. Maybe not to some people's taste, but I think it adds a OEM+/Modern touch. Also the facelift ZR and ZS both had black lower sections, but for whatever reason they didn't do it on the ZTs...
I've also been going around the interior with adhesive felt/dampening tape to stop vibration/rattle/leather rubbing/plastic rubbing.
That brings me up to date but there is a list to slowly work though as follows...
- Paintwork is generally very good, but there are some chips and scratches that need touching in/flatting/polishing - can do myself. Also need one or two dents pulled on the Nearside. I know a good PDR guy.
- Headlining is starting to sag and needs a retrim - again I can do this myself, and I've seen a video of the headlining coming out through a front door.
- Door fabric panels are baggy and need a retrim - I can do this.
- Alloys need a refurb. They were done in 2015 but the finish is starting to fail. The wheels are not kerbed. Will go for OE style Shadow Chrome finish.
- There is an annoying squeak over uneven surfaces at low speed coming from the NSR that needs investigating.
- The rear bumper has seen a minor bit of action years ago and the repair has started to fail and the paint has cracked
- OSR Sill is starting to look very slightly suspect for rust around the jacking point. This is common to 75s. I have a contact to sort this and the bumper repair above. Will likely get done in winter when the car will be off the road.
- The handbrake is almost non existent. There is a mod that can be done with a compensator from a MINI, and I'll get some new shoes (apparently Peugeot 607 items fit!), in the hope that improves it. Handbrake Cables are a last resort as they are NLA so would have to get some made up.
- The chinese android head unit that has been fitted in the past is pretty poor. The radio function is terrible with no DAB, and it doesn't utilise the HK Subwoofer or parcel shelf speakers (they are basically disconnected). I have the original Nav unit, so may reinstate this and then bluetooth through the CD Changer connection, or fit a new unit with carplay and DAB and get the HK Sub/Amp wired in to it as it is possible to get working but awkward. NSR door speaker is on its way out too so maybe a speaker upgrade is in order.
- As great as the car sounds, it's quite droney at 50/60 mph. I'm going to add some sound deadening to the boot and rear passenger area. I have this ready to go, just need to get around to it.
- General rust protection/prevention particularly the subframes.
- Some new plates. I don't like the black border around the rear one at the moment - yes I'm that picky
- The technical grey finish on the dash is a bit dull. May look into wrapping (NOT carbon), or getting it painted.
Well, that's about it so far other than just getting out and enjoying it. In the month its been with me, it's had more comments than any other car that I've owned, and I work in Automotive with a lot of car enthusiasts. The old girl gets a lot of love!
Hopefully I haven't bored you all to death getting to the end of this post! Will keep updating as I do stuff with it. Cheers!
That’s a very good looking saloon car. Much nicer than a lot of modern cars on the road today.
There’s actually one near the barbers I go that’s been parked up for years in the purple flip colour looking sorry for itself. Don’t think it’s a V8 though. Will grab a picture later when I’m up there
Looks ok on Google maps. It’s tired now.
Never moved in years. As it is now.
There’s actually one near the barbers I go that’s been parked up for years in the purple flip colour looking sorry for itself. Don’t think it’s a V8 though. Will grab a picture later when I’m up there
Looks ok on Google maps. It’s tired now.
Edited by MDMA . on Saturday 6th April 07:24
Never moved in years. As it is now.
Edited by MDMA . on Saturday 6th April 09:09
That's gorgeous... 
I've had a few MG ZTs and an MG ZT-T in my time; all 190s
My first MG ZT was the lowly 1.8 but then sold that and moved into an ex MG managers car which was a 190 ZT pre-facelift (same colour as the OPs) and had the red alcantara interior; absolutely loved that car. Had a custom exhaust fitted to it from JP Exhausts in Congleton; it sounded superb
I've had a few MG ZTs and an MG ZT-T in my time; all 190s
My first MG ZT was the lowly 1.8 but then sold that and moved into an ex MG managers car which was a 190 ZT pre-facelift (same colour as the OPs) and had the red alcantara interior; absolutely loved that car. Had a custom exhaust fitted to it from JP Exhausts in Congleton; it sounded superb
Thanks Chaps! For a 20 year old car it's in pretty good shape I'm genuinely surprised at the moment of positive reaction it gets, particularly with the quite anti-social noise!!
Sad to see that Monogram car left like that. If I've got the reg right it's a diesel and is Sorned. Hate seeing cars left abandoned like that. I love the monogram colours, but a lot of them are hard work. I know some of the colours if it gets damaged you pretty much have to repaint the whole car.
No supercharger plans I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure the kits are available now, but tbh the roads these days 260hp is plenty. It's more of a big bruiser to smoke around in
I'm genuinely surprised at the moment of positive reaction it gets, particularly with the quite anti-social noise!!Sad to see that Monogram car left like that. If I've got the reg right it's a diesel and is Sorned. Hate seeing cars left abandoned like that. I love the monogram colours, but a lot of them are hard work. I know some of the colours if it gets damaged you pretty much have to repaint the whole car.
No supercharger plans I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure the kits are available now, but tbh the roads these days 260hp is plenty. It's more of a big bruiser to smoke around in
Edited by WelshPetrolhead on Saturday 6th April 10:45
WelshPetrolhead said:
Thanks Chaps! For a 20 year old car it's in pretty good shape I'm genuinely surprised at the moment of positive reaction it gets, particularly with the quite anti-social noise!!
Sad to see that Monogram car left like that. If I've got the reg right it's a diesel and is Sorned. Hate seeing cars left abandoned like that. I love the monogram colours, but a lot of them are hard work. I know some of the colours if it gets damaged you pretty much have to repaint the whole car.
No supercharger plans I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure the kits are available now, but tbh the roads these days 260hp is plenty. It's more of a big bruiser to smoke around in
The grumble the 4.6V8 gives off is enough IMO; no need for an SC unless you really want to up the power stakes; I've seen a few of the SC builds using the Kenne Bell & Rousch kits and they're not cheap! I'm genuinely surprised at the moment of positive reaction it gets, particularly with the quite anti-social noise!!Sad to see that Monogram car left like that. If I've got the reg right it's a diesel and is Sorned. Hate seeing cars left abandoned like that. I love the monogram colours, but a lot of them are hard work. I know some of the colours if it gets damaged you pretty much have to repaint the whole car.
No supercharger plans I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure the kits are available now, but tbh the roads these days 260hp is plenty. It's more of a big bruiser to smoke around in
Edited by WelshPetrolhead on Saturday 6th April 10:45
Didn't Dreadnought have an SC kit?
The 260s sound superb with a decent exhaust; that's enough to put a huge grin on any petrol head IMO
My 190 sounded superb with its exhaust; god knows what it'd have sounded like on a 260!
Great to see another 260 on PH! Congratulations on joining the fuel inefficient tier.
Looks like you have done your research and trawled the twosixties forums - great job on the heater valve and your to-do list should keep you busy this year.
The list of items replaced looks to be pretty comprehensive - as you state protection and rust prevention underneath is going to be time well spent.
For the dash - I tracked down a Black Oak kit but anything from the entire R75/ZT range will fit - plenty of options and weird/wonderful Monogram items pop up on eBay and the forums for small pennies.
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the fixes... there are always more to uncover on these cars...
Looks like you have done your research and trawled the twosixties forums - great job on the heater valve and your to-do list should keep you busy this year.
The list of items replaced looks to be pretty comprehensive - as you state protection and rust prevention underneath is going to be time well spent.
For the dash - I tracked down a Black Oak kit but anything from the entire R75/ZT range will fit - plenty of options and weird/wonderful Monogram items pop up on eBay and the forums for small pennies.
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the fixes... there are always more to uncover on these cars...
d_a_n1979 said:
The grumble the 4.6V8 gives off is enough IMO; no need for an SC unless you really want to up the power stakes; I've seen a few of the SC builds using the Kenne Bell & Rousch kits and they're not cheap!
Didn't Dreadnought have an SC kit?
The 260s sound superb with a decent exhaust; that's enough to put a huge grin on any petrol head IMO
My 190 sounded superb with its exhaust; god knows what it'd have sounded like on a 260!
I would tend to agree - the S/C kits and expertise appear to have been unobtainable for a good few years now. I looked into the options when I bought mine but have resigned myself to standard operation and bringing it up to spec with coils/plugs etc for the time being.Didn't Dreadnought have an SC kit?
The 260s sound superb with a decent exhaust; that's enough to put a huge grin on any petrol head IMO
My 190 sounded superb with its exhaust; god knows what it'd have sounded like on a 260!
PS all the exhaust seem to drone around 50mps. I am exceedingly happy with my Zero quads with recently upgraded and fettled anti-droniness. A real difference vs earlier examples I have travelled in.
WelshPetrolhead said:
Sad to see that Monogram car left like that. If I've got the reg right it's a diesel and is Sorned.
Definitely not a V8 as they have the (standard) front caliper mounted to the rear of the hub. The steering rods had to be attached to the front of the hub as a standard LHD rack (on RHD cars) is flipped over 180 degrees to clear the engine.The rear caliper is a AP Racing caliper typically fitted to the front of the Lotus Elise family (whose pads fit). Rear shoes are as above but the rear ‘drum in hat’ discs are one of the few items unique to the 260, usually available from the TwoSixties forum shop.
Edited by Dashnine on Saturday 6th April 13:56
njw1 said:
Very nice, I've always liked these. I came close to buying one once but at the time I could get an e39 M5 for the same money so went down that route instead. I also just missed out on a 190+ a few years ago for £500, I think the ZT will be the car that got away for me!
That's my regret! Not going for an E39 M5 when they were low priced and went for a ZT 190 instead... 
I wasn't as aware of them as much as I'd gone from Jap import Honda's straight to MG ZTs...
Hindsight and all that...
There is still options to S/C at Retro Sports Cars in Halifax, however upgrade of internals are needed to carry the extra horses on the engines which are now pushing 20 years old. So with all that outlay to get the additional 140 bhp it is expensive (I have a S/C). Just enjoy the V8 twinned with the XPowers, as you say not many roads that are safe to push on (Potholes/Speed Traps/Cyclists). The benefit of not S/C is the time with the growl is longer times spent accelerating!
Great to see another Readers' Car thread on these.
I was really tempted to buy one when they were being sold for peanuts in early 2005, but I was doing business mileage and with the Inland Revenue mileage rates I just couldn't make the maths work so I bought a 2 litre turbo-diesel like nearly everyone else.
I was really tempted to buy one when they were being sold for peanuts in early 2005, but I was doing business mileage and with the Inland Revenue mileage rates I just couldn't make the maths work so I bought a 2 litre turbo-diesel like nearly everyone else.
Made the most of the (mostly) dry weather this week. Used it for work all week.
Took it to the first Gaydon Gathering of the year at the British Motor Museum after work. Actually the first time I've taken a car to that sort of meet..
Forecast was dry. Almost glorious sunshine, and then it absolutely hammered it down for about 10 mins or so. Getting totally soaked. It went on to rain again on the way home too. Another pic, next to another favourite car of mine..(yes yes, one for the bad parking thread)...
Used it for work the rest of the week, taking me up to Friday where I set about reinstating the original head unit. As said before my biggest reason behind this was that the android unit that had been installed was not connected to the Harman Kardon Sub and speakers at the rear of the car. There is no way of connecting it aside from running your own cabling which I wasn't keen on. The rest of the system sounded extremely tinny without it.
On top of that, my phone (Pixel 6a) would only connect to it occasionally, and when it did it took forever, and the radio was rubbish as it wasn't connected to the radio amp module (that's on the HK rear loom), it only seemed to pick up Radio 2, and I'm not quite at that age yet
The only unknown was a) did the old head unit work, and b) Did the modules that drive it work?
Chinesium Android Unit ready to come out...
This was not a fun exercise!
Original "High line" unit installed...and working (ish)...
So with the screen showing as above, this meant that both the Nav Module, and TV/Video Module worked, else there would either be a blocky display or nothing at all. The radio however wasn't tuning to anything at all, and I don't own any cassettes to test the tape player.
Fortunately, when stripping the boot down to add sound deadening, I found the aerial lead plugged into and extension for the android system. I plugged it back into the Radio module in the boot, and I now have stations!! I have however bought a second hand BMW BM24 module as this has better tuners and amplifier so should increase the sound quality further when it arrives.
I also bought a bluetooth cassette adapter from Amazon, which actually works really well. It will need charging occasionally which is fine, but it also has a little wire coming out of it for a mic/power button, so I have cable tied the wire to shorten it and double sided taped the button to underneath the 'eyebrow' on the centre console, to make it a bit more discreet. Its strong enough that it will stick again when I need to remove the adapter to charge it.
Best of all, all of the speakers and sub now work. Yes...I know part of the point of the car is to hear the sound of the v8 and I agree, but also sometimes on an early morning commute I just need some music or chatter to perk me up and the android set up just wasnt cutting it.
Next up was the sound deadening. I bought a load of Dodomat Deadn Hex, to do all of the boot, and potentially the rear passenger area, and I'll probably end up doing my Alfa too as the road noise in that is quite loud. The other thing I needed to do was work out where my boot was leaking from, this was a very very slight dribble and seemed to be coming from the lower lip near the boot latch.
I stripped the boot and pulled the seal to be greeted with this...
It was also wet to the touch...BINGO! As the forecast was very good for the whole weekend, I decided to crack on with the sound deadening first as I would be leaning over that area, so felt it better to treat afterwards.
I bought loads of the deadening so done pretty much the whole boot floor, then lots of patches in the battery/module well, the wheel arches, under the parcel shelf, inside the rear wings, and under the bootlid.
I have driven it this evening with everything back in, and its still droney...but then I didn't expect to get rid of it completely. It has however taken the edge off it and removed quite a lot of resonance that was there at around 1600-1800 rpm or so. I've yet to do the rear passenger area (under the seat and footwells). A reasonable win, in summary.
Before I drove it though, I gave the seam some attention, first of all it was pretty grotty all the way around so cleaned it...
I then wire brushed the rusty areas, cleaned, and then treated with rust converter, I allowed this time to go off, and then went over with touch up paint I had. It doesn't match as this area isn't body colour, so looks rough, but none of it is seen anyway...
I then ran a bead of sealant in the groove of the boot seal and refitted. After this I then added additional seal around the outer boot opening, both on the body and the boot lid itself. The idea being I wanted to limit the amount of water entering the car in this area. Ironically the last car I added seals to was a brand new MG3 because the doors leaked!
As I had metres of seal I also added some to the door shut areas as you would see on most modern cars..
To top off a productive few days, I gave it a wash as the earlier wet weather had it looking quite dirty. I done both so the Alfa wasn't left out Oh..and the boot is dry
Got a busy few weeks ahead with much more boring non car stuff.. but in the mean time I'm going to get some samples for the headlining and door cards. I will match the current headliner as I don't want to do the A/B/C Posts, but for the doors I'm considering a silver/grey alcantara as all the black/dark grey needs a bit of a lift.
Took it to the first Gaydon Gathering of the year at the British Motor Museum after work. Actually the first time I've taken a car to that sort of meet..
Forecast was dry. Almost glorious sunshine, and then it absolutely hammered it down for about 10 mins or so. Getting totally soaked. It went on to rain again on the way home too. Another pic, next to another favourite car of mine..(yes yes, one for the bad parking thread)...
Used it for work the rest of the week, taking me up to Friday where I set about reinstating the original head unit. As said before my biggest reason behind this was that the android unit that had been installed was not connected to the Harman Kardon Sub and speakers at the rear of the car. There is no way of connecting it aside from running your own cabling which I wasn't keen on. The rest of the system sounded extremely tinny without it.
On top of that, my phone (Pixel 6a) would only connect to it occasionally, and when it did it took forever, and the radio was rubbish as it wasn't connected to the radio amp module (that's on the HK rear loom), it only seemed to pick up Radio 2, and I'm not quite at that age yet
The only unknown was a) did the old head unit work, and b) Did the modules that drive it work?
Chinesium Android Unit ready to come out...
This was not a fun exercise!
Original "High line" unit installed...and working (ish)...
So with the screen showing as above, this meant that both the Nav Module, and TV/Video Module worked, else there would either be a blocky display or nothing at all. The radio however wasn't tuning to anything at all, and I don't own any cassettes to test the tape player.
Fortunately, when stripping the boot down to add sound deadening, I found the aerial lead plugged into and extension for the android system. I plugged it back into the Radio module in the boot, and I now have stations!! I have however bought a second hand BMW BM24 module as this has better tuners and amplifier so should increase the sound quality further when it arrives.
I also bought a bluetooth cassette adapter from Amazon, which actually works really well. It will need charging occasionally which is fine, but it also has a little wire coming out of it for a mic/power button, so I have cable tied the wire to shorten it and double sided taped the button to underneath the 'eyebrow' on the centre console, to make it a bit more discreet. Its strong enough that it will stick again when I need to remove the adapter to charge it.
Best of all, all of the speakers and sub now work. Yes...I know part of the point of the car is to hear the sound of the v8 and I agree, but also sometimes on an early morning commute I just need some music or chatter to perk me up
and the android set up just wasnt cutting it.Next up was the sound deadening. I bought a load of Dodomat Deadn Hex, to do all of the boot, and potentially the rear passenger area, and I'll probably end up doing my Alfa too as the road noise in that is quite loud. The other thing I needed to do was work out where my boot was leaking from, this was a very very slight dribble and seemed to be coming from the lower lip near the boot latch.
I stripped the boot and pulled the seal to be greeted with this...
It was also wet to the touch...BINGO! As the forecast was very good for the whole weekend, I decided to crack on with the sound deadening first as I would be leaning over that area, so felt it better to treat afterwards.
I bought loads of the deadening so done pretty much the whole boot floor, then lots of patches in the battery/module well, the wheel arches, under the parcel shelf, inside the rear wings, and under the bootlid.
I have driven it this evening with everything back in, and its still droney...but then I didn't expect to get rid of it completely. It has however taken the edge off it and removed quite a lot of resonance that was there at around 1600-1800 rpm or so. I've yet to do the rear passenger area (under the seat and footwells). A reasonable win, in summary.
Before I drove it though, I gave the seam some attention, first of all it was pretty grotty all the way around so cleaned it...
I then wire brushed the rusty areas, cleaned, and then treated with rust converter, I allowed this time to go off, and then went over with touch up paint I had. It doesn't match as this area isn't body colour, so looks rough, but none of it is seen anyway...
I then ran a bead of sealant in the groove of the boot seal and refitted. After this I then added additional seal around the outer boot opening, both on the body and the boot lid itself. The idea being I wanted to limit the amount of water entering the car in this area. Ironically the last car I added seals to was a brand new MG3 because the doors leaked!
As I had metres of seal I also added some to the door shut areas as you would see on most modern cars..
To top off a productive few days, I gave it a wash as the earlier wet weather had it looking quite dirty. I done both so the Alfa wasn't left out
Oh..and the boot is dry Got a busy few weeks ahead with much more boring non car stuff.. but in the mean time I'm going to get some samples for the headlining and door cards. I will match the current headliner as I don't want to do the A/B/C Posts, but for the doors I'm considering a silver/grey alcantara as all the black/dark grey needs a bit of a lift.
Edited by WelshPetrolhead on Sunday 14th April 19:59
Rare old motor there's a guy near me who collects 75s and ZTs, he's got a 75 V8 Tourer too. It's a pity Rover didn't make all the 75s/ZTs, they'd probably much more revered than they are.
With the bluetooth connectivity is there not an option to connect via the cd changer like in older BMW's?
With the bluetooth connectivity is there not an option to connect via the cd changer like in older BMW's?
TheDoggingFather said:
With the bluetooth connectivity is there not an option to connect via the cd changer like in older BMW's?
Yes and no. There is a kit for that which I think involves a BMW adapter and then changing some of the wiring as there is a thread on either the 75/ZT forum or the two-sixties. Unfortunately the CD Changer in mine and its related part of the loom looks to have died under a previous owner mostly by the infamous water ingress into the boot! I don't even have the changer, and found the remnants of the wiring for it when I stripped the boot. Just a minor update to the thread, as I've generally been busy (interviews - got promoted!), and just enjoying the car really with a couple of satisfying jobs done. I've been driving it far too much, 1300 miles in 3 months, double what I've done in my actual daily drive in the same period. To be honest though, it's really benefited and seems to be running well *touches wood!*. We are approaching 80k miles.
Went to a car design industry evening at Gasoline Juice in Daventry, for anyone who hasn't been its a really nice place, cool buildings, the inside is interesting (including a small plane fuselage), and really good pizza! Recommended.
Also attended the Collecting Cars Coffee Run at Bicester Heritage. Great day out, so much variety of cars and the weather was fantastic!
On to the jobs.. I've spent a lot of time touching in/flatting/polishing chips and scratches. The body side lowers have suffered quite badly with a bit of gravel rash, not something that's easily touched in, but I spent a weekend wet flatting the lowers the whole length of the car on both sides, to reduce the appearance of it..
Before
During
After
Bodyside
I've spent far too much time cleaning it. Probably one of my favourite view points of this car....
Reshelled the key with a genuine Valeo part...
After the good news about the promotion, treated myself to a plate for the car. Took me the course of 2 evenings to fit them because a previous owner used halfords entire stock of number plate tape which took an age to remove...
That's about it for now, next up will be the headlining and the baggy door cards. We have a little charity fundraising car show next month in work, I'd like to get at least the doors done by then, but we'll see!
Ben
Went to a car design industry evening at Gasoline Juice in Daventry, for anyone who hasn't been its a really nice place, cool buildings, the inside is interesting (including a small plane fuselage), and really good pizza! Recommended.
Also attended the Collecting Cars Coffee Run at Bicester Heritage. Great day out, so much variety of cars and the weather was fantastic!
On to the jobs.. I've spent a lot of time touching in/flatting/polishing chips and scratches. The body side lowers have suffered quite badly with a bit of gravel rash, not something that's easily touched in, but I spent a weekend wet flatting the lowers the whole length of the car on both sides, to reduce the appearance of it..
Before
During
After
Bodyside
I've spent far too much time cleaning it. Probably one of my favourite view points of this car....
Reshelled the key with a genuine Valeo part...
After the good news about the promotion, treated myself to a plate for the car. Took me the course of 2 evenings to fit them because a previous owner used halfords entire stock of number plate tape which took an age to remove...
That's about it for now, next up will be the headlining and the baggy door cards. We have a little charity fundraising car show next month in work, I'd like to get at least the doors done by then, but we'll see!
Ben
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