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MG ZR 105


95 quid Peugeot

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They're great fun. 300 quid repair sounds about right. Maybe 200 on a homer. Get it at scrap money do the work and enjoy.

 

The ZS is a great bargain right now too. They handle like an absolute demon.

 

Given MG Rover had about £3.50 in development money at the time they really did a good job of the ZR,ZS and ZT

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+1  ZR's are surprisingly good cars, have driven several and an ex-g/f used to own one (from new), she drove the thing without much mercy (or maintenance!) and it seemed unbreakable in the time I knew her. 

Wouldn't pay much for one but would consider one as an interesting hack/daily. (Don't know much about ZS's but stories I've read are generally good).

 

HG replacement - £250-300 sounds about right to be done properly. 

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Sure the head gasket has definitely gone?,there are a number of other problems which can give similar symptoms.They are great fun though,I've had my 160 Express 9 years & can't see it ever going anywhere.It's currently waiting to be fixed after I crashed it 2 days after spending around £700 getting the head gasket done again after the liners had moved in the block.The Rover 25(84 bhp) I'm using is Ok,but feels so sensible after the MG  :?

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They're GR11, like an oversize go-kart.

Ours spent the best part of 3 years off the road, until MRS TRW pissed me off enough by the continual badgering at me to get it roadworthy for her. She's now hooning around Swansea like a weapons grade mentalist in the bloody thing.

 

post-17731-0-37421700-1484438909_thumb.jpg

 

Do it.
 

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^^ I'm sure some have had great success with K-Seal (other miracle cures are available) but I'm not one & don't know personally anyone who has. There's no substitute for doing the job properly when it comes to HGF. (sorry if that reads as boring I think it does). 

 

Me.  On my first spiteful Rover 75.  Twice.  Lasted 10,000 miles.  I had the cheek to try a second bottle and it bought me another 10,000 miles.  I'd say they are one of the very few engines that it actually works on if used appropriately.

 

I hate myself for doing it though, but sometimes with an End Of Life car it's what you do.

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Cracking cars, real comfy seats and good on the road like the chaps say.

 

I got a 1.4 105+ one for 'yoof' 3.5 years ago.  I bought a 'tidy and all together car' for a good price, it wasn't mint but it did the job and I had no time for a spares and repairs.

 

After I'd put a new cambelt and tensioner on it (turns out the tensioner on it had been set with the tensioner turned the wrong way)  followed by a water pump, then a clutch cos the release bearing failed, then two cv gaiters and a track rod end and two tyres because the failed track rod end had toed out and scrubbed the tyres, we had 12 months ticket on it.   Then yoof popped the HG FFS and went and got himself another car.

 

So now I was well into 'spares or repairs' so I put a HG (BG Gaskets Std Elastomer Gasket) and inlet man gasket on myself.   I skimped and re-used stretch bolts as a bit of an experiment..   I've been tooling around in it for two years and 32,000 miles (to keep mileage on a modern down to sensible levels) and it is a real hoot.  It's got a Powerflow back box, sounds the mutts nutts without being over the top, just a loveley 'boom and burble'.   Car uses no coolant but does geet through a bit of oil, I think it's had a hard life.  On a recent 'run' where I wasn't in a hurry, without trying it did approx 42mpg.

 

It sort of reminds me of when I was a teenager running around in old stuff and keeping regular checks on fluids and stuff.

 

If the head is flat enough not to need a skim (I used a straight edge feller guages and a torch to check ours) and all you need is a HG and Inlet manifold gasket and a bit of coolant, oil and filter and then another oil and filter after a 1000 miles or so, then you can do the lot for about £75 quid.  Take you time to meticulously clean the head and block faces.  I used wet and dry and WD40 on a flat block.   It was all partially an experiment for me, but 32,000 miles tells us 'just goes to show what you can do'  

 

The car had some paint on it down one side not long before we had it, 4 years later on it has not weathered well, nacker lacker peel and base coat peel.  I am a bit overrun with cars and some changing circumstances mean I might have to have a bit of a fleet change.  I am reluctantly toying with the idea of loosing my Roffle Cherry later this year.

 

I've got the SRS light on, so need to get that sorted and get 12 months MOT on it, then you might see it on here and I hate getting rid of cars that are known to me as good.

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Back in the days these were new I got a hire car to go to Uni on day release in every week, and drove most hatchbacks of this size on the market. They wiped the floor with Astras and Golfs handling wise, and seemed fairly well screwed together. Albeit I was driving new ones.

 

The only trouble I had was I couldn't get comfortable in them, probably as I suffer from Ernie Wise syndrome*.

 

Were it not for that I'd probably be tooling around in one now, given how good they are, and how cheap.

 

The diesels are also surprisingly good, but obviously needing a different driving style to the revvy pez ones. Being relatively compact and light helped fuel economy too - they were Focus rivals at the time, but probably about the same size as the Fiesta of the time (I mean the square ones - Mk 6, innit?). Still big enough for most people's needs though, and the low dash and (for the time) big windows help with the impression of space too.

 

FA verdict: Good wee cars, and well worth having the HG done if you think it might be a keeper.

 

 

 

 

* main symptoms being short, fat hairy legs, and a frequent tightening of the spending muscle. First diagnosed by Dr E Morecambe shortly after WW2.

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Connector under the front seat(s). TADT,S.

Thanks, I'm hoping it is.  I've unplugged and wd40'd them, plugged em back together, but SRS is still on.  I'm going to cut the crap connectors out and replace with male and female spades.   The 'horn' works off both buttons which I understand is a good indication that it might not be the rotor coupler.   I've also got a few 2.7ohm resistors to mimick the circuit resistance if the under seat wiring doesn't cure it as I read the seat belt buckle micro switch can also be a cause.

 

Meanwhile in true 'shitter' fashion we are running some black insulation tape on the binnacle to stop the light annoying me.  Real successful, can't see the bulb glowing, keep having a 'peek' behind in the vain hope the issue has sorted itself, which of course it hasn't.

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Thanks, I'm hoping it is. I've unplugged and wd40'd them, plugged em back together, but SRS is still on. I'm going to cut the crap connectors out and replace with male and female spades. The 'horn' works off both buttons which I understand is a good indication that it might not be the rotor coupler. I've also got a few 2.7ohm resistors to mimick the circuit resistance if the under seat wiring doesn't cure it as I read the seat belt buckle micro switch can also be a cause.

 

Meanwhile in true 'shitter' fashion we are running some black insulation tape on the binnacle to stop the light annoying me. Real successful, can't see the bulb glowing, keep having a 'peek' behind in the vain hope the issue has sorted itself, which of course it hasn't.

SRS stuff doesn't automatically go off, it needs switch off from memory because it's EPRom rather than just flash memory like the EML

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I've thrown the towel in on this one.. i put an offer in last Friday of 175 which he countered with one  Â£5 more ffs,  at 180,  wasn't going to get into a arse kicking competition for £5, so happy with his offer, contacted him to confirm collection/payment  nothing heard,  advert amended with price uplifted to 250......I'm out

 

Him...Just added them to the ad mate, sorry it isn't the cleanest. As I've got to move house on friday if you can collect tonight or tomorrow you can have it for 180

 

Current ad

https://www.gumtree.com/p/mg/Mg-zr-1.4-105/1209879768

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