MG ZR. Yes.

[andyberg]

6 hours ago, andyberg said:

I call that a win.

Friendly MOT tester says it's very clean underneath, it's been well looked after. The garage where I got it done is well known around here for being a good, sensible place.

[RoverFolkUs]

27 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Tis only a 105 but seems sprightly enough. Gone are the days of me needing POWER 🤣

Fair enough, the 1.4 is still peppy enough for a ZR! Obviously being a K-Series revving will be it's second nature you don't need the big CCs for that! It's a decent power to weight ratio as well, they only weigh about 900-1000kg off memory

[inconsistant]

Great looking car, well bought! We had 2 of these R200s, a 1.8vi and a 1.4 and loved them both. I think these are massively underrated.

[garethj]

3 hours ago, inconsistant said:

Great looking car, well bought! We had 2 of these R200s, a 1.8vi and a 1.4 and loved them both. I think these are massively underrated.

It’s like the successor to a Maestro but with the curves of an Allegro, what’s not to like?

Despite all of that, it’s still a good car!

[andyberg]

@brownnova can you please move this to the autoshite thread please. I'm going to try to do a diary of ownership 🤞

[yes oui si]

Congrats on the pass. A nice K series really is a lovely wee engine. 

[andyberg]

Ah, that's quite nice...

[McRusty]

Great buy. We bought a 25 Spirit S new in 2003 with the 1.4 engine. It was a fantastic car, took us everywhere. Very practical too - I managed to get two motorbike frames (KH 250 and RD 125) in the back of ours to take to the stove enamellers. Only problem we ever had in 6 years was the window winder mechanism parted company on the spot welds and I had to tack it back together. Yours looks the business in that colour and it's got an octagon on it. What's not to like.

[Cavcraft]

That's a right result, look forward to hearing about long term ownership.

[stuboy]

well done good buy

[N Dentressangle]

I like these. And the K series gasket is actually pretty easy DIY - I did a thread on replacing the one in our 8v Metro.

Sweet engine, decent handling and a good car.

[DaveDorson]

I remember having a pre face 105 with the 1.4 engine and being absolutely fuming because it was as much fun standard as my previously owned and much fettled MK2 golf GTI 8v and cost considerably less money.

 

The only car I think I enjoyed more was my mk1 focus ST170 

[Skut]

They're dependable enough little buses as long as the maintenance is kept up.  Biggest bugbear on the Mk2 is the electrics. Where the wiring loom passes from body to boot wires often break inside the rubber boot and cause weird problems.  Also the Pektron BCU/SCU can fail and cause various problems. There's a well known electronics dude called Technozen who has a dedicated website who if you post the BCU to him he'll fix it and send it back.  

Keep the front caliper pins well greased as if there's any brake binding it can rapidly warp the discs as they're solid and not vented on a 105.

They're quite noisy as a lot of soundproofing had been stripped out by project drive. 

Inlet manifold gaskets can leak.

Rust can be a problem as MGR was skimping on rust protection in the last years.

Other than that they're slightly cheaper to insure than mk1s as they're harder to nick.  They're better looking inside and out than the fussy looking mk1s.

Mines done about 142k.

[andyberg]

7 hours ago, Skut said:

They're dependable enough little buses as long as the maintenance is kept up.  Biggest bugbear on the Mk2 is the electrics. Where the wiring loom passes from body to boot wires often break inside the rubber boot and cause weird problems.  Also the Pektron BCU/SCU can fail and cause various problems. There's a well known electronics dude called Technozen who has a dedicated website who if you post the BCU to him he'll fix it and send it back.  

Keep the front caliper pins well greased as if there's any brake binding it can rapidly warp the discs as they're solid and not vented on a 105.

They're quite noisy as a lot of soundproofing had been stripped out by project drive. 

Inlet manifold gaskets can leak.

Rust can be a problem as MGR was skimping on rust protection in the last years.

Other than that they're slightly cheaper to insure than mk1s as they're harder to nick.  They're better looking inside and out than the fussy looking mk1s.

Mines done about 142k.

I have noticed it's quite 'sporty sounding' from inside 🤣

There are a few little niggles I will get sorted. 

Heater fan only works on 3 and 4, resistor ordered.

Passenger fog light surround is missing, ordered.

The radio switches itself on, fuse taken out and looking for suitable replacement.

Passenger demist vent cover missing, looking for a new one..

Clock doesn't work, not sure what to do there as replacements are £70!

I'll keep people posted.

[warch]

Nice car, quite light, goes well even with the lower output motah. 

The HGF thing is just something tedious people on the web always mention when you buy an MG or Rover, yes they can and do fail, but its not the hardest job in the world to change one (MGF was a bit fiddly mind due to the engine location). K Series was and is a great engine, hence its popularity in motorsport. I always liked the rally version.

[inconsistant]

12 hours ago, Skut said:

They're better looking inside and out than the mk1s.

Careful now!

[AnnoyingPentium]

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

The radio switches itself on, fuse taken out and looking for suitable replacement.

I may have something aftermarket, I can have a look if you like.

Brilliant purchase, by the way. I like it.

[andyberg]

2 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

I may have something aftermarket, I can have a look if you like.

Brilliant purchase, by the way. I like it.

Thank you. Yeah I think I have done quite well. I even like the fact I can hear the engine more because of the project drive cutbacks🤣

[andyberg]

Found a couple of other niggles I want to sort, nothing that is urgent mind. The boot is damp* @Cookiesouwest suggested it is the rear light seals that have gone. 

and the gearstick surround is loose, looks like the tabs of the cheap plastic have broken.

Don't get me wrong I love this car. And these points are all part of buying a second hand car, or old rover🙄 I just want to make a diary of things I want to do 😁

[Skut]

A lot of them leak around the boot hinges. The recesses the hinges sit in tend to rust and as soon as pinholed water runs down the inside of the c pillar.

You get these direct replacement clocks off aliexpress. 

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/4000852083086.html?spm=a2g0n.productlist.0.0.44eb4995efAq4s&browser_id=62f22bb65839446dbf3a79e6b02ebd6d&aff_trace_key=&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=gh4hhfvx2x0cadxn184f2f4417cd3fed3941b6ef42&gclid=&pdp_npi=2%40dis!GBP!30.88!29.34!!!!!%402100bdd016705234035448998e1ae0!10000009390096714!sea&curPageLogUid=azXrLTDzcnhW&algo_pvid=0e3b1ed2-fa50-4af7-8b43-7ede291c55b0

[Crackers]

I really quite like these, you don't see them around at all any more. Lad I used to work with had a bog standard 25 and it sounded great, really fizzy, I'd like to try one.

Here's one I papped at the weekend.

[wuvvum]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:48 PM, Landy Mann said:

Very nice, I found the quality massivly reduced going from an early P reg 214 to 05 reg 25.

The interior quality in that one you had off me was comically bad compared to the early cars.

I've had five R3s - early 214, 220SDi which I had for years, 200Vi which was a right weapon until the water pump shat itself and took the head gasket with it, MG Express which I bought off of HMC, and the aforementioned Project D(ep)rive 2005 25 GLI with the 1.4.  In many ways the 2005 car drove the best of the lot - brakes were sharp by Rover standards and the handling was fantastic - but they were all fun to drive in their own surprisingly different ways.  I'd have another diesel one if one came up at sensible money but they all seem to have disappeared.

[Landy Mann]

On 12/8/2022 at 4:57 AM, andyberg said:

 🤣Clock doesn't work, not sure what to do there as replacements are £70!

Spot the Casio Blu tac'd to the dash

[andyberg]

Had a look through the paperwork finally today. 

New head gasket and all the ancillary work done in 2013, 20k miles ago. New alternator in 2015.New cambelt 10k ago in 2018. It seems whatever it needed doing then it was done. By the first owner at an official MG dealership. The second owner at a decent garage in Bristol and Cambridge. Does seem a common complaint with the car is the rear screen wash not working. It has been investigated several times over the years.  Oh and I also found 2 original dealer MG keyfobs 😁

Looks like I may have a keeper on my hands. 

Drove about 100 miles today in it, it's really not a bad place to be. But I must get the heater fan fixed, its really annoying only working on 3 and 4. Obviously I am in the hands of the post office on that one. Goes around corners really well on an A road. A bit noisy at motorway speeds, 70 is 3,250rpm, but I don't do much motorways anyway. 

Very, very pleased.

[wuvvum]

Rear screen wash was always a weak point on these - the jet goes through the middle of the wiper spindle and gets clogged up with rust and other assorted gunk.

[Dan29]

18 hours ago, andyberg said:

a decent garage in Bristol

Car looks ace. I'd be interested in the details of the decent garage if you have them please, as I'm hoping to move back and after 26 years away, I think the mechanics I used to use have either retired or died..! 

[andyberg]

2 hours ago, Dan29 said:

Car looks ace. I'd be interested in the details of the decent garage if you have them please, as I'm hoping to move back and after 26 years away, I think the mechanics I used to use have either retired or died..! 

It's Brookfield garage. They do seem pretty good, however the last work they did on the MG was at a rate of £65 per hour!

[Cookiesouwest]

On 12/11/2022 at 12:32 PM, Dan29 said:

Car looks ace. I'd be interested in the details of the decent garage if you have them please, as I'm hoping to move back and after 26 years away, I think the mechanics I used to use have either retired or died..! 

Where abouts in Bristol ?

[Dan29]

30 minutes ago, Cookiesouwest said:

Where abouts in Bristol ?

Not sure yet - hoping to move to Somerset but it depends on work etc. Would be grateful for any details of good garages in the wider area! (also apologies for derailing the thread).

[andyberg]

10 minutes ago, Dan29 said:

Not sure yet - hoping to move to Somerset but it depends on work etc. Would be grateful for any details of good garages in the wider area! (also apologies for derailing the thread).

At least you will have the sat nav to find the garages 🤣