All Things V6...

[DHallworth]

It's a long time since I've done anything car related as the 407 and P38 have both been absolutely trouble free recently and the XM and Activa are tucked up for the winter.

I have however started a project with a friend of mine. This time it's a 4 cylinder rather then a V6!!

We've got a 2005 MG ZR with 30k miles on it that has been converted to take the Turbo lump from a Rover 220 Coupe. It's got a boost controller and an unlocked ECU on it and was running around 15psi of boost when the previous owner had it. Unfortunately it decided to make mince meet out of it's differential when he launched it from a standing start. The gearbox was removed, reconditioned and fitted back to the engine with a new clutch installed but it never found it's way back into the car and had been sitting for 2 or 3 years untouched.

We rolled up with the trailer the week before Christmas and i was dreading loading it. However, much to my surprise we attached the winch cable and gave it a little tug and the car started to roll backwards towards the trailer so loading it was nice and easy.

Here's how it was when we got it...



Today was the first time I've been off work in ages so I grabbed the pressure washer and gave the P38, 407 Coup and the ZR a good wash to get rid of all the winter elements that had gotten near them.









Plans are to get the engine back in it and get it running. Then we're going to strip the interior out and fit some bucket seats and harnesses. The rear drum brakes have to go in favour of fitting rear discs and pads to it.

Once stripped out and running in the region of 240-250bhp it should be an absolute rocket. It's got a custom exhaust that the last owner spent over £800 on. The silencer is massive and apparently the pipe underneath it is 2" from the manifold back. MOT time will be fun as I'll need to try and find a cat to go in it. Apparently it spits flames when you lift off. It's also got over a thousand quids worth of adjustable coil over suspension on it. According to the guy it used to handle like it was on rails but I'd imagine thats thanks to tiny profile tyres and no suspension movement!

Hopefully we'll have it running within a month or two which will allow us to get some track time at Knockhill with it this summer and either later this year or early next year will see us at the Nurburgring with it.

In other news, the 407 Coupe is still running as well as it was the day I got it and has never missed a beat. It's now on 25,800 miles and I still love it It got a wash today too. The side windows have been replaced to get rid of the nasty delimitation marks that were present on the old windows. Only plans I have for this one is to get it to the detailer in the spring and to get the wheels refurbished at the same time.





That's all for now folks. Will update more as the antics continue.

David.

[Hell Razor5543]

Nice looking ZR, but I bet the Activa handles a lot better!

[bxzx16v]

That 407 is a beauty, I bet the Rover is going to be fun .

Mark

[DHallworth]

It was one of our P38's that got a bit of attention this week. It needed it's exhaust changed and after having problems with after market exhausts I thought I'd try and price a genuine LR one. Not surprising the cost of it was going to be around £900. Surprisingly though it's no longer manufactured and can't be bought from Land Rover.

In the end I decided to buy the exhaust from Island 4x4. They were selling AllMakes 4x4 rear sections which have fitted nicely and line up perfectly when compared with the existing rear sections. When trying to fit the centre section (the Britpart section) the flange is at completely the wrong angle for the rear pipes. Having compared it with the old centre section the flange is indeed at the wrong angle.

I should have known better as I've had horrible problems with Britpart stuff before, brake caliper seals that wouldn't fit, polybush kit for our Freelander V6 that was useless, etc. etc. I'm annoyed at myself as I swore I'd never buy Britpart again but as it was all Island 4x4 stocked I wasn't left with much choice. This unfortunately meant that Friday evening was a bit of a washout.

Saturday afternoon saw an afternoon in the workshop we cut the pipe and spread the angle of the flange that meets the back box. it wasn't just a little bit out...



We then cut a gusset from a piece of steel and welded it all back up.

It wasn't perfect fit but it's not blowing and is gas tight now so should be fine for a while hopefully. Just really hacks me off that you can't buy parts that will just fit without any hassle. A job that should have taken about half an hour ended up taking up a whole afternoon.

I rang LR and asked them for an exhaust for it and they quoted in the region of £900 before telling me that it was no longer available from the factory and there was zero stock of it so unfortunately after market or stainless was the only option. The local stainless place in Kilbirnie who are supposed to be fantastic said it'd be almost March before they could do it so after market won unfortunately.

Whilst doing the exhaust I had it running for half an hour to warm the oil up before changing it. I'd forgotten how nice the Rover V8 is when there's nothing behind the cats. It was up on the ramp in the workshop and you could see it popping flames out of the cats

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David.

[DHallworth]

Unfortunately my gran ran through a flood in the C3 this morning and the car stopped. We went and towed it home behind the RR and when I got it home I took the spark plugs out and cranked it over and the cylinder 1 was full of water. Upon putting the plugs back in it started ok but was making a horrible knocking noise so I'm suspecting that it needs a new engine.

I've done some looking into it this afternoon. Her insurance last year was £1097 and today I've just managed to get a quote from Saga for £445 including breakdown cover which seems fair for a 90 year old. That also includes a declaration of a claim with todays date on it for the engine damage so I'll be phoning her insurance in the morning.

I've been sifting through the small print for her insurance and as far as I can see it is covered so hopefully they'll accept the claim and get it repaired with a new Citroen engine. Second hand ones can be had for around £200 but the problem is her car has only done 6402 miles so I don't really want to go and stick a high mileage engine in it. If they decide to write the car off we'll buy it back and then go to Citroen and get a new engine and fit it ourselves.

I thought about rebuilding this one but Citroen want over a grand for 4 pistons and 4 con rods.

It was abandoned in front of the workshop earlier and had to be moved away from the door this evening so I went to it and tried to start it...

Here's it trying to start...

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Here's it after it did eventually start...

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Suffice to say it doesn't sound healthy and I think that engine has unfortunately expired prematurely

David.

[DHallworth]

Our 406 Coupe went into the bodyshop on Monday last week to have a few stone chips sorted before it went in for detailing.

In the end when we were looking at it with the bodyshop owner we decided that there was actually more that needed doing then we had originally noticed, there was a little bubble on the C pillar and the paint on the boot lid and roof was starting to blister ever so slightly.

We ended up leaving the bodyshop having given him the go ahead to give the car a full respray and the results are amazing. We've had it since it was just over 6 months old having been a Peugeot UK management car (10 year on 14th Feb actually) and have no intentions of getting rid of it as it's worth nothing these days we thought we might as well get it back to showroom condition. The wheels were refurbished last month as well.

It's one of the last ones made, red seems to be quite a rare colour and being the V6 manual it's quite a special car

The guy hasn't put the 406 badge on quite right, it's not quite straight. It's an awkward one though as the number don't actually sit straight. I've ordered a new set as they come with the template to fit them with and they are only 8 quid.















David.

[Citroenmad]

The 406 Coupe is generally a stunning car but that one looks better than new now! They have done a top job, now all you have to do is keeping it looking like that

[DHallworth]

Well after sitting staring at the C5 on the drive for a couple of months I have decided that it must be MOT'd.

It's been finished for a while but as it had sat for so long and I've spent so much on it, I've been really nervous about getting it MOT'd, anyway, a friend of mine who does MOT testing came to look at it for me tonight and give it a once over. The only thing he said is the wipers that are in the boot need fitting, but other then that there's nothing that it should fail on as far as he can see. Obviously we can't check the emissions or the headlight aim but the car was running on the ramp for 45 minutes tonight and the shed didn't stink like it does with some cars and the headlights are level on the workshop doors.

Unfortunately he can only test Diesels otherwise it'd be going to him for it's test.

However, on Friday morning, the C5 is booked in at 8.30am for it's MOT. At 7.30am it will see the public highway for the first time in almost 7 years!

Fingers crossed!

David.

[KP]

Fingers crossed for you squire!

[bxzx16v]

Good luck David.

Mark

[Mandrake]

Good luck on the MOT David - not MOT related but did you manage to get that gearbox oil change done ok ?

[DHallworth]

Simon, Oil change was done, messy but done!

On this one you fill it through the tiny breather hole. After a couple of attempts I got bored of that and ended up pumping it in through the level plug. Seems to have made a positive difference to it!

David.

[DHallworth]

As I was giving the C5 a once over last night I realised that it was actually 2005 that the C5 was last taxed, so it's been off the road for 9 years.

Anyway, this morning was the first time that it has seen the road in 9 years, it drove 11 miles to a Shell station where I treated it to some of Shell's finest V-Power. It then carried on for the further 8 or so miles to the Peugeot dealer where it as being MOT'd without fault.

The engine management light was on so I reset it using the Lexia as it can idle all day without coming back on, it was only up during driving that it would I reappear as there's a lazy lambda sensor. I also reset the gearbox adaptive values as there was a couple of jerky gear changes on the way there.

I dropped the keys off and sat in the waiting area very nervously for the next hour. I then got a shout to go back to the service desk where I was told that it had passed... Without even so much as an advisory!!

The first couple of gear changes when I left the dealer were a little bit jerky but I am pleased to confirm that all gear changes are now as smooth as silk. I took the scenic route home from the MOT and can confirm that over the 50 miles it's done today it is running beautifully.

Keep your eyes open as it's probably going to be advertised shortly as I've no need for it and there's no point leaving it sitting here.

David.

[Hell Razor5543]

Yeay!!!

[DHallworth]

Well MOT season is well and truly here...

The Activa went up on the ramp yesterday for a once over. There was a slight leak on the exhaust between the join between the centre section and back box. The flange on the centre section had rotted away. As my car is going to be getting it's V6 conversion done any time now I don't want to replace the Activa exhaust so I have bodged a sleeve over the two parts just now and covered it in gun gum. It seems to be holding. As long as it does it for MOT then I'll be happy.

My Activa ram bush has been rattling for the last 2 years or so but as the car has done less then 2000 miles in these 2 years and it only rattles on bad surfaces I've never bothered to do anything about it. Whilst in the shed tonight I decided to have a go on the lathe and use the dimensions that CitroJim has on his website.

The end result... A ram bush is born!







Citroen charge over £120 for this part! I paid something like £7 for a metre of Nylon66 rod on eBay and spent an hour on the lathe!

Will fit it tomorrow before it comes off the ramp.

David.