[Luxmen]

Hi everyone,
I have been planning to get my ZR on the road for a while now and my ZS' approaching cam belt death has made it a bit more urgent. I thought I'd document my progress here and simultaneously use the opportunity to ask questions along the way since I am a complete amateur.

A breakdown of what will be sorted:

1) General servicing, oil and spark plugs
To my surprise I discovered 6 unused spark plugs that I obtained when I bought the ZS180. I suppose they can be used for the ZR as well?
I got off to a rocky start with the spark plug cover as the bolts either snapped or are stuck entirely. Does the cover serve any purpose beyond aesthetics? What is your general advice on how to deal with rusty or snapped bolts?

2) Release old petrol (siphoning with a pump did not really work)
3) Exhaust replacement
A picture says more than a thousand words:

This seems to be right at the intersection between the middle and rear silencer. My question would be whether I need new components for both or can the middle silencer part still be used, bearing in mind that welding is not really an option?

4) Throttle body / IACV clean
The main reason why I put the car away a couple of years ago was uncontrollable revving in idle / upon clutch engagement. From what I read across forums is that this could be TB or IACV-related so I will give them a good scrub.

5) Replace dead ZR battery by ZS battery
6) Passenger door lock troubleshooting
Passenger side (right) does not open even with locking pin in "open" position. While I am not sure what the issue is or how it could be fixed, what I can say is that, comparing passenger side with driver side, you can hear the locking mechanism not really engaging by using the doorknob.

7) Front left-side wing rust treatment
Ideally I would find a used and fairly rust-free one and replace it. As an alternative I would try to sand the section off, protect and respray it myself.

I think that summarizes the initial steps, undoubtedly more will appear when I try to get my country's MOT-equivalent inspection or when I inevitably run into a problem. A few positive things are: new breaks all around and a fairly fresh cam belt.

Any feedback/tip is very much appreciated!

 

[Dorchester]

Thank you for your initiative. 👏
Mmmmh what a crusty exhaust! Crumbs!

 

[Luxmen]

Thank you for your initiative. 👏
Mmmmh what a crusty exhaust! Crumbs!

Thanks! I figure if I can do it, anyone can do it lol. On the plus side, I could give my ZS a break as the cam belt is due and perhaps plan a bigger project on that one.

Yeah exhaust really doesn't look all to fresh. I was hoping that only the back box needs replacing but its rusted in a very inconvenient location, so it is likely to require both end and mid pieces.
Does anyone know by any chances what difference there are between 1.4 and 1.8VVC exhausts. It seems that most middle silencers on sale on ebay are for the 1.4 versions and I ask myself whether these could also fit the 1.8VVC

 

[Man in the Car]

The exhaust for the 160 VVC is a little larger bore size - from memory, 2.5" rather than the 2.25" for the 105 and 120. The flanges between midpipe and rear are the same, so it would physically fit, but probably not going to beneficial to fit a smaller bore pipe to the 160

Where yours has rusted away is the usual place for the midpipe to go - more often than not the rest of the midpipe is fine.

 

[Luxmen]

The exhaust for the 160 VVC is a little larger bore size - from memory, 2.5" rather than the 2.25" for the 105 and 120. The flanges between midpipe and rear are the same, so it would physically fit, but probably not going to beneficial to fit a smaller bore pipe to the 160

Where yours has rusted away is the usual place for the midpipe to go - more often than not the rest of the midpipe is fine.

Learning a new thiing every day but very good to know.
The rest of the midpipe does indeed look fine, as opposed to the rear silencer which looks generally crustier. I have owned that car for well over a decade and the amount of pipes I have gone through … lol
Well I guess Rimmerbros will soon get a new order for mid and rear pipe.

 

[Luxmen]

Learning a new thiing every day but very good to know.
The rest of the midpipe does indeed look fine, as opposed to the rear silencer which looks generally crustier. I have owned that car for well over a decade and the amount of pipes I have gone through … lol
Well I guess Rimmerbros will soon get a new order for mid and rear pipe.

Following-up on the exhaust discussion. I would have access to a fairly cheap MK2-fitted ZR midpipe and endpipe as the car is being broken into pieces. My best guess would be that mid and endpipe are the same between MK1 and 2 but I prefer to check in if anyone knows if they are different?

 

[Man in the Car]

Yes, they are the same.

 

[Luxmen]

Perfect thank you! Hopefully I can arrange myself a bargain then

 

[mukil89]

good one...

 

[Luxmen]

Chapter 2 of my rusty bold saga. Upon closer looking it may be less rust related and more due to the nut being fairly rounded off and my socket not getting any grip.
This is how the 8mm nut looks like:

What tool is best to use to grab a round-off nut like that? Pliers?

Also struggling with Brexit here guys. It's become a tough time being an MG fan in mainland Europe. Parts shipping has become an impoverishing experience...

 

[Lil Bandit]

For 2), draining the old petrol, I found an approach that worked on my TF160 and documented it here:

TF Mark 1 - using fuel pump to empty tank

On a 2004 TF, if I pull the fuel pump relay in the boot and bridge the switched contacts, will the pump run continuously? The petrol in my tank has been there for about 9 years so I want to drain it out and replace it with fresh before I turn the engine over. I'm trying to avoid pulling the...

www.mg-rover.org

Might be worth a try?

 

[Lil Bandit]

Chapter 2 of my rusty bold saga. Upon closer looking it may be less rust related and more due to the nut being fairly rounded off and my socket not getting any grip.
This is how the 8mm nut looks like:
View attachment 139383

What tool is best to use to grab a round-off nut like that? Pliers?

Also struggling with Brexit here guys. It's become a tough time being an MG fan in mainland Europe. Parts shipping has become an impoverishing experience...

I'd say Irwin bolt grip (or any socket style nut remover of the right size) would do it, and if it doesn't it will just snap the bolt 🤣

Fasteners on exhausts are always a bugger. Try spraying it with a penetrating fluid, leave it for a few days, whack it a few times with a hammer, then try. If that doesn't work, try heating it with a blowtorch, then undoing it. If that doesn't work, chuck some cold water on it and try undoing it.

You can also try working the nut back and forth, but being rounded that won't work with extractor sockets. Electric impact guns are surprisingly good, but again you might snap the fastener.

 

[Luxmen]

Bolt extractors have come up a few times in my Internet searches so I will definitely give that one a try. Is it safe to assume that a standard 8mm (rounded-off) nut requires the same size of extractor socket (8mm?). I did try the wiggling technique but it doesn't seem to work since I can't get hold of the nut. By now it has been showered with penetrating fluid lol

As regards the fuel release, is there any chance you have done a video on it? I think I saw a similar video on youtube. It sounds ingenious but I am still a bit anxious about touching the electrics at this point ... .

 

[Lil Bandit]

No video I'm afraid, but anxiety is good when you are mixing the potential for sparks with the potential for fuel vapour.

I would emphasise that the flow is quite slow, after all the engine doesn't need much petrol in normal operation. So whilst you will of course be cautious, you don't need to worry about a torrent of petrol spraying everywhere and dousing everything. Just make sure you have a suitable piece of pipe attached so it doesn't become disconnected or get kinked. A second person is definitely a good thing too.

 

[Luxmen]

Quick update, got my jack got my stands and trying to release the exhaust backbox as we speak. "Good" news is I don't have to remove any bolts as mid pipe is rusted through but i struggle with the bushings (see pic).
Saw on a blog that it would be sufficient to push the rods out of the bushings but no matter how hard i push they are stuck.

I know there are 3 such connectors two at the back and one in front of the backbox. Is there an order to be followed? Second aside from putting in a lot of wd40 and force is there a better way to release the rods?

To any newbie (like me) reading this. Buy safety glasses otherwise rust will try to blind you.

 

[Luxmen]

Man those rusty exhaust rods make life hell. Second attempt yesterday, this time from another angle, tried to release the rubber holder itself (incl. the exhaust) and after an hour of wiggling, brute force and a lot of WD-40 I managed to release ... 1.
The tutorial videos on youtube make it look so easy but then they hardly ever fight with rust it seems. At least I know now how to approach the task while I am typing this answer with muscle cramps in my arm.

Currently shopping for sump plug washers, I read somewhere that the ideal size is 14mm x 22mm x 2 mm
Via Autodoc I found some with size 14.5 x 22 x 2, which are deemed compatible with my ZR, just wanted to check-in whether the .5 difference in ID is relevant?

 

[Luxmen]

Weekly update. Almost had a perfect morning yesterday.

(1) Backbox is finally off, I will be giving it some vinegar and brushing treatment to remove the surface rust. I hope the flange area to be still usable since the rust is a bit thicker there, though it broke on the mid-pipe side.

(2) I also managed to syphon some of the tank (5-10l) by tilting the car (jacking up the front right side). I will try that again next week. Perhaps I can fetch another 5-10 by tilting it a bit more. I figured I don't have to empty it completely but enough to have a bigger share of fresh petrol in it. I must say though that the petrol that came out looked and smelled fine for 3-year old petrol.

(3) My spirally twist socket also helped me to release the stuck bolt in my spark plug cover. So I can recommend those to any newbie that might face the same question. Unfortunately I now discovered that the threads of the 2 other bolts have snapped and even worse, when I lifted the cover off, I forgot that I had the loose ends still on which have now disappeared into the engine bay.
So my question would be, is it a bad idea to leave the stuck leftover threads on or must they be removed? If so, I would imagine a plier of some sort to be the best tool right? Second what should I do about the disappeared bits, I imagine I will have to find them, is there a smart way to do this?

Cheers