MGF freebie

[The Arch Bishop]

It is, as you say both a grim and an out. Especially as it was looking so minty fresh;

Here's some shots of the problem areas - the testers have helpfully marked them out in chalk;

Nearside inner sill -

And off-side outer sill (I reckon that could be a pretty big hole once it's dug out) -

The last one looked totally sound before as the stone chip hid any swelling.

Ah well, tough boobies for now. I've gotten in touch with a work-mates chap who does top quality fabrication and welding for VW campers and caddys and sent him some pictures. We'll see what he thinks. The cat and lambda I may have to tackle myself. If it all becomes too much I can store it away in the garage over the winter and carry on working on it until the Spring comes around. :thumbs:

 

[tuonokid]

Hi AB
It's a shame that but the rot looks sort of Puma-esque.
Barry

 

[XAF]

Nooooooo!!!!!

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Hi AB
It's a shame that but the rot looks sort of Puma-esque.
Barry

It does a bit! Rear and inner sills but not so much of the wheel arch rot thankfully!

 

[tuonokid]

You might be able to get full sills for that from Moss to do a proper repair (important as there's no roof).
Barry

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Bit beyond my budget. Moss do the sill but it comes with the entire rear wing! £410 a side!

 

[tuonokid]

Hi AB
If you look deeper on the site they do just sills at £188/side but they're out of stock at the mo.
Barry
PS I'm sure someone will do them cheaper, I'll have a look.

 

[tuonokid]

£78/side Rimmer Bros, probably plus VAT.
Barry

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Hmmm.... that's more like it. I'll be having a chat to Rob the welder tomorrow. I like the idea of doing it properly as there are other suspect bits along the sill, but it comes down to cost at the moment. Cheers for looking Barry, it's much appreciated!

 

[tuonokid]

No problem AB, that's a good price for genuine Rover sills and believe it or not it's much easier to replace a full sill rather than doing patches on it and it will last a lot longer.
Barry

 

[evilrob]

This shiny bit gave me a semi.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

No problem AB, that's a good price for genuine Rover sills and believe it or not it's much easier to replace a full sill rather than doing patches on it and it will last a lot longer.
Barry

Looking at those again, that's for the front half of the sill not the rear. It looks like the rear of the sill comes as part of the entire rear wing which is the pricey bit. Still, impressive parts availability!

Rob - I thought it might!

 

[Frank]

...with the verdict which was a resolute fail.

High emissions and rust on the rear of both sills, one side being inner and the other being outer.

Not a problem. Time to call in the Edd China.

Just make sure that the fat bloke in the background doesn't try and 'sell it on for a profit'.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Not a problem. Time to call in the Edd China.

Just make sure that the fat bloke in the background doesn't try and 'sell it on for a profit'.

'old aaaght yah aaaand'!

Have those two ever made a profit on their cars? Every episode I've seen he gets screwed right down by his buyer, makes a 'fantastic' profit of 250 quid that fails to take into account all the time and labour involved.

Anyway, I've had a quote to patch it all for £100 on the driveway. I'll probably go for this for the time being as the worth of the car, the fact you won't easily see the patches and the fact I can't drive it to a workshop for a tidier repair. I can always get it done properly at a later date. :thumbs:

 

[Neil]

Shame it didn't pass - I've got a bit of a soft spot for these. Admittedly, the TF I drove a while back felt like you were sat on it rather than in it (the driving position isn't a patch on an MX-5's), it still went well enough.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

I actually found the seating fine, although the steering wheel clashes with your leg when using the clutch or brakes which gets in the way of any serious helmsmanship. The power steering is massive overkill on it as well and is far too light, especially as with the engine off, you can easily twirl the wheel with one hand. The engine isn't feeling right although it pulls well, but that's due to the 'cat and sensor. It's nowhere near as sharp as the Puma in the bends although it's pretty good. However, the ride is amazingly good and the brakes are responsive and full of feel. The gear change is nice and the clutch easy to manage. For a backwards Metro, it's a lot better than it should be!

 

[PhilLew]

the power steering is electric and speed sensitive, shouldn't have any assistance with the engine off and being at the lightest all the time (with the engine running) is the default setting if there's a fault in the control unit.
Try removing then refitting the big (70a I think) fuse mounted on the inner wing next to the battery, this will reset the steering control module.
Also because it's speed sensitive it's always at the lightest setting if your speedo isn't working! (it thinks your stationary)

 

[The Arch Bishop]

It's not that it's defective, it just seems unnecessary as the unassisted weight feels great and easily manageable at parking speeds even for a weakling like me! :lol:

However, interesting that it's speed sensitive as it felt very slow to respond even at normal road speeds. Like a sort of dead spot. When it's on the road again, I'll pull the fuse and go for a drive.

 

[PhilLew]

LOL definitely set up differently then, I can hardly move mine at parking speed without assistance :grin: :grin:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Anyone know if the fact that the car has done less than 900 miles in the last year and the likelihood that the fuel in the tank is ancient, would affect the CO emissions for the test? Just thinking about the easy wins before replacing parts!

Rick came over for a gander this afternoon and we noticed that one tailpipe is/was full of water which it sprayed out. Looks like it's dripping down the bumper and into the exhaust trim, but had me worried about head gasket failure for a second!