What did you do with whatever else you've got?

[red98]

stripped the golf in an attempt to fix a water leak....left in bits in the garage just to make DEADEYE feel a bit better  .......you not the only one matey  :lol

[unfazed]

Dodgy 5th gear - it didn't like to engage without crunching most of the time unless I matched road speed and revs. I got pretty used to this so it became less of an issue. I also experienced heat soak, or something like that, with the clutch hydraulics which meant that in summer if I did anything under 50 for more than 15 minutes it became very hard to change gear. On very hot days in traffic it almost got to a point of having to pull over and stop because you just couldn't change gear.

There is information that the bracket that holds the slave clutch cylinder isn't up to the job, but also that the clutch release arm may need attention to free it up. The latter I have done whereas the former is something I will look at if I continue to experience issues. The hydraulic system itself is sealed so there isn't much you can do with it other than replace it. You can get a new system that isn't sealed which allows you to bleed the system adjust the pedal height in the car, but this mostly affects the other models, not the ZS 180.

Apologies for the long replies, but there's a lot of research and history that has lead me to my decisions The new box also had the LSD on it which would have been a nice upgrade. So, in the future I will be rebuilding a gearbox in some fashion

Notches on the gears is normal,
Are all the linkages ok, nothing worn or twisted.
It may be sealed, but does it have a bleed nipple on the slave cylinder? It might be concealed
It there a small master cylinder reservoir above the clutch pedal, if so that is most likely where the seal is, probably a bit like the diaphragm in the master cylinder of the Fazers. Pull it up and cut a hole in the bottom of it and this will allow you replace the fluid, bleed it and keep the seal for the cap when you put it back on.

Did you try selecting gears when the box was out?

[Dead Eye]

The linkages seem fine to me, I'll take a more thorough look in a few days when I take another crack at it.

The system is completely sealed - no bleed nipples anywhere. As far as I am aware, there is something you can do which involves rebuilding the master cylinder with some modified components to allow the system to be bled.

On both boxes I have tried selecting gears with the box off the car and they work ok From what I've read recently, the 5th gear synchro may be interfering with the casing going back on... or something like that :\ I found a complete rebuild guide to the PG1 box on the Rover Tech forums so that will come in handy later on

[Anquetil]

A ride to Woods Motorcycles, Abergele, then to Rhos on Sea prom for a coffee. 95 miles, mild weather, dry roads on ride back.

[unfazed]

The linkages seem fine to me, I'll take a more thorough look in a few days when I take another crack at it.

The system is completely sealed - no bleed nipples anywhere. As far as I am aware, there is something you can do which involves rebuilding the master cylinder with some modified components to allow the system to be bled.

On both boxes I have tried selecting gears with the box off the car and they work ok From what I've read recently, the 5th gear synchro may be interfering with the casing going back on... or something like that :\ I found a complete rebuild guide to the PG1 box on the Rover Tech forums so that will come in handy later on

Run the box with a drill at slow speed and try selecting gears  Make sure the box is bolted or strapped to a bench or something. :eek Speaking from experience here  :'(

[Dead Eye]

Today continued with my usual bad luck... the casing for the one working gearbox I have shattered...

I was tightening the bolts (not excessively, I promise) when suddenly the entire thing just splits in two. I now have no gearbox to go in to the car. Pretty much at the end of my tether so I've given up and purchased a new / refurbished unit from eBay meaning another £220 spent.

You know, I would of thought I'd be entitled to some sort of break given all the shit I've been put through the past few months... pahahaha I make myself laugh

[unfazed]

That was tough luck indeed. Only for bad luck you would have no luck
You might as well dismantle it and see what was wrong with it and maybe become an expert on MG gearboxes ,especially on removing and refitting

Would you be able to make one good box out of the two???

[Dead Eye]

I think I can make a good one out of the two... but that's a job for another day. During this whole escapade I've been under pressure from the building management.

Turns out that I'm not supposed to work on my car outside of the garage - unfortunately this was in a separate contract that I wasn't made aware of, nor given a copy of when I first moved in and I'd already got the car to a point where it couldn't be moved when they told me.

In any case, its a long ass story which has boiled down to an official written notice that I need to remove the car before the 22nd. It's also pretty damn unlikely they will renew the lease with me... so I'm house hunting for somewhere better at the same time.

I'll be glad when winter is over, so much stress these past few months. I'm not entirely without fault I guess, but the whole situation is so totally fubar it's not even funny...

[noggythenog]

Do you love that car Deadeye, have you gone passed the point of no return?........I mean have you tallied up how much it has cost you on everything except consumables....if that figure is still really cheap then have you considered just getting rid of it and buying a little run around until the stress has passed over and things are more settled and then you can buy another project then when you have a clear mind and the facilities to do things at leisure.

there's lots of disposable cars out there for £500.......young guys and girls these days pass there test and they don't want them...they get brand new cars these days.......but I often see pretty good looking motors for sale for £500 and I think the key with these is not to spend any more on them....£500....rag it til it breaks....scrap....get another runner for £500

I think we've all been there with cars or bikes......I've had so many cars now and a few of them I spent some serious money on to keep them going......then other folk seem to get away with abusing their cars and them never going wrong no matter what they do.

[Dead Eye]

I still love the car and it really isn't the car that's causing me the stress. I know full well that things may go wrong when doing any sort of work on a vehicle and I accept that. The stress is coming from the pressure of the Management Agency for the building (I'm in a flat with an en-bloc garage).

The costs I've put in to the car are still worth it, despite it costing way more than I had anticipated when I started in September.

Talking of another car though... it's likely I will be buying my friends car from him as well. It's a ridiculously good deal that I can't say no to - its a Mazda RX-8. They have their quirks, but they shouldn't really affect me plus I know its history of the past 2-3 years and what work has been done to it etc etc

Any foccers fancy helping me move house in Feb?

[noggythenog]

I still love the car and it really isn't the car that's causing me the stress. I know full well that things may go wrong when doing any sort of work on a vehicle and I accept that. The stress is coming from the pressure of the Management Agency for the building (I'm in a flat with an en-bloc garage).

The costs I've put in to the car are still worth it, despite it costing way more than I had anticipated when I started in September.

Talking of another car though... it's likely I will be buying my friends car from him as well. It's a ridiculously good deal that I can't say no to - its a Mazda RX-8. They have their quirks, but they shouldn't really affect me plus I know its history of the past 2-3 years and what work has been done to it etc etc

Any foccers fancy helping me move house in Feb?

RX8 eh......ooooh very nice sir.........suits you sir...............but why keep the MG then?.....coz you wanna I suppose :lol............I'd like an RX-8 but sadly im now stuck with cars that can easily accommodate a baby seat....pah....oh well maybe when im in my 40's.

yeh these management thingies are stressful....but they kinda have their uses such as stopping the neighbours with mahoosive caravans parked right outside your house etc....it's amazing what you'll find in the small print of title deeds even as an owner....shed can only be so tall and so big compared to size of garden, no work vans, boats, trailers, caravans, ice cream vans, hot dog stands, kennels etc etc......it's basically because generally people cant be trusted to do things in moderation and use a bit of common sense so in the end it is blanket punishment.

[red98]

Bought a pair of NOS fork tubes for my suzuki gt 250 x7.........bargain at £100...

[Dead Eye]

Picked up cage no. 2 today

Finally have a car (54 plate RX-8) to get around and make use of... including picking up the new gearbox for the MG

[noggythenog]

Picked up cage no. 2 today

Finally have a car (54 plate RX-8) to get around and make use of... including picking up the new gearbox for the MG

Come on deadeye.....i thought you knewthe drill by now.


:useless

[unfazed]

:useless

[Dead Eye]

I'll get pictures up tomorrow when there is some decent light

[Skippernick]

Hope the rotary-wrangle engine keeps going!

[noggythenog]

I'll get pictures up tomorrow when there is some decent light

After he's polished it he means




I think they get a bit tail happy those things deadeye, watch yourself on those slidey roads.

[unfazed]

Certainly not a car to be driven hard by the faint hearted  :lol

Lovely looking car, best of luck with it, Dead eye

[red98]

Cracking engines those wankle thingys, I think just 1300cc in the RX8 but very quick and revy........only down side is there not to good on the old motion lotion.........I would have one.......deadeys taking his time polishing it    :lol