Topic

Due to my putting in a silly bid on the bay may I now present "Elsie":-

Also a open K&N filter

Later we intend to change this to a proper enclosed cold air feed induction. There is also this crack in the front bumper

She also has a boot popper fitted

She was listed and probably HGF and was losing water so not drivable so she had to be recovered as it was a 135 mile trip to her new home from Birmingham. She has current MOT but is sorned.

Her problems were water loss and a quite badly ripped drivers seat, broken silver centre vent, no stereo at all it had all be taken out speakers as well and badly corroded wheels. Also the gear change was awfully sloppy ........................... worst I have come across. The O/S/R caliper is rather seized and hand brake very poor. Attempts to free it have been not very successful so a reconditioned caliper has been bought.

My not being a favourite of dark interiors thought about using the Luxury Parchment from the Tahiti Blue project. First an examination of Elsie was done. Pink coolant staining was visible on one hose by the temp sensors and even running long enough to move off the beaver tail onto the drive showed dripping.

So the engine bay was pressure washed which showed another small issue the coolant temp gauge wire to the sender was damaged ............... hmmmmm. This has not been repaired using bullet connectors rather that a bit of tape. On running her up the suspected hose showed not leak.

Turns out it was the drivers side bottom corner of the rad, in fact the whole bottom rail of the rad is so rotten it was nearly detached.. leak found! As Elsies body and rear subframe was in good condition needing no welding unlike the Blue VVC it was decided to swap the interior over and other bits to Elsie and use the Blue one as a donor for both Blue 33 and Elsie.

And so it began:-

The nearly new alloy radiator in the Blue VVC was removed and swapped into Ellsie.

This revealed that Elsie has almost new SS under pipes nice find and she also has SS braided brake hoses front and rear.

Door cards first

The stripping out the rest of the interior some items were discovered like this Ice Alert box

and a Motorola tracker unit ........ long defunct

Pretty gutted

We noticed this

Passenger air bag no less. Slightly complicated the dash swap as did the broken nacelle for the speedo etc.

It's now glued in place. The black air bag matches the black instrument housing rather well. Sort of balances it out.

Lifting the carpets we found quite a bit of water. Elsie suffers water ingress

which has got to be sorted out. Some previously has used about a tube of silicone to little effect. A TF snorkel has been purchased and will be fitted carefully with body sealant and so it continues. The interior swap over is not quite as straight forwards as some would have us believe. For instance the plugs for the Mk1 switches are different to the Mk2 and the switches of the Mk1 do not fit the Mk2 console very well.

This morning a package arrived containing the TF Snorkel so as the rain had abated this afternoon the MGF standard heater air intake was removed. Two bolts at the back inside the cabin but the front was only stuck down with half a tube of silicone.

Have removed t and cleaned up a spot of rust the rubbed it down with 320 wet and dry paper then sprayed it satin black. Hopefully the new resistor coils will turn up and that can be fixed then fitted through the aperture before sealing the snorkel in place.

Finally found the lose multi plug which was causing the immobiliser problem so Elsie now lives again. Also discovered that the rear fog lamps only illuminate with the engine running but they work. Just the reversing lights to find the fault with now.

The problem with the reversing lights turned out to be the gear box switch so this was swapped with the one that we know works off the blue VVC donor. Repaired the fan resistor pack with the new coils from Rezpack so now have all four fans speeds working. Fitted the heater ducts under the dash and the under dash intake to the blower motor.

Fitted the TF snorkel and sealed some seams that might be weeping. Put instrument pod back in connected up speedo cable then fitted air vents and glove box. She is starting to look like a car once more.

Then it was time to start treating the rust on the floor caused but eh water ingress. Tomorrow will have to go into town to get some more rust stuff and under seal. Elsie is up in the air right now so tomorrow it's all four wheels off drain the brake reservoir and then try to get the semi seized rear caliper off so it can be replaced. Must finish rebuilding the second AP caliper so they can go on.

Undecided as whether or not to fit the new shock absorbers or not.

"Elsie" is now officially on the road. Still some teething issues to deal with such as the O/S/F lower ball joint play and the damaged sub frame mounting plus still to discover all her upgrades. So far we have discovered:-

Mike Satur upgraded bell crank for the gear change
Mike Satur alloy Mk1 heater control knobs

These are apart from the obvious like:-

Side air scoops
Front Fogs
Trophy front spoiler
SS braided hoses to calipers
Passenger air bag
SS coolant pipe under the floor

Sadly the Roll Hoops were fitted by a butcher so have been removed and hopefully we can repair the butchery. The interior swap is almost complete. Have mislaid to plastic caps for the top dash bolts and need to get a good Mk2 heater control panel as the circuit board broke on the VVC donors when I tried to unplug the wiring.......................... Doh!

"Elsie" looks like this right now:-

With a canine hinderer

This was before a quick wash.

When investigating the difficult selection of 1st & 3rd due to the lever fouling the Mk2 console trim I found this under the car:-

Seems it's a Satur upgraded bell crank ...................... nice. Have got to investigate the shock absorbers as there is a sticker on the N/S/F one that is not standard an I noticed red bottom shock bushes I believe.

All in all it seems it was a good buy .

Have since readjusted the gear cable and the fouling issue of the gear lever/trim is now resolved.

Have not managed to get the time to chase up bumpers, not got the funds for any right now either for that matter, but Wednesday discovered the source of the clank/clonk on the suspension.

Having failed on jacks etc on the gravel drive took her down to one of the local garage and MOT stations and asked for a bit of help finding the problem. Although I thought it sounded Near side the problem is the lower ball joint on the front drivers side.

Also had a look at the sub frame mounts and found a problem with the drivers side rear mount on the front sub frame. Some numpty has had a go at it with an angle grinder so this needs replacing.

Wonder what they were trying to do?????

It also rained so had to put the top up and use the wipers ...................................... errrrrr they make a dreadful whining sound so need to replace the mechanism and motor. Of course it's not straight forwards as it seems being an early VVC she is fitted with a clutch hydraulic line dampener and this doo-dad :-

I should point out the two 8 mm hex headed retaining bolts have been removed in the photos. Was trying to get a bit of movement to get the wiper mech past it ....................... no go! it stops removal of the mechanism.

So have got to disconnect and remove it then remove and replace the wipers set up and change the plug as the later ones have a smaller different shape plug to the loom and the wiper mech is off the 99 VVC .................................... "Sigh" why is it never straight forward ??????.

Then reconnect and bleed the clutch.

Sorry have been lax in bringing this over as got tired of having to re-log in every few minutes. Looks like someone has bee fixing things behind the scenes ..................................................... thank you whom ever you are .

Sadly "Elsie" has meant the demise of the Blue VVC. It was a difficult decision but one made on economics in the end. Blue VVC still required quite a bit of welding and the sub frame gear box mount replaced. So there was still quite a bit of money and time to be spent on her. Most of the money spent on her was for the bling bits which are now in/on "Elsie" and the refurbished front sub frame which of course we still have. This means should we have front sub frame issues there is a good one all ready to fit. Might even fit it into "Elsie" despite hers being good so that one can be cleaned, treated and painted. Undecided about that as yet but it's an option. Also have a brand new alternator on the Blue VVC which should be handy.

Interior looks classy!
What size of spacer did you use on the wheels?

Nice lot of pics and nice story Well done. Thanks

Plezier wrote: wrote:

hi Pleizer! to mount the AP calipers under the multispoke wheels, you need to use the spacer?

How many have you got now??

I think he is a collector.

Thank you all and in answer to your questions:-

What size of spacer did you use on the wheels?

I used 5 mm spacers as seen here:-

I see that they are even available from Halfords. The MGF wheel information site suggests 1.5mm is needed I tested using two 1.3 mm thick SS washers and 1.3 was NOT enough but 2.6 mm did JUST clear. decided to use 4 mm but could not find some, now see the local Halfords has 4 mm ones on the rack so bought these 5 mm ones off e-bay.

hi Pleizer! to mount the AP calipers under the multispoke wheels, you need to use the spacer?

Peter see above but in short yes a spacer IS needed.

How many have you got now??

On paper Three but in reality two and a bit as have made the original Blue Project VVC a donor. "Elsie" has her:-

Radiator
Wheels
Interior
Reverse light switch

and will be getting:-

wiper mechanism
Hood most likely

"Blue 33" will be getting her:-

Doors with electric mirrors
Front bumper

"Blue 33" the 97 MPi and "Elsie" the 97 Mk1 VVC are on the road and being used .

I think he is a collector.

Well I certainly do have collections of stuff so yes I do collect things. Right now have Four cars actually on the road :-

Rover 75 Connoisseur 2.5 Auto. 1999 build 2000 registered.

Rover 623 Auto 1997 registered

MGF MP1 1997 registered

MGF VVC 1997 registered

Sadly the 1999 build 2000 registered MGF VVC is not being broken. All the money apart from the new alternator was in the front end and bits of bling. The refurbished front sub frame will probably be swapped into one of the others and then the sub frame removed will be checked cleaned, treated and painted then swapped with the others so both will have nice clean sub frames................................................. well that is the idea. Also have a spare VVC engine that runs well as a back up.

Oh yes forgot to add that the AP calipers were refurbished with new cross over pipes, wear plates and bolts. The pistons and seals seemed to be OK and of course they were cleaned and painted. The fitted with new proper length bolts to the hubs. Now we just need a servo brace.