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Hi everyone. I'm off to take a look at a 260 tomorrow. I've read through Spunagains site but was wondering if anyone has any other things that I should look for or ask? It's a 2004 Mk2.
I'm guessing that there are threads on this forum for this but I can't find any that have a good long authoritative list? What is the issues with the heater pipe, fan resistor etc that I have heard of?
Many thanks,
Ian
Which ? where?
If you have heard of it, it is normally fixable. ;)
Good luck! Where abouts in the country are you? Someone local may be able to lend a keen eye when going to look over a new motor :)
Heater hose has a tendancy to blow, loosing coolant. Many are on original pipes even with track day racing etc.. so luck of the draw, but an uprated replacement is available and easy to fit.
Fan resistor or common to all 75/ZT's so plenty of information about that from us, mg-rover.org and 75/zt community. I've got a mark 1 so don't have it but i beleive it fails and only makes fan work on soooper warp speed. Again, not a difficult job by all accounts.
Most of the issues that we find are 'common' are fixable and not major issues with the car.
Have fun and hope you buy :D
Good point on the collation of what to look for items
I'll have a think about it
Key ones to be honest are
Has the fuel filter clip (orange clip) been done
Has the heater hose been replaced with the uprated on available from the club
Look for scrubbing on the tyres, may indicate alignment issues, many places set them up as standard ZT's - but set up is different
See if you can see any mention of diff/gearbox oil changes in the service history, depends on age of course
Take a look at the state of the rear discs, we have them available through the club and less that 50% of Xparts £700 a pair bit it's still a fair chunk if money
Have a look and see if the engine undertray is in place, helps cooling and hard to replace
Not specific to the V8 but look for indications of leaks - water in boot, damp carpets in footwells
I'm sure others will be along with more
Have a look for small oil leaks from the diff input and gearbox output seals.
Have a feel for a minor leak from the clutch master cylinder where the high pressure pipe comes out and goes to the bulkhead.
Try the hand brake.
Good luck
Well, I bought it. It was advertised on Autotrader, it's the lovely metallic red one. It's had the heater pipe replaced as well as all breaks including discs. I got it from a very nice chap called Mike who does frequent these pages from time to time. It was in the Colchester area, I don't collect until Friday though!
I'm away on holiday straight after but I will most definitely keep you all posted on how I get on!
I did notice a notchy throttle pedal like some others have mentioned so I think giving that a good oil may well be my first task!
Thanks for all the pointers guys, it helped in checking out this car which I am happy is a very well looked after, stunning car.
Ian
Great news let us know the vin asap
Get the questionnaire Tim sent on registration back to us and you gain acess to thbe full site - and then be prepared for lots of late nights reading
looks lovely and original on the autotrader add;).
The most useful thing I could have had when I first got mine was a recommended insurer.
Peter Best insurance will give you a limited mileage classic insurance with a proper agreed valuation likely to be close to double the value most other insurers would use.
I messed around with my then current insurer (tesco) jumped through hoops regarding proof of the factory fit Thatcham Cat1 installation and was meet with high excess and high premium. In the end I just cancelled as I was under insured and overpaying.
With Peter Best I have a an agreed valuation, £100 excess and breakdown cover all for less than the insurance on our family 1.4 Renault Modus.
Hi, welcome and well done!
Which are the last 3 digits of the vin? mine for example is #242.
Whereabouts are you?
:cool:
I'm in St Albans. Thanks for the insurance advice. I am currently with Admiral and my policy doesn't run out for another few months. I will see what extra they charge me for the V8 (compared to the MG Maestro Turbo), if it's not too much I'll stay there until the end of the policy.
I'll let you know the vin etc. when I pick her up.
Cheers,
Ian
That's two of us in St Albans now - they're becoming positively common :D
According to the advert it's VIN 311, which ties in with information elsewhere on this forum.
Good man enjoy :drive
Welcome to the fold ;)
I had the same insurance issue. Brought my car while half way through an admiral insurance policy - they only charged me £32 extra from my original 2.5 X type which I traded in on the 75 V8, I let it run to the end as it was less hassle and got me on the road. But and its a big BUT..when I checked the value it was market value and around the £2500 to £3000 mark. Upon renewal they loaded it big time to almost 2 x the original price and when I pushed on the value, they still insisted the market value was £2700 and dropping.
I went to Peter Best and got an agreed value of £8000 plus breakdown etc. for less than the wife's 1 litre Chevrolet Matiz !!
You just need to consider that on classic/collectors insurance you can not use you no claims discount which, if not used for 2 years you loose and the maximum mileage a year is limited to 5000 miles.
I am also just down the road from you in Luton, I think Beds and Hearts seems to be the place to be with a 260 / R75 - all we need to do now is get Brown and Gammon's to start giving us a group discount :)
Not had any major faults with mine and its a MK 2 so you should be able to ignore the sunroof drains - rear springs etc.
As to issues not generally noticed when buying:-
Check the locking wheel nuts - they get over tightened and the key wears.
Door cables in the rear seem a bit prone to breaking - door opens from the outside but not from the inside.
Fixings for the undertray are missing - easily replaced and helps you keep that undertray!
Flat tyre repair cans out of date!
Misting of windscreen due to pollen filter requiring a change and the drain below stuffed, gets the filter wet and gives you a musty smell in the cabin.
Main air filter not changed - its a front bumper off job and some garages just don't bother..
Also due to the age, the heater valve might not be working efficiently, its a cheap and nasty item - the shop has a Black Olive replacement that should fix that issue, 1st job I did on mine and also when I noticed the pollen filter was a block of encrusted muck and bucket of leaves sitting in the drain! Easy enough job to do with a good how to instruction on the 260 site