Things to look for...

[Drew]

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

[AndyG]

Which ? where?

If you have heard of it, it is normally fixable.

[Stu C]

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

[ColinE]

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

[re-tread]

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

[Drew]

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

[ColinE]

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

[MichaelG]

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.

[colintf]

Hi, welcome and well done!

Which are the last 3 digits of the vin? mine for example is #242.

Whereabouts are you?

[Drew]

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