Resurrecting the ZS: With pictures
- Thread starter mattyprice4004
- Start date
And alas, she has been written off.
Someone decided to not give way when needed, and I collected an 07 plate Corsa. Their car was totalled, and I've only just got cosmetic issues - but as the cost of repair is over 50% they've given me £1,500 for the car.
Will be buying it back (£150) and repairing, as there is no structural or severe damage, I have a Peugeot 207 as a hire car.
Full liability has been admitted by the 3rd party, so all plain sailing.
Pics coming soon!
Someone decided to not give way when needed, and I collected an 07 plate Corsa. Their car was totalled, and I've only just got cosmetic issues - but as the cost of repair is over 50% they've given me £1,500 for the car.
Will be buying it back (£150) and repairing, as there is no structural or severe damage, I have a Peugeot 207 as a hire car.
Full liability has been admitted by the 3rd party, so all plain sailing.
Pics coming soon!
Permabanned
now is your chance, to buy a case ofg scotch and drink the lot P
I thought I should update you guys with the latest - I know most of you dislike the car but there have been some avid followers of my progress.
It got pretty badly bashed up in the accident I had, to the point where I was thinking this is a total loss. However after a cup of strong coffee and a scout around under the bonnet, it was all cosmetic. Thank God they hit a strong part.
Damaged parts:
- Bonnet. Hammered roughly back to shape, and then my mate sat on the afflicted area to restore it. His backside should work in bodyshop repair, it worked quite well.
- Bumper. I had a spare in my shed from when I managed to do a bit of damage involving a sand dune and over-estimated driving ability (.... ) but never got around to fitting it. Thanks for spurring me on, Corsa. 
- Crash bar. These are a plastic/fibreglass combination, and of course this was destroyed and served it's purpose. I managed to find one on eBay for £20 in brand new condition.
- Passenger headlight. I thought this was damaged, however it was merely plastered in lovely Corsa silver paint. A good cleaning / polishing session fixed this.
I absolutely detest bodywork, so I managed to coax a friend into helping.
Old vs new:
Bumper off, no damage! Score.
I also have neglected to replace the turbo on the car, which has been issuing a lovely plume of blue smoke off-boost for a while now - classic sign of leaky seals.
Upon inspection, you could move the turbine within the turbocharger about 2mm side to side and up/down - not normal at all. With ease you could actually make the blades of the compressor contact the inner wall of the housing...
I got a replacement from eBay, which was taken from a Rover 25 covering just 65,000 miles. I then called my bank manager, as I knew this was going to be horrifically expensive - £40...
They're a bit of a sod to change, as they're mounted direct to the exhaust manifold with no gasket or paste. Even a slight bit of rust / dirt will stop it sealing, and the car will sound like a strimmer.
Nice and clean:
Also, I'm one of a rare few that sees the benefit of keeping the stock EGR system even when running higher power. They are known to clog the inlet manifold with all manner of gunk, however it is water cooled. This means on those cold mornings, hot exhaust gasses pass through an assembly akin to a fire-tube boiler, albeit on a much smaller scale. Tiny tubes run from the inlet to exhaust of the EGR, which are surrounded by a water jacket.
Based on this premise, I decided not to remove the EGR at this point, but to accept I would have to clean the inlet manifold out (messy) every 50k or so to keep maximum airflow.
I cleaned all of the gunk out of the manifold, and then cleaned the mating surfaces:
I also noted the air conditioning system was not working at all, which it hasn't done since I got the vehicle. A quick inspection found there were infact 2 holes in the condenser unit, where the plastic supporting brackets had rubbed through the thin aluminium body of the condenser.
I ordered a new, non-OEM unit from eBay for the princely sum of £56, delivered to my door. I replaced all O rings, then had the system regassed. Now working perfectly, very useful for de-misting on these rainy evenings on the journey from work.
Running beautifully, all back together now. I've also seen a boost in economy now the turbocharger isn't constantly fluctuating boost as it used to - now sat at a solid 19psi.
Thanks for reading
It got pretty badly bashed up in the accident I had, to the point where I was thinking this is a total loss. However after a cup of strong coffee and a scout around under the bonnet, it was all cosmetic. Thank God they hit a strong part.
Damaged parts:
- Bonnet. Hammered roughly back to shape, and then my mate sat on the afflicted area to restore it. His backside should work in bodyshop repair, it worked quite well.
- Bumper. I had a spare in my shed from when I managed to do a bit of damage involving a sand dune and over-estimated driving ability (....
) but never got around to fitting it. Thanks for spurring me on, Corsa. - Crash bar. These are a plastic/fibreglass combination, and of course this was destroyed and served it's purpose. I managed to find one on eBay for £20 in brand new condition.
- Passenger headlight. I thought this was damaged, however it was merely plastered in lovely Corsa silver paint. A good cleaning / polishing session fixed this.
I absolutely detest bodywork, so I managed to coax a friend into helping.
Old vs new:
Bumper off, no damage! Score.
I also have neglected to replace the turbo on the car, which has been issuing a lovely plume of blue smoke off-boost for a while now - classic sign of leaky seals.
Upon inspection, you could move the turbine within the turbocharger about 2mm side to side and up/down - not normal at all. With ease you could actually make the blades of the compressor contact the inner wall of the housing...
I got a replacement from eBay, which was taken from a Rover 25 covering just 65,000 miles. I then called my bank manager, as I knew this was going to be horrifically expensive - £40...
They're a bit of a sod to change, as they're mounted direct to the exhaust manifold with no gasket or paste. Even a slight bit of rust / dirt will stop it sealing, and the car will sound like a strimmer.
Nice and clean:
Also, I'm one of a rare few that sees the benefit of keeping the stock EGR system even when running higher power. They are known to clog the inlet manifold with all manner of gunk, however it is water cooled. This means on those cold mornings, hot exhaust gasses pass through an assembly akin to a fire-tube boiler, albeit on a much smaller scale. Tiny tubes run from the inlet to exhaust of the EGR, which are surrounded by a water jacket.
Based on this premise, I decided not to remove the EGR at this point, but to accept I would have to clean the inlet manifold out (messy) every 50k or so to keep maximum airflow.
I cleaned all of the gunk out of the manifold, and then cleaned the mating surfaces:
I also noted the air conditioning system was not working at all, which it hasn't done since I got the vehicle. A quick inspection found there were infact 2 holes in the condenser unit, where the plastic supporting brackets had rubbed through the thin aluminium body of the condenser.
I ordered a new, non-OEM unit from eBay for the princely sum of £56, delivered to my door. I replaced all O rings, then had the system regassed. Now working perfectly, very useful for de-misting on these rainy evenings on the journey from work.
Running beautifully, all back together now. I've also seen a boost in economy now the turbocharger isn't constantly fluctuating boost as it used to - now sat at a solid 19psi.
Thanks for reading
Last edited:
More updates!
I completely replaced most of the front end at the cost of about £50 (oh dear. ) and also drew up a list of work that could do with doing in the next year.
Bits done since last update:
- Undersealed the entire underneath of the car. Cost: £10
- Fitted new AC condenser. Mmmm lovely cold air conditioning! Cost: £40
- Taken all doors cards off and greased locking mechanism, window mechanisms and door hinges and connectors. Cost: £5
- Checked seat mounting points under carpet (known to break off), they are fine luckily. Cost: £0
- Fitted decent component speakers up front, made a massive difference. Kept original speaker grills so completely invisible. Cost: £40
- Full service done. Cost: £20
Bits to do in the next year:
- Rear trailing arms are slightly deteriorated, got original replacements very cheap a few months back, just a bit of a sod to fit. Cost: £10
- CV joints could do with replacing, reluctor rings are rusted to **** and gaiters are showing their age. Cost: £30
- Fit fog lights and wiring. Cost: £25
- Fit sound deadening into doors (got the bits, just need to find the time!) Cost: £15
- New tyres all round. I liked the FK452s that came on the car, might find a set of those again. Cost: £200
All in all, it's continuing to cost peanuts to own, especially as I'm doing about 900 miles a week. Nearly at 130k now.
After a recent clean. You can just see the corner of the bonnet that got mashed, still haven't got around to replacing it.
I completely replaced most of the front end at the cost of about £50 (oh dear.
) and also drew up a list of work that could do with doing in the next year.Bits done since last update:
- Undersealed the entire underneath of the car. Cost: £10
- Fitted new AC condenser. Mmmm lovely cold air conditioning! Cost: £40
- Taken all doors cards off and greased locking mechanism, window mechanisms and door hinges and connectors. Cost: £5
- Checked seat mounting points under carpet (known to break off), they are fine luckily. Cost: £0
- Fitted decent component speakers up front, made a massive difference. Kept original speaker grills so completely invisible. Cost: £40
- Full service done. Cost: £20
Bits to do in the next year:
- Rear trailing arms are slightly deteriorated, got original replacements very cheap a few months back, just a bit of a sod to fit. Cost: £10
- CV joints could do with replacing, reluctor rings are rusted to **** and gaiters are showing their age. Cost: £30
- Fit fog lights and wiring. Cost: £25
- Fit sound deadening into doors (got the bits, just need to find the time!) Cost: £15
- New tyres all round. I liked the FK452s that came on the car, might find a set of those again. Cost: £200
All in all, it's continuing to cost peanuts to own, especially as I'm doing about 900 miles a week. Nearly at 130k now.
After a recent clean. You can just see the corner of the bonnet that got mashed, still haven't got around to replacing it.
Caporegime
If your doing 900 miles a week why have you only done 10k in it since you started the thread?
Associate
Is that fulwood asda?
Soldato
Not just the corner....the whole bonnet is as pockmarked as a teenager's face! Colour match is utterly bobbins as well (factory correct, of course....God bless Longbridge, 'cause no other bugger would
). Decent effort getting it as 'good' as that though!
Man of Honour
What did you service it with, scrapyard filters and waste oil?
Just a quick update - I know it's been a while.
Eventually I sold this to a friend when I bought my 75 Estate some time ago, and it since changed hands again to another friend. I'm pleased to report it's still running a dyno proven 163BHP (over what I'd guessed, and shifts nicely) and has done for over 30k since my last post.
Also, it's not had to have a single penny spent on it in repairs - straight through 2 MOTs without issue and the 2x rear trailing arms are still rolling around the boot, not fitted.
Bargain motoring - I'd recommend one of these to anyone. Prices are good at the moment, too.
WRT the £20 service, I'm a parts trader and buy filters and oil etc very cheap. Costs about £10 for the filters, and the same for some basic 10/40 semi oil.
Eventually I sold this to a friend when I bought my 75 Estate some time ago, and it since changed hands again to another friend. I'm pleased to report it's still running a dyno proven 163BHP (over what I'd guessed, and shifts nicely) and has done for over 30k since my last post.
Also, it's not had to have a single penny spent on it in repairs - straight through 2 MOTs without issue and the 2x rear trailing arms are still rolling around the boot, not fitted.
Bargain motoring - I'd recommend one of these to anyone. Prices are good at the moment, too.
WRT the £20 service, I'm a parts trader and buy filters and oil etc very cheap. Costs about £10 for the filters, and the same for some basic 10/40 semi oil.