Thought I'd share with all of you the story of my ZR. I know a lot of the comments will be "It's a Rover","Headgasket" etc, but oh well.
So it started in February 2008 when I received a £1500 bonus, and decided I should get another car after 5 months without one. At the time it was a toss up between the ZR and original Fiesta Zetec S. Eventually, lower insurance and me preferring the ZR's looks made the decision for me.
So after much searching through expensive 3 door sheds, I looked at this 5 door. It was up for £3000, most 5 doors started at £3500, and was £30 less to insure than the 3 doors. I haggled the guy down to £2700 due to no service history (bar phoning the previous owner) and it needing a cambelt & service. It had 2 previous owners, and about 47K on the clock (IIRC).
So I got it home, serviced it and swapped the cambelt for piece of mind. I also resealed the sunroof as they are renowned for leaking.
Next up was refurbishing the alloys. In the end, we (me & Bri - stepdad who owns Wheel Specialist Leeds) did a chrome paint over an Anthracite base. I also had to get a new windscreen due to a massive stonechip (it spread right across the centre of the windscreen!), but it had an awful blue sunstrip tint which I wasn't too happy about.
Then took it to Wales in July 2008, did 1000+ miles without it missing a beat. Then disaster struck when I got home. The grill ripped off down the motorway and was smashed up by the following traffic. The mounts were still in the bumper, my guess was some scrote tried having it off.
I still haven't bothered putting a grill on, I got fleeced on ebay for one, then bought one off theMGZR.co.uk, which was damaged by the postman and still needs repairing and spraying.
It was at this time somebody pointed out I had one ZR headlight (driver side) and one Rover 25 headlight (passenger side), which bugged me then as I'd now noticed it.
Come August 2008, my brakes were on their last legs. So i bought myself some Rover 620 turbo calipers, EBC Ultimax ZR 160 discs, Yellow Stuff Pads & Goodridge Hoses. I rebuilt the calipers and powdercoated them gloss black. I also tinted the rear lights with some black paint & lacquer mixed together.
Come September 2008 I wanted to euro it
rolleyes, so stupidly sprayed the fogs yellow (they are still yellow now, but I'm going back to clear when I can be bothered) and also dewipered the rear. I had tried using lamin-x twice, but the fogs were too rounded for the film.
Then I needed new wipers and a new exhaust for the upcoming MOT in November. So I got some flat wipers and a Janspeed 6x4 oval catback system. They are renowned for not sitting straight, and after many attempts mine is still wonky lol. I also got a K&N Panel filter for some noise.
It passed it's MOT with only 2 advisorys, and away I went a happy bunny.
I got a Richbrook MG Touring gearknob off Soph for christmas, so fitted that ASAP! I also bought a pair of TF135 camshafts. They have greater lift than the standard ZR 120 camshafts, and were a straight swap. These were fitted in January 2009, and gave a noticeable power increase. I also bought a VVC inlet manifold (larger ports) which I powdercoated Black. I haven't fitted this yet, due to needing to portmatch the cylinder head.
It stayed this way until March 2009, when I decided to sort the Headlight, flush the cooling system, and give it a service. Unfortunately, I melted my headlight trying to split it, so had to buy another! I also noticed part of the OEM CAF is hidden behind the bumper, so routed a CAF to it in a vain attempt to get more air in (it probably does nothing though!) I also ordered some custom spec GAZ coilovers from AAautosport (a story in themselves!), and bought some OEM sideskirts (these are yellow, need spraying and I've not touched them yet lol.)
So rolled on April 2009, and I popped over to a a RR day I found on here. With the TF 135 cams, K&N panel filter and Janspeed Catback, it made 115BHP and 109 ftlbs at the Wheels. Flywheel power is around 127BHP, which I came to by adding 10% for transmission losses, but to allow for the Dyno over reading. I also fitted some 8mm Magnecor Leads after this, modified my airbox and acquired myself another Cylinder Head. It is a 1.4/1.8 34mm Ports Cylinder Head, never had HGF and only done 37K. Thumb was purely for cheese effect. Plans for this are to tidy up the coolant and oil ways, port match to my VVC inlet, DIY headwork and larger valves. Valve wise I think I'm going to go for QED 29mm Inlets and 26.4mm Exhausts, as these come in a lot cheaper than Paul Ivey or PTP valves.
Headwork wise, I've been reading a lot about it, and I'm reasonably confident. Will just take it easy and play it safely, instead of charging in like a bull in a china shop. I still haven't touched this, nor bought the valves lol.
Be patient, another post is to follow which brings us to the present day.
So it started in February 2008 when I received a £1500 bonus, and decided I should get another car after 5 months without one. At the time it was a toss up between the ZR and original Fiesta Zetec S. Eventually, lower insurance and me preferring the ZR's looks made the decision for me.
So after much searching through expensive 3 door sheds, I looked at this 5 door. It was up for £3000, most 5 doors started at £3500, and was £30 less to insure than the 3 doors. I haggled the guy down to £2700 due to no service history (bar phoning the previous owner) and it needing a cambelt & service. It had 2 previous owners, and about 47K on the clock (IIRC).
So I got it home, serviced it and swapped the cambelt for piece of mind. I also resealed the sunroof as they are renowned for leaking.
Next up was refurbishing the alloys. In the end, we (me & Bri - stepdad who owns Wheel Specialist Leeds) did a chrome paint over an Anthracite base. I also had to get a new windscreen due to a massive stonechip (it spread right across the centre of the windscreen!), but it had an awful blue sunstrip tint which I wasn't too happy about.
Then took it to Wales in July 2008, did 1000+ miles without it missing a beat. Then disaster struck when I got home. The grill ripped off down the motorway and was smashed up by the following traffic. The mounts were still in the bumper, my guess was some scrote tried having it off.
I still haven't bothered putting a grill on, I got fleeced on ebay for one, then bought one off theMGZR.co.uk, which was damaged by the postman and still needs repairing and spraying.
It was at this time somebody pointed out I had one ZR headlight (driver side) and one Rover 25 headlight (passenger side), which bugged me then as I'd now noticed it.
Come August 2008, my brakes were on their last legs. So i bought myself some Rover 620 turbo calipers, EBC Ultimax ZR 160 discs, Yellow Stuff Pads & Goodridge Hoses. I rebuilt the calipers and powdercoated them gloss black. I also tinted the rear lights with some black paint & lacquer mixed together.
Come September 2008 I wanted to euro it
rolleyes, so stupidly sprayed the fogs yellow (they are still yellow now, but I'm going back to clear when I can be bothered) and also dewipered the rear. I had tried using lamin-x twice, but the fogs were too rounded for the film.Then I needed new wipers and a new exhaust for the upcoming MOT in November. So I got some flat wipers and a Janspeed 6x4 oval catback system. They are renowned for not sitting straight, and after many attempts mine is still wonky lol. I also got a K&N Panel filter for some noise.
It passed it's MOT with only 2 advisorys, and away I went a happy bunny.
I got a Richbrook MG Touring gearknob off Soph for christmas, so fitted that ASAP! I also bought a pair of TF135 camshafts. They have greater lift than the standard ZR 120 camshafts, and were a straight swap. These were fitted in January 2009, and gave a noticeable power increase. I also bought a VVC inlet manifold (larger ports) which I powdercoated Black. I haven't fitted this yet, due to needing to portmatch the cylinder head.
It stayed this way until March 2009, when I decided to sort the Headlight, flush the cooling system, and give it a service. Unfortunately, I melted my headlight trying to split it, so had to buy another! I also noticed part of the OEM CAF is hidden behind the bumper, so routed a CAF to it in a vain attempt to get more air in (it probably does nothing though!) I also ordered some custom spec GAZ coilovers from AAautosport (a story in themselves!), and bought some OEM sideskirts (these are yellow, need spraying and I've not touched them yet lol.)
So rolled on April 2009, and I popped over to a a RR day I found on here. With the TF 135 cams, K&N panel filter and Janspeed Catback, it made 115BHP and 109 ftlbs at the Wheels. Flywheel power is around 127BHP, which I came to by adding 10% for transmission losses, but to allow for the Dyno over reading. I also fitted some 8mm Magnecor Leads after this, modified my airbox and acquired myself another Cylinder Head. It is a 1.4/1.8 34mm Ports Cylinder Head, never had HGF and only done 37K. Thumb was purely for cheese effect. Plans for this are to tidy up the coolant and oil ways, port match to my VVC inlet, DIY headwork and larger valves. Valve wise I think I'm going to go for QED 29mm Inlets and 26.4mm Exhausts, as these come in a lot cheaper than Paul Ivey or PTP valves.
Headwork wise, I've been reading a lot about it, and I'm reasonably confident. Will just take it easy and play it safely, instead of charging in like a bull in a china shop. I still haven't touched this, nor bought the valves lol.
Be patient, another post is to follow which brings us to the present day.
