Well, im at a point now with my zed that i thought i'd be close to finishing it and enjoying the summer, but its not to be..

 

After getting it all up and running, mot'd and taxed, its smoking..

 

Changed the pcv valves and its still smoking. The turbos were rebuilt before fitting them, but the engine was secondhand.

 

Ive spoken to a few people, (inc Jeff and Jamie) and piston rings sound like a possibility.

 

Thats no small job, and with it needing a respray and the interior tidying, should i stop now and buy a ready built zed??

Is the fact you (did)have(last night!!) my car as the lower half of your sig a clue?

Edited April 27, 201114 yr by Daffy
BigJim reverted sig

Yeah, they both need breaking for spares!

Lol

I think as a Zed enthusiast you have a loyal duty to start fixing a Zed rather than breaking another one..

 

Otherwise, you will find it difficult to find a nice Zed because they will all be petrified of going to 'big Jim's breaking yard in the sky' :tt2:

 

That said, I know exactly what you're considering - just how much money do you want to spend getting it right? You must have realised that to sort the exterior, interior and engine will set you back way, way, way more than just buying a nice Zed from the off. But not everything should be about money (unless you don't have 2 pennies to rub together :pinch:).

 

Is the chassis a good un? Do you feel any attachment to the car - I view my cars in the same way i view my pets.. You don't get your dog put down because it gets a gammy leg, you pay hundreds of pounds to a vet instead..

 

Seriously though, the way I see it - if you spend over the odds making your car perfect, you can rest well in the knowledge that if looked after correctly, you can keep that car as long as you like and it will always be a good en.

 

So in summary, I'd break it - then join a more reliable car club.. :tt2:

stop breaking start fixing jim lol. youve got enough spares there to make afew of them by now lol. did you only notice it was teh rings last night? maybe its worth just running it for a while i heard pcvs can take a while to take effect. few hundred miles etc... you could always do a leak down this would show ring health??? in any event you still have a spare block dont you?

problem is zeds are going for buttons right now so there not really worth fixing sometimes , obviously some of the purists would say fix her up , but its your fianacial situation that it effects either way !! you probably already know in your heart what your going to do . go with it !!

Personally, I'd break it and buy another one.

Get a compression test done..... That'll show you whether it's the rings or PCV valves and as above PCV valves can take a while clear....

how much realisicaly can be raised frim breaking a z if the engine and box is good ?

Jim, if the shell is good (IE no rust) just replace the engine if its the piston rings. but id get a compression test done first. this will highlight ring failure.

 

Ive just had a decent quote to repair the body work on mine, so I'm now keeping it, as there really isn't any rust on it anywhere. the mechanics are good. the interior (apart from the drivers seat - typical lol) is good and i have a spare door on my breaker for the respray. so now its brought the total cost of restoring it down. its now worth me keeping over getting a car that i have no knowledge of.

 

Think of it this way, if it costs more to replace the engine than it does to buy another. then get another. if it costs less, fix the one you have.

Im not going to do it lightly, and if the engine is dead, breaking wont get me that much back.

Im going to drive it, compression test it, and get it on a ramp.

It passed an mot, but i didn't get under the car to look for rot.

 

Problem is, if i rebuild my spare engine, i will want top spec and it will cost thousands.

 

Just sold a good engine and turbos!!!! Doh!