Old Zed

Whats all this rubbish about coolant contaminating the belt, don't you drain it before hand. Sounds like a statement from another supposed well known Zed specialist here. Too many parrot mechanics on here, they have read about doing it, and can then talk about doing it, but would never dream of actually doing it in case they f**k up. Book times and actual times are very different. The book times are to ensure the main dealer or garage make a profit, it don't necessarilly take that time, as any good mechy will know. Thats your cream off the top.

I forgot to mention a strong assistant, both boxes are quite heavy and the manual box does not slip in easy, it requires a bit of jiggling and the old arms begin to ache, but I am old tho'.

When you say a kit Dave, is it complete. Such as : propshaft, gearbox, gearstick, gearstick mtg plate and 2 rubber boots + leather boot and fixing frame +4 screws, flywheel + bolts, clutch assy +bolts, clutch hydraulics, flywheel spigot bush, clutch pedal +top bolt. If you have got all that, the rest is quite straightforward. I would recommend fitting the pedal first (a b*****d) as the car can be driven with that in place. Then its drop exhaust and take propshaft & gearbox out complete with torque converter (TC) and gear selector lever. remove TC mounting plate and spigot bush in back of crankshaft. Its recommended you change the rear crankshaft seal while its out. Fit new manual type spigot bush and flywheel, fit clutch bits. Fit gearbox, propshaft and connect slave cylinder to master cylinder. from inside car fit gear stick plus mtg plate and two rubber boots, plus leather gaitor. you now have a choice of changeing the brake pedal or cutting it down to manual size (angle grinder job). lastly is the removing the autobox loom which removes the inhibitor switch, and wire up the reverse lights. We started at 9.30am and I was driving it at 4.0pm. Good luck.

Absolutely brilliant. A nice estate version complete with roofrack and wear a flatcap. Put a noddy dog in the back aswell.

I will come in the ....................diesel if Zed not ready. Book me into to the pub lunch Kev, I will be there.

Bloody 'ell Kev, your a mechanic as well. You'll be packin up your night job soon. Pleased for you mate, its a nice feeling.

No you don't. It should work perfectly as is. If you swap ECU's, it won't work at all because it will be axpecting all the guff to do with an automatic gearbox, i.e. only let you start in N or P.

Fault diagnosis on a Zed – a nightmare Working on a Zed – a right b*****d Driving it in the wet - scarey Finding a sympathetic MoT tester - priceless Thanks PJ

Cars in bits. Plenum off to replace a dodgey injector, will also do a top end bypass. I am now waiting for bits to arrive and the skinned knuckles to heal before re-assembling. Still got the MoT to suffer. Not looking good.

I'm getting confused about these coil packs as you have mentioned injector coil packs ?. Why dont you remove each plug coil pack in turn and put a spare plug in it to see if it sparks. This will confirm the electrics thus so far. If all ok, perhaps you just have some duff plugs. What make and type are they. It does sound like it ignition related.

I think the important thing about buying a zed is to qualify what you are buying. get someone with knowledge to inspect and if necessary test various components. It may take a couple of hours but it will save a thousand tears. They are very over engineered and thus subject to a variety of different faults, which actually will not be picked up during any inspection, but at least you will know the basics are sound. Price may not be an indicator of condition as Si found out, and there are some bargains to be had. Just be aware of the dogs.

Thats it then. No more asking about noises coming from wherever. Take it to an expert instead. This forum will now shrink by about 50%.

You will need flywheel to crankshaft bolts, clutch cover plate bolts and the spigot bush that fits in the end of the crankshaft. Don't bother to change the brake pedal, just cut it down normal size and fit a standard pedal rubber. You will also need a bolt that fixes the clutch pedal to the bulkhead at the top. A right pain to get in.

Oh, and by the way, it does not sound like big ends. They would make orrible noises when under load, i.e. being driven.

There at the back of the engine approximately where 18 is shown but both sides.

We should have pinched that mower from the stand behind and smoothed it out a bit. It looks like a bloody racecourse.

Give Jeff of Zedworld a call 01827 259222 or visit his website http://www.zedworld.co.uk. A real freindly professional outfit that know their Zeds. His missus make a good coffee as well. Cheers Lynda.

The rear crankshaft oil seal is a must and only costs about £15 and with everything off is easy. Apart from that a few pipes are visible at the back of the engine which are worth inspecting and replacing if necessary. make sure your manual propshaft centre bearing and UJ's are OK. Good luck with the conversion, its not that difficult. make sure you have all the neccessary parts available. Me and my son done it in a day, started at 9.30 and was driving it by 4 o'clock in the afternoon. There is some sweat and swearing involved.

Its not a big job if you have a flagstone floor. They are usually photographed, marked / labelled and removed, and then the floor dug out and flags replaced. Of course your problem will come if there is a fireplace, and also you would end up with up step out of the room. This process is usually only carried out to barns being converted and to the whole ground floor, not just a room. Thatching is not cheap because the usual materials used are now in short supply so alternatives have ben found with a shorter life expectancey. Some materials are now imported which make them more expensive. According to the size of cottage, and roof type, hipped or gable end, plus bedroom dormer window peaks, and your looking at £15K.

I will hopefully make this one but it's MOT time at the end of July, and you just never know evils will be flagged up.

make sure they clean the injector contact pins as well as they also get badly corroded. You could tighten the sockets in the injector plugs so as to be a tighter fit and fit them to the injector several times to remove any deposits, that may just clear the misfire.

Keep sending him shed loads of f*****g big emails, pictures etc, anything to fill his mailbox up, and send them all the time. Give us his email address and we'll all send him piles of emails, plus perhaps a virus or two.

PTU failure is usually affected by temperature, i.e. when it gets hot, it will stop working, allow to cool and all fine again (MK1 PTU that is).To test the CAS unit, firstly mark its position (scribe a line or tipex) and remove unit. With connector attached, turn on the ignition (dont engage starter or your f*****d) and manually turn the shaft the the CAS unit clockwise (looking from the front). You should hear the injectors clicking and the fuel pump pulsing fuel. To test your plug coil packs and the PTU output, one at a time remove and use a spare spark plug start the engine to see if it sparks.( You could try that when it refuses to start to check the PTU)

A compression test will show worn rings if performed correctly, i.e. carried out dry, and then carried out wet. If the rings are faulty the difference between to two tests per cylinder will be obvious.

How was it diagnosed ?. Before replacing the CAS unit make sure the connector is free from any contamination, that is both ends, i.e. including the PTU end.