For those of you that don't already know...
 

I bent mine after spinning it on a Dual carriageway.

Not 100% sure what happened as it stepped out far more quickly and violently than it has ever done before, normally any wheel spin even at 75-80 in 3rd is very controllable leading to a gentle tail wagging plus I was not even going that quick due to being behind other traffic but it was damn wet

The rear wheel took the brunt of the impact as I connected with an already damaged crash barrier post.

I later found out that two other accidents had happened in exactly the same place previously and the post was sticking out below the barrier :(

Otherwise it would have just been tram lines down the side as I had almost got it back under control despite going backwards at speed!

Most probably I spun the rears up and got it very sideways and around it went

Repairs are well under way.

Just a few Scrapes!
A few shots prior to pulling it to pieces
Most obvious damage is the the rear quarter panel, it will be having a new one welding in as the wheel has made a real mess of it around the arch and the crash barrier did its bit as well and I do not want excess filler so am paying the extra to have the panel replaced.

On removing the interior trim and bumper I realised the vent opening into the boot was pushed in by the bumper which also dented the seam at the corner as well but I expect those will be straightened etc. as that is a simple repair when they fit the new quarter panel.

Local body shop said immediately they will sort out the doors. which is good

There is a mark on the upper tie bar where it hit the seam of the inner wing. It doesn't look bent and the paint is not broken

The entire rear suspension is coming out anyway as no way is it designed to go in the direction it has so I suspect some of the rubber bushes may be crushed, torn or whatever.

I have bought one of the last Brand new full rear assemblies

I also will be replacing the front struts whilst I am at it as after 90,00 miles the yellow paint is well past its best, they look a ****** real mess so as I already had two new ones squirreled away to fit, now is the time to use them.


The rear ABS sensors on the V8 come out very easily! I was dreading them being seized in like thery do on the fronts - anyone that has done one will know what I mean!

The rears are also a different type of fitting to the front ones.

Whilst removing the rear calipers I noticed MGR had used different types of bolts into the Knuckle, on my car they used Hex screws those on the new rear suspension use Torx screws I prefer the Hex screws I wonder why the difference.

I will post updates as work and finances permit



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Hi Keith, glad to hear your OK though. How much is it going to cost to put her right? I take it, the insurance company didn't try and write it off. Maybe because it's a V8 and worth more, that wasn't an issue?

You can do without things like that but at least it looks a fairly easy repair & no people were harmed during the making of this photoshoot:getmecoat:

It is a cat C - beyond economical repair according to the assessor
Once the repairs are estimated at over 65% of a cars value they give up.

I am waiting for a Cheque from the insurers and a quote from a local body shop to do the body work only once I have it mechanically sorted.

I was going to overhaul the suspension front and rear this winter anyway :D
an do some touch up work.

Ironically this side of the car needed some paint - but not this much!
There was a wee dent in the rear wing - previous owner.

I scuffed the front bumper at Brooklands last year coming out of the hotel car park which everyone noticed as it was bright yellow!

Karen bumped her head against the side window but that was it
It was a relatively slow speed accident

First and accident I have had being entirely my fault as well

Mine had been written off for this

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so hardly surprising yours was, the fact that it's a V8 & a bit more "special" than the run of the mill models means nothing to the man with the clipboard, as far as he's concerned it's a car worth X & it's going to cost Y to put it right & because Y is nearly as much as X then that's the end of it sadly

If you don't mind me asking, where did this happen. It sounds like theremay be a problem with the road if other people have had problems there.

I have seen 260's in a worse state ;):p:

Good luck with the repairs, don't let the insurers rip you off!!

Hiya Keith. :)

Very sorry about the bump, but delighted that you are both OK.. Cars can be fixed.. :}

Glad it wasn't the car you keep hidden in the other garage.. :D:D:D
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I was on the Shrewsbury bypass
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, loads of people have since told me similar accident happen quite often lot on that stretch of road!

Thanks James, yes only damaged tin not people.

Subframe out
 

Heavy Rain stopped play twice yesterday but anyway Subframe out.

Getting the prop shaft disconnected from the diff was a pig it was well rusted in!

I made two discoveries
The Dif breather was missing just a threaded hole where it once was!

The threaded inserts in the self leveling switch has reacted with road salt, swollen up and cracked the plastic so I will have to fit a new insert and use araldite to do a decent repair to retain the thing. also the centre linkage ball joint is very stiff where rust has formed on one of the balls.
I thought my headlights were not adjusting for load correctly now I know why.

I made up a wooden jig to support the rear assembly and bolted it to my little trolley jack and that worked like a charm
I could not get the back boxes off in situ so I thought *** it do them later.



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Centre section is supposed to be Stainless!

Top strut bearings cleaned and ready to be re greased and reassembled hardly any wear in them at all despite the grit blasting they are permanently exposed to

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New rear Quarter panel which picked up a small dent in transit.

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Engine hanging, and supported on a jack from below, mud below came off the subframe as I seemed to have scooped up quite a bit

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Rear end almost ready to bolt back in, waiting for a drop link to arrive. from B&G and it is late :(

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Phosphoric acid dip to remove rust prior to repainting a few bits it leaves a nice grey patina once dried. all these items looked horrid 24 hours ago.

The bracket for the front self leveling sensor was particularly grotty no paint left on it at all.


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This sounds awful Keith but i'm glad it was in your ownership when it happened :o

Lesser owners may have given up :)

Tremendous respect to you Sir :bowdown:

Wow, you've got your work cut out there, but I can see you are doing a brilliant job of it. Keep it up and you'll be back on the road in no time;)

'Av you got a day job Keith !!!!
That is awesome progress you are making there :o

You have done a tremendous refurb job on that rear end Keith, it looks brand new! :bowdown:
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Looks like one of the last new Stuff up assy's James :o

>>>one of the last new Stuff up assy's James <<<

Wassthat then Jules??? Watchewtalkinbout??? lol... :shrug: :o:o
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Nice rear end (pardon the pun) think you should remove the blower and give it to me though, it looks a bit heavy for your engine steady bar ;):D

Pleased to see you ok Keith, best of luck :}

This any good Keith?
Exhaust link
Brian :)

Just remembered I have a new One here!

That's because it is Brand new as in has been sitting around unused since MGR went bust it cost me £600 wheras if I had ordered just the broken or bent bits from Rimmer to fix the damage would have cost more so replacing the entire thing is a far better thing to do even if it makes the job a bit longer and I have a load of spares to sell for when someone damages there off side!

I have one it came with the rear stuffup just not fitted it yet thanks

Just need to find a suitable 63mm ID x 95mm joiner for the centre section as the OEM part is silly money! and I want one with straps not those horrid U bolt things.

Hi Dave
The annoying thing is I sold my 4 post ramp earlier this year as I am not really doing the kind of things I used to and now I really could have done with it.
It is a bit tight under the stands and I really want to give the underside a good clean up whilst I have all the obstructions out of the way so I am going to get a tad messy under there!

Rolling again
 

Rear sub frame all fitted I have even cleaned up the Xpowers as well as they were very tarnished.

Bucket on right is because we had so much rain yesterday my carport sprung a leak!



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Powder coated front sub frame, new front struts rack etc. - old struts were a bit too rusty to be worth repainting and were just starting to leak as well.

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I gave the rear Bilsteins a fresh coat of paint kept my old disks and callipers as there are perfect so no point using up the brand new ones I have.

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My horn upgrade is so much better than the original single one as well - got a proper horn again!

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I Went for a shakedown run around the field today hence the grass on the wheels!

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Just finished stripping out the remainder of the interior so now almost ready to go to the body shop.

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As I said getting the new steering rack in meant I had to remove the front subframe so I couldn't just leave it all rusty.... as it would sulk seeing as the rear is all shiny!

Shot Blasted Zinc Primed and Powder coated :)

New rack fitted and another to do job done as well new PS hose as my old one had a leak which I was going to deal with anyway.

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Fascinating thread this Keith. Hats off to you for doing such a sterling job:bowdown:

Whilst I was at it I did the hanbrake compensator mod as well
One observation for those struggling to get the two torx screws out of the side of the console, why bother?

It is easier to remove the armrest cubby box as you need too for access to the compensator anyway and then undo the two 8mm bolts securing the bracket that the torx screws go into, well I found it easier anyway.

Looking good Keith, I'm in total awe at what you've accomplished :bowdown::bowdown:

I went to Kwik Fit and got one free which was a perfect fit.:D

I now need to get it Mot'd as it ran out a couple of weeks ago or pay the body shop to come and collect it so I have it booked in for Friday.

So meanwhile I decided to have a go at one of the 260 annoying features especially so on the blown cars as the engines get even hotter.

The throttle cable.

Mine has been horrid - notchy and gritty for almost as long as I have owned the car we tried rerouting the cable whilst at the Kempenrit in Belgium but that only made a slight improvement.

I bought a hydraulic cable oiler and then modified it to fit the cables fittings
I used that to force 3 in one down it a few weeks ago it was slightly better but not much and deteriorated with a hot engine.

A lot of discussion has ensued about the cable liner construction is it nylon is it absorbing water from the oil and swelling etc.

Well I thought *** it let put it to the test
I removed the cable and cleaned it out using the hydraulic pump with gunk
and then gallons of water to clean it out.

I then let it dry and used GT85 on it again forced (although it did not really need it) with the tool.

I now have a cable as free as it possibly could be the inner drops through under it own weight the PTFE or Teflon in the lube is doing its job and no sign of the liner swelling

Only time will tell if this makes a difference or not.

Need to get back behind the wheel and do some miles...........

Killing time this evening after getting everything ready for the MOT tomorrow so thought I would have a go at the door panels using some material I bought over 2 years ago so about time I got on with it!

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Rather like that Keith, nicely done :bowdown:

Mot passed on Friday
Today I went and had all four wheels aligned as it needed doing

Also

Been playing!

I wanted a flush look and for me there was only one shape that works.
Bolts are just temp fitted I want to make a plastic trim piece to hide the edges of the mesh and support a removable drip tray and also I will make a gasket from something like laminate flooring underlay to go between the mesh and the bonnet but that's after getting the metal work right. Next step is to fit it and if I am happy with the look I will get this bonnet sprayed with the rest of the bodywork.

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Now been for a test run

The highly scientific 'lets tie some wool on' test verified that I seem to have lower pressure over than under the bonnet i.e. it did not get sucked in whilst driving along at varying speeds however I do not have the under tray fitted at the moment so will check it again properly once I do using the differential pressure gauge I bought.

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Time to put this thread to bed now that I will be selling my car.

All the work above was nearly three years ago, I did all the mechanical work myself and an excellent local outfit called 'Panel Fix' did the body work and paint. Obviously I had the car Vic checked as is required for Cat C cars and it's not missed a beat since. All in all the insurance company by classing it as a Cat C effectively gave me more money than I needed to repair it. My own labour was free so the extra money enabled me to do quite a few 'extra' jobs and the end result was the car being in better condition than before the bump.

Great job Keith
Glad it was well & truly saved :bowdown:

Seems a shame to sell after all that graft !!!

Cheers Jules, it was worth it plus I do like doing hands on. No way was I going to let them take it away as a write off over what was really only a broken trailing arm a dented wing and some scrapes!

We used it quite a lot last year going backwards and forwards to Shrewsbury hospital for Chemo sessions etc. which cheered Karen up a bit.

Well done Keith its a cracking car and your thread now gives me the confidence to take the door cards off lol!:D
Best of British luck with the sale old boy!