Ben Jordan

I know that........................... but 20 what?

Whats the difference between the Escort 55 & 75 van?

Yep, Im after a Dog van. Won’t be doing very many miles so having a high mileage one shouldn’t be a problem. Fully kitted dog vans are quite hard to come by for a good one. The other alternative is an ex Police one, but i know an ex MOD van would of had an easier life. There is an ex police Astra van on E-blag with a 1600 petrol engine showing 99,000 miles, that has got to be on borrowed time.

I have seen this van on there website which i am quite interested in Escort 55 van What i want to know is has anybody ever brought a vehicle from them? What are they like to deal with? The price guide says £1950+Vat, Is that the price or the price you start to haggle at? I will be a private buyer does anybody know a way around paying the vat? Thanks in advance Ben.

I didn't realise this was on of i would of come to watch you all. I don't live far away, you can see my house from the trig point. Oh well next time.

No i think it is all going to go back together as it is. Then sold or driven until i decide what car i want next. Im only doing about 5 miles a week in my own cars and the Rangie is my second car so it should last. Where is the best place to get the composite gaskets?

So i am going to need, 1 x Exhaust manifold to down pipe gasket 4 x Exhaust manifold to head gasket 1 x Head gasket 1 x valley gasket 8 x Rubber seals for top of injectors (workshop manual states these are to be replaced) 1 x Rocker cover gasket Can anybody think of anything i have missed off the list that i should replace when putting it back together? Is there a gasket to go between the top and the bottom of the intet plenum?

That is the top and bottom of the gasket.

Will it be okay to replace this gasket with a composite one, as the other is probably tin? What are the marks on a head gasket that has gone? Once the thread is out of the head, i think im going to put it all back together with genuine parts and then decide what's going to happen to it. Now i need to start a shopping list of the parts i need from Land rover.

Okay here are the photos of the head gasket, it's going dark outside so let me know if you need any more detailed ones i will take them tomorrow.

It's a 3.9. Ian, I will get some photos of the head gasket although it has been rained on now. So does everybody recommend OE parts and not some performance or higher-grade bits?

Will, What are you having instead of the SD cage?

A lot of the engine components looked wasted.

So if i was to replace these parts should i do it with OE or upgraded parts, and if so what?

Those cars do last a long time. But the reason they are brought is not because they are good cars. It's because the forces are locked into contracts with certain manufactures and the deal they are given at the time of needing new cars. I will steer clear of MG's then. They seem to be keeping there value well, so thought they must be good cars with a good spares back up. Obviously not.

Has anybody got any opinions on MG ZT-T's?

God thats getting into the realms of a top end rebuild. Would it be easier to pull the engine out to do all that? The engine has covered around 142,000 miles and the service history is unknown.

Would anybody else recomend changing the cam, tappets and timing chain with the engine insitu and this condition?

How do the tappets come out, do they just pull out of the top? How hard is it to change the cam with the engine insitu?

Need to get the snapped spark plug out.

I was wrong. I got something totally different.

Here is a pic of the No. 7 and 8 cylinders. Can't see much of them. What am i looking for when checking for wear? The lobes seem to wearing on the outside.

Some more pics now i have the head off

Some of you might remember that a while ago i was winging about snapping a spark plug off in number 2 cylinder. Anyway today i have got my arse outside and started to get the head off. Sometime ago i remember somebody telling me that if it were all black and gunky underneath the valley gasket the engine would need rebuilding. So as i have been taking the engine apart today i have been taking some photos to show you all and get your opinion on if it needs some work or not? If there are any other photos you need or closer ones just let me know.

Hi, Just found this searching for my first thread about the spark plug. Not been on here much lately far to busy at work. The decision for the estate car is still going on. Volvo T5/V70R, MG ZT-T, Omega V6? Or keep the Rangie ditch and the LPG. But there is no rush at the mo. as i still have the Wolf and only covered about ten private miles last week. With a long weekend off today i have gone outside and started to strip the engine to get the head off, what a job Anyway im going to put some photos up of the stripped engine to see what the opinions are on the condition of it. Can anybody point me towards the thread?