Kick plate part number
 

How do you mean both types of clips?

The proper clips do work, but there's dodgy ebay sellers listing red & yellow clips supposedly for the kick plate.

Most of them are in fact door card clips and just wont do !!
Get the proper clips, fit them to the plate FIRST then push it into the 3 holes and all your problems will be over


Part number EKM100270

They came with one type of clip, I assume the original, then bought some red ones. Neither really worked.

Cheers for the original post, I found the information contained therein very interesting. I had seen various comments about people buying pre project drive cars and must admit, I hadn't a clue what they were referring to - but now I do. Knowledge is indeed power. :}

I can now say that I too have a pre project drive car. Do I get a special badge, or reward, or will I get a warm fuzzy feeling from time to time? :D

two oval ones near the front , two on the D pillars and one on the boot lid ;)

Ahahahah - well played sir, I doff my cap to thee :bowdown:

hi folks. I have just found this thread and read from start to finnish.
Reebs. I dont see any mention of boot carpet changes. I was out getting a few bits yesterday. clean dry boot carpet. side carpet with light access. I noticed tonight that the boot carpet {taken from a w/reg car} has the edge facing you when looking into boot sort of piped, where my original has a cut edge all round the carpet. I'll get pic of both for you to see. tam.http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/8884/lpic7026.jpghttp://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5589/lpic7027.jpg
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Hi Tam, good spot. I've been looking in the EPC, and there is indeed a change of part number for the boot carpet.

The first one went as far as model year 2003 and VIN 288338, after that the other part number is listed (which would presumably be the later carpet without the edging you descibe).

I will have a look next time I'm in yard, next few days. see how many and what age have the neater edge. I only noticed when lifting one out and the new one in. but very obvious once noticed. there is also a slight difference in the feel of carpet material. I'll do some hunting and get back to you with my findings;)

had a look today. it seams to change 2001ish :shrug:

this date was around november 2001,parts that were transferred to longbridge from cowley were used up in parts bins..cars from this era typically shared parts from both plants.

it seems cosmetically the cars changed,but under the skin other things were deleted too.

taa derek. I looked in probably 10 2002 onward today most had the cut all round carpet. and the older one's had the piped type. although a lot didnt have any carpet also. found a nice green personal line cloth trim, not my cup of tea but nice/different. :shrug:

Now this is interesting.....I am sure that I have this cooler on my engine, which in turn would mean that since it cannot be retro-fitted, then the engine is not the original one. I will double check in the morning to be sure but I'm pretty confident during all my poking around that this is what I have.

If this is indeed the case - is there anyway to check (via a number / marking / part fitted etc) how old the engine actually is?

Reebs. I thought I read somewhere in this thread {might have been some where else on forum}about coolant header tank changing from this one to the newer colour but cant find it now. ?
http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/2795/lpic7080.jpg
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There was a change in part number for the V6 coolant header tank, it changed from VIN 158718 onwards from the black one pictured (which had what I believe was a small overflow pipe coming out of it) to a yellow version which did not have the pipe.

This VIN number change point is much earlier than the first Project Drive change points, so I can only assume it was simply a change of supplier or design rather than a deliberate cost cutting measure, as the programme wasn't introduced until VIN number 205081 - 15th January 2001.

Hope that helps.

ah right. so it wasnt a project drive cut. reason I asked was during a rumage one day I found 3 of them. a Vreg and 2 Wreg cars.I had only ever seen one before that I can remember. that answered why it was not in your opening post. thanks again:bowdown:

here is another one discovered today. did you know ??

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/739/lpic7118.jpg
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note the one on right is leather. one on left same kind of stuff as later arm rest. h/brake handle ect. check the moulded pretend stitching on and real stitching on other.
here from side can clearly see one is leather one is not.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/1543/lpic7120.jpg
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these leather gear knobs were deleted on classic and club models along with the leather bound hand brake grip during project drive.

the arm rest seems to be a different kettle of fish,the real leather versions seemed to be put on certain cars at random during production at cowley.

ah right I see. I have 3 leather g/knobs all taken from cowley cars. the vinil one came from a 2003 poverty spec car. so that would make sense.
thanks Paul.

a picture showing the difference between the leather and vinyl centre armrests...the leather version really stands out in the image,the one on the left is leather

this was removed from a 'y' reg car,it now takes pride of place in my car.

this item is considerably rare and not all early cowley cars have these.



http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/u...b17964/001.jpg

A few things to add to this thread:

Bonnet seals were simpler on later cars, there is a picture of the earlier seals on Bartonrover's thread 'Thank you Jules!' - it might be worth copying to this thread. My car, 5th June 2001 VIN 216216, has the later simpler seals.

Also, the bonnet release divider appears to have been downgraded in stages. My car has the older, smooth and thougher release with metal rings securing the plastic ends to the cables, but not the rubber wedge that earlier cars had. Later cars had the grained softer release and also lost the metal rings.

Another thing is the front lower grille, mentioned on another thread (which I can't find now!). I think that later cars had a simpler grille. Mine has the original grille with the horizontal plastic bar across the middle with plastic vertical bits and a metal rectangular mesh behind it, can't remember what the later Mk1 cars have, but I read that they have something simpler/cheaper.

As a newbie to 75 ownership, I've found this thread to be fascinating (in my best Mr Spock voice!) and have been referring to it constantly over the last few days.

My car is VIN 214490 registered 25 May 2001, so would qualify as a 'transition' model I suppose. The cost-cutting items I've identified include:

• 195 section tyres
• no handle on jack tool
• no D-post badge
• no rear lamp lens access panels in boot, moulded instead
• no 'Rover 75' embossing on inner flap of handbook wallet

The headrests do have the embossed logo despite the VIN being later than the suggested 209690 crossover point, but that may be because it's a personal line interior, which may have been sitting on the shelf for a while? :shrug:

Hope this is of some use. I've found it a really interesting exercise!

Just picked up on this excellent thread. Well done to the author
When we purchased our new diesel conny back in 02 I actually wrote to MG Rover commenting on such a fine car beng marrred by simple things such as the service document wallet being a cheap plastic one instead of a leather type holder. I did get a nice reply to all my comments and must look it out sometime.
On another point the recent alloy wheel differences I posted on another topic, with the extra rim on the inside may also be one of the cutbacks.
On the document wallet a friend who had one of the earlier 75's gave me his wallet when he changed cars, one with the small rover logo and my V6 which was 6 months younger had a leather type holder but not sure if it has the badge.

Very interesting indeed
JYJ

Excellent thread!:bowdown:

I don't know if this is because of the Project Drive but here in Portugal from 2003 on (includes late mk1), manual 75s have the 45/25 gear knob.

Like this one:

http://1.ftbs.sl.pt/auto/media/00094...er-9353282.jpg

Yes same one mostly fitted here too on Late Mk1's and then the Facelifts.
A lot of Facelift Connies had the Light Oak wood type.

This specific 75 is a Tourer CDTi Connoisseur Plus (I think this is the same as your Connoisseur SE) and it's probably the newest mk1 I have ever seen. It's a May 2004 reg! Here in Portugal, this specific Trim level has everything that you can have in a 75, it's fantastic! The only optional is the Auto gearbox.:drool4:

Project Drive.
 

Hi once again!

Would it be possible to get this excellent piece sent to me in a PDF or just as text with photos? I have a car (75 Tourer) bought in Switzerland to my order and some of the items you say were deleted were still put on may car even though it was delivered late 2002 to Zurich. I would certainly like to have this reference material at hand to use to check other more hidden items.

Never knew there was a "project drive". Interesting, didn't seem to save the company..... maybe management got too high a bonus for lack of performance, like a precursor to the bank debacles!!

Regards
zurmac

My decision to buy an early car (2000 W) as my first 75 was based predominantly on avoiding project drive changes. I remember an event in the flightshed where everyone was asked to crawl around a 75 and suggest cost saving measures. My recollection is that early cars are so much quieter and refined due to noise treatments etc being in place. It would be interesting to compare an early cars insulation (under carpet, bulkhead, bodyshell sound deadening, etc) with that of a later car.

One thing I didn't spot reading through the posts, and maybe it never happened, was whether the bonnet seal across the front of the bonnet locking platform survived. I recall deletion being suggested.

The most painful thing to see, for me at least, was when the nylon carpet appeared (facelift?). I was working in Vehicle Refinement in the Longbridge days and we had to check whether any of these changes affected the noise etc detrimentally. I can assure you that nobody enjoyed removing quality or features from the car.

Did the masses under the Right hand engine mount and on the upper tiebar bracket survive on diesels models? They were always trying to get us to agree to delete them as they appeared to have no purpose. Without it though the timing chain on the BMW engine sings it's heart out at 2600 rpm (from memory).

Steve.

What an interesting and insightful post - thanks for sharing this.

As for the insulation, I think it's listed here that the piece under the parcel shelf was deleted. Also I have seen that the white fluffy insulation behind the A/B/C/D post trims is missing on later cars. I wonder if the cheaper later carpet has the same amount of foam underneath?

Excellent post especially for those of us (me) new to the marque. When the car arrives I will be crawling all over it to see what I do (and don't have) .... from memory though I DO have a real wood dash, which pleases me immensely for some unknown reason !

All i can say is i am glad i bought my 99 cdt club.

Deeks

Just looked under the back of my tourer, and based on Number 32 (anti-roll bar deleted), I was surprised to actually see one.

My tourer is a 2003 on a 52 plate, so totally confused now. :shrug:

Perhaps my car was produced before it was a dropped and sat at a dealers. VIN is 279879.

I think it only says saloon so maybe it wasn't removed from the tourer?

Number 32 Rover 75 SALOON 1.8 petrol & 2.0 diesel ONLY.

32) June 2002 – Rover 75 saloon 1.8 petrol & 2.0 diesel only
The rear anti-roll bar assembly ‘A’ in the picture was deleted from the above vehicles.

Dave T

Reebs' excellent post no1 mentions the 75 Dash savings, but there must have been a time when the ZT had the same fate.

This is a picture of my dash
http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...1&d=1344542163

And one of Jakg's from his post about changing dash colour
http://i.imgur.com/QEXXI.jpg

Anyone know when they changed? and it makes you think they are wood underneath.

Anal I know :D

Simon

It was more the case of removing the metal backs.If you look at the two pictures above it demonstrates the change in the AirBag logo,from inlaid to surface mounted.

Well well I learn something every day:o
Not seen the REAL RODIUM dash before !!

I'm sure ZT's would be more popular at $12000 per once! :D

My 75 Tourer was first registered in Aug 04. The BMW engine is stamped July 02 and everything else points to it being made mid 2002.
Was annoyed at first but maybe I am better off. I'm a little concerned that it may have the auto box before the mod to improve the cracked reverse solenoid/piston problem. Still, it's ok at moment but only done 46000 miles.

lower door seals
 

Reebs.
I noticed today that both my old conie's have a seal along bottom of the door that dont appear to be on post 2001 ish cars. do you have record of these ? I will get a pic tomorrow;)

I wonder would that have been one of the cars that was exported and then brought back?

I think I once noticed something like this on the parts list but couldn't find mention of it or any pics.

Extra seals are usually a good thing!

Probably means yet another thing to put back how it should be:(

The seal in question was fitted to early cars.It was a weatherproof rubber strip that made contact with the upper edge of the sill with the door shut,perhaps helped reduce road dirt into the inner door.

If you look along the bottom edge of the doors on later cars you can see the fixing holes.

Another couple of things:

Steering wheel damper - I thought I'd read that this was deleted at some point. Just had a look at Rimmers and it looks like it was introduced after launch and only fitted to Diesel Autos for a while, before being deleted. So maybe early diesel autos didn't have it or perhaps they didn't make diesel autos until a little while after production started?? Don't think so. Either way it looks like a V6 shouldn't have it.

Headlining strengthening ribs along the sides - my original headlining didn't have these, but when I changed the colour the replacement one, from a 1999 car, did. However, it looks like these would get in the way of the ITS head airbags. Will try to post a pic this evening.

Thanks, should be easy to fit then.

I noticed my 75 had these rubber strips along the bottom of the back doors, but not the front. It was built July 1999.

When a 75 came in at work and was being scrapped, (cooked KV6) I noticed it had the rubber strips along the bottom of the front doors, so I took them thinking I'd fit them to mine. I couldn't as there were no holes in the bottom of the doors on mine to fix the clips and then the seal. So I'm not sure it is that easy, unless it's just my car, but it is original!

It's an interesting thread about project drive as I changed one of the 'A' post trims on the ZT and it did have the white fluffy insulation stuff behind it. It was built 3 days before the administrators were called in!

Well I had a quick look at the driver's door, and could only see two holes which looked like drain holes. Perhaps the panel pressings were changed at some point and the extra holes were deleted a little while after the seals were no longer fitted.

here yeh go a wee pic;) also notice another thing today, labels on seatbelts I'v never noticed before, will load a pic:D

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/3222/lpic8982.jpg
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here is said label. both my old connies have them, v reg and w.reg. my y reg has had them as can clearly see the mark where they have at some point been removed :shrug:

http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/6532/lpic8976.jpg
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Hi
Intresting thread:)

When was the pull up net/load guard deleted from the tourers load cover assembly, mine even though it`s a 52 plate registered in 09 / 02 the car was assembled in early May 02.


Cheers
Adrian:)

Tam,if you get a moment have a look at the fixings of the weather proof strips,they clip into the square drain holes at each end of the door if I'm not mistaken.

ok I will do ;) have you seen the belt labels before ?

Ah, thanks for the pic, I will have a look out next time I'm at the scrappy.

Now that would make sense given the cost of changing panel pressings:)
Just worried they might block the drain holes though:confused:

I've got some early bonnet side seals to fit, and need the long one across the back. Then I need these pictured above and hopefully that should be all seals put as they should be.:D

Interestingly I noticed that early cars had a different boot seal, which isn't joined at the bottom, whereas later ones are - a part that was actually improved!:eek:

Yes,I was aware of the belt labels.I've pointed the fact out to members in the past.In my opinion it was a pointless deletion of a safety warning.

agree it was pointles they couldnt have cost more than a few pence:D

These seals fit by a series of clips that run the length of the door, so the bottom of the door has to have the pre drilled holes for the clips to go into. They are not held in place via the drain holes. When I removed the seals of the donor car, I could not get the clips out as well. I hoped my car would have had the series of holes so I could buy what looked like 'T' style clips that seal hooked around, but as I said, no holes were there! Shame as the car would have been 'complete' with them on. Seems odd to delete the front doors and not the back. But then they did delete them all eventually.

Bah, just checked all my doors again and the only holes I have empty are 2 drain holes on each door. So I would have to drill holes.

If you look at the details of the door seals on Rimmer Bros here: http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID001785 you can see that the front's were deleted at VIN 114184 and the rears were deleted at VIN 122780. Odd.

Also with the fronts being deleted at VIN 114184, I think that makes it the earliest 'Project-Drive' deletion, even if that name wasn't used for the cost-cutting until a bit later.

interesting very early delete. I have a W.reg car here must have a look at it;)
gawd this starts to get under you skin :D

interestingly I have v.reg vin 101472. w.reg vin 176725 then rather odly my old girl dorchester red jap spec is y.reg vin 119841 aint this a wee bit strange obviously my y.reg was made long before the w.reg but unregistered for a long time :shrug: could this be to do with the jap spec thing, anybody advise on this ??:D

REEBS.
can we and how do we find out date of manufacture of our cars please :drool4:;)

my jap spec was made in 99 but not registered until 2001, pm xpart02 (stu) and he will get you your build date ;)

built-115984 was built 23/08/1999 ( Monday )

registered- 30/03/2001

your vin anywhere near mine?

My Connoisseur SE (Florence) was built around May 2001 and registered in September 2002

Reebs, you put a lot of hard work in to this, well done and thank you.
macafee2

My pleasure Ian, the more we can all find out about these cars, the more attached to them we seem to become. Glad you found it of interest :o

Wow, this a great guide, I'd never appreciated quite how much went into project drive before!

In my opinion not everything was for the best, the cost benefit must have been small, but some of the nice little details (such as the headrest piping, and the key badge) that makes a 75 so excellent, were lost.

What about the panels which cover the heater, these were carpet and then they were changed to plastic ones!

Just read this from start to finish. Excellent work all round. I am sure some of the changes were meant to be improvements, some just plain penny pinching that it was thought no-one would notice and others just done in a desperate attempt to save money. Whether the short term aims aligned to the long term objectives I guess was answered in what happened to MGR.

My car is a 51 plate Conn SE with a lot of added options but this is a fascinating read as my car seems to have some of the savings and not others. I will have to check exact build date (as recently supplied by Reebs) and the VIN to see where my car fits (it is also very original I think). For example no bullets, no embossed head rests, no D plate badges but does have leather centre arm rest, does have good quality carpets etc.

My Connie is a Dealer Launch KV6 and I'm still amazed at the overall quietness and quality feel I get each time I'm behind the wheel. There are no strange noises, cracks, etc...coming from the fittings, dashboard, or anything else, the ride is just plain smooth and silent (apart from the gentle groar of the KV6 of course).
As I was looking for KV6 Connies, the other ones I test drove, all being Project Drive ones at various stages, never gave me the same feeling. Nice cars still, obviously, a 75 is a 75 after all, but still...I've always felt that Longbride ones, or rather Project Drive ones, went a bit too far into cost reduction, at the expense of the overall premium feel.

Heres a picture- I copyed this from Rabett Rovers for sell


http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/z...sale/LR019.jpg
Above: A Pre Project drive and a post project drive Heater closure panel. Spot the difference in quality!

So I'm I right or wrong on these?

Correct - change pint VIN 274907 for LHD and VIN 276601 for RHD.

According to parts list on Rimmers, Personal Line interiors weren't cheapened - don't know if this is true though.

When was the steering wheel changed? The one on my '99 dealer launch connie has been changed, and I have the original with the car. The original has it seems one less seam in the leather on each side, and the leather itself has a much finer grain (this may just be how it was on the day itw as made though) It would appear it was changed due to a slight scrape in the rim of the wheel...

I haven't heard of a project drive cost cutting measure for steering wheel replacement, perhaps it was just a change of supplier. In the same way there are two types of leather seats, double piped and single piped.

I'd be interested to see some pictures of the difference between your two wheels though.

Yes agree with this.

The "grain" on early full leather wheels seemed to be finer than later types.
(it's almost like a fake grain on later ones)
Also 2 types of stitching.

Re the Walnut wheels, on earlier (pre 2002 approx) the gap between wood and leather was markedly finer.

I've posted pics of differences few years back (but can I find them!!)

The later light oak/walnut wheels where even worse in quality and a huge gap:shrug:

Early Walnut was possibly real wood and later changed to wood effect as happened to the dash ?
Where are all the people who were involved in making all these parts?!
Surely some of them own 75's?

The dark oak wheels were real wood, somebody was refurbishing one on the Enthusiast's site. I think they said they were made in Portugal.

Looks like the front fog lamp was also a victim, changed in later 2001 to a type which took H1 bulbs instead of H11 (H1 are apparently cheaper) and the internal shroud was deleted. 'Rover' was also removed from the glass.

(N.B. credit goes to Pab and Carlpenn for this one!)

Just think I've found another ;)

Routing of washer tubing in the bonnet, earlier cars have the washer tubing emerging from a hole in the side of the bonnet strengthening the later cars have the tubing emerging from the face of the strenghtening.

You would need to remove the under bonnet sound proofing to see this ;)

Found this today whilst swapping a bonnet.

Russ

So you finally got John round to help then Russ :)
Brian :D

A silver one perhaps.... :D

Get back to work you :p:
I'm working on some ECU's just in case a certain car requires one ;)
Hmm, HP regulator fault, I wonder...........
Are you going to pop across to Hull on your way back later then :shrug:

Disappointed Dave :D

Mmm quiet at the moment at work, time for tea :) No Hull cancelled Bri, the lad is on nightshift too.. Ill bring wifeys car over either Wed or Thurs whichever is best for you... :bowdown:

Thursday works for me Andy :D

Nice one, we shall fit some pre project drive stuff too (Just to keep thread on topic ;))

I have noticed on closer inspection that the early "Rear Lamp Access Panels" seemed to go through a change.

The item on the left is removed from a 99 model. If you notice the clip is different and also the moulding to that on the right which was removed from a 2000 model. The grained effect on the early item is also rougher in feel.

I'm not sure if cost cutting happened on early Cowley fittings or it was a manufacturer and availability issue.


http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/u...psc7797980.jpg

Interesting.

I found that my original ones, from June 2001, both had broken clips and wouldn't stay in place. The replacements are the earlier type, I wonder if the later ones are more prone to broken clips?

Just wondering if I have just found the earliest change of them all! The button on my original key fell apart, so I bought a case to rebuild it with, in the process lost the 'rover badge' on the unlock button as the new cases are of the generic non branded later type. However I thought I would keep an eye out for a 'proper one' and as a result have bought another key, just for the case

However it's is slightly different to my original. The original is blank on the reverse, the one I have just received has writing on it,
'Val TX3
CEPT SRD 1e GB'
and in large script
'Valeo'
none is suprising, as Valeo made it and similar appears on the other rover fobs I have had

Hoever both my broken origibnal and this one have moulding marks to indicate they were moulded in '99

Not heard of blank-backed keys before, wonder if other launch car owners have the same?

Otherwise earliest change is probably deletion of the rubber strips at the bottom inside of the doors.

Closer inspection of my original reveals the mouding date of the blank key case to be october 1998!, the one I aquired is april 1999, the spare key with the car appears to be much later, feb '01 that has fewer letters on the reverse of it

Just checked my car, built 16th Feb 2000, and it has the trim type shown on the left. Vin is 164378. Can anyone pinpoint a more exact date for this change?

Steve.

I can't remember exactly when the diesel auto was launched but it was certainly well into my time at Longbrdige, maybe late 2001 / early 2002? The damper was only specified for diesel autos and was fitted from launch. From memory it was tuned to 27 Hz (is the diesel idle speed around 800rpm?). It was very similar in design to the one on 25 diesels. I wasn't aware that it was later deleted but it doesn't surprise me, given the climate at the time.

Steve.

Mine was built in June 2001, and according to the VIN number, should have the damper.

Another one? Diesel Auto LH Hydrabush
 

Apologies if this one has been mentioned before but there’s a lot of pages to check. I do not know for certain that this is true but I believe it to be so. When the Diesel Automatic was introduced early in the Longbridge era the LH hydrabush had stiffening brackets welded to it (for noise / vibration reasons) making it unique to this model. Due to the low volume this was an expensive addition. I’m sure these stiffeners were later deleted so that the Diesel Auto could use the V6 Man/Auto LH Hydrabush Assembly. Rimmers sort of confirms this. The part no. for the first Diesel Auto bush is KKU108221. This was later replaced in 2003 (VIN 273883) with the earlier Part No. KKU106483 (the V6 one). The detriment to the NVH (noise/vibration/harshness) will have been checked by my department and unless it was noticeable to ‘most’ customers would have been allowed. Not sure if you can see the stiffeners in car but should be able to. They are on top of the ‘gold’ coloured bracket and sit diagonally. (Listens for the pop of Diesel Auto bonnets across the land…..)

Steve.

dunno about this one, mine is Jan 2000, Cowley and has H1 fogs....

Did you have car from new?
Maybe someone retro fitted the later type to yours:shrug:

Mine too, May 2000 Cowley built and had her since almost new, has H1 bulbs

My facelift car has H1 Fog Light bulbs. It all depends on what loom is fitted. I've noticed that the deflector tube that the bulb sits in was deleted through project drive and reappeared on facelift models.

The first diesel auto's appeared in September "001. Mine was delivered to the dealer 1st November 2001.

The diesel auto was advertised right from launch day but only a few were built at Cowley for test purpose only.

Dave T

Excellent work well done

Updated photo, came across this today

Simon

The one on the right is Alloy

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/foru...1&d=1386598846

Thanks Simon for the picture, I've updated the opening post to include it now :bowdown:

Something I've noticed, and I don't think has been mentioned, but I may be wrong is that the unlock switch seems to have changed at some point. On the 75s I've owned, the lock switch in the car is a rocker, with one direction unlocking, and the other locking. However, in the ZT, the lock and unlock button just goes up and down. Anyone else noticed this?

Yep clocked that.
Think the lock button changed late 2002?

You're right! That is changed indeed. I had a 75 from 2000 which had the two directions. Owned a few other cars in between and than my current 75. I've always doubted it, is it different of isn't it?

Now I'm sure!

They rolled off the production line earlier than that. I have a Y reg Diesel Auto which was built on 28th May 2001 and registered around two weeks later.

Some say this is a BCU situation, a T4 would have to be used to code the change. The other theory is an extra wire on the loom to the switch, something that I've not come across.

It is in fact a lot earlier than I first stated.

Checking with the build data, the first diesel auto actually left Longbridge on the
09/11/2000.
A full 9 months before the September date I quoted.

Dave T

And i've just bought a 2004 :(

For info, my car came with two keys.
One with the Rover symbol on the unlock and one without.

The first doesn't work, so I suspect it's probably the original.

Vin 200216, built November 2000.

I don't know if that helps at all, but maybe narrows things down a bit??

A couple of theories exsist with the emblem on the unlock button. The first is deletion due to the ZT models being introduced, and the second being the early Mini used the same key.

So my post is probably miles off being near the change?
I offered it up in the hope that it might help, but didn't really expect it to :}

It's a fascinating thread this.
Some of the changes are really minor (eg the seatbelt nut cover), but some are major.
Regardless, they all add up.

I'm glad I have a pre "drive" model :}

First time I have read this project drive post -- brilliant work!!! I am just very pleased to discover that my Tourer ( 231630) has got a real walnut dash!!!
:}

http://i1358.photobucket.com/albums/...ps38c75dab.jpg

nice, so old is better in this case :)

I have retro fitted some of the project drive deletions to my facelift 75 such as the seat belt anchorage point covers, cigar lighter, torpedo badges and door reflectors.

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/...psjijp9bpc.jpg

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9bqadlew.jpg

http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6xvc64qv.jpg

I like the torpedo badges. Where did you get them ? How are they fitted?
:}

I sourced the torpedo badges at a breakers yard, although I am sure a member or trader may have a set they can sell you. For the diesel 75 you can either use a 2.0 litre badge like I did or use the 2.0 cdt badge.

For fitting I used a strong double sided tape similar to what number plates are held on with.

I hope this helps.

Only if we know where you park overnight...... :D

I used 6" nails clinched over inside the door, so you'll never get mine off ;):D

It would appear that the consensus is that the earlier cars were better quality overall, so yes!

What has shocked me is that apparently the earlier models when stripped out, weigh in at around 1000 kg, as opposed to the later versions which are nearer 800kg.

That's a massive difference.

:D I like it.

A very interesting read, thanks for taking the time to sort it all out.

Noticed another difference today whilst at the meet at the Star in Leatherhead. Probably nothing to do wioth Project Drive, but thought I'd post it up anyway.

There were a couple of Cowley cars present at the meet, and it was noticeable that their door handles felt "sharper" when pulled. Upon investigation, it became apparent that there was a distinct difference in the handles themselves - the inside edge of the handles on the later cars all had a rounded lip leading to an insert piece, whereas on Cowley cars, the insert piece came right to the edge of the handles, which had a much straighter edge.

Difficult to explain, but very noticeable when you try the handles.

Cliff

Yes that was pointed out to me at the last National when comparing the dealer launch cars with others. I would have thought it was just a change of design or supplier rather than a project drive cost cutting measure though.

Darn! - thought I'd found something new. Should have guessed you'd be on the ball already!:}

Cliff

Hi Paul
Did you ever illustrate the difference in the V8 carpets yet?!

Rover version is 2 piece and ZT version is one piece.
I digress from project drive on this one though!

Quote from Post #5 of this thread:
As many have said before, what a great thread.

I was looking at it agian just now for some information, and noticed the question above.

I can't rememebr whether I have reported this before, but my car is VIN 209549, manufacture date 4th April 2001, and did not have the embossed headrests (although it does now becasue I upgraded them), so that's a bit earlier than stated in the original info on this thread (27 April 2001 / VIN 209690). Hope that is helpful.

209690 is mine, registered in November 2001 and your post has given me a better clue as to my cars manufacture date - thanks for that. As said before, mine did not have the embossed headrests, but also has them now - £5 each bargain!

So I guess the machine I now own is a victim of "Project Deprive" it explains a few things.

Don't worry about it.
Project drive is easily reversed !!!
Hardest bit possibly is putting a proper carpet in ;)

I was interested stripping out my MG ZTT dash (PPD) and replacing with a later one that the PPD one even though plastic had a very nicely finished metal backer and bolts rather than self tappers to hold the bits on

looks not different but would suspect its less creaky!!

Think I have found another project drive deletion. Certainly not in the illustrated part.
I have just been fitting parts from a ppd car. Found that the carpet in the boot was nicer and the rearmost part was finished In a proper edge not just cut. Now in my car. Photos available if interested.
if this has been mentioned before please ignore.
regards
john

Think it is on the list.
Our ZT boot carpet is bound all the way round..............had it done at our local carpet fitters looks the bees knees :cool:

My R75 CDT was built on Aug 19th 2002 RJSLHC3D 266509
and it has the single action version. :shrug:

KLM.

project drive
 

:shrug:how about this one then?. my march 04 tourer 75 has a rubber/plastic tether securing it to the body recess. maybe an Oxford or Cowley thing. I noticed it at the Mannintreeu meets. should get u lads a'looking ' peter . p s, should have said some cars don't have. cant remember if it was the securing hole in the cap missing or the lug on the body for tether ends.

another p s. how many pounds did that save. l o l.

Are you talking about the fuel cap tether?

If so, petrol cars built at Longbridge had the tether, all other models did not have a tether.

Probably due to emissions legislation requiring a tether or locking cap so that it wouldn't get lost, ensuring the correct cap would be in place to prevent evaporative emissions.

I think you are right though official reason given. My Cowley car did not have a tether but my Longbridge car has. No objection to the tether but because it's so short, it's hard to refit the filler cap without the tether fouling the filler neck.

Tempted to cut the tether but then I might fall foul of my insurers for an undeclared modification.

Another project drive measure? Just checked my three today and noticed the two 2001 cars have the rear bonnet seal plus a closed-cell sponge block at each end. The 2002 car has a just a longer full length rear bonnet seal, there are no separate end pieces.
However, this does not agree with the info on Rimmers drawings and listings for these parts.

they may have just been lost... many have, that were stuck on with tape...

There are numerous rear bonnet seals listed.

From what I have seen, the original one finished short with ends that were cut at an angle to make the ends slope, with small foam square bits stuck between the seal ends and the wings. Then they introduced a slightly longer one with straight-cut ends and the large blocks. Then the blocks were removed and the seal went right up to the wings. Then they brought the blocks back again with the slightly shorter seal to match. Why:shrug:

Agree with Bolin and there seemed to be an overlap when both methods of the trim were used

This is the first production 75.

The bonnet seal goes to the ends of the wing seal and no foam block.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...psqvzxsyrk.jpg

Picture taken at Gaydon 2014.

This is another type with the foam blocks.

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l4...r/PA020873.jpg

Dave T

Thanks guys. Seems to be no rhyme or reason for these changes. Even on one of mine with the blocks, the seal is short so there's a gap between the seal and the blocks!

Dave, I think the picture you are looking at isn't big enough to see the back bonnet seal ends well enough:o

Attached is a picture of SD1Too's launch car, it shares the same arrangement as 100001.

As you can see, the seal stops short of the end and a small foam square fills the gap, with the seal end cut to a slope.

The later large foam blocks look like they fill the area better so should stop more noise, but they got rid of them for a short while and the main seal went all the way to the ends, before reverting to having the large blocks again. The parts listing on Rimmers explains it :)

I think the arrangement with the large foam blocks, or the seal going right the way to the ends would be best (my car has the former) and the original set-up looks the worst, but was only fitted to very early cars anyway.:shrug:

Prehaps something new to add to the project drive list?

On my very early T reg car I broke the headlights where of a grey plastic surround at the rear of the lamp rather than black ones that ive found on the majority of other cars.

I will get photos tomorrow.

The grey ones have virtually zero fading, where as my black surround ones have had to be polished once already which came off my 01 early tourer.

This is an excellent thread - thanks! :bowdown:

I will check what has changed on my MG!

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/fact...project-drive/

http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/o...pswypkybw6.png

Thanks
 

Thanks for taking the time to get this together. It has explained a lot to me.
Well done.

Those 19" Vortex's look awesome on that V8! :drool4: :bowdown:

I didn't notice the velvet trim door liners on the list which don't appear on my CDTi Conn2005
or is that a face lift difference.
I recently closed the drivers door of an older model and it felt and sounded heavier and quieter than mine does when I close mine.
I wonder if nearly everything was cheapened on the later cars including gauge of steel and a lot less soundproofing?

My 2004 1.8T is also a lot less silence than my 2011 75 2.0V6 tourer was. I don't wonder if, but I do wonder where the material has been taken out or replaced with worser stuff. There's a lot of written, but no one seems to be that clear and tells us the exact differents. Any photographs are also no where to be found.
I really want to update on the sound proofing, and what's better than using the same stuff that was on the mk1 at the beginning of it all. There's maybe even some stuff that can be directly taken out of a scrapped vehicle. I only want to know where I need to look for, but it seems that no one really did it all:(

2011 ?
Gosh that's a late one.
MGR would be turning out just a bare shell on wheels by then, probably called
"project drop" :D

I have the reverse situation. I find that my 2.5 Tourer is quieter than my 2.5 Sedan. My Tourer was BUILT in 2002, and my Sedan in 1999.
Graeme
Both have similar mileage (13,000 kilometer difference) both on the same brand and size of new tyres.
Graeme