It's been a busy few months - thank goodness I DIY with help from this forum!

Tourist · 6th November 2023, 12:52

Hello all,

Well, my Tourer has needed quite a lot of maintenance in the last few months but it's hopefully nearly sorted and would have been a hefty bill if I'd been paying someone else to do it!

It passed an MoT on June 2nd, with the following advisories:

-Rear Exhaust mounting defective (6.1.2 (a))
-Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement *Both front lower arm rear-most bushes* (5.3.4 (a) (i))
-Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge *Both edges worn slightly* (5.2.3 (e))

The exhaust I knew about - it was being held on with cable ties, after the rear mount failed one morning on the A505. I sorted that one almost immediately, by purchasing a NOS hanger and fabricating the lower strap from some scrap steel that I had lying around.

I'd noticed on the lead up to the MoT that every time I braked or accelerated, the steering wheel would jolt from side to side slightly, and when I checked out the condition of the O/S lower control arm bush when I got home from the testing station, I was very surprised that it had passed - it was completely shot and allowing the front wheel to move a good couple of inches backward and forward in the front wheel arch.

Seeing as we were off on holiday in a few days I bought a pair of bushes and replaced the bad one prior to leaving and then did the other on our return. With that done, I took it in for alignment, only to be told that the top struts were knocking, so I got a couple of those from DMGRS and replaced those a couple of weeks back and finally got the alignment corrected. The O/S mount was totally shot - rusted to hell and I had to cut it off the damper.

Last week the reverse lights stopped working, and a check with my multimeter confirmed that it was just the switch - thanks to Greeners for the info about its location and replacement. While replacing the switch this morning, I noticed that a scab of rust had got a lot worse since I last saw it so decided to poke it with a screwdriver - turns out it's a lot worse than it seemed!

That's booked in on the 22nd for repair, and after that I'll treat the old bus to a bit of TLC in the form or some fresh paint in several areas that are looking a bit tatty.

Finally, the headlights were looking a bit cloudy so I attacked them yesterday evening with some wet and dry and cutting compound. I'll finish them off later on and then clear-coat them.

Before

After

I'm hoping that that's it for now. The only other outstanding task is to replace the headlining and then it'll be back to an acceptable condition again! 125k miles and counting - it's got a long way to go yet....

6th November 2023, 12:52	#1
Tourist Loves to post 2004 Rover 75 Tourer CDTi Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Fulbourn, Cambridge Posts: 455 Thanks: 105 Thanked 123 Times in 101 Posts	It's been a busy few months - thank goodness I DIY with help from this forum! Hello all, Well, my Tourer has needed quite a lot of maintenance in the last few months but it's hopefully nearly sorted and would have been a hefty bill if I'd been paying someone else to do it! It passed an MoT on June 2nd, with the following advisories: -Rear Exhaust mounting defective (6.1.2 (a)) -Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement Both front lower arm rear-most bushes (5.3.4 (a) (i)) -Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge Both edges worn slightly (5.2.3 (e)) The exhaust I knew about - it was being held on with cable ties, after the rear mount failed one morning on the A505. I sorted that one almost immediately, by purchasing a NOS hanger and fabricating the lower strap from some scrap steel that I had lying around. I'd noticed on the lead up to the MoT that every time I braked or accelerated, the steering wheel would jolt from side to side slightly, and when I checked out the condition of the O/S lower control arm bush when I got home from the testing station, I was very surprised that it had passed - it was completely shot and allowing the front wheel to move a good couple of inches backward and forward in the front wheel arch. Seeing as we were off on holiday in a few days I bought a pair of bushes and replaced the bad one prior to leaving and then did the other on our return. With that done, I took it in for alignment, only to be told that the top struts were knocking, so I got a couple of those from DMGRS and replaced those a couple of weeks back and finally got the alignment corrected. The O/S mount was totally shot - rusted to hell and I had to cut it off the damper. Last week the reverse lights stopped working, and a check with my multimeter confirmed that it was just the switch - thanks to Greeners for the info about its location and replacement. While replacing the switch this morning, I noticed that a scab of rust had got a lot worse since I last saw it so decided to poke it with a screwdriver - turns out it's a lot worse than it seemed! That's booked in on the 22nd for repair, and after that I'll treat the old bus to a bit of TLC in the form or some fresh paint in several areas that are looking a bit tatty. Finally, the headlights were looking a bit cloudy so I attacked them yesterday evening with some wet and dry and cutting compound. I'll finish them off later on and then clear-coat them. Before After I'm hoping that that's it for now. The only other outstanding task is to replace the headlining and then it'll be back to an acceptable condition again! 125k miles and counting - it's got a long way to go yet....