Is This the end of the road?

[MSS]

From the OP's profile it is a 2003 car.

A corroded subframe seems unlikely on a 2003 car given the thickness of metal. I would be tempted to take a wire brush to the subframe in-situ in case it is just a case of excessive surface rust.

If the subframe is corroded so badly, I would tend to assume that other areas of the car may not be far behind and put it up for someone who likes to crawl under cars to indulge.


The rest is just age related minor "wear & tear".

[Rover_75_Owner]

Sounds very repairable have with a heavy heart decided to scrap my 166k front suspension an sill damaged tourer the rear subframe is good if you wanted one.

I would also recommend a 2nd opinion on the rust many modern not inspectors know very little about rusty cars these days. And you may just have flaky surface rust that is not structural yet

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by buster12

I've just taken my long loved MG ZT-T for mot and the prognosis is not good, corrosion on both front brake pipes, seized rear brake calipers and brake pipes perished, drop links. All of this I can cope with, but the last was the rear sub-frame corroded to excess, this is beyond my expertise. I got the car when it was only 2 years old and it has never let me down and it still has only done 66,000 miles, so it's with a heavy heart that I am deciding to let it go the great scrap yard in the sky.

Sounds like salt damage with that type of corrosion all over it.--

Maybe you live near the sea side. That would do it.

Probably too far gone to save unfortunately.

[trikey]

The chances are it will be the upper suspension arms, most mot stations just class it all as the ‘rear subframe’

[Tourist]

Originally Posted by trikey

The chances are it will be the upper suspension arms, most mot stations just class it all as the ‘rear subframe’

I'd agree with this - it's worth checking this out because they do corrode fairly easily at the area that's double skinned and replacing the upper arms is potentially a fairly easy job.

You can buy new ones for around £115 to £130 online or if you're lucky you may find a good used one for a bit less.

The other issues don't seem too much bother - I had a garage make up and fit both front brake pipes on my Rover 45 for about £80 as I didn't fancy getting involved with that job - the rest of it is easily accomplished by a DIY-er.

Good luck :-)

[marinabrian]

Neal, I would be interested in saving this if you are considering scrapping it.

It would be nice to have a Mk1 tourer again, and I'd happily scrap off my Mk2 saloon for parts to own a car which isn't drab silver.

Brian

P.S. I wouldn't really scrap the ZT, I've got new upper arms, brake pipes made up already, and a pair of rear calipers too

[COLVERT]

Originally Posted by marinabrian

Neal, I would be interested in saving this if you are considering scrapping it.

It would be nice to have a Mk1 tourer again, and I'd happily scrap off my Mk2 saloon for parts to own a car which isn't drab silver.

Brian

P.S. I wouldn't really scrap the ZT, I've got new upper arms, brake pipes made up already, and a pair of rear calipers too

If you take that on then you are a SAVIOUR and a very GOOD boy trying to save another R75.

[buster12]

It's a 2003 135+ cdti I got it in 2005 with 21000 on the clock, and it's taken me 13 years to get to 66000, I'm pretty good at diy mechanics but lack the clever stuff and don't have the facilities to tackle a job like the rear subframe. Saying that I've wrestled with this since putting on the Forum, and I have received such great support from the club over the years together with reading some of the jobs other members have tackled I have decided that I have nothing to lose except maybe a finger of two,bruises, aches and a few hospital appointments. So I've done a SORN on it and it's now a hobby, be ready for a lot more questions guys.

[marinabrian]

Brilliant stuff !!, there is nothing too scary to the job, you will enjoy yourself once you get into it

In all honesty, it will probably be nothing more than the upper arms, and they are not a bad job to do at all

Brian

[smudge.g]

I replaced my entire rear subframe complete with all arms/shocks/springs last year. The only difficult part was getting the bolts off the rear upper arms where they attach to the hub, due to rust, used angle grinder in the end. The rest was pretty straight forward (only 4 bolts holding sub-frame on) and all done on axle stands!! glad i did it rather than paying local garage £100's or scrapping it!!
good luck