Back from the brink - my 75 resurrected by Terry Shaw

[Zircon]

Originally Posted by Reebs

I’m glad to read that Zircon lives to drive another day, I know how much the car means to you Nicholas. Well done Terry, I really hope to meet and chat with him one day about his time on the line at Longbridge.

One extra clarification, Paul,

Terry in fact worked in the Rectification Department (RD) at Longbridge - hence his superb attention to detail and ability to trace faults!

[MSS]

Most of the work to get our CDT to bring it up to standard was done by Terry when he was in Stourbridge. I spent quite a few days with him over the years, traveling from/to Suffolk and Stourbridge. It was a pleasure to see him work and for us to natter all day while he applied his expertise to the car.

I only stopped bothering Terry when decided that he wanted to retire and I believe went into semi-retirement.

Fortunately, a couple of years later trikey decided to move to Norfolk, only about 30 miles away from me. Now he is my go-to expert locally and an equal pleasure for a natter.

We are forutnate to have people such as Terry and Andy(trikey) looking after these cars. I am trying to get Andy interested in developing the same xpertise on the XF as a lot have been sold since 2008 and many of these are now in private hands requiring specialist maintenance and care.

[SD1too]

Originally Posted by Zircon

My reasoning behind writing such a detailed post was to encourage others to believe it's still possible to keep our cars going as everyday transport when you have a access to expert support.

And thank you Nicholas for your very clear account of the symptoms and the exact fault which Terry so expertly traced.

Simon

[Zircon]

Originally Posted by SD1too

And thank you Nicholas for your very clear account of the symptoms and the exact fault which Terry so expertly traced.

Simon

My pleasure, Simon😊.

Visiting Terry is always an education for me. I have certainly learnt more about he 'sieve'-like qualities of our cars! Some are inherent in the original design, such as the well-documented rear light seals. Interestingly, the potential leaks from behind the side chrome strips could be one of the reasons why the sills corrode at the rear in particular (MOT repairs are now pretty regular for me). May be preventing water ingress from behind the chrome might reduce the need for sill repairs in time?
Then, there are those bumper level air vents - one of mine had fallen apart, almost certainly dating back to before I owned the car - and finally injecting sealant into the rear-screen cavity is worth looking into.
These cars are really a bit like painting the Forth Bridge as they age! But plenty to occupy our interest😄.

All the best,

Nicholas/Zircon

[Torqueofthedevil]

Originally Posted by Zircon

A warm welcome to the club, Charlie - lots of luck searching out a car!

Only about 32 miles for you 😊.

All the best,

Nicholas/Zircon

Thank you! 32 miles is certainly much less far than you had to go!

[Zircon]

I just want to add that based on my experience and Terry's with previous customers, I now believe it would be far better to purchase the complete original number plate unit as I obtained from Rimmer Brothers last week.

This was far less complicated to fit than the non-original kit had been, as it needed no additional 'fettling' to marry up to the existing housing and accomodate the nuts and bolts that Terry explained had contacted the bodywork. The full original unit comes complete with all the correct foam insulation, seal and bulbs.

Attempting to put a non-original PCB into the original housing is so tricky because the latter, if like mine is probably brittle/disintegrating with age and can easily break into pieces when removing it.

Finally, of course a lot of time and effort is likely to be saved - and money, if you are employing a professional mechanic to do the job!

You live and learn (and age!) - I certainly did all three last week😄.

All the best,
Nicholas/Zircon