An happy 75 owner's blog

[Dorchester2]

Blietooth device.

Easy peasy.
The device is connecting via Bluetooth with my phone and simultaneously with the radio via FM. The easiest move is to choose 108mhz which is the default position for the device and not affected in the fm band to avoid disturbance.
Once chosen (very quickly done) it becomes permanent and automatic.
And musics or hands free calls are absolutely excellent : Bluetooth 4.1.
It's exactly like on my 25 with the Bluetooth Pioneer that costed me nearly ten times more !

****************

It's wireless but it's fed by the multi-plug.
But at the moment I'm not at home but in Crete and I'm less easy with my Android phone than with my laptop !
But here is the link with ebay.fr. You can easily find exactly the same item in co.uk.
https://m.ebay.fr/itm/Set-4-Deflecte...=1933932111002

[Dorchester2]

"Hey Dorchester. Did you ever get the instrument cluster display fixed? If not. This might be of interest:
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-YAC003780LNF
Cheap enough to use as a stand in, while yours get fixed."

Very wise & kind of you.
Thanks for that.
But I'm a bit indecisive because I'm told it should be programmed before use.
So I understand it may not be functional, but I may be wrong.
Moreover I don't know whether the swap is an easy job or a mess where some bits might be broken.
But it remains very tempting : price highly attractive - a very bargain - and if even partially functional a very astute solution while waiting for the genuine one being cured.

Thanks a lot.
Still in Crete until tomorrow. Crunch time and hopefully maybe the offer will be still available when back home.

[Dorchester2]

A ridiculous story.

Anyway I had ordered from Lynn (Exeter Garage, Devon) a pair of cantrail finishers complete with their clips.
So far so good. I had paid.
The thing is one of mines is very slightly bent on the opposite way (probably a broken front clip) and I want my car with no fault even the tiniest if I can get it right.
Now she has just let me know that no carrier accepted to take off parcels more than 1.8m long !
Would you imagine that ?
So the sale was canceled and the money given back...
Preposterous isn't it ?!

[Dorchester2]

"Hey Dorchester. Did you ever get the instrument cluster display fixed? If not. This might be of interest:
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-YAC003780LNF
Cheap enough to use as a stand in, while yours get fixed."

BTW the worst I fear isn't to be deprived of my 75 during a fortnight. I've got the 25 which is now my wife's. I'm not lost & stuck.

But on the way to or back from the IPK magician my genuine dials & controls may be lost. I admit there's a very slight risk but that may happen.

How on earth could I find another one with kilometers, ecu statistics, amber colour and the like, and mainly and above all a garage with a T4 and the knowledge of a Rover car ?
Statistically here very close to naught !

Mind you I've never ever seen another 75 in my département. I don't pretend I'm a poor lonely Rover owner, but I bet hardly more than a handful we may be in a territory that is half size of Dorset.

So is the risk worth being taken ?
I haven't got the faintest clue...

[Dorchester2]

"There's an element of risk in everything we do. It's just a question of how much risk we're prepared to accept.
Considering that ... and myself pushed you into repairing your DVD unit (To which you suceeded!). I'd say that you'd accept a little more of a risk than you're prepared to admit."

I quite agree BUT...
I accept any risk as far as I'm alone to manage it and fully responsible myself of what I am doing.
That was the case for the GPS unit. I was wisely advised by both of you and I decided to assume all the consequences of my decision and of my own work... or garbage! And I succeeded, that's true.

But sending via several postage organizations I do not know anybody inside, ignoring absolutely all about the reliability of the systems (I've already experienced some losses in the past!) and depending on such an essential matter upon unknown people, that's utterly different. Mind you that my 2nd wheel bearings pair sent by Matt Price - DMGRS - was lost not so long ago and I had to wait for the third pair! But wheel bearings are easily replaceable but not an instrument cluster similar as mine (have a look at Rimmers: so many of them different).

The management of the process is completely slipping out of my own hands and escaping from my own will and responsibility.

And what to do without my genuine control panel, and very probably without any possibility to get another one exactly similar to mine (remember I couldn't find exactly even a burr walnut & sandstone leather steering wheel), without any T4 and without any knowledgeable mechanic ?

My 75 would become fully unusable or diminished (without the ECU control as in the link) and unable - is it necessary to emphasize? - to pass successfully any MOT, even in Crete where I saw lots of rotten cars driven on roads I hadn't seen in France since ages!

To summarize:
- very little benefit: nice IPK clear & fully legible in a nice car that works fine
- enormous risk (little probability I do admit, but it exists): no longer any drivable car!

Mind you I do not live in the mainland, with lots of scrappies, lots of nice mates ready to give a hand, lots of mobile mechanics, lots of T4, lots of ponies express to deliver the goods & lots of garages still knowing their Rover stuff.
France is not at all the desert of Gobi for anything but old & scarce foreign cars that are no longer maintained by anybody.

Have a look just a few posts above about my silly cantrail finishers story, unable to conclude a deal because - as the seller pretends - no carrier accepts to deliver a thin & light 2m long package!

Nevertheless do be reassured I do not give up but I need a little more reflection & likely a little more help from kind mates looking for nice holidays in France for example: I'm ready to warmly welcome any well-meaning British soul, offering at least one night, dinner & breakfast for any kind of special overseas pony express. It would be from my part a very delight... And I'm not at all in a hurry & very patient. I can wait.

Anyone interested?

[Dorchester2]

...! & ..., you've won... once more!
Today I've just received the Rimmer Mega Clearance catalogue:
£25 + £12.95 (shipping) + £7.59 (VAT) i.e. £45.54 at home for the instrument pack amber - no trip - kph - YAC003780LNF, instead of the previous bargain that was given on the web £42 incl. VAT.

So I cracked!

I don't know exactly what kind of bl..dy job I'm going in, but at that level of financial risk at the moment, I'm rather a shy gambler!

But what will happen afterwards, it's less clear as I'm told by Haynes that 'it's a tight fit, and there is a plastic clip on each lower corner which can easily break if care is not taken...'

If I can do it which remains to be proved, I must add the wages of the IPK magician...

And all that for some very naughty missing lines.
I hope it will last for ever, because I was told as well that the problem will be able to happen once more in the future, the fixing not lasting very long sometimes...

One more risk...

[Dorchester2]

Never ending?
Before going out to Crete, I'd washed the car and polished it with a polish I'd got on the back burner.
She was amazingly shining more than ever.

So I covered the princess with a large white sheet sewn by my love to fit the dimensions so to protect the Admiral against any dust or disgusting offense.

I thought it will be fun when back home to make a nice trip somewhere enjoying sunny weather, blossoming flowers and charming tweeting birds.

Hmmm, well, I think all three of us may wait a little longer: yesterday it rained cats & dogs and the whole week is looking cloudy and chilly... as usual since last year... We had even to start again the boiler while Cretans are desperately looking for any rain...

[Dorchester2]

"It seems that replacing the instrument cluster is not a simple matter and needs a visit to a T4.
I read this post.... https://forums.mg-rover.org/mg-zt-rov.../topics/417670"

Quite right.
But the aim isn't to replace my IC with that new one.

The plan is just to put the new one in place while the old one is sent to the IPK magician to be repaired in the space of a fortnight I guess or around.
Then same move in reverse order when the old one is hopefully back & not lost either way during the shipping (that's my only fear & risk).
A bit luxurious hey, don't you think? But nothing too good for the Admiral...

Shame is that the new one is without trip, because maybe with a good wind blowing through my sails, I could have swapped the defective part with a brand new one (with no need to have access to a T4). It's not an easy job, kind of clockmaker's, but some have tried & succeeded.

[Dorchester2]

"Good idea and a good way to get a fresh IPK. I notice the IPKs are being sold for 100 pounds plus fitting so you have the right idea for sure!"

I hope so. Fingers crossed & all the rest.
It will not come too cheap in the end: £45 for the transitory IPK, £25 for the repair service (the most important even the less expensive!) but as usual the shipping fees in both directions will cost too much I fear, somewhere around £20 x 2 I guess.
In the end £110 approx, that is 125€ at least. More than the steering wheel...
A very luxury for some nasty & offensive missing lines in front of me...

[Dorchester2]

"You know there is always a way how to spare some money and go deeper in DIY jobs.
Like: https://forums.mg-rover.org/mg-zt-rov...re-lcd-667386/ But, I will say no more..."

Don't worry.
I appreciate very much good advices & counsels which I'm very grateful for, but I am used as well to take my own responsibilities regarding the job I decided alone to do or not to do.
So I remain opened to any suggestion or idea to help me in my choice.

I'd seen that how to some time ago and I think there's also somewhere on Youtube a video which precisely shows that fiddling process.

Moreover looking closely at lots of threads, I found that some IPK problems weren't solved at all by any soldering or reassembling.

At last I found at several occasions that the cheapest way wasn't the more secure or the one that gives the more satisfaction or reliability.

Hence examining the risks involved in every solution, here is at the moment my analysis:

- shipping my genuine IPK: a risk exists as in every shipping but it's rather unlikely but to be considered

- Rick-sta is a gentleman & if he finds (rather unlikely) he isn't able to cure the IPK, he will refund the £25. So no loss but the postage fees. It would be a shame but not the end of the world nor the loss of my savings.
He showed nearly every week or month several IPK he has nicely cured with an astonishing difference between before & after. Will that last? nobody can answer definitely.

- Given the difficulty to do the job myself without any experience nor special skills (it's a clockmaker's job as I said previously), I feel very uneasy to throw myself in that delicate process.
The likely risk? To be definitely unable to properly reassemble all the bits & bobs and in the end to get an IPK unable to work any longer, which would be dramatic: not sure, even with the Rimmer IPK, I could pass the MOT successfully with a wrong mileage to say the least.

To conclude with, it's crunch time:

- spending money & curing the case with a rather fair probability
or
- being greedy & spoiling the car

Is it really a choice?
It's a bit late I'm afraid: I've already spent £45...