Comments on fixing reshaped car

Sounds about right. I will have paid 45 with the new door.

I have just had a good around all the door gaps, and the seams around the rear of the boot and I cannot see anything amiss. On the way back I checked to see if it pulled one way or another, and it did not, even under breaking. I shall keep a good eye on tire wear, and try and get someone to show me what the sub frame is, and what to look for.

Taking the door off, they really cannot be that far off. I am sure I will be able to sort something out. If it does not lock ('cos of some missplacement) I shall just use a chain. That will do 'till august, and I may have taken it (and possibly given it away or sold it) to Yugoslavia by then.

Only somebody from new bedlam could answer that one :-)

You will laugh, but I thought it was the switch to get it into reverse, so yes, I was playing around with it when stationary. When are you supposed to change it? Only when the clutch is out and you are in 3rd or 4th? And I guess IN is IN overdrive?

Yeah, I think it was, when in overdrive, at about 4000 rpm at around 85 -

1. That is fine for me.

It is really not that bad, to my very non-expert eye. The passenger door is really rotten, and the rear corner of the rear wheel arch on that side is pretty bad. Other than that, there is a small perforation on the bonnet, and a little bit of bubbling over the rear windscreen.

David Jones ( snipped-for-privacy@myself.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yep.

Now you knows, you can have a proper play with it... You don't (IIRC) need to touch the clutch to go in/out of o/d.

interesting damage looks very much like a trailer or back of a tipper has leant on it, you have to wonder where the energy to flatten a curved panel went to next certainly the suspension will have been compressed beyond normal limits it would be worth having a good look around the suspension mounts and along the floor pan around the wheel arches, potentially the hatch opening may be wider too its difficult to straighten out a box section like the top of the opening certainly not economic unless its your hobby project. Like the B btw its an overdrive model ISTR all the rubber bumber B GTs were the actuation wire has a habit of dropping off- crappy connectors common to all BL cars at £500 it is a steal expect around 30mpg on motorways if you are sensible and expect to reset the points every month or two when the tickover gets uneven - a car crying out for contactless electronic ignition IMO Derek

Bloomin 'eck, some folks have all the luck!

If it's playing up, it'll most likely be the electrics to it. The insulation on the wires gets hard and brittle due to the heat. This should be easy to fix, but there's something you should know. It'll be wired so that the overdrive only comes on in 3rd and 4th (and 2nd on some cars). As soon as you change out of those gears, overdrive should switch out. It's ESSENTIAL that it does, because if it's still in when you change into reverse, the unit will be shagged.

Test this with the engine off but the ignition on. You should hear an audible click as overdrive solenoid switches in or out. Test it with the switch while 3rd and 4th are selected, then listen as you move the gearlever into reverse.

The switch position won't change when it switches out automatically, so when you go back into 3rd or 4th, overdrive will switch back in if the switch is still in the IN position. When the engine's running, there's a slight delay when you switch it in, which may account for the effects you described earlier. The click is instantaneous but the change in engine revs comes a little later. The delay should only be a second or so. Much longer would suggest a problem with either the oil level or the oil filter within the unit.

YDRC. ( You do ...) Changing down for overtaking via the overdrive is one of the joys of classic motoring. It's more fun when the switch is a stalk on the steering column hidden from your passenger though.

Seconded. With the current exchange rate, I thoroughly recommend these guys:

The message from BORG contains these words:

Go banger racing.

The message from Willy Eckerslyke contains these words:

Looks like it's been reversed under something.

You need the boot sealed when it's shut or it's not roadworthy. Something to do with carbon monoxide poisoning ;).

The Laycock unit fitted on my 740 GLT didn't require clutch usage to drop in and out of overdrive. The manual stated this quite specifically. Neither did the unit fitted on my Triumph Dolomite 1800 twincarb. Using the clutch is only used if you want a smoother change, and these units give a smooth change anyway. The Volvo did over 340,000 without a problem, I wish I could say the same about the Dolomite !! The pull on the Volvo was terrific for motorway overtaking when putting the throttle to the floor in overdrive then flicking overdrive off. Gave a real boost.

I have tried this, and I can hear not click. I went for a spin, and the overdrive is still on after a few changes into 1st and 2nd. Does this meen that there is a very important mechanism not working? I guess it is OK to use, as long as I make sure overdrive is off before I go into reverse? Any pointers about how to fix it? I guess it is time to invest in the haynes manual.

About a second delay is what I have.

Thanks,

Hugh

Advertise it as a Mondeo Sports Coupe.

David, have you not thought about dropping the previous owner a message to ask what happened to it?

Ad

Hi Again,

I just thought I would give you an update. I got the new door, it went on without pushing the hinges up, but it did need a bit of reshaping of the actual roof to get the to of the door into position. Pretty easy really, took 2 - 3 hours all in. Looks OK now to me. You can see from the picture with the door open that the roof is quite bent, but at the sides were the door attaches it is obviously close enough, as the door works fine.

I have added more pics at

Thanks for all the comments. I shall try and contact the old owner, if I find out what happened to it I shall let you know.

My money's on it having been reversed into something overhanging a carparking space or some such. If it'd been caused by a tail lift or similar being dropped on it, the insurance co would have written it off and put it through a salvage auction. Can't really see a cash in lieu being done on that ;).

Looks like you've fallen on your feet with the MG!

I think the Mondeo has been reversed quite firmly into a concrete overhang of some sort - it does not look like its been rolled! - and if you can do a roadworthy fix on it (may need an engineers report for insurance purposes, and has it been flagged with the DVLA as a write-off?) and its a goer , its a bargain.

"David Jones" wrote

Could you get a matching red tailgate off a scrappy, do your blocks and jack thing, then flog the car on looking a bit nicer? Might be less hassle than breaking it and shouls till make you a few quid. With no plate or mileage info I can't guess what in would fetch in decent nick.