hello / shwmae / bonjour

[garythesnail]

After lurking around for a little while, already suffering an unnatural affliction towards all things MG Rover (214 bubble, 414 wedge and MGZS180 outside the house as well as the wife's Impreza (sorry to swear)) I've finally given in to the urge to 'go BRM'.

Me and Mrs. travelled 300 miles each way to buy a nice little 72k mile example on a T plate which is now squeezed in between the wedge and the other bubble. It's not perfect and I've probably paid too much, but I've taken a bit of comfort from the attention the previous owner of two years has chucked on the little green mean machine - including a £1200 bill from an ex Rover dealer on the uprated gasket / rail kit. That, coupled to his immaculate looking 1960 MGA and 1974 MGBGTV8 pointed towards the likelyhood of a 'good car' - I hope I was right, time will tell :smile2:

6k mile oilchange just about due (I'm going to try to get my daughters to do this sometime before Christmas), brake pads will need changing in a few K's and we've a hole blowing farts in the exhaust pipe :).

This will be the 7th MG / Rover / Austin in the family and the 4th K series engine (the first one which has had any HG issues . . . . so far . . . . . that's the kiss of death!) so day to day spanner work is achievable, but I'm a little scared of the VVC mechs - so please be patient when I end up asking stupid questions if I hear funny ticking noises (and I've got enough of those as it is from the KV6 in the ZS) from under the bonnet.

On the other side of the coin, if I've managed to do anything clever in the past which may help someone, I'm happy to share . . . . .. but don't hold your breath.

All the best,

Gary.

[Jon_A]

Welcome to the site. :)

[robkeep]

glad to have you aboard:icecream:

[Adam]

Welcome to the site! :beer2:

We're nice and friendly so any questions please just ask away. Where abouts in the country are you from?

[garythesnail]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Adam - I live in Carmarthenshire in West Wales (. . . . .and before you ask . .. .the answer is "yes" - we do have electricity:chair:) and work in a small town called gorseinon where I effectively ambushed a lady who parked up her BRM to ask about the 'ownership experience' she was having. It turns out she's pretty knowledgeable on the whole Rover thing, which is probably influenced by her other (MGZTV8 owning) other half who has his own business (if I remember correctly) dealing with auto electrics with particular interest in MGR products - nice, helpful lady - maybe on here from time to time?

I will probably end up asking nicely to help solve the little green thing's identity crisis too.

All the best,

Gary.

[Adam]

Excellent, I do love the drives through Wales, the horseshoe pass is one of my favourite roads.

Your not far from the NEC so you should pop along to the Classic Car Show next weekend.

[GmL_BrM]

welcome m8, theres also a 'kind of' meet going on at a track in anglessey on the 16th i think - theres a post on here somewhere. I'm probly gonna pop over from staffordshire for a few hours, if u fancy it i might see you there.

[Jon_A]

Wales is darn good for a drive, went for a day out in the Brecon Beacons in the BRM.

[GmL_BrM]

couldn't agree more m8, wales shud be classed as an alpine circuit in places! lol

Went to visit a friend in llangollen once, not in the most amazing part of wales for roads but was still pretty good!!

[Jon_A]

yeah, I went on the road which featured on the CLK Black feature on Top Gear. I did though meet a load of sleeping sheep in the road (was about 1:00am) and that kinda slowed me down lol.

[garythesnail]

'tis true, the odd Flossy dotted around the tarmac is a bit of an occupational hazard in some parts of the country.

It's nice to see race relations aren't a problem here at thebrm.co.uk :) I've had to play the race card on a monday morning after the Welsh rugby team have been stuffed by England on the Saturday (too frequent an occurrence) with the darkest moment coming when building a new museum in Swansea a few years back to find the flag of St. George floating after a weekend's drubbing by the men in white, proudly hoisted by the lads from Bristol doing the flat roofing membrane for us.

That's one of the great things about working on building sites - it's all a bit doom and gloom at themoment with work being a bit thin on the ground, but the crack is still good - you just can't get that in an office environment, so I take my hat off to the guys and girls stuck between four walls for the entire shift.

While the BRM is taxed and MOT'd, it won't be fully 'on the road' until our bubble 214i's tax runs out in March - so we've got a bit of time to do a bit of maintenence, renew the MOT etc. not that it needs anything doing for the MOT - just odds and sods to get it a bit more "up to scratch".

As for NEC - it's about 3 hours drive from where I am I think, so, as much as I'd like to, it's not an option - which is a damned shame given the effort made and money spent to get a stand and a couple of cars to show. I'd say 'good luck', but from the sound of things, it won't be needed - you've worked hard to make your own luck already - just enjoy the experience now!

All the best,

Gary.

[eurorover]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Adam - I live in Carmarthenshire in West Wales (. . . . .and before you ask . .. .the answer is "yes" - we do have electricity:chair:) and work in a small town called gorseinon where I effectively ambushed a lady who parked up her BRM to ask about the 'ownership experience' she was having. It turns out she's pretty knowledgeable on the whole Rover thing, which is probably influenced by her other (MGZTV8 owning) other half who has his own business (if I remember correctly) dealing with auto electrics with particular interest in MGR products - nice, helpful lady - maybe on here from time to time?

I will probably end up asking nicely to help solve the little green thing's identity crisis too.

All the best,

Gary.

My other half does not come on here but I do. Her BRM is currently being rebuilt by my self. Fist of all some W****R drove into the side of it. Then The thing stripped the teeth on the timming belt. What a mess one fubar piston and knakered head.

The car has been on the 'waiting list since a 12 month agao as I have been redoing my 820 Tickford. I am hoping to have it finished this weekend as I located a brand new head complete with cams and vvc mech.

Forthe record i have a full T machine which does T1- T4 diagnostics.