Rs200 Z-Edition, Help And Advice Required Please!(Long Story!)

[win-or-bin]

Hi all,

Said hi in the new members forum, from Scotland and have always been into my jap cars (mostly skylines/impreza's), this stems from my mother who also loves jap cars and so my long story begins(sorry all)........5 years ago my mother bought a altezza rs200 z-edition as she fancied a change, I bought a personal reg for it for her 60th birthday and got it transfered onto the car, on her way back home one night the car overheated, holed radiator (it was minus 10 and 2am) so she deceided to keep going as she was nearly home but the temp gauge pegged max so she stopped and got recovered to a local garage. Picked it up the next day, drove to her home 7 miles and i started making a knocking noise. Unfortunately at this exact time she fell ill, a car was required by the family immediately so a cheap 406 (arrgghh) was bought and the altezza left in the yard unloved. Fast forward 4 years and she has the all clear, new car and wants to transfer the reg but as some of you will know DVLA will not transfer the reg from a car with no MOT, so now my question (finally I hear you say) the Altezza has sat for 4 years, I reckon the head is warped and was thinking of getting it going again BUT am unsure if its worth it, I have a good friend who is a mechanic and we have tackled a few jobs in our time but neither of us are sure about the altezza's VV-ti engine? How hard is it to remove the head with the variable valves? Is it possible to get a workshop manual for the 3g beams engine? Anyone reckon it might be more than a warped head or have any insight? I know with a car sat that long fuel will need to be removed, I will have to throw away discs and pads adn replace and probably ever fluid will also need changed,is it worth it?

Thanks for any advice in advance, really unsure of what to do and sorry for the long story

Cheers

[steve2006]

Hi,

Good to hear your Mother has made a full recovery and I wish her well for the future.

If the engine is making a knocking noise it sounds more like big end crank bearings due to overheated or lack of oil more than a cylinder head problem but still a major project.

The DVLA have some strange rules regarding a transfer and in hindsight putting the plate on retention would have been the ideal solution but no of any help to you now.

Have you considered writing to the DVLA and explaining the circumstances regarding the situation to see if they will consider the transfer they are normally very helpful for a government department!

It is also no good scrapping the car with the cherished plate and then buying it again as once a plate has been issued it cannot be reissued even to the same buyer.

The other option is to buy another plate as close as possible to the one you have if it's still available.

Shame about the car but don't scrap it some one would appreciate it for sure.

[E910]

Cheapest option would be to put a 2nd hand motor in it rather than mucking around with the head. Plenty in Ireland if you cant find any in blighty

[win-or-bin]

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys, looked on eBay at a couple of engines but they are not cheap for the beams tuned ones, it would be a shame to scrap it as it has a fancy manifold, hks suspension, blitz intake and other nice bits and bobs, I thought about stripping it for parts but the postage is a killer for large items now and where I live no-one will pick up. I have spoken tothe DVLA today and they have advised me to send a cover letter explaining the cirumstances to the glasgow office so will give that a try at getting the plate back, if that fails then its crunch time, I would be more inclined to tackle the job if engine manuals etc were available, will maybe drain the fuel this weekend and stick a Battery in and see for myself what it sounds like.

Thanks again