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Posted by Dana Cartwright (more from Dana Cartwright) on Tue, 28 Feb 1989 17:36:28
In reply to Ken Seefried's request for information about inspecting 96'sprior to purchase: I have owned 5 96's, several of which I have extensivelywelded up, and I have raced them, so I will claim to know a bit about whatto look for in used 96's. I also have strong opinions about workingon and driving these cars, which I'll include at the end. Finally, I haveowned a number of MG's, and so can comment on the relative ease of repairof these two marques.96's fail because the bodies rot out. The engines get very worn butI have never known one to fail (except when raced). Mechanics who haveworked on 96's agree: they don't know what the engines look like inside,because they have never had to work on them. The transmissions are anotherstory, see below.96 bodies rot in three places, all of which are easy to inspect. (1) The'rocker boxes' (actually box beams made of sheet metal, one under each door)are the major point of failure. Get under the side of the car and look atthe box. It is spot welded along the bottom. In a new car these welds arenearly flat. As the car begins to corrode, a series of waves develops alongthe welds (the metal in between the welds is corroding, actually). Finally,the metal around the welds disintegrates, and the car becomes so weak thatit will sag when you get into the seat. If you find a car with the bottomsof the rocker boxes absolutely flat, pay at least $2,500 for it, just forthe body. It's worth it. If the boxes are heavily corroded, it's junk, pay$25 if it has a good battery in it, otherwise forget it.(2) Next, check the rear shock towers. Open the trunk. The tops of therear shocks look like bolts sticking up through the sides of the trunk (wellforward). There should be little or no corrosion around them. If there isheavy rust visible within the trunk around the shocks, forget it--you canweld up the towers, but chances are the rest of the car is rotting also.(3) Finally, lift up the rugs just in front of the seats and examine thejoint where the firewall is welded to the floor. It should show surfacerust (OK) but no bulging in the weld (same story as with the rocker boxes).96's eventually fall into two pieces, breaking apart along this weld, andonly the roof holds the front and rear together. I've driven a 'broken'car, and every time you step on the gas the front of the car pulls away fromthe rear and you can see the road around your feet........don't buy one likethis!If all of these places are OK, buy the car. 96's are great cars to drive,they are compact, have HUGE trunks for their size, and corner better than99's or 900's (watch someone race them if you want to see this for yourself).The gearboxes are weak. Any gear, including the ring and pinion, is subjectto shearing off of the teeth, which generally ruins the transmission. Theyare easy to repair, but not cheap to repair. Any noises from the tranny areVERY BAD news. If you hear a grinding or whine in 3rd or 4th, be careful!The nuts at the back of the tranny are going. Remember that the 96 trannyhas mostly ball bearings--only one roller bearing (on the pinion shaft)--soare subject to rapid wear.There is no car I would rather work on than a 96. This car was designed byairplane people--logical, easy to maintain, simple. Very open enginecompartment. Simple to diagnose and fix. Great car to start on. It'sthe exact opposite of, say, an MG Midget, which has the world's most crampedengine compartment (no, actually, the 900 is worse!).If you like to drive a small car and you like to do your own mechanicalwork, get a 96. They are a blast to drive (the suspension works well withPirelli P-3's, but these are getting hard to find). They are really peppyuntil you get to about 40 and have to shift into 4th. They corner as wellas anything short of a BMW (the 900 is a dog compared to a 96). Parts arereadily available and are *cheap*.
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