820
South East
Posts: 793
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Exhaust system is nearly complete, for the silencer mount I adapted one of these universal 5” clamps. I will not use the rod and nut so this is cut off. A 10mm stainless rod bent to fit the original rubber mounts with a stainless tab welded to the rod and clamp, it is fitted at the top out of sight and keeps it simple.    Fortunately the nut and rod removed from the clamp is just long enough to use for the mount before the silencer, I need to raise the rear suspension for the final position to tack this on. The U clamp will be removed, either welded or a round clamp.   It is only the one straight through silence at the back so volume might be an issue.   With the manifold and turbo fitted I was able to refit the hoses, fan and all the parts removed from the engine but when I filled the coolant one of the hoses developed a small leak, I have ordered a new hose slightly smaller diameter but wont have that till next week. I was hoping to start the car this weekend, next week instead. Jim |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:35:30 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Feb 11, 2019 12:52:22 GMT
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Opened up the M10 engine mount bolt slot to M12 and fitted the uprated O/S engine mount yesterday.  While working in that area I changed the adjustable cam pulley bolts to blue titanium with a larger flange head for better fit and they look nicer. The two main pulley bolts will be next.  |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:35:59 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Mar 22, 2019 16:22:49 GMT
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As long as it is not too low or knocking then the exhaust system is finished at last I added two small braces to the silencer mount to reduce flex and tacked in the tailpipe  I was going to use the Rover boost control solenoid with the DTA but to speed things up went for a DTA recommended valve, this is now wired in and ready for setting up/mapping once the car is mobile  The other side strut brace bracket is finished apart from tidying up edges and corners    With the side brackets in place I am able to start on the cross bar. The original plan was it would be just one piece bolted directly to the brackets but that meant it either had to bolt on top which looked wrong or bolted with a tag inside the bar which meant one of the brackets had to be removed with the bar to work on the engine. So the bar bolts to plates that bolt to the brackets, more bolts and more complicated than I wanted but it is quick and easy to remove without having to raise the car.   Hope to have the bar polished and other plate finished by the weekend |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:36:59 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Mar 29, 2019 13:07:39 GMT
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A bit more done, the plate for the other side is fitted and tidied up a few edges. Just got to make a bracket to go on the bulkhead then I can make two more smaller bars from the bulkhead to top mounts.  This stabiliser was never going to be right fixed solid one end  So cut it and another spare in half and welded the two smaller ends together doing away with the big flexible bush of the standard bar, could have saved myself a lot of work and the yellow bushes if I had done this from the start but there you go live and learn   Welded together and painted silver (ran out of black)  Started polishing the brace bar, should look ok when finished  |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:37:49 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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I got the final parts to the strut brace finished. The two smaller bars are not so effective until I brace the bulkhead but I want to get the car on the road rather than start another long job. Found the scuttle panel (dusty panel in pic) has started to rust on the underside so need to fix that before the trims and seals go back on.   After fixing the scuttle panel I need to finish the air filter box, some wiring and hoses to complete then it is getting close to MOT time. |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:38:17 GMT by 820
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That is looking good there!
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shoey
Part of things
Posts: 320 
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Nice welding job on the exhaust I take its tig,do you recommend those v- band clamps?,thinking of using on my build.
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Thanks Peter and shoey.
I really like the V-Bands, so easy to remove and refit which is handy when your building the exhaust and forever removing and refitting sections. The only downside is the size of the clamps, if you are pushed for space plan well where you put the V-Bands as the clamps are a fair bit larger than the pipe. I built my system from 3" stainless and was lucky there is plenty of space under the car but a couple of the V-Bands are still quite low and because of the shape will catch rather than slide over something if it were the round tube bottoming out. I can also chop and change sections easily, fitting a Catalyst or different rear section without having to cut or hammer the joints.
edit, yes TIG welded
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2019 15:47:01 GMT by 820
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I follow the Skid factory on YouTube. They do quality conversions and add turbos to cars in a very neat way and they also use the V clamnps a lot. Your work is with the same attention to detail but you are Lucky not needing to earn money with it so you can take a bit more time.
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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So far I watched some of their drag racing videos, there is a lot of stuff to get through, good viewing for tea breaks, thanks for the tip. When fitted to the car there were no signs of corrosion or any visible rust on the scuttle trim or its correct name “lower screen finisher” so it was a good job this had to be removed for access for something else. It looked fine from the front. (scratches are from resting on bench working on the reverse side)  I want to know what glue they used at Cowley, it took half an hour to remove the rubber edging with a razor blade, rubber was hiding the worst rust.  I was lucky to catch this now, another year and it would have come through   Couple more pictures of the bracket at the bulkhead   and some more titanium bolts for the cam covers, everything needs cleaning  |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:39:20 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Apr 20, 2019 18:18:57 GMT
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Air filter housing is finished. I was able to modify the filter box side panel to fit around the much sharper angled filter intake pipe with some bending to the top and bottom edges. I had to make a new wider back panel though, it is shaped to the underside of the bonnet because I changed the design half way through and after spending hours making the templates decided I am using it despite a lid going over the filter.  I am sure there are easier ways of making a removable filter box lid but I riveted two strips aluminium angle to the side and back panels fitted with little 6mm ally blocks drilled and tapped with M6 threads for lid fastening bolts   Next was a lid to fit as close as possible to the bonnet with the intake at the front  and lastly fitted the MAC valve to the back panel  Still some small parts to paint and no doubt a few jobs I will discover when I try to drive the car for the first time in over 2 years but it is nearly there. |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:40:05 GMT by 820
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Apr 21, 2019 11:13:53 GMT
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Mine will never, ever be this nice. I have the enthusiasm but alas, not the skill.
That said, your work is a huge influence on me and my desire to get my 800 back on the road, so thank you, and keep on going!
Chris
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Apr 21, 2019 18:17:39 GMT
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Thanks Chris, I am lucky enough to have some time to spend on the old car, just get stuck in, we learn with every job we do, I look at the amazing skills shown by others on here, they are my inspiration. Because this car has been a long term project I find myself re-doing a lot of modifications I did 10 years ago that were pretty poor. Speaking of which, I made a mistake with the MAC valve plumbing yesterday, now corrected but it meant I had to reroute a hose, make a pipe bracket to clear the metal brake pipes and also repositioned the solenoid on a rubber mount.  |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:40:27 GMT by 820
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Hi - I just noticed your old exhaust is for sale on ebay... how much do you want for it? - and will you sell it to me?
Thanks. Ben
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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May 21, 2019 13:04:24 GMT
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Sorry Ben, it has gone to a good home with ThePollitt After building new brackets for the little Redtop 20 battery turns out it is no longer up to the job, it must be about 10 years old, still has good voltage but cannot crank the engine more than once or twice, first start of the day it can take a few minutes of cranking to get this engine started so until I do another track day and weight saving is high on the list I will be using a big full size battery. So I had to make a new big battery tray to sit next to the adapted Rover Redtop tray currently removed while not in use.     As always there are a couple of small parts still to fit and to safely insulate the posititve terminal, otherwise it is very secure in its new place. The car is now back on the road and getting some road miles on it to check exhaust manifold, system and gaskets hold up ok, so far so good but only had a few hours running up to now. |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:41:03 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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May 30, 2019 20:18:19 GMT
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To secure the battery more safely in the tray and to reduce the loads on the top straps I fitted an aluminium bar to the car body for the lower edge of the battery to wedge underneath, for something so simple it took hours to make and fit but battery feels solid mounted now.   I had to raise the ride height slightly all round to avoid the new exhaust bottoming out just getting out my drive. I put the mount bar underneath with the idea if the weld breaks at least it still supports the exhaust but it was to low, it is pretty much central between the front and rear wheels so the lowest point when going over slopes, I could not spin it round so the bar was on top because the pipe is offset to one side.  So the bar was cut off and a new bar made to fit on top  With the pipe spun round 180 degrees and new bar welded on now has better ground clearance  The tailpipe was a little to long so shortened that while the system was off the car, it is more shin friendly now.   |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:42:02 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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May 30, 2019 20:20:26 GMT
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Although the cam belt has only done a few thousand miles it is over 6 years old so new cam belt, alternator belt, engine oil and filter and gearbox oil change was done this week while the ECU was away for a software update. One of the last genuine Unipart turbo filters with non return valve for the T16 turbo engines, I don't think you can even get these from behind poor quality wobbly children's play ponys. I bought a few of these years ago but cannot find them or an equivalent anywhere now.  New cam belt, alternator belt and some more nice shiny titanium bolts for the cam pulleys   |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:42:34 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Sept 6, 2019 14:49:14 GMT
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Been a bit slack with updates lately, for good reasons though as I have actually been using the car. So, I rubbed down and treated the rusty areas on the windscreen finisher panel, painted it satin black and glued the seal back on with Araldite after following the advice of Grumpynorthener in another thread on how to restore and prep the rubber by cleaning with Scotchbrite dampened with thinners then treating with glycerine, this worked a treat. Gluing the rubber edging back on  Refitted to the car   The black paint on the A pillars was peeling so rubbed those down and painted them satin black at the same time.  The car is a sleeper come track day car, it has never been a show car (its a Rover) but this summer I have attended a few shows for the first time so been trying to tidy up the outside Trouble is now I started to tidy up the outside a bit I realise how many scratches, dents and marks it has accumulated over 25 years and 105,000 miles. It even has a bullet hole in the drivers door, it hasnt gone right through fortunately so they were a long way off or had a rubbish gun. Anyway for now it will have to wear its scars with pride a full respray will have to wait till the sunroof panel is dealt with. What I really want to do is get back to Brands Hatch for a track day. |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:43:35 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Sept 6, 2019 15:50:23 GMT
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The gearbox has taken some abuse and whining a bit once warm, it has a mix of ratios from 2 or 3 gearboxes with a diesel 5th for top speed, I don't need this set up at the moment so a good time to rebuild it. I also have a straight cut dog box with a set of rally ratios, I want to fit this temporarily if I can. It came from the Gartac Montego so a very early PG1 casing and slightly different to the later versions and not suitable for the 800 but I have another later casing with similar internal bearing set that I will try to transfer the Quaife internals to. It is completely unsuitable for the road, close ratio straight cut gears and straight cut diff, dog engagement and a Quaife limlited slip plate diff. Early casing  Later casing  The two side by side, early Gartrac Montego casing on the right  I painted the later casing when it was fitted to the Vitesse many years ago, it now looks pretty rough so stripped the old paint off.   Many hours later it looks much better  Plan now is to paint the casing gloss black, then reassemble with the Quaife gear set. If that will not work then it will be rebuilt with the standard 220 Coupe ratios. If the Quaife set is ok then I will try it for a while but from my calculations 5th will be too low for long journeys, might be ok for track days though. I have not driven a dog selection box before so I if nothing else it will be a new experience. New mainshaft, countershaft and diff bearings, a mix of makes because some of these bearings are no longer avaiable from the original manufacturers.  to contrast the planned metalic black casing I cleaned up a couple of sets of casing bolts and had them bright zinc plated.  |
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Last Edit: Sept 9, 2021 20:44:38 GMT by 820
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820
South East
Posts: 793
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Sept 6, 2019 16:08:00 GMT
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The new exhaust system is noticeably louder so needed testing before booking the next track day. I went to Brands Hatch when there was a track day on and noise testing, I wasnt booked in but took my crash helmet along just in case there was a space, anyway it did not pass, static test at 4500rpm was 108.4 dB.
I searched all the tracks in the south for noise limits above 108 dB but no luck. So an extra silencer will be added to the system, probably over the winter so no track days this year unfortunately.
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