1994 Rover 820

Thanks 10mpg, your right Marinanut and the Police would have tested all suitable vehicles for the job and chose the big old barge of an 800 as the best for the job, cheers

Thanks Darren, very hard suspension terrible on our poor roads but so much better on the smooth track. The Vitesse has a PG1 gearbox with limited slip diff as standard, hope you enjoy the most recent vid, it was the most fun so far.

I have changed the brake fluid throughout but the clutch pedal didnt feel so good at first, better now its been driven. I need to bleed the brakes again though, it felt fine in the garage but driving on the road the pedal isnt as firm so suspect there is still a little bit of air in the system.

Exhaust is done, sounds quite a bit louder, sounds nice at idle and low rpm but becomes quite loud when driving, it has a rasp at about 3000rpm which I am not sure about but need to drive it some more and see if I can get used to it and check the noise level, I guess it is probably over the limit at some track days.

Rather over complicated rear mount and untidy boot floor, none of which you would normally see.



Gone for the brushed stainless tailpipe look.

Cheers quackshot, hoping the weather will be as good next month.


Picture update
On a BMW forecourt taunting the old enemy.

Absolutely amazing car, I miss mine terribly I wish I had never sold it, even as it drove away I knew I had made a big mistake

Hang onto it, as you obviously know they are brilliant capable cars with bucket loads of character and a rare sight these days with so many scrapped for the engine

you could assume that it was 2005 longbridge saga, but then it seems to have happened to models from companies that still exist. i mean when was the last time you saw a mk3 cavalier trundling round your home town ? its an odd thought, we've had the discussion a few times, will people be enthusing about vectra B's in 10 years time with fond memories? it doesnt seem possible !

Good points, this could be a significant era in the history of the motor car, with leasing the modern characterless cars becoming easier and more popular as well as electric and hybrids, less and less cars will end up left in garages and driveways for years, they will simply be recycled.

The Rover has been tucked away in the garage gathering dust and filling up with junk since last year so long overdue some attention.
The exhaust manifold looks horrible, been meaning to replace it for years but quotes of £1500 for a custom manifold made it difficult to justify and nothing is available for these engines so going to have a go at adapting a £200 Nissan manifold to fit the Rover.

The once white manifold and turbo outlet, looked okay many years ago but not now.





The Nissan 200/Silvia SR20DET manifold



Most of the flange cut away, I need to keep it at the pipes to clear the cam carrier.



Stainless steel Rover M16 flange.



Not a perfect match, the inner two almost match but the outer pipes will need moving.



The flange was not a good match to the ports either so used the gasket to match it up.





Using clamps and grips managed to line it all up and tack it together for a test fit.



Quite a good match in the end with port size and shape although a couple of the original flange to primary joints in the Nissan manifold are pretty poor, guess this is why it is £200 and not £1500



Test fit with turbo fitted, turbo much to far forward but outlet is at sharp angle and will need moving anyway



Bonnet clearance is good



So started welding it together, I am not an experienced welder and took a few goes to get the amperage to what seemed to work best and struggled a bit with access, anyway made what is obviously an amateur mistake and the flange warped after the first bit of welding. I since looked up some tips and now clamp the flange to a heavy steel bar and keep the welds short and allow it to cool before next weld, this has prevented any more warping but it will need a skim when finished.

My chunky TIG welds, any constructive comments welcome from experienced welders.





I ran out of gas before I could finish so will update soon

Thanks Darren, thats the plan and to make space for the downpipe. I underestimated how much bigger an adapter and 3" downpipe is over the standard cast unit, I need to have a rethink.

damn, that turbo elbow is savage !

i thought the calibra one was bad

noice ! so i take it the actual hole into the elbow lines up with the exhaust turbine, and the flatter taper area is the waste gate ? which is actyally less bad

your new downpipe looks good (with incorporated flange) there is a similar version for opel called DSOP, which has twin pipes that merge shortly after. one for exhaust turbine with internal baffle and one for wastegate. its considered quite an upgrade on the stock turbo, but same as you packaging issues with the exhaust bends