Rover SD1 Drift Car / Trackday Car / General Heap

I went drifting in the Rover SD1 retro beast driftcar yesterday at Lydden Hill. I had a great time, but as i'd not been drifting since November 2013, let just say my skills were distinctly absent. This was compounded by an inability to change between 2nd and 3rd gears relably, which meant trying to link the bit throught the cut through was hard. Later once id got used to the car again i improved, but not by much. Shame, as in my e36 i found linking that section pretty easy, and i struggled with the long fast corner at the back. In this car its the other way round. I can drift the long fast corner, but not the twisty bit.

Anyway, the day was going well until i spun and with 2x bm e36's bearing down on me i hit reverse in a hurry and dumped the clutch. This resulted in a bang, grinding noises and some axle tramping before shooting backwards. I thought the car was ok, but next session, when i tried to reverse out of where i had parked, NO REVERSE! and instead just lots of nasty grinding noises. So end of play for me. Although forward gears still worked, i didnt want to drift knowing there was probably lots of curse word swarf going around teh box which might result in further damage.

Big thanks to Callum and Alex who helped me load it back on the trailer, as trying to lign it up with out the ability to shunt backwards is a pain.

The good news is that the water pump didnt leak, and the clutch worked. Plus Tony B took me out for a few laps in his S14 so i got a reminder of just how wibblepoo i am in comparison. Plenty of practise needed.

As for the gearbox, ill be on the lookout for another LT77 v8 box, and might also consider swapping to a Ford T5 although at this point I'm not entirely sure whats invloved in this conversion.

It was good to see a few other non Nissan, BMW, drift cars. The Volvo estates looked lively as did the Omega with the jelly suspension. A couple of really nice Lexus GS300 and Aristo turned up, althought they werent drifting. I like VIP barges. There was a seriously e36 touring with improvised turbo fitted. Shame it was a bit close to the cam cover and wiring loom and caught fire. Hope to see it out again.

Random photos below.

The gen 1 gs300 is a good looking motor. I nearly bought a gs300 sport last year but instead went for an is300 sportcross. Same 2jz auto but a bit more boot space. Don't suppose you got any photos of the rover drifting did you?

I know. It's a bummer, I had no willing pit crew with me that day so not sure if there is any photographic evidence of skidding.

Here is a clip form the session I damage the gearbox. I spin and try and reverse out of the way of two BMW e36's. Unfortunately they end up hitting and I break reverse. Also at the end another BMW blows a coolant hose and the bloke has to drive with his head out the door to see where he is going!

That's not a collector - that's a strangler!

This thread is amazing! So cool to see a Rover SD1 being used as a drift car! And the video was awesome, I cut my teeth drifting in a old Volvo 940 Turbo estate, tonnes of fun! But this is something else, there needs to be more retro drift cars in the world! Going to be following this thread although I am now very much wanting a RWD car again.

Its got a 3.9 V8 from a range rover, with hotwire fuel injection.

The new gearbox arrived. The good news is that it is stamped to indicate it is a Vitesse gearbox, so should be a bit stronger, and there is zero play in the input shaft so the claim its only done 16,000 miles could be genuine. The bad news is that the ally front cover is cracked. Its not a major issue as all it seems to do is provide a surface for the release bearing to slide along. But anyway, ill be swapping this part over from the old gearbox.

Love this car! Bearing in mind your Garage is made from West Hoathley Bricks, are you based in the Surrey & Sussex area?

I attempted to fit the new gearbox on Boxing day, but i ran into a problem. The ally casting rear cover should have 4 mounting points for the gear selector, but someone has cut one of them off. I attempted to swap the rear cover from the old gearbox, but the output shaft and selector rods are different sizes so they are not interchangeable. Doh!

One improvement in the newer rear cover is a proper oil seal for the selector rod, so hopefully, no more persistent gearbox leaks.

While i was stripping the old box i found the remains of the teeth from reverse gear!!!







I am going to try and get someone to weld a new tab onto the housing to take the 4th mounting point. Should be doable with some care.