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Jul 11, 2018 22:10:07 GMT
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Dammn, bought another Rover, its an illness. I'm up to five now but this one isn't my fault. It belonged to a good friend of mine who was threatening to break/scrap/sell for cheap. Long story short...it had a coolant leak, he kept topping it up with fresh water until we got hit by the beast from the east. Guess what happened? Yes, it froze. Cue lots of water leaks strange noises and suspected head gasket issues. Anyway, he was going to get rid as he had some pressure to shift it off his drive and although he loved the car, he didn't have time to investigate or sort it further. I said I would have it as I quite fancied trying to at least find out what happened, and if it was terminal I would keep the suspension and wheels for my 827. I'm storing at work, and in the same parking space that was occupied by my very decrepit Alfa 147. SO that had to go so that I didn curse word off my boss or colleagues by filling the car park with scrap. I rang another contact of mine and said he could have the Alfa for free if he collected the Rover and dropped it off and took Alfa away. Deal done and that's what happened. Got Alfa started and green slime cleaned off Rover delivered Video of unloading ceremony Bye bye Alfa. Not a bad car really, paid £800, did 25,000 miles in 1 year and then retired it. Loaded up and away Not had much time at all to inspect the Rover. Its quite evident a front core plug has gone as it pisses water over the turbo, I guess it keeps it cool? It actually idles ok, not too lumpy, which makes me think the head gasket is ok, however it makes an array of funny gurgling noises and a weird intermittent nasty squeaky, no idea where its coming from. Took it for a quick run to see if it pulled ok. Ive never had an 820 turbo, but this is meant to be 200bhp. Feels nothing like it, more like 100 bhp, but then its done 147,000 miles. The 827 is considerable faster. Anyway ill be giving it a good poking Friday night, so watch this space for further developments.
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Jul 11, 2018 22:32:56 GMT
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Nice! Beautiful colour too. I'm sure you'll find its "oomph"!
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Jul 11, 2018 22:46:50 GMT
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That’s an idea, not heard of them before.
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Jul 11, 2018 22:48:40 GMT
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Nice! Beautiful colour too. I'm sure you'll find its "oomph"! I didn’t like the colour to start with but it’s growing on me. Turns out its pretty rare for a vitesse fastback to have cream leather rather than the black recaro interior. Super comfy arm chairs! Dash isn’t warped either which is a result.
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Rover 800 Vitessepeteh1969
@peteh1969
Club Retro Rides Member 107
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Jul 11, 2018 22:51:03 GMT
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I'm getting an exchange engine for my ST from them a very good service and not outrageous on cost.
Start with a new engine it's like buying a new car.
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Jul 12, 2018 17:29:44 GMT
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Took another look at the engine again today. There is a huge oil leak coming from the left side of the cylinder head, can’t work out what from. Need to do some more stripping,
Opened the air box to see what the air filter looked like. Very grumpy, not sure it’s been changes for a very long time.
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Rover 800 Vitessepeteh1969
@peteh1969
Club Retro Rides Member 107
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Jul 12, 2018 17:58:38 GMT
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Well think of what you find this way.
What ever you have to do on the engine to get it to run on an engine with high millage as this has, you could sort it and then say 3 months down the line the bottom end could go or it throw a rod and the money and time you have spent is wasted.
With an exchange engine on something old like this you basically re set the mileage to 000000 and start from scratch no hassle and a lot quicker you get to enjoy the car.
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Jul 12, 2018 21:58:40 GMT
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Another Rover:) These engine tend to be strong. The oil leak could well be the head gasket as they were a bit prone to oil leaks of this type, easy enough to fix though. Around 10 years ago I had one do they same. admittedly I bogged it full of silicone and ran it till it blew. Nice looking motor but still prefer your 827.
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1984 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas 2600 Auto 1985 Rover SD1 2300s Auto 2005 MG ZT 1.8 Manual
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Another Rover:) These engine tend to be strong. The oil leak could well be the head gasket as they were a bit prone to oil leaks of this type, easy enough to fix though. Around 10 years ago I had one do they same. admittedly I bogged it full of silicone and ran it till it blew. Nice looking motor but still prefer your 827. Yeah I think I prefer the 827. Something cool about a mk1 loon. Also feels much faster and punchier? Did your oil leak look like this? imgur.com/a/tbMNaSl
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Jul 14, 2018 21:36:12 GMT
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I remember the first 827 Sterling I owned, I scared the back side off my ex on the A47 in Leics to the point she wouldnt get in the car with me until I sold it Yes that does look very similar to the leak mine had, obviously not 100% without seeing it in person but does look to be the hg in my opinion. Always wanted an 800 series hatch in white to go with my SD1 but they are far and few between now.
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1984 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas 2600 Auto 1985 Rover SD1 2300s Auto 2005 MG ZT 1.8 Manual
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Jul 15, 2018 19:55:09 GMT
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Started my first proper poking session on the car. First bodywork. In the main, extremely solid. Previous owner spend money wen needed to get the important parts solid. The rear ends of both sills have had new metal, the rear arches have had some treatment, and both front wings replaced. The colour match isn't the greatest, but light grandpa curse word metallic gold is gonna be a tricky match. Also front wing alignment is poor, particularly offside. Should be an easy fix tough. On to the interior. I had the big flash on my camera, so that has made it look better than it is. It is actually in very good condition for 147,000 miles but needs a deep clean. No major cracking in the leather and most importantly no tears. There is a tiny bit of damage to drivers piping and a wear patch on seat base, but all minor stuff. Rear seats are mint! Got to say the interior is really plush. Super comfy leather and its PROPER LEATHER, not that wibblepoo stuff you got in French cars of the era, this is real nice stiff thick hide leather. It still smells leathery. Looking forward to cleaning it up. This car also has twin airbags, heated seats, electric seats and everything works, apart from the air con. Also has lovely carpets and best of all the head lining isn't sagging like on my mk1 827. Door cards are pretty good. Again grubby, but not damaged. This being a later model, it has the plush stitched and cushioned leather inserts and the ROVER monogram running through the wood trims. Lots of 800's have dash warp over the instrument cluster, this one is perfect. Buttons missing from the radio/CD and the sides of the leather gearknob has delaminated making a weird flappy thing? I cant close the glove box at them moment as the dash covering has come away. Needs gueing with some contact adhesive. Again an easy fix. On to the engine bay. Scuttle panel and the plate above the servo are total scrap. Really make the car look nasty, but are just bolt on parts. Only difficulty will be finding better ones as they all seem to go like this. The header tanks on 800's get brittle and crack. This one has a Volvo replacement, but it is just balanced in there, so I will have to make some proper brackets for it. Also needs a good clean out as its full of rusty water. Here is the main source of the oil leak. Front nearside (left side) of the cylinder head. Ive been reading and the only way of really fixing ths is to replace head gasket with steel multilayer item. Balls. Also leaks from cam covers. This is the offending core plug that when pressurised pisses water all over the turbo. To get to it i'll have to remove the turbo and exhaust manifold. Not that big a deal really, but my concern is that without antifreeze all the core plugs will be rusting from inside out and its only a matter if time before another one goes. Did a compression check to check general engine healthiness. Remember I bought this car blind having been told that the engine was likely goosed and head gasket gone. Well I did the comp test and it came back 138 to 150 psi across all 4. That's less than 10% on a car that's done 147,000 miles. Pretty happy with that. The more I look at this car the more I'm sure head gasket is ok (apart from leaking oil) as there is no mayo in oil, has a steady idle, and comp test is good. I also pulled the cam covers to check for sludge and cam wear. Looks nice and golden inside, and no major sludge. Result. Last thing I spotted was a very rusty power steering cooler. I understand these are no longer available. A fellow 800 owner has said you can make a replacement out of 10 mm copper plumbing pipe, which is an option, but I'm gonna try and get an original if I can.
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Jul 16, 2018 17:01:47 GMT
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That's the most beige car I've ever seen. "Shall we get the black, Margaret, or the silver?" "No, Alf, let's get beige with beige"
Good fun project though!
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Rover 800 Vitessepeteh1969
@peteh1969
Club Retro Rides Member 107
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Jul 16, 2018 17:55:14 GMT
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That works well for PAS cooler Jim I have made one for my ST
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Jul 16, 2018 18:51:13 GMT
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That's the most beige car I've ever seen. "Shall we get the black, Margaret, or the silver?" "No, Alf, let's get beige with beige" Good fun project though! Yes I described it to colleagues as hearing aid beige with a sprinkling of metallic grandpa curse word. It is actually growing on me though.
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Jul 16, 2018 18:52:15 GMT
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That works well for PAS cooler Jim I have made one for my ST Hmmm yes that’s an idea. Did it seal ok with just jubilee clips? Or did you have to swage the ends?
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Rover 800 Vitessepeteh1969
@peteh1969
Club Retro Rides Member 107
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Jul 16, 2018 19:01:09 GMT
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Well I silver soldered some 2 x .25mm strips of brass strip around the circumference of each tube so there is a ridge for the tube to grip on with the jubilee and it's fitted to the low pressure return side so I don't have to worry about any pressure.
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Jul 16, 2018 19:38:37 GMT
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is the cooler on the low pressure side then? (needs to be for copper to work !)
but yeah on my astras they just use long stretches of hard hose like that.
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Jul 16, 2018 19:40:43 GMT
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Not checked yet. Its a bit of a maze of hoses and pipe work down the front.
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