1997 Rover 200 bubble T16 Turbo

Some nice work done there. I do not envy you laying on the floor for such a long time and quality work done on a car, you are not sure you will keep it for a long time.

I’ve sold it already. I only posted that vid so he could see what he was in for. I titled it as Test, rather than senator 1, I should take it down really but fun watching the comments!

Did you get it to the garage for it’s paintwork?

I moved the car across on trolley jacks so i could access the right side. For some reason i thought this was going to be easy and fast but it wasnt. The rear wheel arch itself was perfect and the closing panel at the rear of the sill was also really good. However the internal structure at the rear end of the sill required major surgery.











I chopped off the outer sill skin and then poked at what i was hoping was just surface rust, but it was rot. So i had to cut off the bottom of the b-pillar, the lower reinforcer, and the inner sill where it comes down the the bottom lip of the sill.



I fabricated a section with the correct s bend in it for the lower section of sill and hammered in two ribs to replicate the ribs where the jacking point is. Then welded that in and red oxide painted it.











Next i stitched together two sill skin sections and welded that on over the top. I was really rushing all this work as i was really running out of time. It was all done in the evenings and one weds afternoon followed by a last sprint on the Saturday. I loaded it up and stuffed it on the trailer and got it up to Mike Dave and Kieran at Midland Performance and Retro to sort the rest and paint it.

















Lots of teh images below are actually stills from my video as i was rushing so much i didnt take photos!

More photos. Bumpers are replacement second hand and now in primer.

Front wings are brand new genuine Rover parts, £37 each side plus VAT, so it was silly not to.









Tailgate hinges also being attended to. Mike thinks it can be repaired without needing new metal or any welding.



And more progress with the rear wing.

They are cracking cars, even in standard form, and chronically underrated - until they've nearly all gone...

I always thought so. Fast, comfy, reliable (insert head gasket joke here)

It’s currently fitted with a dizzy engine where as mine is the later wasted spark type. Plus I think the fuse box has been swapped over? Something funny with it.