An Rover. Vitesse.

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mach1rob
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:22 pm

An Rover. Vitesse.

#1 Post by mach1rob » Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:28 pm

Well it had to happen at some point. 2 weeks ago I decided I'd had enough of that Mondeo, and wanted something older, simpler, and less grief to work on. So, with the Mondeo up for sale, one of my 'always wanted one of those' cars popped up for sale online, after a chat, a deal was done, which worked out fine as seller was away, and Mondeo hadn't sold. It went last week, and today I took delivery of it, as it worked out cheaper than me going to get it with a hired trailer.

Now this apparently was a Rover Management car, hence the full leather rather than cloth trim, I think I prefer the cloth, but then, it makes it posher rather than sporty inside. Maybe I'll swap it for the proper cloth one day, maybe I won't. It's been sat for a year or so, so isn't in the best of conditions, but it was bought to be a rolling resto as such, I hope to get it MOTd and taxed without too much hassle, then renovate it as we go along, as there are a few scabs breaking out, and the paintwork is flatter than roadkill. Looks like it will come back without too much grief after working on a small area.

After sitting unloved for so long, I was a bit wary of starting it, the dead battery turned out to be a loose terminal, so on turning the key, the dash lights came on, but just a whirr click was all I got. Attaching some jump leads and trying again, it turned over a few times then burst into life. It settled down to a fairly nice tickover, with the odd stutter, but then you would too after being asleep for a year! I suppose that's the joys of EFi over carbs to some extent.

Everything seems to work, the central locking, 4x electric windows, although the cassette player leaves a lot to be desired for tapes, unless you like the warble. It has a leak of coolant too, as it marked its territory after being run up, can't quite see where it's leaking from, so will require some further investigation. Hopefully nothing too serious.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to play and dig around more tomorrow, I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck into this one. :)

Oh and it's not a V8 either, it's much rarer than one of those :P

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kevin
Posts: 856
Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 7:49 am

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#2 Post by kevin » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:50 am

Looks a really nice, straight car you have there mister.

Kev

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#3 Post by rich. » Tue Aug 05, 2014 6:51 am

i always liked those, although id like another v8... will it be orange? :drool:

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TerryG
Posts: 6754
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: East Midlands

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#4 Post by TerryG » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:32 am

You should paint it blue and change your last name to bucket ;)

It's nice to see someone saving a "newer" rover. Good luck!
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#5 Post by rich. » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:44 am

Look what you made me do... wifey has hidden the cheque book....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-ROVER-35 ... 2593518757

MG Mal
Posts: 626
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:16 am
Location: Wiltshire UK

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#6 Post by MG Mal » Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:44 am

Need to bring it over Rob, then we can start "bobbing for parts" in the conservatory! LOL

mach1rob
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#7 Post by mach1rob » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:03 am

Do it Rich, you know you want to! Just think of that lusty, gutsy V8, and the burble emanating from the exhaust. ;)

Mal, once I start 'ripping' into it I may take you up on that. :)

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TerryG
Posts: 6754
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: East Midlands

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#8 Post by TerryG » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:42 am

I would love a 3500 SD1 Vitesse. The only problem is that SWMBO would have a fit. He says that he will post it to the UK Rich so you could get him to ship it to Dover then collect it from Calais ;)
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#9 Post by rich. » Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:02 pm

terry, have you thought your mrs would like an sd1 as a present?

mach1rob
Posts: 1787
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: An Rover. Vitesse.

#10 Post by mach1rob » Sat Aug 09, 2014 9:11 pm

Well the SD3 lives up to its reputation of rustiness, although I have seen much much worse over the years. It's had a bit of a cob on after being woken up, the fuel hose to filter split, now replaced, so fuel tight once more,which should now allow me to run it up to temp to see where coolant is dripping from, that is of course if it was coolant, as leak is in pretty much same place as fuel hose, and I can't actually see any coolant hoses around there. Here's a short video of that first turn after attaching jump leads, and after digging around underneath, this is what we have to sort. Well I say we, I have a very nice man who'll wield the welding torch after I clean everything up.

I'll strip seats and carpet out to give those a good clean and sort out now I've dumped the old Mondeo stuff that was clogging it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f822cUEmlwo

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So, there we have it, rest above sill level can be sorted as and when an MOT has been issued.

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