R8 Loveliness

[KruJoe]

Yup:

 

 

It's a fairly clean and tidy engine bay, and certainly looked impressive in the ad pics. But there were some bits out of place, now rectified. This was the earth from batt to front panel:

 

 

Most of the battery wires from my 214 breaker we'd used on Olga, but I found this one going to the fuse box. It looks well here:

 

 

I love having a breaker to hand, it's not like a stock of bits in a shed. I can always find odds'n'sods like this clip to hold the bonnet prop:

 

 

I do like working under the bonnets of Japanese(ish) motors. Everything has its place, there are plenty of clips to hold stuff in their well-thought-out places.

 

 

That didn't stop previous owners leaving stuff dangling in daft places. Or leaving the battery rattling around on top of its bracket The throttle cable was twisted and chafing on all sorts.

The middle one of these pipes was being sucked flat when the engine ran, so I pushed a bit of rigid tube inside in attempt to solve the high idle situation:

 

 

But the idle has been fine since I put a new 'stat in, and fresh coolant. The engine was slow to warm up, but the thermostat swap cured that.

Also, out:

 

 

...and in:

 

 

I was lucky to find the new-old-stock original filter as cheap as any ont'bay. Well pleased, though it prolly makes no difference.

 

Remember this?

 

 

Well I cleared that out, and did my research about sealing the back lights, the most likely place of water ingress.

 

 

One was cracked, and both had standing water and condensation inside.

 

 

They'd be a real pain to dry out and re-fit quickly, and the ones on my breaker looked fine so I decided to use them.

 

 

These had water in too, but hadn't been sloshing around and through the bulb holes, so the lenses were clean and dry inside.

 

 

The problem is the seal material. It is an open-cell, porous foam rubber, which soaks up water and dribbles it into the light clusters. When they're full, they overflow into the boot.

And they're right under the channel beside the hatch, so there's a good water supply!

 

 

A bit of head-scratching and rummaging in junk I found this; an old Carrymat (camping mattress) off of the 1990's. Nice colour, eh?

 

 

It's a bit thicker than the original seals, squashy, but most importanly doesn't soak up water. Perfect!

 

 

Belt and braces - Gaffa tape around the edges too.

 

 

Then, just 'coz I had it to hand, a bead of Vaseline for good measure. Belt and braces, and another belt.

 

 

Jobs a good 'un. I think. (Well it was once I replaced the missing bulbs.) It has hardly rained at all since I did it, just the odd dusting of white, but I'm quite confident. There was no moisture back there after a trip to Kosovo Kar Kare.

 

 

@6-Cyl... is The Moog having the ex-Bo11 220? If so, I'll send him a pair of Carrymat seals for it when he's back from the foreign.

 

That's the jobs done so far.

Still to do:

 

 

The tailgate looks good from normal angles, but the paint looks thin behind this panel, I noticed when I fitted the missing number plate bulbs

And there are various other little bits of grot that she really deserves to have done. But I'm really crap with motivation for that kind of thing. I hope I can keep momentum.

 

Next job is to fit these:

 

 

Original front mudguards off the 214, they might help keep it a bit cleaner. The roads around here are filthy.

 

 

Next time... Disaster strikes!

[KruJoe]

So, as anyone who has been up to our place will tell you, I'm on a rather steep hill. One day last week, I rolled forward out or my parking space, stuck it in reverse (to back up to the shed for some tinkering), and dropped the clutch. There was a quiet thump and no drive. No gears, nothing. Shit. WTF have I done? Clutch...gearbox? Popped the bonnet, and the O/S driveshaft was turning. Looking under the wheel arch:

 

 

 

Cock. The 214 breaker has the K-series lump, and it's at the other side of the bay, and obviously a different gearbox, so I have no spares here. A frantic search started

It seems most Honda engined 216's being broken are autos, and they rarely had ABS. Mine's a manual, and has ABS fitted (doesn't work though). In the end, I had to order one without the ABS teeth just to get back on the road.

Oxford-Car-Parts came up trumps: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Oxford-Car-Parts They got it off their breaker and to me within 24 hours, ace service.

The bottom b-j was a pain to pop, but the rest was easy, and I had the fresh shaft on in half an hour.

 

 

 

And it drives fine again. It doesn't seem bothered by the lack of ABSness on the CV joint, it's just like the car has no ABS on it. There no light on the dash. I wonder if it has been disabled, or by-passed somehow. There's still a good fuse in for it Is this gonna come up on VOSA's computer and cause problems at MOT time?

 

Have you ever seen owt like this?

 

 

 

There has obviously been moisture trapped under that rubber thing for 20 years (What is that anyway?), eating away at the steel.

 

While I was under there, I saw the CV boot on t'other side is split, so that's one more job for the list.

Goody goody!

[Albert Ross]

Yeah, regular fail point on the Honda engined variants. Last one I did was a 416 GTi Twin Cam with full Leather. It was my neighbours car, he chopped it in against a Punto.....!

[bigstraight6]

Blimey, that driveshaft great repair of the rear lamp seals

[Micrashed]

On the plus side it failed whilst you were stopped rather than tanking along at 70ish.

 

Nice repair though - well done. I would have thrown in the towel at that point and strode off to get a gallon of four star and a box of matches

[fordperv]

ive seen this alot and it isnt just the honda ones that do it, all the ones i have done were in 1.4 kettle series to add to the rest of the problems they have, i found the rubber donut acts as a water trap, water creeps in under rusting it and weakening the shaft, if the replacement shafts were pretty rust free i used to give a wipe of silicone or vaseline around where the donut sits, probably did nothing in the long run but you gotta try

[Lacquer Peel]

On the plus side it failed whilst you were stopped rather than tanking along at 70ish.

 

Nice repair though - well done. I would have thrown in the towel at that point and strode off to get a gallon of four star and a box of matches

 

I think these breakages tend to happen when components are under most stress, shunting about at parking speeds, or out-driving* people in faster cars who aren't trying as hard.

 

BURN IT is a bit excessive for a broken driveshaft, they're easy to replace.

[Des]

That driveshaft is a bit scarey, could have been very nasty if it went at speed, might have burst through the floor and tickled your feet. Maybe worth checking them regularly with a tap of a hammer, if they 'sound' right. Don't throw away the old CV joint, if you find yourself needing the ABS it should be swapoverable.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Wow thats amazing, I have never seen that before! Great work KJ your R8 looks a cracker

[Micrashed]

BURN IT is a bit excessive for a broken driveshaft.

Not in my world, I keep telling my car that is she pisses about then shes getting taken down the Moss and treated to some matches and four star. So far she has resisted the temptation to piss me about and behaved.

Unlike the wifes car, that pisses her about weekly, I keep telling her treat it rough, tell it who is boss but she wont, she panders to the bloody thing.

[RichardMoss]

With regard to the ABS, is the toothed reluctor ring just pressed on to the CV joint as it is on the 800 series (and many other cars)? If so, it can be gently drifted off with a hammer and chisel and then tapped on to the new one.

 

Rust un der those vibration dampers is a common issue - they need to be moved aside and the driveshaft rustproofed and painted before putting it back in place.

[KruJoe]

...these breakages tend to happen when components are under most stress, shunting about at parking speeds...

This^

It was rolling forward at walking speed, and dropped the clutch, in reverse. High torque, not high speed situation. But yes, I was lucky it happened at home, so all it took was a minute under Samara POWER to drag it up to my top shed.

 

The ABS bumps are cast into the CV casing, so yes, I can swap that over if I really need to. The old one was a bit slack and clacky, though.

 

So, the rubber thing is a vibration damper, eh? How posh.

If I have the shaft out again, I'll 'slip off the rubber, and grease it up'.

 

While I had the wheels off, I swapped the fronts off the breaker onto this one. They're a nice matching pair of Pirelli P3000s, and I can confirm that equipped with them, Ronda surpassed all expectations driving in the snow over Malham Moor today. This is at Pen-Y-Ghent:

 

 

She performed impressively well. It was pretty wild up there!

[Rod/b]

Re it being like the car not having ABS, did it work before? Chances are it didn't, the ABS was a bit rubbish on R8s, so i'd be inclined not to worry about fitting the ring over your shaft (fnaar, snurgle etc)

 

As has been mentioned re the driveshafts, "they all do that sir". There's a great vid on Youtube of some bloke attempting a 1/4 mile at Santa Pod in his GTi finding that out...

[KruJoe]

No, it didn't work before. In fact, before I started shopping for drive shafts, I didn't know it was fitted. All the components seem to be there, including the (good) fuse and relay in their special holder here:

 

 

There's no ABS light on the dash. Has the bulb been taken out I wonder?

When I take it to 'Jack the Test', will it come up on his computer as having ABS fitted, and therefore fail the MOT?

[Rod/b]

Not sure on that front. Albert's a tester isn't he? Hopefully he'll drop in and let you know.

[Shep Shepherd]

Top work with the rear light seal replacement. If only I had thought to do the same thing with mine

[KruJoe]

I'm still loving Ronda the Honda-engined Rover as our daily driver and work vehicle. Since the drama of the sheared drive-shaft, she has performed brilliantly, being all the car anyone could ever need.

 

Last week, we went on a run out to Happy Shopper. It was closed.

 

 

More of that later.

 

As you may have read in this thread...

http://autoshite.comml/topic/14437-rover-216sli-auto-%C2%A3100-honda-engined-quick-sale-needed/

...Vulgalour's brother has been trying to (almost) give away this shiny 216 auto.

 

 

All he wanted was bridge money for it, but didn't want to see it fragged. None of us did. But after two weeks, no-one would commit to a save.

On the eve of its planned execution at the weekend, VAngyl PM'd me, bemoaning its fate. I couldn't bear it, and caved. For the price of a night in a B+B, I agreed to go down for it next day. How could I resist? At £70, I didn't have the heart to try bidding him down...

 

The perfectly legal* A-framing mission went swimmingly - one spy shot at a derelict pub:

 

 

Yeah, I know it's not a great idea to tow an auto for any distance, but I had few choices for this mission. I chose to risk it, and the car seems not to have suffered.

 

So I how have a tricolour of the bloody things.

 

 

The story of the blue one is here:

http://autoshite.comml/topic/9957-joes-breaking-thread-r8-214-v850-205-escrot-justy/

 

 

The only justification to 'the powers that be' here is that either this red one is moved on very quickly to a new home, or the blue one is weighed off (it has donated most of its usefulness now), and keep the red one for spares. As it's a 216SLi like the white car, it's a better match under the bonnet.

 

While it would be a shame to break such a clean, original vehicle, it desperately needs more time and parts than I have, and even with a new test, it would still be worth next to nothing, such is the deeply unfashionable status of these just now. Even with the bits I have, I'd still need to invest at least £300 to get a new ticket. It's not gonna be worth it for anyone to do it, as you could buy the best 216 automatic in the world for £450 at the moment.

 

Having a poke around today, I found more and more bits of it which I'd like on my daily. So that's the plan. Over time, I'll move the posh bits across to make Ronda something rather special. Graham's car will not die in vain.

What's more, nor will the old blue 214... I have plans for that too.

 

 

[John F]

Are you going to pilot the blue one around the oval, Joe?

 

(leaps into flame-proof bunker...)

[vulgalour]

I'm really happy to hear it's going to be used rather than just fragged.  There should be a wealth of useful bits on the red one and it sounds like you've come to the same conclusion as Graham did on the repair work needed versus their current worth.  He was all set to sort it out - hence buying the repair panels, other stuff had been priced up and was in line for purchase - and move house with it but the cost of that, plus house move, plus impulse BMW meant it wasn't to be.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I'm still up for making use of the engine in the blue one if possible, not in any hurry though

[fordperv]

love how many youve got, i had (all 214si pre facelift) a red one, a white one, a biscuit beige coloured one, a silver one which was a 3 door, and a brg 414si i loved them 

[Honey Badger]

I had a 216 SLi just like the red one for 6 years, it was a absolute diamond of a car, my brother run it for another 5 after I passed it over to him. It was passed to mate to help him out and he scrapped her even though there was nothing wrong with the old girl, he just didn't want to drive a Rover.

 

I still have a hankering for a R8 coupe, they still are fine looking cars.

[KruJoe]

H.Badger, you have good taste. Shame about the fate of your SLi. Sadly I think many have gone that way.

 

Fordperv, you had the holy grail! I have a hankering for a beige 214, they do exist, though I've never seen one for real. This one was on ebay a few months back:

 

 

Beige inside, too!

A Ford man - with all those Rovers? I won't ask what Fords you've had - I bet we'd be here all night!

 

Alf_Bollox, I won't be weighing in the lump, fret not. It's here for whoever snaffles it first. I'll just make a 'half cut' of the car and save the oily bits in that for now. I'll keep it off the ground and under cover 'til it's needed.

 

V&A, I did consider saving the red car, but comparing the radiators - nowhere near a match for the 214, catalyst: nowt like, driveshafts: forget it... the list goes on. 'Tis a shame, but she'll see second best up here.

I hope Graham has better luck with his 518 - it certainly looks a cracker.

 

Oh, and the red one arriving gave me ideas for the blue one...

Are you going to pilot the blue one around the oval, Joe?

Nope. I'm not telling yet, but it does involve this, which I found in the back of the old workshop:

 

 

That transformer weighs about the same as my wife!

New discs have been ordered today. Hopefully I'll have something to show for it by Shitefest weekend.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey Kruj, has the blue one got PAS?

[KruJoe]

Nope.

It was an ace steer on the open road, but flippin heavy to park. To me the PAS 216's are the opposite - a touch Japanese in their over-assistance.

[Rover414]

I could do with one of those wheeltrims to complete my set!

[RobT]

God they look miserable in beige don't they.  Needless to say I like it    Yours is shaping us nicely Joe.

 

I'm off to view an R8 this weekend so will make sure I check out the driveshafts after what happened to you!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My dad's still got his blue G-reg one, he's LOVING IT man. He literally can't believe you can leave a car for a week and it will just start up no problems, he's still living in a world of points and carburettors.

[KruJoe]

Yep, I'll do that before it's parked in the grass. 

The 214 had a new centre section when I parked it, but it's not so good now. I expected the cat to be returning to nature when I moved the car, but didn't think I'd find this:

 

[KruJoe]

Yup