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Fuggin 'A'!


Mr_Bo11ox

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'A FRAME' that is! My 'A' got a full days work in yesterday:

 

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7.30am, towing the Subaru to the MOT shop. OJC'ers know this car already as i have been fixing it for about 8 months now. New wings, rear arches, masses of welding, engine out, new clutch, tappets, camnbelts, respray, etc etc etc. At last it is just about finished and I want to get on with other stuff so in it went for a ticket yesterday. It failed on emissions - the MOT shop said they would turn the mixture down, but studying the haynes it appears theres no mixture screw so i'll be interested to see what the garage makes of that. Maybe they'll solder up and redrill the carb jets, ha ha! Anyway, picking it up again tonight, whether passed or failed.

 

Then last night, I blezzed down to ipswich to pick up this Rover 214. Bought this outside of eBay last week for £65 and dragged it home with the trusty Volvo, (with which I am literally developing a teenager-style infatuation, what a wonderful car it is):

 

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The bloke selling the Rover was the nicest guy you could possibly wish to meet. He'd already sold the car once on eBay for £100, the buyer had come to pick it up, then gone off on one cos the drivers door mirror is bust and it wasnt mentioned in the ad. He'd given the seller a mouthful and cleared off so our man was a bit fed up. Anyway as i was attaching the 'A' i realised I had fogotten my trailer board! I had left it in the back of the Subaru like a twat. The old boy said, 'Ah, I know, you can take the one off my gardening trailer' and set on unscrewing it from his own little trailer! I didnt even have any cash on me to buy it off him, he said 'well, you've got my address, send us a couple of packets of golden Virginia and we'll call it a deal'!!! What a legend. Anyway i towed teh Rover back to Peterborough and dumped it in the works car park, I am gonna try and get this car sorted within two weeks of it entering the workshop.

 

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I must say, it is a real cracker. MOT till may 09, 80,000 miles, one family owned until earlier this year, a genuine full history with all the old MOT's and absolutley no evidence of any rust, repairs, bodges or shonky paintwork. The flimsy placca trim is all present and correct and the whole car is straight as an arrow right down to the original BL dealer reg plates. Lovely. The timing belt has gone, this is why it was for sale, I am gonna bosh a new one on and cross my fingers when i start it. if its bust some valves, well it'll be a reasonably involved repair but manageable I think. Other than that, a new mirror and indicatopr light plus a good going over with the polishing mop should see it looking tip top! BRILLIANT

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The most recent Ms_Craig has a early 214SLi like that which cost her £200, I reckon these Rovers are well under-rated. Although hers stank horrendously of fags and had manual-adjustable mirrors crudely bodged on in place of the original electric jobs, with no rot and 50-odd k on the clock it should last her a while yet.

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Hey Mr Bollards, I hope you're going to obtain the correct trims for that Rover, makes all the difference!

 

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This guy is obviously an expert as he has turned his car to a "sporty angle" to display his lovely early-spec trims.

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Good score, esp. with proper hubcaps on the way! A G-plater is a rare bird indeed now.I counsel bad vibes on the valve-bending front. I bought a J-plate 214 16v off a mate, cheap, 8 years ago and the cambelt let go as I slowed at a petrol station then acclerated again 'cos the queues were too big. Doing 20mph in 2nd, it just cut out. Mind you, I then turned the thing over a couple of times on the starter before I called out the AA.An A-framing to my mechanic later, it turned out all 16 valves had bent and 3 of them had lodged themselves solidly in the cylinder head so that was scrap as well. It cost me as much as the car did on the rebuild (£750), but ran beautifully after that...so a good s/hand engine (with an MLS head gasket, new w/pump and belt before you bung it back in the motor) might be the best option if you can't get the original running again.

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Good to see a fellow A framer out there! I, too have been kinda busy A framing stuff recently too -latest a softtop Punto 16v with an engine thant went ''bang''. Prob a new mota.... BX GTi A framed down from darkest Essex -now up in the air, midway thrur a new clutch.Fuego turbo from Ashford Kent that just needed a wiring sort-now road legal & going thru 'snagging', and the ubiquitous Ren18 that is now my 'daily'. Pics to follow -when I remember to take some!Autumnal shift around commences shortly. Well done Mr B -nice acquisitions.

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Fair play to you. Rover=winner and you can 'A' frame too*. Is the Rover an eight valve and are the 8 and the 16V both 'K' series? *I tried once, spent probably two hours trying to hook the tw@tting things up then didn't do it properly anyhow and smashed the towing car into my car.

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Here's a tip from me - out of all the things I've ever used to darken up trim on faded old clunkers, the best is Meguairs tyre shine. Don't get the proper stuff for doing trim, for some reason it isn't anywhere near as good as the tyre shine. Costs a bit for a bottle of it, something like £8, but it lasts absolutely ages because it is used very sparingly. Can get it in Halfords and the likes.The best thing is that it tends to take trim back to its original colour too, something like Back to Black will make it full-on charcoal black, these were more of a mid grey.Those bumpers are nowhere near gone, might take a few applications though! I can do some before and afters on a near-identical 214 if you like.

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Ha ha, I wondered if they might be beyond back-to-black, I though perhaps a heat gun would put a bit of colour in their cheeks.

The old heat gun trick always works works wonders. Saves it from having to be endlessly coated with Autoguiars gloop as well!
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Well done Sir Bolleux, nice work there, I do like those paticular pre-facelift Rover 200's. Wheel trims shouldnt really be hard to get a hold of, there's usually some on evil-bay or a scrapyard, if not though make your way to Austin-Rover.co.uk on the forums, I'm sure someone will be able to help you there. (Or I can ask for you)

 

Lord Sterling

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Hey Shiters, have you met my Subaru?

 

I bought this off eBay for £46 a year or so ago. It was intended to be a quick fix-up but turned into a mega project (well mega for me anyway). Here is what I have done to it:

 

Engine out, replace cambelts, hydraulic tappets, and clutch.

New front wings

one new rear wheelarch

repairs to the other wheelarch

extensive welding to inner rear arches, lower corners behind wheels, front valance and shock mounts

assorted small dents knocked out

respray sides and tailgate

reassemble with new odds and sods - reg plates, stickers etc

rebuild front brakes

remove headlining, re-glue fabric and refit

add lashings of waxoyl

fresh MOT (passed yesterday!)

 

Here it is as of this morning:

 

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I have spent about £850 on it, far more than it is worth! Ah well.

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Your Subaru looks very neat, almost as if its just left the factory!

 

...I have spent about £850 on it, far more than it is worth! Ah well...

[rant] Thats refreshing to hear, I've seen far too many people claiming to be older car enthusiasts yet wont spend much on it because "Its not worth it" or sell a car at an inflated price because its what "it owes them"

 

In my opinion thats not what its about, its about restoring a car, enjoying it and possibly selling to another enthusiast to enjoy, its not for profit or getting your money back [/rant]

 

Anyway thats just my opinion, hope the Subaru serves you well, keep it in tip top condition!

 

Lord Sterling

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