Rover 100 Knightsbridge (1996)

[RichardMoss]

Recently purchased from MGMal, this is intended to be my eldest daughter's car once she has learned to drive next year/early 2014. I know it's a while off but it does give me time to sort a few little issues.

 

The cars is a 1996 Rover 100 Knightsbridge - 3 door with 1100cc of 8valve K series engine, 5 speed box and just 22,700 miles on the clock from new (backed up by some service history). Overall it's in pretty good nick - the engine is smooth and very quiet, the front and rear arches are excellent apart from a small area on the right rear, brakes and steering seems OK but the clutch feels a bit sticky (probably the cable). There is no rot in the boot corners, doors or wings and the underside is generally good with just a couple of small holes in the floors. The radiator looks good, the fan cuts in at the right time and the temp stays under 1/2. The interior is pretty good apart from failed stitching on the driver's seat base and a few headliner issues (well, it IS a Rover). It should make an excellent project and equally good first car.

 

Jobs to do include:

Service - including precautionary cambelt change - possibly water pump, too

Fix a few bits of trim: driver's seat base, headlining and door card (door card already done)

Repair small areas of rust on the right rear arch, rear valance, floor and scuttle panel.

Fit new stereo (the display on this one seems to have failed)

Fix nearside central locking

Replace rear tyres - legal but old and mismatched.

Change heater blower (it vibrates like mad - probably bearings)

Change front and rear screen seals

Rustproof!!!!! It IS a Metro and is currently quiet good so I'd like it to stay that way.

Precautionary water hose changes

Plus some other stuff that I've forgotten!

 

1100cc of raw power!

Nice clean coolant

Scruffy bulkhead

Scabby scuttle

Rot free boot corners - most Metro owners know all about this area's problems

Holed floor

Wheel arch

[RichardMoss]

Recently purchased from MGMal, this is intended to be my eldest daughter's car once she has learned to drive next year/early 2014. I know it's a while off but it does give me time to sort a few little issues.

 

The cars is a 1996 Rover 100 Knightsbridge - 3 door with 1100cc of 8valve K series engine, 5 speed box and just 22,700 miles on the clock from new (backed up by some service history). Overall it's in pretty good nick - the engine is smooth and very quiet, the front and rear arches are excellent apart from a small area on the right rear, brakes and steering seems OK but the clutch feels a bit sticky (probably the cable). There is no rot in the boot corners, doors or wings and the underside is generally good with just a couple of small holes in the floors. The radiator looks good, the fan cuts in at the right time and the temp stays under 1/2. The interior is pretty good apart from failed stitching on the driver's seat base and a few headliner issues (well, it IS a Rover). It should make an excellent project and equally good first car.

 

Jobs to do include:

Service - including precautionary cambelt change - possibly water pump, too

Fix a few bits of trim: driver's seat base, headlining and door card (door card already done)

Repair small areas of rust on the right rear arch, rear valance, floor and scuttle panel.

Fit new stereo (the display on this one seems to have failed)

Fix nearside central locking

Replace rear tyres - legal but old and mismatched.

Change heater blower (it vibrates like mad - probably bearings)

Change front and rear screen seals

Rustproof!!!!! It IS a Metro and is currently quiet good so I'd like it to stay that way.

Precautionary water hose changes

Plus some other stuff that I've forgotten!

 

1100cc of raw power!

Nice clean coolant

Scruffy bulkhead

Scabby scuttle

Rot free boot corners - most Metro owners know all about this area's problems

Holed floor

Wheel arch

[CreepingJesus]

Not bad at all, looks like you bagged a good 'un there. If the old clunkers still soldiering on round here are anything to go by!

[CreepingJesus]

Not bad at all, looks like you bagged a good 'un there. If the old clunkers still soldiering on round here are anything to go by!

[Guest]

Not a bad choise and not as common anymore either - round here anyway (Duffers have Kia's / Hyundais now). I had 2 Kensington se models and a 114 GSI and they never failed at all.

[Guest]

Not a bad choise and not as common anymore either - round here anyway (Duffers have Kia's / Hyundais now). I had 2 Kensington se models and a 114 GSI and they never failed at all.

[Volksy]

I quite liked my 111GSi, quite a fun little car, and surprisingly good fun on the lanes. It suffered from OMGHGF but as long as you didn't push it it would behave itself. Had to top the coolant up daily, which then led to it freezing several times in the winter as I never bothered with antifreeze. I then just topped it up with hot water instead. It got to the point where when ran, it would piss a stream of water from betwix head and block. Given I paid exactly two pints of stella for it, it did sterling service for a lot longer than expected.

[Volksy]

I quite liked my 111GSi, quite a fun little car, and surprisingly good fun on the lanes. It suffered from OMGHGF but as long as you didn't push it it would behave itself. Had to top the coolant up daily, which then led to it freezing several times in the winter as I never bothered with antifreeze. I then just topped it up with hot water instead. It got to the point where when ran, it would piss a stream of water from betwix head and block. Given I paid exactly two pints of stella for it, it did sterling service for a lot longer than expected.

[Guest]

Drifting a bit, I recall a fabby posh Kensington lady of my passing acquaintance who had an MG Metro, which she drove around Smokeyville at mighty speeds. She was a pretty fast girl in many respects. Ahhh, yoooof.

[Guest]

Drifting a bit, I recall a fabby posh Kensington lady of my passing acquaintance who had an MG Metro, which she drove around Smokeyville at mighty speeds. She was a pretty fast girl in many respects. Ahhh, yoooof.

[Cavcraft]

HAHA UR NO PLAT IS GAY OMG

 

That's a really tidy little car.

[M'coli]

This is a tidy wee thing - I kept admiring it under its dust sheet whenever I was out at "The Barn" - although I'm amazed at the rot on the lip of the scuttle!

[M'coli]

This is a tidy wee thing - I kept admiring it under its dust sheet whenever I was out at "The Barn" - although I'm amazed at the rot on the lip of the scuttle!

[pandarus]

Must admit to seeing a very nice white MG Metro at a classic show on Sunday and feeling a little nostalgic...

[pandarus]

Must admit to seeing a very nice white MG Metro at a classic show on Sunday and feeling a little nostalgic...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Smart little car, should clean up nicely.

 

HAHA UR NO PLAT IS GAY OMG

and someone's got their knob out on the back seat!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Smart little car, should clean up nicely.

 

HAHA UR NO PLAT IS GAY OMG

and someone's got their knob out on the back seat!

[RichardMoss]

This is a tidy wee thing - I kept admiring it under its dust sheet whenever I was out at "The Barn" - although I'm amazed at the rot on the lip of the scuttle!

I'm sure that it is water that has been trapped by the rubber seal. I have a replacement scuttle but I'm going to try for localised repairs first and see how it goes.

 

HAHA UR NO PLAT IS GAY OMG

It doesn't bother my daughter!

[RichardMoss]

This is a tidy wee thing - I kept admiring it under its dust sheet whenever I was out at "The Barn" - although I'm amazed at the rot on the lip of the scuttle!

I'm sure that it is water that has been trapped by the rubber seal. I have a replacement scuttle but I'm going to try for localised repairs first and see how it goes.

 

HAHA UR NO PLAT IS GAY OMG

It doesn't bother my daughter!

[Timewaster]

someone's got their knob out on the back seat!

 

Not what you want to hear about your daughters car!

[Timewaster]

someone's got their knob out on the back seat!

 

Not what you want to hear about your daughters car!

[DSdriver]

I was a bit perturbed by the joins in the windscreen pillars but having done a quick google image search I see that they are all like that. Probably some sort of style feature hark back to the welded seams on the shell of the mini.

[DSdriver]

I was a bit perturbed by the joins in the windscreen pillars but having done a quick google image search I see that they are all like that. Probably some sort of style feature hark back to the welded seams on the shell of the mini.

[Lord Sterling]

Nice tidy little Metro Richard, should suit Hannah down to the ground, I read on the Rover forum that she was pleased with it.

 

Amazing to think that when I last saw Hannah, she was still a child. That said, I had my 827Si then which is probably now serving as tin cans and razor blades. How times change.

[Lord Sterling]

Nice tidy little Metro Richard, should suit Hannah down to the ground, I read on the Rover forum that she was pleased with it.

 

Amazing to think that when I last saw Hannah, she was still a child. That said, I had my 827Si then which is probably now serving as tin cans and razor blades. How times change.

[RichardMoss]

Hell, yes, time flies. It's about 7 years since I bought my first Rover 800. This car is the same age as Hannah - they're both 1996 vintage.

[RichardMoss]

Hell, yes, time flies. It's about 7 years since I bought my first Rover 800. This car is the same age as Hannah - they're both 1996 vintage.

[Guest]

Houly Fecque! I have just seen a well knackered Rover 100 storming the roads of rural Umbria. The level of qualidee shite around here is most pleasing, I must say.

[Guest]

Houly Fecque! I have just seen a well knackered Rover 100 storming the roads of rural Umbria. The level of qualidee shite around here is most pleasing, I must say.

[RichardMoss]

LONG overdue for an update here:

Work on this has been "sporadic" to put it mildly, consisting of the odd few days of frantic welding when I've been back in the UK and other jobs done by my father in law and my daughter.    However, what has been done is:

Floor repairs - removing badly fitted plates tacked on top of rust.  I've done a lot of cutting, shaping and seam welding to floors, inner sills, outer sills (small areas), plus a partial replacement of rear arch on the passenger side (only replacing the bits that were rusty).  The floor have been rust treated, Hammerited, fitted with soundproofing pads and undersealed.  Sills and rear arches have been treated with rustproofing wax.
Arch and rear valance resprayed with Halfords rattle cans - excellent colour match.
Replacement stereo with MP3 capability - very important for a 17 year old!  New speakers to go with it.
Front seats replaced with much better used items (actually, we primarily sorted the splits driver's seat by fitting the cushions from the replacement passenger seat to it).
Windscreen and rear quarterlight seals replaced (Ralph provided the front, Autoglass the rear and the quarterlight ones from a supplier found via the www).  We reckon that water ingress through the perished screen seals was the reason for the rusty floor
Driver's door card repaired
Passenger door central locking actuator replaced
Faulty heater blower replaced
And loads of smaller jobs that I can't remember right now

Arch during and after repair but before paint.





Floors and sills before repairs. No after shots available at the moment. As with all of these things the extent of the rot turned out to be worse than expected





The car is off to a local, trusted garage on monday for a new timing belt, water pump, full service, Hydragas pump up and MOT etc.    Fingers crossed......  After that the headlining will be tidied up.

Then if my daughter's driving test goes well it will be pressed into service in a  few weeks.  Of course, that leave the issue of "new driver" insurance with no NCB.  Currently that appears to be about £1300 for the first year for comprehensive with breakdown cover.

 

There should be some updated photos winging their way to me via the www in the next few days so they'll be put up here,