Reginald Nutsack's K-series Kapers - ROVER 623 MOT GUFF

[overrun]

I did wetvac the carpets after hsoing em and the top side is pretty dry but the foam on the bottom is wringing wet and is gonna take yonks to dry out.

 

I think I might have a crack with the steam cleaner, seemingly you dont use any cleaning products just give it a good blast with the steamer and then a rub with a cloth?

I pressure washed, wet vacced and squeezed the bastard with me hand and tried treading it out with foot pressure.

If the time of year is wrong, it won't be rushed!

[overrun]

I once blasted some Pug 106 seats with the Karcher, after hearing nothing but positive things.

I reckon I got too close.

[Split_Pin]

Good read there, you've really turned things round for this Rover.

[Jim Bell]

Stirling work man.

 

If you're going to jet wash an interior. Just do it in situ.

 

It's quicker, easier and there are no* drawbacks.

[beko1987]

I wouldn't jetwash the seats. That's just asking for trouble. I hate wet vaccing the meriva as the foam soaks all the water up and stays damp for ages. Which is a shame as the rear seats desperately need doing. Needs a meltingly hot day for that really.

 

Can you not bung the carpets in the airing cupboard for a week or something? Then lay them out on your living room floor and vaccum them with a hoover junior or Turbopower with an decent brushbar with beaters to revive the pile?

[cort16]

That's a shit load of work taking the interior out I'd maybe give it a some shakenvac or a scoot of fabrise before putting it back in.

 

It'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against the Primera. I'm going to guess badly.

[mouseflakes]

The carpet in these is a hell of thing. Its got an integral foam rubber backing (presumably for soundproofing) thats anything up to like 1.5" thick!!! It weighs a flippin ton and getting it out of the car is a right war.

 

 

Looks like you've been wrestling a pile of whale tripe

[Mr_Bo11ox]

‘He spent his days wrestling large piles of whale tripe, he got quite good at it by the end’ I think I’d like that on my headstone actually.

 

The Primera is such an all-round great car that I don’t see how the 75 can be any better than it except perhaps at 80mph on a motorway, I imagine the 75 to be a bit more supple on the suspension and more relaxed inside (although nowt like as good if you want to burn off some kekkers). Still getting 37mpg average off the Nissan too, the Rover isn’t gonna do any better than that.

 

But the 75 still has a tiny nugget of ‘wow factor’ to me, it still seems in my eyes like an ‘exciting’ ‘new’ car with a bit of something special about it, even though I know very well that all remaining examples (V8 excepted) are within a gnats of being made into fridge freezers. Even when my £150 Project Driven 1.8 shitbox is parked up with a flat tyre and loads of scratches and scuffs all over it I still think it looks a bit spesh.

[chaseracer]

Looks like you've been wrestling a pile of whale tripe

 

It concerns me slightly that you can make that comparison...

 

[skattrd]

... NO MORE ROVERS!!!

 

As much as I enjoy reading your exploits with knackered k-series I think this is probably a wise move.

I hate to imagine how much time and money you have spent on these.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think I have well an truly 'spent my K-series wad', I used to think any k-series HGF could be fixed with a £35 gasket/bolt set off eBay, all 3 have done ended up costing £200+ in parts!!! Brilliant innit. At least I can hold a conversation about repairing K-series motors in the pub now though.

[dollywobbler]

I think I have well an truly 'spent my K-series wad', I used to think any k-series HGF could be fixed with a £35 gasket/bolt set off eBay, all 3 have done ended up costing £200+ in parts!!! Brilliant innit. At least I can hold a conversation about repairing K-series motors in the pub now though.

 

This man is impressed.

[saucedoctor]

I think I have well an truly 'spent my K-series wad', I used to think any k-series HGF could be fixed with a £35 gasket/bolt set off eBay, all 3 have done ended up costing £200+ in parts!!! Brilliant innit. At least I can hold a conversation about repairing K-series motors in the pub now though.

 

You'll be unique in most pubs in that you actually know what you're talking about.

[mouseflakes]

This man is impressed.

Is that a glass of K-series 'coolant' he's supping?

[Parky]

Get a couple of cans of comma air con cleaner. They are like tear gas canisters, set the AirCon on full, chuck them in and give it ten minutes with the engine running.

 

The car will stink of what can best be described as Lemon flavoured Meths but it kills off most smells. Remember all those lovely dog germs and bacteria will be growing in the vents and a lot of smell will be from there.

 

If nothing else it's a chance to pretend you are a crack Mossad agent attempting to flush out a gang of terrorists - Raid on Entebbe - the Longbridge mission!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Oooh that's a good idea, I will do just that

[Barry Cade]

Get a couple of cans of comma air con cleaner. They are like tear gas canisters, set the AirCon on full, chuck them in and give it ten minutes with the engine running.

 

 

If nothing else it's a chance to pretend you are a crack Mossad agent attempting to flush out a gang of terrorists - Raid on Entebbe - the Longbridge mission!

Take the pollen filter out first...

[cobblers]

Then blow it out with the compressor or throw it away buy a new one for £6 from ECP that doesn't fit.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

got a replacement alloy wheel & decent tyre for this 75 today for £20!!! what a barg.

[montytom]

These 75s are an absolute bargain at the moment. I have 2 75s currently one which i think is too good for autoshite and the other im trying to sell but all ive had is messers so i think i may end up keeping that one as well.

Please do keep posting about these cars as they are great things and dont deserve the reputation-Saying that they are starting to be seen as great cars

[dollywobbler]

Starting? I'm struggling to think of another 'modern' that has such an enthusiastic following. Still quite a few 'bangers' like this one out there, that haven't been cherished, but an awful lot of them have been very well looked after. 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo!!! Quick update on the 75 for those who havent been reading the tat blog.

 

So last time I took the interior out to try and banish the horrific stench inside the car. Heres the stripped-out insides of the 75:

 

 

I cleaned the carpet by blasting it with a hosepipe and scrubbing the carpet with a brush. Loads of muck came out:

 

 

 

 

Only problem with that was the foam backing got soaked through and was still wet a fortnight later!!! Summer job really that, not something for December.

 

Cleaned up the centre console a bit:

 

 

Cleaned the chairs with a steam claener, though to be fair they weren't too disgusting (cleaned one is on the right!!!!)

 

 

 

Carpet goes back in, despite still being a bit damp (I was sick of waiting)

 

 

After a lot of fannying about I got the whole interior back in. The bit of trim above the radio is broken and the radio itself is wank so I need to come up with something better, ideally an in-dash CD player or something

 

 

Welded a reinforcement onto the handbrake compensator as these are reputedly made of cheese, and the handbrake was mega crap:

 

 

Manual adjustment of the rear shoes!!!! can you believe it!

 

 

 

The handbrake is flipping red hot now fortunately,

 

New front pads:

 

 

The pad wear sensor must be damaged as the light is still on, think I will just bridge that to put the light off.

 

Scratches in the windscreen:

 

 

Managed to polish these out quite successfully with some 'cerium oxide' bought off the bay. Its a slow old job but I shifted about 90% of the scratches so I think have avoided an MOT fail and subsequent new screen.

 

 

Job half-done in this pic, the yellow line was previously round a big patch of 'frosted glass' which cleaned up nicely, in natural light I dont think you'll see any sign of the scratches but you can see em here thanks to the halogen work light in my garage

 

 

Havent got any photos of the finished job as I forgot to take any!!! Brilliant innit

 

Got a new bonnet cable and installed and that, now we have a fully functional set of bonnet latches etc. The cables and latches and whatnot are proper cheap flimsy crap, I'm not surprised they go on the blink a lot!!! Also refitted the grille with new pukka 'scrivet' clips so thats all good.

 

 

One tyre kept going flat, the tread wasnt great (all 3 otheres are new for some reason) and the wheel was a bit chewed where I'd butchered the locking nut off, plus it was all kerbed off the old boys efforts. Got a new wheel for £20:

 

 

Unfortunatley it was off the other side so the tyre needed turning round. Did it DIY STYLZ using a bit of carpet to reduce damage to the wheel when bashing it about:

 

 

And thats about where I'm up to.

 

 

It now runs, drives, everything works more or less, cant see any obvious roadworthiness issues so its going in for an MOT this week. Still needs a good sesh with the polishing mop and most of all I think it needs to be used. The engine has not got properly warm since its been back together, it warms up on the gauge but thats not properly warm, I think it needs a good long drive to get it properly hot and then just use, to dry out the interior and get it back in the shite karma zone. I think I will put it on the road for a month or two and see if I like it then decide what to do next with it. Nice looking car though!!!

 

 

[purplebargeken]

These really are absolutely ace cars. There is some kind of very slight modification for the bonnet release cable (it's on the R75 forum somewhere). Might be worth getting a couple of those dehumidifying tub things, they do work and would help with the soggy carpet stuff. 

 

Lovely looking car by the way. 

 

I have some chrome door mirrors and a spare proper wooden dash set plus door switches that I found in the garage today. Any R75 botherer want them? Might also have some kind of radio thingy too with code. 

[garethj]

Brilliant work, if the essence of Autoshite is to spend far too much time and money on a car that will never be worth it, you've nailed it.

 

Is there a chance these things are worth a fortune somewhere in Europe and it can be your gateway to a million?  Or at least £500?

[Jim Bell]

Tremendous work. Looks a hundred bucks.

And that's nearly seventy five quid!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I value this car at about £500, its a mid-range spec with a bit of Project Drive and the crappest engine option, so really has nowt to reccomend it except that the engine has at least been 'done' so you could reasonably expect it to last a couple of years before it buggers up again I think. Pretty much any other R75 variant would be better. Still, its made a good story hasnt it!

[phil_lihp]

It's a good job well done though.  At least you've got the satisfaction of turning a disgusting and broken car into a clean, shiny and functional one that'll do someone a good turn for a while yet, that's worth more than money.

 

Well, it would be if you could pay for food and housing with Rover Restoration Credits.  Didn't work for me, sadly.

[crapcarcollector]

I like that, a lot. These 75's are really growing on me.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

well it might find itself available on the bo11ox shite car loan scheme if it proves reliable, stay tuned

[UltraWomble]

 Might be worth getting a couple of those dehumidifying tub things, they do work and would help with the soggy carpet stuff. 

Go down to Pets R Us or whatever your local pet emporium is and purchase a large bag of silica cat litter.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/silica-gel-non-clumping-cat-litter--38ltr

 

Fill up one old sock leaving enough room to knot the end - fit inside a second old sock then put under the seat ( do one for each side) on a normal car I would say change the litter once a month, but on that probably once a week for a few weeks.

 

You will be surprised how well it works.

 

Car looks pretty ace BTW and repsect for your Rover Reviving skillorz.