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

[Mr Lobster]

Sounds pretty cheap at £600. GLWSWTFBBQETC

 

Out of interest, what happened to that Avenger estate you had?

[Jim Bell]

I ARE RECONMEND CELLAR.  CARS CUM GRATE GOOD WITH NO BOILS. A PLUS PLUS PLUS.

[Lord Sterling]

Good luck with the sale Bol. Trying myself to sell about 6 Rover 75s/MG ZTs and not really getting very far.

 

The White Montego Si in the South of France, it doesn't happen to be White with missing wheel trims does it?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Its this one LS

 

http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/761247591.htm?ca=7_s

[UltraWomble]

A left hooker GTi - shexy.

[Pillock]

Even better, an Si Sport GTi

[Mr_Bo11ox]

So i've been driving round in this Rover 75 for the last few weeks, de-snagging it and generally getting a bit of karma going with it.

 

 

Since i put it on the road, to be fair to it its been 100% reliable and hassle free. I have slowly worked through a few little jobs that came up:

 

• Slight knock on the steering over rough ground: traced to a slightly worn TRE, replaced with a new one.
• Crummy radio cassette replaced with my sony CD player in a DIN facia panel.
• Brake pad warning light and bulb failure warning lights: fixed
• Heater cold on passenger side: Flushed and back-flushed the heater matrix several times, after a week driving round with a washing powder tablet dissolved in the coolant. Now lovely and toasty on both sides!

 

 

I've now done about 1500 miles in it and I have to say, i think its pretty much faultless now apart from the marks on the bodywork. It starts immediately, sounds sweet, temp gauge is rock steady and everything works on it (except the steering wheel controls for the radio, which dont work propelry with the Sony stereo despite me spending £25 on the pukka interface harnesses & patch leads). Fuel consumption is 33-34mpg averaged over a tank.

 

 

In terms of driving impressions, its certainly no hardship to drive this about. Its amazingly quiet, smooth and easy to drive. Its probably the quietest car I've had by some margin, you can listen to Radio 4 at 70mph and really hear the anguish in the voices of the beleaguered farmer types in 'The Archers' without any problems. The driving position is comfortable, forward visibility is good (rearwards its flippin shocking) and round the doors it has no problem keeping up with the traffic despite being the lowly 1.8, its perfectly capable of hauling its ass along at the same speeds as everyone else. The thing I like best on it, is the steering which is absolutely lovely. It is amazingly fluid, and the amount of body roll you get for a particular steering input, just feels 'right'. Its no Caterham of course but on a fairly fast, curvy A-road you can place it very accurately and the fluid steering makes it feel like you are pouring it down the road like olive oil, its a real pleasure and no other car I have driven has the same feel. It feels like it has been set up by a person who just knew how to make it feel 'right' rather than a load of computers deciding what was the 'best' spring rate and steering rack ratio etc etc.

 

 

There is a downside, and thats the inevitable fact that its a bit underpowered. Rover have got round this by gearing it quite low, so round the doors it doesnt feel underpowered at all, its perfectly OK. But on the motorway you know about it. 85mph is 4000 rpm and you are very aware of the K-series whanging away under the bonnet at these speeds. It feels a bit out of character with the quiet, languid nature of the rest of the car. Of course the K-series is a revvy unit and spending hours and hours at 4000 is probably no problem at all for it, but is just doesnt suit the vibe of the rest of the car. I know that the 2.0V6 and the 1.8 turbo have higher diff ratios and I'd love to try one to see what the difference is as the gearing is the only really negative thing on the car.

 

IN summary though its a very nice car really, its probably the least 'shite' car I've yet had. Everything works and you dont have to make any allowances for anything on it, you can just get in and drive it without thinking and you'll be very comfortable and relaxed while doing so. Its a pleasure to drive it daily. The bodywork could do with a machine polish and it does have a few scuffs & scratches but still looks very presentable and not an embarassing shite heap like most of my cars. I have got far too many cars already so if a hassle-free sale came up I'd let it go but I'm not in a gasping hurry. If anyone is seriously interested in taking it on, I'm afraid I'm hiking the price to £695 as I am now selling it in a 'fully sorted' condition with all faults including the heater etc, fettled (Although I would put the standard radio-cassette back in prior to sale). Theres a lot of shitty 75's about that have either got tricky problems to sort or which have had the HG 'fixed' but I have learned that a lot of K-series HG jobs are lash-ups using cheap eBay gaskets and over-enthusiastic skimming which cause their own sets of problems. I think a properly sorted, healthy 75 is quite a rare thing but I reckon this is one so i am going to hold out and see if someone will pay £700ish for it.

 

[hairnet]

eewar px the yank

 

that montego in frog phwoooooar

[rrsix]

Hi Mr B, Wondered if this was of any interest.

 

 

It's for sale near where I work in Rochester Kent. Sign in the windscreen says £420

[Alan_Green]

Just read the last 30 pages in one sitting. If the world was fair you'd get a £1,000 fee for the write up and another £1,250 for the car. Your ebay ad should read - Car for sale. Read pages 27 to 55 here.  (Edit - funny - 27 to 55 on Tapatalk. But pages 20 to 30 on the laptop.)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hows this for Karma???

 

 

Driving to work this morning the 'faultless' Rover has helpfully lost all drive. Clutch pedal feels quite normal but you can bosh it in and out of gear without pressing the clutch. No horrible noises from the transmission and happened while doing about 40 mph under very light load. Now I'm completely stuck as I can't move the car at all. Just waiting for the RAC.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just bought a towbar for it last night as well!!!!! Le sigh.....

[Cavcraft]

FFS! Hope it's something simple for you.

[oldcars]

hope its an easy fix for you.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I took out the airbox and loosened the clutch bleed nipple to see if the hydraulics were stuck 'out'. They weren't though and the clutch pedal felt ok till i did that so i think there's something going on with the clutch, flywheel or gearbox innards. Either way the box is gonna have to come out!!!! Muthafuckaz.

[Lankytim]

Has a shaft joint fallen to bits or something?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

 

SHITE LIVIN'

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Has a shaft joint fallen to bits or something?

Hey that's a possibility innit actually. Good idea

[Lankytim]

Or maybe the splines have stripped in a hub.

 

Tell the RAC you have a pregnant nun with you, theyl get to you quicker!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have established that the twatting driveshaft has come out of the gearbox:

 

 

I think that bearing is supposed to locate it but has failed in its duty for some reason. I have put the shaft back in and drive has been restored but that's not a 'fix' as I expect it will come out again pretty quickly.

[Lankytim]

Do I win a prize?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yeah, the rules are that the person who correctly identifies the problem, wins the opportunity to fix it!!!! I'll get the RAC to drop it off at yours. Need it back for Wednesday though

[Lankytim]

A bead of weld should do the trick!

 

On my old Xantia, the shaft and bearing was held in place on the carrier by a little odd shaped washer with a bolt through it. Maybe it's a similar set up here?

[garbaldy]

Maybe it doesn't want to leave you in fear of ending up with another owner who can't look after it.

[RobT]

Maybe it doesn't want to leave you in fear of ending up with another owner who can't look after it.

 

Or maybe it's the season for such things.  My 75 is developing a new fault every week at the moment, the mutha funster.  Latest is a bouncy front end so that's probably new shocks on the cards or something. 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just over 4 hours since my shaft popped out, I'm still waiting for a man to come with a big flat bed and give me a ride etc etc.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Still, the clutch pedal has come back and the Rover now moves under its own steam so when he does arrive I can drive straight onto his lorry!!! Ha ha

[dollywobbler]

Four hours? Blimey that's poor! 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yeah its not the best. I didn't have any RAC cover at 8am this morning, so I had to pay a £100 'service charge' to join. They have probably filed me under 'desperate/disloyal - v. Low priority'

[EssDeeWon]

Yeah 4 hours, that is poor, especially as it appears to be stranded on a busy main A road.

 

Reading all these 75 issues I think I will leave mine well alone this week, just incase there is something in the air.