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

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo,

I bought this Rover 25 van off eBay a little while back for the bargian price of £325.



obviously it came with a free kippered head gasket thrown in. I've never had time do do owt with it since but today i had a couple of hours AND I had had the forethought to bring it up the house so I would not need to set off down the garage!



DRIVEWAY SURGERY, i've not done that for a while. I was annoyed cos the weather was so utterly shit today, you spend all week banging away at a computer in an office all week, the weekend comes and it pisses down all day doesnt it, flipping typical. ANyway by about 5 pm it had at least stopped lashing down even if it was still blowing a gale so I got wrapped up and got stuck in.

I had a look at the throttle body. its one of these 'restricted' 84ps ones that only opens about 20%. In this case when you opened it loads of coffee cream comes glugging out!!! Nice.



Anyway it didnt take that long to get it to bits.



I was pleased to see it did not have a MLS gasket fitted, just the 'standard' single layer one with the rubber seal strip round the perimeter, much of which was no longer bonded to the gasket so it seemed a 'genuine' failure that a new gasket would cure. Hang on though whats that?



Bloody helll!!! Its only got a hole in the piston hasnt it. I don't know whats caused this as the head looks OK on this pot, no bits of valves missing or owt. The shape of it and the fact that its right in the middle suggests its burned thorugh somehow but i'm not entirely sure how.

Anyway I think the cheapest and easiest (and bodgiest) fix is to drop the sump and lob a secondhand piston in so now I am looking for a dead 1.4 bottom end, anyone got any suggestions?

[Cavcraft]

Top bombing so far, shame about the holed piston obv. Can't see a knackered 1.4 engine being hard to come by, Car Transplants worth a try?

[hairnet]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/K-series-1-4-16v-piston-Rings-Piston-conrod-MG-ZR-Rover-25-45/111094057342

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Piston-and-Con-Rod-Assembly-Metro-1-4-16v-LFL10245-/160885291693

[warren t claim]

Lob a bolt through it and put it in your local auction. That's the WARCRAFT way of dealing with holed pistons.

[Junkman]

 

 

Fuggin not so good. That wasn't really neccessary now, was it?

However, whatever caused this is also the real the reason for the OMGHGF. You better investigate further, Sherlock.

[Micrashed]

Yo, 

 

I bought this Rover 25 van off eBay a little while back for the bargian price of £325.

 

 

Bloody helll!!! Its only got a hole in the piston hasnt it.

Anyway I think the cheapest and easiest (and bodgiest) fix is to drop the sump and lob a secondhand piston in so now I am looking for a dead 1.4 bottom end, anyone got any suggestions?

 

 

then eBay....

[Albert Ross]

Or tig weld it.... "dropping the sump" on these is a little more than that, as the bearing cage needs to be released to get to the big ends, meaning the crank drops out.... Replace the engine or remove and rebuild... not possible without mega-ballache in the motor. Take a look at the bottom of the block, and you will see the lower section I am on about.

 

Edit: I "think" I'm right, but 'm still checking.... I might be thinking of K10 Micras too!

[cort16]

Do you have metal nibbling mice around your bit or something? When you took the head off your old 220 has something not nibbled all the valves?

I recon an engine swap might be the best as you could do the HG on the new engine out the car then plop it in. I guess trying to find one that hasn't been frazzled within an inch of it's life could be challenging.

[messerschmitt owner]

this is the second K series on this very forum in the last week that looks like it's well and truly f**ked.

 

 

Can I be the first to suggest dropping an 850cc Reliant engine in there and engineering it to operate with front-wheel drive. It'll be faster than trying to find a decent K-series to transplant in.

[retrogeezer]

Bugger, that ain't good is it. Is your old 220 still around for that £100 squid?

[brickwall]

If the engine was running hotter than normal for a long time it will cause burn through. It may well be that it was just driven around for a long time with the lack of cooling. There are quite a few reasons to tick of the list before you get to the bottom (no pun) of this. The heat was probably just igniting the fuel before the spark on the petrol models.

[messerschmitt owner]

talking of HGF, saw a Previa last night on the side of the M40 with the bonnet open and steam blowing wistfully into the air ...

[explosive-cabbage]

 

Bloody helll!!! Its only got a hole in the piston hasnt it. I don't know whats caused this as the head looks OK on this pot, no bits of valves missing or owt. The shape of it and the fact that its right in the middle suggests its burned thorugh somehow but i'm not entirely sure how.

 

Anyway I think the cheapest and easiest (and bodgiest) fix is to drop the sump and lob a secondhand piston in so now I am looking for a dead 1.4 bottom end, anyone got any suggestions?

PM Edd (SambaS), I think he is buying a full engine just for its head to sort out the one I'm fixing for him. If you ask him nicely he might sell you the bottom end of his.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I love the K-series and will defo not be fitting a Reliant engine. I think i should be able to get the piston out OK, the lower ladder bit of the block contains the main bearings but hopefully i will avoid getting involved with those.

 

I must say my inclination is to take the piston out and if the ring lands and that look OK, try and persuade the metalworkers at my work to tig-weld the hole up then lob it all back together. The key benefit of this plan is that it will cost about £3 in doughnuts.

[garethj]

However, whatever caused this is also the real the reason for the OMGHGF. You better investigate further, Sherlock.

What he said.  Although you can't do much investigating until you've gone to the trouble of fixing the piston and head gasket.  Bummer.

 

If the engine was running hotter than normal for a long time it will cause burn through. It may well be that it was just driven around for a long time with the lack of cooling. There are quite a few reasons to tick of the list before you get to the bottom (no pun) of this. The heat was probably just igniting the fuel before the spark on the petrol models.

Wouldn't it have pinked like a bastard doing this, as well as the temperature gauge reading high?  Ignoring both these together takes a spectacular amount of mechanical neglect, was the previous owner a young lady and do you need to check if the handbrake has been left on for months?

[Mr Lobster]

Must be said, RECSETP for fixing this. Most normal* people would send it straight over the bridge. Good to see it living to fight another day.

[brickwall]

I was thinking that as I typed it Gareth, but it was a van model so who knows what sorts were driving it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I reckon its been caned mercilessly until it died, it was a works van belonging to some chemical lab or other and apparently it died on the M40 so I reckon someone will have tried to coax it home during a boil-up with fatal consequences.

[cort16]

3 cylinder motors are quite fashionable on modern cars.

[Split_Pin]

Top shiteing from all concerned.

 

Fair play for sorting this, I'd have bailed at the jobbied piston.

[Rusty_Rocket]

I reckon its been caned mercilessly until it died, it was a works van belonging to some chemical lab or other and apparently it died on the M40 so I reckon someone will have tried to coax it home during a boil-up with fatal consequences.

This sounds like the most possible scenario I'd say..

Also, I think I'd bin the idea of re-using the bottom end.  I reckon it's got mega hot and after all the decent work you're doing at the top, it would be a proper ballsache to have liner/ block problems with it back on the road   

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Well I've been back on this tonight.

 

 

The hope was, get the piston out, get some lad to weld it up, chuck it bck in, cross fingers, turn the key. But:

 

 

Hmm, that doesnt look too healthy. After a bit of a war the piston came out:

 

 

Well coked! Its picked up a bit on one side too, plus the top ring is slightly jammed round part of its circumference:

 

 

 

Hmm! I think on reflection trying to fix this might be a bit 'flogging a dead horse'. I could find a new piston and liner but TBH a secondhand motor feels like a better option:

 

 

So now I have to find another motor, tug this back down to the garage and get the engine hoist out. BOLLOCKS!!

[cort16]

I wonder how easy it is to get a decent engine for one of these as most of them are in the scrappies because of knackered hgf? I guess a decent bottom end would do ?

[Albert Ross]

My neighbour has a complete W plated motor for sale. Just took delivery of her 06 Focus, the Rover sits on the drive.... tested but no tax I think... or at least until Sunday... £350 was mentioned. 40k or thereabouts on the clock. Location North Doncaster. Piece of piss to find from the A1.

[Lankytim]

How did you get on getting the piston out? Did everything fall to bits as expected?

[SambaS]

I'll sell you a bottom end if you're interested. I get it on Thursday.

[SambaS]

Also Steve and Benno travelling the length of England on Sunday I think so could get it to Rutland, and possibly somewhere in-between.

[crapcarcollector]

There is a 1.4 K series motor at Swynnerton Garage not far from you.

 

The owner Mark should be able to help you out. Tell him Charlie from the pub put you on to it. He's a good fella.

 

I'm sure it's had the HG done, I know it's a good one. His phone number is 01782 796265.

 

Shouldn't be dear at all, old Skool garage.

 

Hope this helps you out.

[Junkman]

My neighbour has a complete W plated motor for sale. Just took delivery of her 06 Focus, the Rover sits on the drive.... tested but no tax I think... or at least until Sunday... £350 was mentioned. 40k or thereabouts on the clock. Location North Doncaster. Piece of piss to find from the A1.

 

 

And you'd honestly have the heart to break it? Sounds like having one's cat for tea.

[Split_Pin]

I suppose a 1.8 T from a 75 would be the worst thing ever to try and install?