Dollywobbler's GR-8 Rover - getting better all the time

[vulgalour]

  On 14/08/2014 at 10:01, Partridge said:

You should have left it like that. Sell advertising space to a ham factory or a square factory. Or a square and ham factory?

 

Or...

 

 

I'm in full agreement that this seems to be a rather good purchase as DW cars go, it's strange to see one with so little in the way of rust.  Looks super just as it is, but I can understand the desire to de-spoiler and de-grille it, I'd also want to get rid of those gopping alloys and put something nicer/differently gopping on in their place.

[dollywobbler]

The alloys are lovely.

 

Anyway, cambelt fail. That pulley bolt has, perhaps unsurprisingly, defeated me. Arse.

[mat_the_cat]

You're not planning on heading northwards any time soon are you?

[saucedoctor]

  On 19/08/2014 at 14:03, dollywobbler said:

The alloys are lovely.

 

Anyway, cambelt fail. That pulley bolt has, perhaps unsurprisingly, defeated me. Arse.

Can you borrow something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOROSO-61805-HONDA-ACURA-CRANKSHAFT-PULLEY-WRENCH-/331267683829?pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&hash=item4d2117b5f5

 

or maybe do the put it in gear and stand on the brakes trick. Dunno if it works on the Honda motor.

 

 

[dollywobbler]

Sod it. That job isn't happening this week! The brakes/in-gear approach didn't work at all and may have highlighted that the clutch is shite. Depressingly, the oil I bought for it managed to leak over the back seat, and the cavity wax managed to leak all over the seatbelts when I squirted it in yesterday. And one of the rear tyres has a leak and was down to 10psi. Shitty, annoying day. 

[dollywobbler]

Rear tyre resealed, fresh engine oil lobbed in. I bloody hope tomorrow's drive to Kent is a lot less eventful than Philibusmo's Princess mission.

[twosmoke300]

your in a honda engined rover it will be boring but revvy

[KruJoe]

3000 rpm = 60 mph in top. Frantic.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Wow that's remarkable, 3000 was just under 80 in the 220.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Increasingly makes me wonder what the point of the 1.6 was. The K-Series does pretty much everything (bar the obvious) just as well if not better, while the 2-litre seems a much better bet all-round. Especially as road tax is the same. Fortunately, Japanese engines seem quite merry at buzzing away at high speeds, so I'll just crank up the stereo and ignore it. 

[cort16]

I had that Civic aerodick with the 1.6 vtec engine and it was the same. It made your head rattle on long journeys. Also it was really shit on fuel. What's this like?

[dollywobbler]

32mpg locally with hoon, 36mpg on a run. Pretty poor for a 1.6EFi - about the same as most 2-litres in my experience. 

[Honey Badger]

Aye they do rev quite high at motorway speeds but they are still comfortable enough on a long drive, I really enjoyed my 1.6 R8 it always felt quick and responsive and sounded nice when you thrashed it, each to their own I suppose, I've done quite ages long runs from Northants to Cumbria, Cornwall and highland Scotland in mine and felt fine when I got there.

 

The S2000 is th same 4500rpm at 80mph but the seats are comfortable so long journeys are a doodle

[dollywobbler]

I wonder if the cat is clogged on this one. It really doesn't have any get up and go about it. Snarls aggressively, but just doesn't really go. However, it has successfully got me 270 miles away from home, so I can't really complain. I used Pink Floyd and Mad Dog Mcrea to drown out the hideous buzz of the engine.

[cort16]

I'd be happy enough with that I got much worse mpg than that from the civic it was hopeless. I think all the v-tecs are pretty juicy mind you.

I take it no-one on here has one you could have a timed 0-60 to see if yours is dragging its heels?

[dollywobbler]

Would be great if someone brought another to Rockingham on Monday!

[320touring]

  On 21/08/2014 at 16:49, dollywobbler said:

Would be great if someone brought another to Rockingham on Monday!

A scrappy's wet dream;)

[dollywobbler]

Incidentally, checked the oil level earlier. It hasn't budged a bit since I put the fresh oil in. Hopefully it has cleared its piston rings out a bit. I'll keep an eye out for blue smoke.

[hairnet]

mums civic 1.6 vtec yo

 

between 40 and 45 on mway at 80mph

 

doing 4k tho

 

nippy enough tho - not going rockingham on monday tho

[NorfolkNWeigh]

  On 21/08/2014 at 07:47, dollywobbler said:

Aye. Increasingly makes me wonder what the point of the 1.6 was. The K-Series does pretty much everything (bar the obvious) just as well if not better, while the 2-litre seems a much better bet all-round. Especially as road tax is the same. Fortunately, Japanese engines seem quite merry at buzzing away at high speeds, so I'll just crank up the stereo and ignore it.

 

The 1.6 was essential for company car fleets, no one would choose a 414 against a 1.6 Onoin or Astra Belend. The company I worked for gave a choice between 216Gti Twin Cam ,1.6 Ghiai Orion or Belmont 1.8Cdi at one management level- result was a carpark full of Bemonts- it had the biggest engine therefore must be best!

About the only person who chose the Rover was an HR lady who happened to be married to a certain John Towers, so I'm guessing a Belmont might not have been welcome at home.

[Six-cylinder]

  On 22/08/2014 at 15:14, NorfolkNWeigh said:

The 1.6 was essential for company car fleets, no one would choose a 414 against a 1.6 Onoin or Astra Belend. The company I worked for gave a choice between 216Gti Twin Cam ,1.6 Ghiai Orion or Belmont 1.8Cdi at one management level- result was a carpark full of Bemonts- it had the biggest engine therefore must be best!

About the only person who chose the Rover was an HR lady who happened to be married to a certain John Towers, so I'm guessing a Belmont might not have been welcome at home.

 

You have found me out, when I worked for a Vauxhall dealer they let me have a new Cavalier CDi as a company car but what I wanted was an SRi, the SRi was quite a bit cheaper so I did not ask for one! Then when I worked for the second Citroen dealer I was allowed a Xantia but really I preferred driving a ZX but I never asked for one! Company car hierarchy, guilty as charged.

[dollywobbler]

On the drive to Kent, it averaged very nearly 37mpg. Which is borderline acceptable. I wasn't sparing the beans either - was cruising at an indicated 80 for most of the way, until I turned my sat nav on and realised that with these wheels, the speedo is absolutely spot on! I usually allow for a bit of speedo error...

[HMC]

37mpg isn't bad at all really, i suspect it was a rev happy 80. I wonder what Rover's figures are?

[dollywobbler]

Well, The AA tested a Tourer when still current and got 32mpg at a motorway cruise!

[dollywobbler]

I've been back home for a few hours after my 600 mile road trip. I think it's about 600 miles. I've had to fill up three times, so maybe it's more. It managed almost 350 miles on the last tank! 37mpg again, despite some of that tank being used to thrash around on a skid pan.

 

What a bloody hoot that was. Though I also discovered that a. I'm bloody good at catching a tail-out moment (basically I don't come off the throttle) and b. the rain tyres are really very good, and therefore you really REALLY have to try to provoke a skid on tarmac. Even very sodden tarmac. Gratuitous handbrake at about 40mph did the trick. Shame the weather was so dreadful as those folks who did turn out for Retro Cars at The Rock had a marvellous time. The track itself was a pretty decent skid pan at times! Great to see Jozza hooning around in his 2CV. 

 

As well as driving miles in the Rover, I managed a quick stint in that Jaguar X300 again (after it had about £800 thrown at it. Just majestic), a Citroen XM 2-litre petrol (very pleasant) and Jozza's 2CV around a wet car park. Far sweeter than my 2CV and a reminder of how good they should be.

 

I have to say, the Rover has been superb. The oil level has remained entirely where it should, it has lapped up many an effortless mile and coped with being hoofed around a skid pan. Yes, the ride isn't as good as I normally like (even worse after experiencing a Jag and an XM) but I do find it comfortable. I'm sure it's perking up a bit too. Maybe I'm imagining that. It must go down as one of the best cars I've ever bought. I'm slightly concerned that the clutch is on its last legs (the bite seems soft at times) and I still need to get the cambelt done, but it's starting to feel like it might be worth it. Which is good as the tax is up this month too...

 

There may be pictures tomorrow if I can be arsed. I'm a bit shattered at the moment.

[Ghosty]

I was looking into the Civic 1.6 VTEC (the SOHC one), and a large majority of them - all the three door ones, in fact - have CVT gearboxes. Might be relevant.

[TRW]

  On 22/08/2014 at 14:56, hairnet said:

mums civic 1.6 vtec yo

 

between 40 and 45 on mway at 80mph

 

doing 4k tho

 

 

Comically low geared. We had a 92' SLi D series unit  years ago. GR22 for round the doors, not so good for clipping along @ 80 on the M42 - 4.8K revs!

[dollywobbler]

Mine isn't that low geared! 4k at 80 - and a pretty genuine 80 too.

 

On Saturday, I was in no rush, so cruised up the M40 at just 60mph. Felt wonderfully relaxing and sipped the juice. Where's my National Trust sticker?

[RobT]

Nowt wrong with doing 60. I'll often sit at 60-65 in the 220 even though it easily does a steady 80 at 2000rpm, the car seems to prefer the slower speed. Whereas the 2.0EFi Montego I had would fly and want to be doing 80 all the time on the M-ways, which was good as it'd help to drown out all the fuggin trim rattles.

 

So is this shaping up to be a keeper Ian, or is that too much to ask?!

[twosmoke300]

The clutch is probably the slave cylinder weeping