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

[320touring]

  On 23/07/2014 at 20:21, messerschmitt owner said:

Efa and hth

I was trying to be polite;)

[hairnet]

wouldnt m blx sacre bleu be yer man fer cambelt

[saucedoctor]

Tesco do a product called "Sticky Stuff Remover" (really) in a wee blue aerosol. It can take off the glue from those metal "PentiumIII" badges you used to get on laptops, so it must be bloody good.

[Honey Badger]

  On 23/07/2014 at 20:29, dollywobbler said:

WD40 nae good. White spirit nae good. Carb Cleaner very good, but you need LOADS of it. It loses its goodness after mere seconds. Petrol better but I still find I'm scraping gooey gunk off with a credit card. Horrible job! It was a lot easier dealing with the felt tip pen on the Sirion - banger rally participants take note!

Xylene is what you need, it's the only thing that gets tacky tape residue from my metal and glass plates at work when I'm infusing carbon fibre panels, it's slightly thicker and seems to be more oil like than petrol and other solventsso it doesn't evaporate so quickly.

 

Hammerite thinners used to be Xylene based, and I still think you can get it from places like tool station or DIY stores.

 

Wear nitrile gloves though!

[forddeliveryboy]

I once succeeded with Acetone (less than a tenner for 5 litres, cf with aerosol price of carb cleaner - 200mls for £3) mixed with a little veg oil with a similar task, combined with a plastic ice scraper.

 

I wonder if the Scots vote to govern themselves and the flag is changed, will such anachronisms suddenly lose all this NF/BNP/Nazi image some seem to think they have?

[KruJoe]

Since Welshfest, I farmed out the job of water pump and cam belt on mine. It seems the grumbling pump was masking the now rattling cat, so I have that to fix* now too. Grr.

 

It's not often I pay for jobs to be done, but I couldn't afford to get it wrong, or the skin from my knuckles.

[inconsistant]

Hi Mr Wobbler, nice Rover. I really fancy a cabriolet one of these, preferably a purple 1.6 with leather seats, and I would have done if the Mrs hadn't reacted so badly to the idea.

 

I pulled the big 'LOOK A PORSCHE!' stickers off the sides of mine quite easily but loads of sticky gunk was left on it. I spent hours doing one side, I tried Fairy Liquid, Petrol, Mer wax, Tcut, white spirit and then doing it badly with a toffee wheel.

Someone suggested cellulose thinners for the other side, which I tried and it took about 30mins and left it really clean, so that's my recommendation, Cellulose thinners and a clean rag. 

[twosmoke300]

Your local factors will do stuff called tar and glue remover. Brilliant for sticker residues. It was about 15 quid for 5 litres

[cort16]

have you tried lighting the petrol?

[dugong]

  On 23/07/2014 at 09:33, Corsaviour said:

Also seen it. Reminds me of a certain BX estate.

Jesus. Check the pedal box.

 

See those scrapyard scales over there? Drive the car to them and get out.

 

Then, a nice tattooed man will give you money. This money can be used towards the purchase of an actual car rather than a post-tragic shitheap.

[dollywobbler]

DUGONG R BROKUN! HAZ POSTIN ISHOOS.

[Sigmund Fraud]

  On 24/07/2014 at 08:28, dugong said:

See those scrapyard scales over there? Drive the car to them and get out.

 

Then, a nice tattooed man will give you money. This money can be used towards the purchase of an actual car rather than a post-tragic shitheap.

 

Hang on... This *is* Autoshite : we are the kind of people that drive around in cars that even the scrapyard would have second thoughts about buying !

 

This R8 is far from that, in fact I reckon it looks pretty smart ! (though, admittedly, my standards are pretty low)

[dugong]

  On 24/07/2014 at 09:43, dollywobbler said:

DUGONG R BROKUN! HAZ POSTIN ISHOOS.

There's a fine line between shit n' shite. Spend your money on the 2CV instead, DEY IS WEL GUD.

[cort16]

Are you joking these things are solid gold shite. The 2CV is now a classic the Rover 200 is the 90's Allegro,

[dollywobbler]

It's a rather jolly motor actually. Feels like the front discs might be slightly warped but is just very effortless to drive briskly and actually rather pleasant. On paper, the Honda engine has very little to recommend it over the K-Series in power/economy terms (similar/worse) but it's got a properly decent spread of mid-range torque, so ragging it is just unnecessary. 

 

I don't really understand the negativity. It's a very good car that cost peanuts to buy - Autoshite perfection surely? As much as I love the 2CV, the Rover is a different class on long journeys, and I've think I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling soon. Besides, I'm uncomfortable enough owning just two cars. One car, and that a French peasant wagon designed in the 1940s, would simply not be practical.

[dollywobbler]

In other news, I've just checked with the ECU and it reckons that the Oxygen sensor is faulty. I wonder where it is.

[xtriple]

I think the Rover looks okay. I'd have left the flag on the bonnet, but I don't live in Wales....  I think I'd have left the grill on as well, quite like the look, bit of old school Britishness. I know what you mean about using 2CVs as an only car, doable, but not fun in this day and age.

[Heidel_Kakao]

  On 24/07/2014 at 10:17, dollywobbler said:

In other news, I've just checked with the ECU and it reckons that the Oxygen sensor is faulty. I wonder where it is.

Somewhere in the exhaust, not very helpful sorry.

[dollywobbler]

Spot on Heidel. It's the lambda sensor in other words. £30 on Ebay, but is a cheap one just going to go wrong again? I think this is the first time I've owned a car that has told me what's wrong. 

[mat_the_cat]

What exactly does it say? Sensor faulty, or readings out of range, that kind of thing? Usually when lambda sensors age, they respond slower to mixture changes - ideally it should flip from rich to lean maybe once per second, as the ECU responds to feedback. So if the cycling is non-existent, or slower than expected, that may throw up a sensor fault.

 

BUT...it might not be as simple as that. It may be another fault which is causing the oxygen readings to be different to expected. So take things with a pinch of salt! But if everything else seems OK, including economy (too early to say?), it sounds more likely to be the sensor rather than an underlying issue.

 

I've only used OE sensors myself, but what I hear is that the cheaper ones work fine generally, but don't last anywhere near as long. What is the 'best' solution depends on the future for the car...

[RobT]

  On 23/07/2014 at 17:27, KruJoe said:

Must just be the 400's then

I've photographed pez reciepts with the odometer reading ever since I've had it, I really should work out my actual mileage

 

Joe, taking pics of pez receipts is classic giffer behaviour, I like it!

 

My 416 auto is thirstier than that E30 325 I had, so yes they do like a drink.

 

 

Edit: Have you had any random hot start issues yet Ian?  Hopefully you won't, but apart from the ignition module being a common culprit dry solders in the fuel relay can cause it too.  I re-soldered mine and it's been fine since.  It's behind the radio so just involves dropping the centre console to gain access.

[dollywobbler]

  On 24/07/2014 at 10:48, mat_the_cat said:

What exactly does it say? Sensor faulty, or readings out of range, that kind of thing? Usually when lambda sensors age, they respond slower to mixture changes - ideally it should flip from rich to lean maybe once per second, as the ECU responds to feedback. So if the cycling is non-existent, or slower than expected, that may throw up a sensor fault.

 

BUT...it might not be as simple as that. It may be another fault which is causing the oxygen readings to be different to expected. So take things with a pinch of salt! But if everything else seems OK, including economy (too early to say?), it sounds more likely to be the sensor rather than an underlying issue.

 

I've only used OE sensors myself, but what I hear is that the cheaper ones work fine generally, but don't last anywhere near as long. What is the 'best' solution depends on the future for the car...

 

All it says is "Oxygen Sensor "A" (Primary) defective circuit or unplugged / defective sensor." 

 

Just went for another drive in it. The heat shield rattle is quite embarrassing around town but I really am liking it. No hot starting issues thankfully, and it's bloomin' hot today!

[catsinthewelder]

I think that a certain person doesn't understand what shite motoring is about.

 

If your going to do loads of miles in a classic car then surely it's best to find a cheap one with ropey cosmetics and leave the shiny low mileage ones for the old men to polish at the shows?

 

Pretty paint does not make them more reliable.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Being optimistic maybe the 02 sensor is just unplugged or the wiring is damaged? I guess once you have located it then it may become more obvious as to what the problem is. I have heard they can be a real git to remove though but I have never had to replace one myself yet.

[dugong]

  On 24/07/2014 at 10:01, dollywobbler said:

I don't really understand the negativity.

Because it's taken you 14 pages to buy a knackered Rover covered in stickers that won't come off.

If you want something to travel in, buy something serviceable that costs a bit more than £300. It doesn't have to be four figures or anything. It's a hack, it doesn't have to be interesting.

 

Props on the shiny paint though, CIW - it's one of my ongoing show bugbears.

 

I'm sorry if you think I'm being unfair, I just don't understand why you keep bothering with these lame dogs when for a few quid more you could get something that would stand a chance of working properly.

 

Your lynch mob is now coming to take me away. Laters.

[dollywobbler]

  On 24/07/2014 at 14:16, dugong said:

If you want something to travel in, buy something serviceable that costs a bit more than £300. It doesn't have to be four figures or anything. It's a hack, it doesn't have to be interesting.

 

Er, no. I'll buy what I like thanks and, perhaps more importantly here, something half decent that got me home and saved me a train journey. I'm not sure where the 'lame dog' comes from. I could have spent twice as much on something that looked better but was hiding a multitude of sins. I almost did, but somehow rejected that diesel 600.

[Rusty_Rocket]

I must admit, it's taken me 20 years to realise that a cheap car that needs brakes/ exhaust/ belt/ screen/ paintwork/ tyres/ balljoint etc etc etc is not a cheap car for long.. and when you've been through all that pain, you're still left with a £300 car that will be a job to move on afterwards. 

There's really no sense in stuff like this....  But this is Autoshite, (home of the brave) where reason goes out of the window.. and because of that, I'M IN! Looking forward to seeing the transformation 

[dugong]

  On 24/07/2014 at 14:23, dollywobbler said:

Er, no. I'll buy what I like thanks and, perhaps more importantly here, something half decent that got me home and saved me a train journey. I'm not sure where the 'lame dog' comes from. I could have spent twice as much on something that looked better but was hiding a multitude of sins. I almost did, but somehow rejected that diesel 600.

You're right, you can buy what you want.

 

And a rough car is probably a heap of shit because it's cheap. I'm the last person who buys on shiny paint, you really don't have to convince me of that.

 

Hope you get it sorted - but I really wouldn't chuck money at it.

[trigger]

To be honest a £300 snotter makes a make more interesting thread than a £700 mint model, and as £300 Dollywobbler purchases go this looks to be one of the best one's yet for the money.

[dollywobbler]

I've spent varying amounts on cars over the years. There have been very few if any that haven't needed some upkeep. I didn't have a lot of budget over the £300 paid for it, and so now have a bit spare for the oxygen sensor. I may even have a go at the timing belt. You need an impact driver for the crank pulley, but I own one, so that's ok.