Rovers Return UPDATE NEW ROVER!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey Remember the old Rover 214 I bought off eBay a couple of months ago? Its now BACK IN THE GAME:

 

 

 

I bought this 'outside' of ebay for £65 mainly becuase it seemed to be a shame to bale it, which is what otherwise would have happened as the cambelt had snapped. You never see these early R8 rovers any more. I lobbed a new cambelt on but it would not run, turned out all 8 exhaust valves were bent + 1 valve guide was cracked. So I fitted a SH cylinder head bought off a chap from R-R, for £30. I got a new (Non-MLS) gasket and fitted all new gaskets, locating dowels, valve stem seals and camshaft seals etc, new head bolts, plus a new waterpump and put it all back together. It runs perfectly anf the temp gauge is rock steady. Amazing! Then I went round de-snagging it; new indicator unit, machine-polished the roof + bonnet, new speakers for the radio, sh door mirror, heat-lamped the bumpers, and took the interior out to clean it (it was disgusting, but came up like new). I finished it off with a brand new set of kosher Rover wheeltrims. It already had 6 months ticket but I put a fresh one on cos it seemed like good policy - it sailed through without even an advisory.

 

Its a real minter. Theres a couple of scratches on the bonnet, apart from the the body is perfect. No rust, no welding, no repairs anywhere. Its got a complete service history from new with copies of all the old logbooks and all the old taxdiscs + radio code. Would be a great candidate for a 'thedoctor'-style shine-up effort butu I cant be bothered with that. Its such a minter that rather than eBay it to some moron for £400 or something, I persuaded fatha_bol that he ought to be driving it instead of his Beta saloon. He agreed, so i sold the beta and we transferred the insurance onto the rover. Now i have used it for work today. Its great! Fatha_bol cannot believe the super-smooth tickover and non-spluttering throttle response after 3 years driving the beta with its shitey autochoke weber carb etc.

 

Its still a bit damp inside after my attempts to scrub the seats to death hence the steamy windows in the pic.

[Spottedlaurel]

Marvellous work, heart-warming stuff. Your dad sounds the ideal candidate for it. Amazing that these are nearly 20 years old now, I well remember them coming out and they seemed a quality bit of kit back then. So much promise for Rover back then, such a shame how it all panned out.

[M'coli]

Tip-top efforts there, Mr 'Nads, well done on saving a good example. To say I am a tad envious is an understatement.

[mk2_craig]

Well done, and top marks for resisting the temptation to modernise it with the smoked clusters, chrome grille etc.

[Guest]

My dad got a white J-reg one of these in SLi spec to replace his MK2 Sierra a few years back, was a nice car (if a bit cramped in the back compared to the Sierra). Must have had it for something like 8 years, never had headgasket issues either (don't think these early ones really do), despite building up a ludicrous mileage of 170K or something before it was sold onto someone who got a bit more use out of it. Dead now though.Definitely think it's worthwhile what you've done Bollox! The conclusion is a fine example of a car which is perfectly usable today and should be a great drive for many years to come. There's definitely something rewarding about overhauling an unusable car into a nice thing, especially if it's a low mileage one.Probably the best thing is that seeing you crack on with stuff like this makes me want to put more effort in on my motors rather than sit inside and watch The Crystal Maze all day. Updates to follow.

[VWPowered]

good on ya chap, does lok nice in that shade of blue...least your motoring again

[Heep]

Love it! I'm a Rover guy at heart although I only have experience with the old ones. Never actually seen a Rover badged R8 (only seen Concertos) but they seem like great little rigs. Top colour too and the wheel trims are beautifully 1990!

[retrogeezer]

Looks great B.....

Its such a minter that rather than eBay it to some moron for £400 or something

Did you forget I was interested?? I know I'm a ebay moron but no need to tell everyone else. Was a little gutted when I saw your dad was having it as it looks very tidy indeed. Mind you, the spazda is still going strong (touch wood) - I even treated it to a wash and some fresh oil the other day.

[garycox]

Looking good Mr_B, may be from round my way too as my nan's old Corolla is C683 SMY, registered at Sidcup Toyota in '86...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey RG! Nah I hadn't forgotten about your message and would have contacted you first if the Rover had had to go, in the event though its staying in the fold.Glad to hear the Maz is still chugging away, it will still be going after a nuclear winter that one.

[r.welfare]

Heartwarming back-from-the-dead rescuing skills. I still think a 214 R8 with a well-sorted K-series is a remarkably refined little car. And the 2-litre jobs are real sleepers in boggo SLi spec. Hey I've got the official Rover workshop manual for these kicking around on my bookshelf, if you want it (we could attempt some kind of Autoshite postal service setup if Retrogeezer comes down this way during the Xmas hols, 'cos it's the size of a phone book and heavy) it's yours, as I'm probably not going to buy another R8 for a while.

[retrogeezer]

I'll possibly be down mid-jan if that helps??

[Guest]

Heartwarming back-from-the-dead rescuing skills. I still think a 214 R8 with a well-sorted K-series is a remarkably refined little car. And the 2-litre jobs are real sleepers in boggo SLi spec.

The 2-litre ones are fantastic, I'd love one in a few years. The interior on them is quite nice too.

[mnde]

Hey Remember the old Rover 214 I bought off eBay a couple of months ago? Its now BACK IN THE GAME:

 

 

 

I bought this 'outside' of ebay for £65 mainly becuase it seemed to be a shame to bale it, which is what otherwise would have happened as the cambelt had snapped. You never see these early R8 rovers any more. I lobbed a new cambelt on but it would not run, turned out all 8 exhaust valves were bent + 1 valve guide was cracked. So I fitted a SH cylinder head bought off a chap from R-R, for £30. I got a new (Non-MLS) gasket and fitted all new gaskets, locating dowels, valve stem seals and camshaft seals etc, new head bolts, plus a new waterpump and put it all back together. It runs perfectly anf the temp gauge is rock steady. Amazing! Then I went round de-snagging it; new indicator unit, machine-polished the roof + bonnet, new speakers for the radio, sh door mirror, heat-lamped the bumpers, and took the interior out to clean it (it was disgusting, but came up like new). I finished it off with a brand new set of kosher Rover wheeltrims. It already had 6 months ticket but I put a fresh one on cos it seemed like good policy - it sailed through without even an advisory.

 

Its a real minter. Theres a couple of scratches on the bonnet, apart from the the body is perfect. No rust, no welding, no repairs anywhere. Its got a complete service history from new with copies of all the old logbooks and all the old taxdiscs + radio code. Would be a great candidate for a 'thedoctor'-style shine-up effort butu I cant be bothered with that. Its such a minter that rather than eBay it to some moron for £400 or something, I persuaded fatha_bol that he ought to be driving it instead of his Beta saloon. He agreed, so i sold the beta and we transferred the insurance onto the rover. Now i have used it for work today. Its great! Fatha_bol cannot believe the super-smooth tickover and non-spluttering throttle response after 3 years driving the beta with its shitey autochoke weber carb etc.

 

Its still a bit damp inside after my attempts to scrub the seats to death hence the steamy windows in the pic.

HERO.

 

A heart-warming story and great encouragement for those of us who may be feeling that they're losing their shite-fettling mojo.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[ashmicro]

Good drills Mr B! Those early wedges were a lot better put together than the later ones (ie the grilled ones). IIRC that's Henley Blue over tornado grey.Made my day has that!

[pompei]

I had one of them years ago as a company motor, and a v pleasant drive it was too. 1.6 iirc, and not short of POWA neither.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Those 214/216 Ravers were excellent cars. Who the hell bought an Escort IV/V rather than one of these?I had one as a company car at Unipart back in the early '90's. She was a black J plate 218SD 5 door with the non turboed Peugeot diseasel Donk. It was a hand-me-down with 120'000 on the clock and drove well, albeit rather slowly.As has been said, Rover had it sewn up with these and the 600.

[andrew e]

Splendid Mr B

[Guest]

Congratulations, those early R8s were a real quality car.

[Milford Cubicle]

I have had a couple of these and they are very competent, I can't think of another late '80s/early '90s car of the same size I'd rather drive. They make the equivalent Golfs, Astras and Escorts look exceedingly grim.Top car-saving skills Mr. B!

[Richard]

My mate got a J plate 414SLi for £800 from a dealer when it was six or seven years old. It's still going strong at 300k miles and has had nothing done to it other than servicing and consumables. Not even a head gasket!

[marinast]

Excellent news that the Rover is still going strong!These cars really are under rated, the early K series units give less trouble than the later units, mine is testiment to that and is currently sitting on 172k with the original engine and gearbox.I say gearbox because these PSA derived units were the early cars only real weakness. Does it have the early type of reverse gear selector (lift handle on the gear stick) because if it does then that is a rare little thing indeed.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Excellent news that the Rover is still going strong!These cars really are under rated, the early K series units give less trouble than the later units, mine is testiment to that and is currently sitting on 172k with the original engine and gearbox.I say gearbox because these PSA derived units were the early cars only real weakness. Does it have the early type of reverse gear selector (lift handle on the gear stick) because if it does then that is a rare little thing indeed.

Yes it does! I thought of the old 205 when i saw that. Didnt know it was a PSA gearbox.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

UPDATE UPDATE!!!

 

I guess most folk on here know that i've been farting about with another of these, an M-reg 220 SLi, for the last few months. Well, i've finally got it on the road!!!

 

 

I bought this 6 months ago off eBay just cos I fancied trying one of these 2-litre jobs. It turned out to be good in parts, and disappointing in others. On the good side, it was a one-owner-from-new job with just 68k genuine on and the entire service history intact, all old brocures, handbooks etc present and correct, and totally unmessed with - no bumps, welding, bodywork repairs etc etc. ON the downside, the engine had had a shitty HG job done on it in the pas and was pissing oil out. A testdrive revealed grumbly diff bearings too. Anyway it was only £250 with £100 worth of tax on so I couldnt grumble too much.

 

I tackled the issues, involving a full cyl head overhaul, new cambelt, bolts and what have you, then removed the gearbox and rebuilt that with new bearings inc pukka steel-caged diff bearings for a proper job. While putting it back together I replaced the CV boots and brake pads, basically fettling stuff as I went along. Last week, I sold my P100 truck so it was finally time for the revitalised Rover to HIT THE ROAD!!

 

 

I have to say, for someone who has been driving round in a P100 diesel pick-up truck and a Landcrab for the last 6 months, this car is a revelation. First off, it fuggin shifts. It has the 136 bhp Rover 820 engine, which is a lot for this size of car I think. Its a fairly sweet engine, not quite 1.4 multipoint K-series-sweet, but not a rough old thing by any means and pretty torquey. The engine in this example is as nice as any i've heard, I must say. The 220 is pretty highly-geared - 75mph is 3000 rpm, which seems to be the key to making it drive like it does. The light weight of the car (for the engine size) means it can pull strongly despite the high gearing, so you can make serious progress without it ever seeming like you're caning the engine. I have been 'enjoying' the abilities of the car, and I find that I am doing that despite rarely giving it more than 50% beans on the throttle! At high speeds, its a joy - it gets 'in the zone' at about 85mph, 70 feels like you are pottering but 85 is a mega comfortable cruise that it will keep up on a very slight throttle.

 

 

INside, its jolly nice too. These R8's, along with the Rover 800, have one of the most comfortable driving positions out there (I find). The low scuttle panel, which is a Honda feature I guess, and slopey bonnet means the inside is pretty light and airy (due to the tall windscreen) and visibility is GR9. The interior is in pretty smart condition, the old boy was a non smoker so it hasnt been coated in brown shit. Its 100% original including the radio, which has an infuriating buzzy speaker which I will have to deal with, but otherwiase sounds great. I got the old Kosovan Kar Wash to valet it before I took this pic, and for a serial shiter (i.e. me) this car feels like it just came out the showroom a few hours ago. The switches all still feel 'right', everything works, its all clean, and you dont have to learn the 'knack' of any of it to get it to work. Its also the first car i've had with such hi-tech gubbins as an Airbag!!! YOW!

 

 

The suspension is firm, but the SLi does not have the lowered suspension of the GTi models, and I would not fancy lowering it. It seems very good as-is. Its got quite a sporting feel to it already but you feel well insulated from the road, like the road imperfections are using only a tiny proportion of the suspension travel. I know the T-series is quite a heavy engine but the handling seems very well balanced. I never like the idea of a FWD car with a powerful but big and heavy engine in the nose - having driven the 214 and the 220, I dont think the 220 is any less agile despite the extra weight. Its pretty impressive I must say.

 

 

You can probably tell that I seriously love this car. It seems to be one of these cars that is just a great package despite not having any obviously amazing features. I found when I used to have an Alfa 75 TS, that after a few hundred miles you could appreciate that the whole thing worked very well as a whole - engine, gear ratios, suspension tuning, steering ratio etc all seemed to somehow gel together, making you want to 'play tunes' on the car while you drove it - changing gear at different points, being more and less gentle with the steering, attacking corners in different ways etc just to see how the car felt. Well this Rover is not a million miles off that. Its naturally fast, without being frantic or making you feel like its a fuggin liability. Its equally very comfortable and enjoyable to potter in, It even looks good (I think so anyway) and I got 37mpg out of the first tankful of juice so its not even like a frivolity which I have to pay extra for. In fact, as i'm sat here typing this, i am itching to just stoke it up and go for a blezz, and its not often that I feel like doing that due to being a tightwad. In short I fuggin love it!

[RedSparrow]

Wow, she's looking fine! Must be rewarding after all that work, you are truly a shite-saving hero!

[ashmicro]

You cannot believe how envious I am right at this moment.Thats GR6573464

[brammy777]

Brilliant work Bol, looks smart. Quite amazing how much it suits white. Am I the only one who still sees loads of these? I wonder how much the 1.4 ones cost to insure...

[Milford Cubicle]

Great write-up Mr. B. That's exactly how I imagine these R8 220s to be, and I want one immediately!I bet its performance gives some TDi merchants a fright.

[Pete-M]

My brother had a brand new 420 SLi back in '92. Even though I had an RS2000 Mk2 at the time I was still surprised by how perky the Rover was.. rather swift for a 'sensible' car, quiet and not too shite on fuel.The 420 GSi Turbo has made it onto my "I'd have one of those" lists a couple of times, and I'm not a fan of the Rondas normally.As for 3000 rpm at 75, that's actually longer geared than my '82 SD1.

[Pete-M]

My brother had a brand new 420 SLi back in '92. Even though I had an RS2000 Mk2 at the time I was still surprised by how perky the Rover was.. rather swift for a 'sensible' car, quiet and not too shite on fuel.The 420 GSi Turbo has made it onto my "I'd have one of those" lists a couple of times, and I'm not a fan of the Rondas normally. Has anyone done a 420 GSi Turbo Estate? I'd quite like that. In black preferably, with AC and leather.As for 3000 rpm at 75, that's actually longer geared than my '82 SD1 - which is doing 3000 rpm at a real (and speedo accurate) 70.