Project 1994 Rover 414SLi - Fin.

[vulgalour]

@Moog: Definitely a long term keeper now.  It's absolutely what I want in a car in every respect and while it's wanted for a lot of work it's not actually eaten up that much cash to get it tip top.

 

@PBK:  Totally!   It's no wonder the back end was so wayward on those old bushes.  The stance is just where I want it, I like a car where the wheels fill the arches like this one and the arch gap is balanced all the way around.  Has the added bonus of of retaining a reasonable amount of ride comfort while improving the handling.

 

I'm excited about Pride of Longbridge, I might just make it this year!

[Isaac Hunt]

The ICV was still clicking away to itself so nothing ventured, nothing gained, we unbolted it to have a look to see if we could figure out what on earth it was doing.  Was pretty grim.

 

I'd read that this is not a serviceable item and that a replacement, when I'd found new ones, are in the £150 region which is significantly more than I had available.  I decided to clean it.  Turns out the metal cone type part unscrews, the protective plastic collar beneath slides off and there's a spring under there too.  Everything was full of sooty deposits and jammed.

 

 

Much carb cleaner was employed and everything made as shiny as possible before reassembly.  We tested it by just plugging it in and turning the ignition on but not starting the car.  Now the piston moved and that seemed promising.  Bolted it back together and at first the car was very reluctant to start, but the clicking had stopped.  Decided the best thing to do was put the accelerator to the carpet and try again, the car vroomed into life and settled to a very smooth idle.  That made me very happy.  We left it idling for a while and marvelled at how it wasn't quite so rough when cold now and then I took it for a spin around the block.  Surprisingly, the car is much smoother in the lower end of the power band and gear changes that could be a bit clunky when cold were now smooth and easy though I'm not sure what I did to make that happen.

 .

Where is that little ICV located, I fear our 93 414SLi may have a few issues with said valve, we get a nasty flat spot at small throttle opening, makes for a jerky drive and you have to get out of the throttle and back on if driving at low revs, does that sound similar to some of your symptoms, non start aside ?

[purplebargeken]

I think it would make a fitting entrant to the P o L. Such a lovely looking car. Rovers do indeed rock!

[vulgalour]

@Isaac: Happily, it's easy to spot, as illustrated below.  Sits on top of the engine between the inlet manifold and the engine.  Careful of the tiny little hex-head screws when you remove them, they're very easy to drop and lose forever.

 

 

 

[phil_lihp]

Good advice as I think the one on my 214 needs doing too so this has been very useful. Good work on the suspension, worth the hard work to get it driving properly.

[plasticvandan]

I hope much copper grease was used on all those bolts for the next time

[Isaac Hunt]

Thank you. I'll get myself a spare from down the breakers and have a "mess". Our 414 is the slightly earlier Alloy manifold MPI that they used between late 92'ish and about 94'ish. You have the later plastic manifold the same as our MGZR. I"ll get my head under the bonnet later and see how similar/differ they are.

[vulgalour]

Yes, the bolts were greased where they need to be greased, we're not having that palaver again!

 

I wanted to get some better pictures of the car today and needed to bumble off to town to get some stuff.  Well I say bumble, the Rover isn't very bumbly anymore, it feels like its traded in the brogues and tweed for loafers and a turtleneck.  Managed to forget the front bumper is lower and bumped it on the curb in the parking spot, no harm done happily but something to remember.

 

I took some other pictures but they didn't come out so well.  One bonus to the new ride height is that I'm not dazzled so badly by other cars headlights in front or behind me, that's nice because I was expecting that side of things to be worse.  When I got home I took some better pictures so this is really just a vanity post.  I love this car, this car is best car.

 

 

 

 

 

I can now focus on the cosmetic and hopefully I won't get any more big bills.  With the weather improving, paintwork is going to be far easier to rectify and I should be able to have some time to get the interior properly cleaned.  The seats desperately need a shampoo, they're quite disgusting in places.  New number plates are a must, they look a bit scabby, so when I can afford to I'll get some replicas of the original dealer plates run up.  I'd like to get the glass tinted a bit darker and I'm trying to think of a good alternative location for the roof aerial so I can weld up the old location and smooth the roof out better.  An electric aerial in the rear wing might work as might a hidden one on the underside of the boot lid, there's also the consideration of whether or not to future proof by getting things converted to DAB as I gather analogue FM is going to be turned off in the near future.

[Felly Magic]

Deffo would look Mutley's nads with a twin tailpipe back box with chrome finishers

[eddyramrod]

Excellent work!  It's looking a treat now.

[vulgalour]

MoT is looming (3rd of April), I'm going to get it booked in pretty soon.  Made use of the DVLA online MoT check thing which gave me something I didn't have; history.

 

As a result, I've learned the car passed every MoT with no advisories for the last 4 years.  That's great news on the face of things, even with the work I've had to do.  The history only goes back to 2007 but there's no mention of rust in any of them so that's also good.

 

2007

advisory on exhaust leak, trailing arm bushes and damaged door mirror.

 

2008

advisory for exhaust pipe having holes and play in inner steering rack joint

 

2009 FAIL

Track rod end and nearside stop lamp inoperative.

Advisory: play in offside track rod and leaking exhaust

 

2010

exhaust a bit knackered, offside front brake binding

 

2011 FAIL

Offside stop lamp knackered, major exhaust leak (didn't test emissions)

 

2012-2015

no advisories

 

I surmise the following has been done going by the condition of parts on the car:

 

Trailing arm bushes - ignored for 9 years and somehow always gone through MoTs until they were replaced recently in my ownership

Track rod ends - they looked like recent-ish replacements, but no older than 6-7 years

Rear lights - probably replaced 5 years ago with the 2011 fail

Exhaust - likely done 5 years ago to resolve the exhaust leaks

Brakes - the bind mentioned in 2010 is probably what caused the warped disc it had when I bought it and which has now been done in my ownership

 

Of course, I am just guessing based on what I've seen on the car and what's noted in the MoT history but it is nice to have some background to the car and to know that overall it's in good order.  What I am suspicious of is its last 5 years of MoTs having zero advisories knowing what I know of the car so I expect it went to quite a lenient tester.  I'm cautiously optimistic about the chances of a pass this year, all the same, because it's better now than when I picked it up by quite some margin.

[stuboy]

lovely to see it coming together

[oldcars]

Looking really good, paint looks good already.

[Elstro1988]

Been following this thread for a while, does look an absolute treat now. The darkened rear lights and black panel with red highlights put me in mind of a Chevrolet Beretta, which IMO are handsome things so no bad thing:

 

 

 

Agree with Felly Magic, it needs twin pipes - the stock tailpipe looks undersized IMO and a K-series with the right exhaust does sound the nads.

[vulgalour]

That Beretta looks a bit Oldsmobile-y, in a good way.  Particularly like the wheels and rear end treatment on it.

[vulgalour]

Rover is off for it's MoT this afternoon and Chompy is taking it for me because I'm too ill to walk, let alone drive.  Wish them both luck!  I've sick-slept so much this weekend I seem to be unable to sleep now.

[purplebargeken]

Agree with the Olds look by the way. I am sure it will hurtle through the test given the amount of mechanical love foisted upon it of late. 

 

GLWTT though (and the illness thing).

[Robson3022]

Great work!! Hopefully it flies an MOT!!

[vulgalour]

Urgh, fell asleep on the sofa by accident and my car isn't here so I guess it's at the MoT place.  It had better be at the MoT place.

[fatharris]

Last time I had an MOT, I found myself frantically pressing F5 on the MOT history page to see if it passed.

Good luck!

[vulgalour]

Ooh, there's a way to obsessively spend the next few minutes!

[vulgalour]

FAIL D:

 

This wasn't evident AT ALL when we've been under the car.  That indicator has failed sometime between parking the car up on Friday and the MoT today.

 

centre rear outer Subframe mounting prescribed area is inadequately repaired (2.4.A.3)

offside rear inner Subframe mounting prescribed area is inadequately repaired (2.4.A.3)

nearside front Side repeater not working (1.4.A.2c)

[fatharris]

Feel bad for telling you now.

Still, easy enough to repair?

[vulgalour]

Had it described over the phone.  There are very recent fibreglass repairs to the inner sill and/or floor (it'll likely make more sense when I see it) that had been covered over with underseal.  It's so recent the tester actually thought I'd done it!  Must have been done not long before I bought the car.  Not very pleased about that.  So apparently there's a 'fist sized hole' on the underside of the car, with either means there's a hole that needs a patch or it's fucked, because people can't use proper measurements to describe these things to me.

 

It feels like the Princess all over again.

 

Other than that, the indicator was just a blown bulb and on the emissions the Co2 reading was too high (but hydrocarbons perfectly fine).  So when I'm well enough I'll be having a look at the Yellow Chalk of Doom and fixing it properly with some metal and welding and hoping that it doesn't end up being a massive weldathon.

 

After all the work we've put into it I'm feeling pretty crap about it, especially since I'm not even sure I'll be well enough to weld this up within the retest period and I can't afford to pay someone else to do it for me.

[oldcars]

Shame, at least you can weld. Fingers crossed you make a quick recovery then the Rover can too.

[vulgalour]

Mike has got back and tried to describe the work required without photographs.  I'm more confused than ever.  The problem is somewhere between a 2" perforation in the sill rail near the B pillar to a four foot long strip about 2" wide the entire length of the floor where it meets the inner sill to the trailing edge of the inner sill needing a 2" square patch.  Useless.  I'd told him to get me some photographs so I know what I'm dealing with.

 

Now, the good thing is that the passenger side is apparently free of rust and I know one or both outer sills have been replaced because they're slightly differently painted to one another.  Getting under the car myself is going to be impossible until at least the weekend, Sunday was spent bed-ridden and I've got some horrible bronchial thing that's absolutely kicking my rear lately, I'm getting better but it's slow recovery.

 

The other issue, now I have them in front of me, are the emissions, as stated on the receipt:

Fast idle test: FAIL

Engine speed: Manual check

CO: <0.20%vol

0.70%vol   FAIL

HC: < 200ppm vol

68ppm vol PASS

Lambda: 0.970-1.030

1.031 FAIL

 

As a result of the above, natural idle was not tested.

 

Could the high CO and Lambda readings be down to a bad 02/Lambda sensor failure or even a sticky ICV?

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 There are very recent fibreglass repairs to the inner sill and/or floor that had been covered over with underseal.  

 

Strange. I don't recall owning this car.

 

Seriously though - welding is easy. The emissions probe are of more concern although I do believe pre 1995 cars are allowed more leeway. Give the thing a good caning before the next MOT.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Looks like its running just a very tiny bit rich, its only just over the line on the lambda. I say clean and gap the plugs, check/replace the air filter (unless you've done that recently) and give it a thrashing and I reckon it'll pass OK.

[BorniteIdentity]

I like to stick a tank of 99Ron in on mine... Take it for an Italian tune up and then arrive at the test centre with the car still running.

 

Good luck man.

[scaryoldcortina]

 I do believe pre 1995 cars are allowed more leeway.

 

This! As a 1994 car, when it failed the cat test it should have been retested to the limits specified for an exact match in the "in-service emissions" book (I can't find one...) and then as pre-cat (1200ppm HC and 3.5% CO) which it would have passed easily.

 

Actually, is it a 1.4 TBi (engine code J)?

 

If it is, its in service emission limits are 0.3% CO and 200 ppm HC fast idle, 0.75% CO at idle, Lambda between 0.95 and 1.09 so it isn't far away, a good run before the test should sort it, needs testing when hot - Oil temp specified as 70ºC rather than the usual 60.