How much shite is too much shite? Not Over for the Rover - Yet!

[Saabnut]

I am supposed to be having a tidy up of my shed so I can access one at the back to take some photos. I keep finding excuses as I love* tidying so it is taking longer than expected, but yesterday a bit of progress was made. Went back in today and of course got distracted as a friend has been asking about my Rover P5b that has been slumbering and doing a fairly good impression of a shelf.

As I had access to the Cobra (parked at the end of October) I thought I would start it and move it so I had better access to the Rover. Took a bit of winding but once the fuel filled the carb burst into life quite happily so backed it out.

This gave me a clear(ish) look at the Rover

First job was to clear the stored* items off it

Air was added to the tyres and the jump start unit connected to the battery. This produced ignition lights but nothing else, and a quick calculation showed it was parked here in 2015! The battery is predictably dead, so I put my spare Saab battery on, just to see if it would turn over. This resulted in brighter lights and a ticking fuel pump which soon slowed despite the guage showing empty. For a laugh I pulled out the choke and turned they key, and after a few turns it fired. A couple of more  tries and it was running and running smoothly. I ran out of time so turned it off and put the Cobra (and Kubota) back in the shed. I am away this weekend but next week will pick up some fresh  petrol and see if it will move.

Forgot how nice Rovers of this period (this one is 1968) are and that Rovers were very much a premium car.

[hairnet]

gnnffffffffffffff

i type in dark i no see keys

 

 

[hairnet]

how much cash tonite m9

🤤

[Saabnut]

Went out to the shed to pick up a Jerry can to go and fetch some momentum from Tescos, as I wanted some zero ethanol fuel for it and the 99 octane rating helps as these cars were designed for the old 5 star fuel at 101 octane. Glanced over at the Rover to be met with this

The for sale board has been there for several years, the oil slick not! This thwarted the plans of putting some fresh petrol in and driving it out of the shed and back on to the lift. Went and fetched some petrol, £161.9 a litre (HFM?) and then took the Sonett and Cobra out of the shed. Tried to push the Rover, but after 7 years sitting, that was not happening. Put a strop on it and used the Kubota to get it moving, after which it moved freely. Pushed it forward to get some space, then used the dollies to swing the rear over

Then it was pushed back to the ramp and the other cars returned so they were away from any potential rain. A quick look suggests that the oil filter might have sprung a leak or the o ring on the filter has dried out and failed. I have ordered a new filter and will investigate further when it arrives.

[High Jetter]

Looks fit tho

[Lankytim]

That thing is so hot! I had one years ago and loved it although it was full of rust and patches. It’s a car id love to own another of one day but probably never will, I think I’m lucky to have been able to own one at all. 

[Zelandeth]

Really does feel that the P5 and P6 were a high point for Rover.  Though I do also rather like the 75.  The dissolving rear suspension mounts and electronic fragility to rival an early 00s Renault though rather put me off ever owning one.

[brownnova]

The P5 was really a beautiful piece of design. A car right up there on the “cars I would love to own but will likely never get to” list. 

[Saabnut]

Whilst the oil filter for the P5b arrived today, as it was sunny and dry I decided to tackle an outside project. A bit of background, about 20 years ago I bought a Saab 9000 for spares from a guy a couple of villages away, Over the years, we occasionally met up at local events but we lost touch. Just over 2 years ago I received an email from him via the Saab Owners Club (he remembered I was their Sonett Registrar) and contact was re-established, and he was stuck as he was about to lose his storage and his project cars were about to be scrapped. I offered to collect them and store them short term until he could make alternative arrangements. The two vehicles were a VW camper and a Saab 900, both of which had been stored outside at a farm until the farmer passed away. The VW he had started work on, but ill health stopped progress, the Saab had failed an MOT and was just driven the 5 miles to the farm to await repair. The VW which features earlier in this thread I sold for him and I bought the Saab for parts as it was a Ruby edition, the run out model of the 900 and only 150 were made and have a lot of desireable extras. The Saab was parked outside my shed to await its turn, and can be seen in the background of a lot of my photos.

For the upcoming Practical Classics Restoration Show we have an immaculate T16 900 amongst others on the stand, and due to one of the exhibitors having to pull out due to personal reasons, we had a space and decided it would be nice to have a barn find (or more accurately field find) example to put next to it, so the ruby needed to be used. I thought it would be nice if it could drive onto the trailer so yesterday I stuck a battery on it as the original was very dead and it turned over on the key. Today I fetched some petrol and added 10 litres and was surprised that the low fuel light went out so something still worked.

Next was to try and air up the tyres. Two took air, but two have rotted the sidewalls out, so a patial success.  As it was tucked away, I thought I would try and move it to be more accessible so put it in first and tried winding it over and to my surprise it drove out with no stuck brakes, but no clutch at all, and indeed the joint reservoir for brake and clutch was dry.

Once I was able to get in the drivers door rather than climb over, I decided to see if there was any life to be found. After a fair bit of churning, it started to fire on one cylinder, which gave some hope. Cracked open the fuel rail to check the fuel supply and narrowly avoided an unleaded shower so that was good. Checked my shelf but it appears I have run out of easy start, but fortunately I had recently stocked up on brake cleaner so that was used. A squirt down the air intake and it fired up but promptly stopped. Several repeat performances and eventually it continued to run, but only on 3 cylinders. I switched it off to add some coolant as the expansion tank (and indeed the radiator) was empty and tried to restart it and was surprised when it easily started, but still on 3 cylinders. I let it warm up then switched it off whilst I went for a cup of tea. The missing cylinder was obviously either a stuck injector, a dodgy lead or most likely a dead spark plug, and decided I would look into it after my cup of tea.

Whilst drinking my tea, I decided to check the MOT history to see if it really had been parked up for 7 years, as I thought it had been resting at the farm for about 5 years before I collected it. I was stunned to see the last MOT test was a failure, mainly for rear brake pipes on October 31st 2007 with the mileage at test 5 less than now! That means it is in its 17th year of sitting around, outside, in the north east of Scotland!

Post tea, I went back out to it and pulled a hose off to drain some water off then added half a gallon of anti freeze. Started it up to circulate and mix the coolant and the missing cylinder had returned, so obviously it was a stuck injector. There you go, positive proof that tea fixes cars! Whilst it was warming up, for laughs I tried to fit the face off the stereo. Not only did it fit and fire up, the electric aerial went up and the radio worked, to sounds of the 70s on radio 2, almost appropriate!

Proof it was running, and not a stuck tacho

It sounds glorious, so all in all a very good day. Tomorrow, if it is nice I will fit some replacement tyres and investigate the clutch, if not it will be back to the P5b.

[Zelandeth]

They are hardy old things.  Hopefully it still has front chassis rails.

Reckon the 900 turbo has to have one of the most downright satisfying exhaust notes at idle out there, definitely one of the most immediately recognisable.

[DSdriver]

At least while it is sitting in a field it is not picking up road salt.

[Spiny Norman]

Hopefully you get that back on the road, they're fantastic cars. Is the Ruby the full fat turbo?
My old 900 lpt was one of the best cars I've ever had and one I most regret selling, lovely old thing to drive.

[Saabnut]

52 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

Hopefully you get that back on the road, they're fantastic cars. Is the Ruby the full fat turbo?

 

Yes, the ruby was the full fat with extra sugar version  It shared the same set up as the Carlsson with a red box APC etc meaning it was 185bhp as opposed to the T16 etc which was 175bhp. The most powerful version of the c900 produced.

[Spiny Norman]

I'd love a HOT c900, the lpt version was plenty quick enough and effortless with it. I bought a scabby but sound GM900 HOT off someone on here a few years back and I'm convinced it had been tweaked because it was hilariously quick once you'd got it out the wheelspin zone.
I really want another Saab...

[KitKat]

Love a Ruby, and definitely agree with @Zelandeth, that distinctive Saab burble is infectious. How rotten has it become over the last 17 years? 
 

[Vantman]

Mine is the opposite, a non turbo but still pleasant to drive and used daily---

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, KitKat said:

Love a Ruby, and definitely agree with @Zelandeth, that distinctive Saab burble is infectious. How rotten has it become over the last 17 years? 
 

No idea yet! Hope to get it on the ramp soon to find out. Bottom of the doors have gone but the arches are still good. It is the drive shaft tunnels that is the main concern.

[Saabnut]

Monday was wet and windy so was a paperwork day. Yesterday  was lovely so back onto the P5b in between phone calls and more work related shite. Onto the lift and lifted up. Oil drained, what was left in it

Old filter came off, and I was delighted to find a rusty, damp patch on it so looks like that is where the oil escaped from. My friend sent me a new filter (his spare for an early classic Range Rover he has to save me waiting on a new one, so oiled the seal and went to fit it. After 20 minutes and many repeated checks between the old and new filter (both looked identical, same size, same TPI thread etc) and carefully checking the thread on the filter housing, I began to question my ability and sanity. It would not go on.

Using the tea fixes everything principle I went inside and made tea. Whilst drinking it, I did some internet sleuthing and eventually I found the problem. The original filter was a Fram PH25 with a 15/16" 16 TPI thread. The replacement was a Mahle OC261 which has a 3/4" x 16TPI thread. That extra 1/16" would explain it! Phoned my parts people and asked for a PH25 and the response was what the hell is that off!  Eventually he tracked down a Mahle equivalent and it should be here Friday. As back up I also ordered a Fram off the bay of evil which should be here Saturday.  That ended Rover progress so I am just going to put this here as it makes me happy!

Today it was time to tackle the Ruby 900. Now it is running, it needed some tyres that hold air. I thought about finding a couple of cast offs and swapping them over, but then remembered in my small* wheel stash I had a set of the same "curly aeros" that had a set of competition tyres fitted, all be it too old to use in competition (or anywhere else really). These have the advantage that the side walls are so stiff, they remain round even if flat (they were last used on a rally prepared Saab for special stages).

All the wheel nuts came ubdone but a sledge hammer was required to release the wheels from the hubs. They gave in eventually and it now level and rolling. It is bloody cold out there today, hence this update during the day whilst I warm my hands around a mug of tea. Going to have to find something else to do in the shed for the rest of the day! As it looks now:

[jonathan_dyane]

Mind unless you're unlucky you might have to prime the Rover's oil pump after leaving it dry.

[Saabnut]

Three weeks later so an update is long overdue - it has been a bit* hectic!  A few days later the oil filters both arrived for the P5B and th Mahle one fitted. Fresh oil was installed and the engine turned over with no choke to see if the oil pump primed which it did so a bit of choke and away she went. Let it warm up and for the first time in 7 years put it in drive. Nothing! Then I remembered the steady oil leak from the gearbox area over the years so added some ATF and all was good. A good polish had it back looking good!

With that completed, my nephew visited for a few days so I took a few days off but before he left he helped guide the Saab 900 onto the trailer behind the Hyundai for its visit to the NEC. The trip down to the NEC was very wet but the roads were quiet - one good thing about the high fuel prices I guess  

Once there, we set up the stand with the "barn find" between two superb examples, a set up that worked well and generated a lot of interest. Over the weekend we made many jokes about the possibility of a stowaway mouse as there were several obvious mouseholes in the sound deadening under the bonnet but as the car had travelled over 400 miles on a bouncy trailer, including an overnight stop we were confident we had no passengers. So, to the exhibits:

and in detail - first the other roadworthy two stroke sonett in the UK

This late 96 V4 is the owners daily driver and was driven down from Fife for the show

In contrast, this fully restored 96 V4 has been in the same family for 2 generations and won best in show at this show the last time it was held in 2019

This lovely 99 is original and has not been restored

This 900 T16 had been booked into the 2020 show as a cruffy example but had become the owners lockdown project and was restored in a single garage, looks not bad for 243k miles!

In contrast was mine

Then there was this beauty owned by Saab specialist TR Autos of Yeovil and is his test bed for a new electronic fuel injection system

Finally, this NG900 Pikes Peak race replica

Once the show ended, my 900 had to be loaded back onto the trailer, and due to no clutch was lined up and started in gear. Earlier in the show it had dropped some power steering fluid just behind the drip tray so we had put blue roll down to catch it. Once the car was on the trailer I found our jokes had not been jokes and our unfortunate passenger had been resting on a belt or pulley when I started it!

Monday morning I set off for home, another easy journey with little traffic. Once there, the trailer was unhitched and I repacked my bags for a 3 day trip to Norway. Early hours Tuesday I chucked my bags in the Hyundai and set off, stopping half way to leave the few fresh veggies I had left in the fridge with my neighbours pigs who I am sure appreciated them more than the landfill site! :-). As I got to the tarred section of my drive, about 3/4 mile from my house, the Hyundai cut out and refused to restart, great* news when you have a plane to catch! Wound the Tucson into my neighbours field on the starter and made great speed* back to my house to collect another car. Fortunately the Saab 9-3 'vert started straight away, back to the Tucson to transfer my bags. Gave it one last try and of course it started, so I switched it off and left it in the naughty corner of the field and just made my flight!

Arrived in Stavanger Tuesday morning and was going home today, but that was before someone spotted me in the office and decided they could use me for another project, so I am here until Thursday when I will be going offshore for a week or so. As I now have the weekend in Stavanger, whilst I have plenty of work to be doing, I am going to have some time to myself so thoughts turned to transport. The hotel offers three alternatives, first electric scooters

But as I have never ridden one I ruled them out. Next, electric bikes

but rain is forecast and I don't have my big rain coat with me. For about £40 a day, I can hire one of these

but I have decided that for about 3 quid I will take the bus so I can enjoy a beer or two!

 

[High Jetter]

Thanks for sharing, I've just had a moment. Sonett is superb!

[Saabnut]

Back home after 3 weeks away and the sun was shining. Spent a couple of hours moving vehicles around then decided the P5b needed an outing as it has not driven more than 20 feet in the last 7 years. Trip to the petrol station and 21 miles covered. All good.

[cort1977]

Will have to come over and check out the p5 and ruby. Both are lovely.

[hairnet]

holiday at nicks

you shoulda done the twizy for comedy value

96 is nice

p5 hnnnnnnggggggggg

tucson needs to be bailed and you buy a toyota

 

[Saabnut]

9 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Will have to come over and check out the p5 and ruby. Both are lovely.

Kettle is always on!

[Saabnut]

After a weekend off, mornings have been spent replying to emails and sorting stuff for the next work job, which limits how much I can get done, however yesterday I took the new inner wings for the Disco 1 to the powder coaters (I only want to do this job once!). A rubbish photo of them in the back of the highandry

So today it was move stuff around in the shed and get the Disco in

Headlights out, indicators off and the screws out of the top and the bolts from inside the door, which according to all the references just left two bolts at the front. One came out but the other was seized, so some chiselling failed to remove it and the angry grinder came out to remove the corner of the inner wing

This revealed that the references were wrong and there is another bolt at the end of the sill.  Removing this requires either lieing on the floor of lifting the Disco on the lift. I decided the latter, but also decided I could not be bothered as it was now 1930 so it cam wait until tomorrow. This is how I left it

As I came in the phone wrang and it was a friend I have not seen for a few months. Turns out he needs more room in his shed and was I interested in the non runner and two engines in his shed. As he lives only a few miles away, I went for a look. After careful consideration, I decided the last thing I wanted was more projects, and these turned out to be 3 projects.

I collect next Tuesday!  

 

[Saabnut]

Yesterday a friend came up for some bits off the old transit that has sat in its current position for 22 years. I bought it as an end of life van at auction, ran it for a couple of years then parked it up when it was obviously too rotten to MOT when it became a shed. Age had not improved it as it slowly disappeared. To remove the parts he wanted, it needed moving......

First attempt - strop around the engine mount on to the Kubota. Pulled the engine mount out of the chassis. Attempt 2 - strop around the front axle - Kubota sat with all 4 wheels spinning. Brainwave - attach winch on trailer, apply brakes on the Hyundai and winch it out. Trailer and Hyundai moved backwards (and I noticed the osr wheel on the car seemed not to lock completely).

Attempt 4 - get neighbour and his 160hp tractor. Tried to lift it by the roof, roof peeled off! Attempt 5 - strop around axle to loader - success but the van got wider as it moved.....

A little work with the angry grinder soon had the engine and box out. Cutting through the shock absorbers released the front axle and as the steering box and column were required it was easier to chop the bulkhead off. Two hours later

I think the rest can go for scrap now!

Tidied up a bit, but when parking the Hyundai, the brakes felt, well, not right. A quick inspection revealed brake fluid dripping from just in front of the osr wheel, so that will be a brake pipe then. Explains the lack of lock up on that wheel. Looks like Disco work has been postponed...

[hairnet]

lol at transit and ffs at hyundai (what did my other post say  )

 

[SiC]

Your P5 is lovely!

[Saabnut]

Been a long day today! Started off with emails and a teams meeting for work. With that out of the way, as today was Tuesday it meant Collection Day as referred to above. No collection thread as they were only 4 miles away.  Sun shining,  my friend Pete came over in his Series 3 Landy as a tow car was needed and the modern* Hyundai was still dead. Loaded my Kubota as we would need the hydraulic assist and off we went. The first one had sat in the barn for 14 years after interest was lost as the restoration neared completion. As a non runner, it was towed out with the Kubota and loaded onto the trailer

Back home to unload it, it is a 1951 Ferguson TED20 petrol/TVO example

Cup of tea and back for the other 2 projects.

First a Petter A1

And finally a Petter AV6 (I think) water cooled diesel complete with a home lighting plant consisting of bed plate

Bloody heavy generator

Fuel tank and switchgear

and of course the engine

With it all home, my other friend Gary arrived with his brake flaring tool so the failed pipe on the osr of the Hyundai was cut back to good and a new section let in. Of course, whilst bleeding the brakes, the pipe on the nsr failed, so that had the same surgery and the tucks on is back on the road. Finally, the Fergie was pushed into the shed and the engine proved to be free. Further progress was halted when the sump was found to be over full with oil thinned by petrol so draining and fresh oil is needed, and I am out of oil!

More progress hopefully tomorrow.