Hello 'shite. Look at what I've just done...

[ThePollitt]

Hi, 

Long time lurker, first time poster. 

 

I'm Chris, a serial hoarder of cars people really should have thrown away years ago. An example of this would be my 1998 Saab 93 SE Turbo ragtop - in bright yellow - or perhaps my £150 Clio of doom. But rubbish though they may be, they're not the reason that brings me here. NO SIR. Because I have bought more shite. 

 

BEHOLD MY ROVER 800 VITESSE SPORT! 

 

 

Glorious, right? I won it on eBay last night and frankly paid far too much for it. But hey, I'm a sucker for Longbridge tin and this was local, so why not? 

 

The advert stated such things like "suspect head gasket" and "been sitting for a while" but things are of little consequence to me. Plus, when I went to look at it, I was left feeling 98% confident that it's the victim of your standard 800 header tank rupture (they split on the curved section by the strut top). There was, however, very little oil in the engine. But again, this was quickly diagnosed as being rocker cover gaskets, so no need to panic just yet. 

 

 

As for its time laying idle, it's not been long. A year, tops. There is dirt, grime, some mould and plenty of cobwebs, but that's about it. 

 

Bodily, the front bumper has a hole in it, the chrome trims all the way around are shot, the pain on the roof is crazed and the lip over the number plate on boot lid is starting to go a bit rusty. Meh. 

 

So why did I buy it then? Well, I've known the car for over a decade. So when the ad said "one elderly owner for 11 years" I knew it wasn't a fib. I've driven past it many, many times, and it's always struck me as a loved, looked-after car. So here we are. 

 

So there you go. It need some love, it may be unsavable wreck, but for now, it's mine. Plus, it has more space in the back for the children, who have this annoying habit of growing. 

I just hope it's not quite as much of a disaster as my last one, which was the twin of this. 

[Cavcraft]

Welcome along!

 

Pictures haven't come out though chief, guessing it's this one?

 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-ROVER-VITESSE-T16-TURBO-/132470665846?hash=item1ed7ddf276%3Ag%3AZwYAAOSwM91aW6Op&nma=true&si=bcSTCIRTfiP1OBadsccdi59vyYc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[DVee8]

Hi and welcome along.No pics i'm afraid.

[ThePollitt]

Pictures now sorted. The forum had a wobble when uploading, I thought it might have retained them, but evidently not!

Chris

[dollywobbler]

I can see the pics. Am I special? 

 

Howdy new bloke.

[SiC]

Welcome to the forum! With tastes in cars like that, you'll find plenty of company.

 

I don't think you did too bad price wise if it's in decent condition and you know it's well loved. Fingers crossed it's nothing RT too serious under there that needs fixing!

[wuvvum]

I can see the pics too.

 

Also, nice car.  Don't think the price is particularly over the odds tbh.

[mk2_craig]

Welcome! These things must be on the up soon I'd have thought. Is V reg about as late as they get?

[Datsuncog]

Well bought! Always nice to know a bit of backstory about the festering lumps of tin that grace one's driveway... sometimes makes it easier to accept their little foibles.

Pics of the rest of the fleet would also be appreciated here, I'll wager...

[ThePollitt]

Welcome! These things must be on the up soon I'd have thought. Is V reg about as late as they get?

Yeah, it must be one of the last registered. My old one was a T an I thought that was late. Don't think I've ever seen an 800 on a V. 

[ThePollitt]

Well bought! Always nice to know a bit of backstory about the festering lumps of tin that grace one's driveway... sometimes makes it easier to accept their little foibles.

 

Pics of the rest of the fleet would also be appreciated here, I'll wager...

 

Thanks. 

 

As for the others, ask and ye shall receive. 

 

The Saab. Bought for £800, had a million owners, currently my daily drive. 

 

 

The Clio. Bought for £150 as a stop-gap while the Saab was dead (clutch went). Passed an MOT with no advisories. Now costs so little to run that there is no point getting rid of it, so it's the spare car now. Handy when one owns a Rover and a Saab. 

 

 

Chris

[eddyramrod]

Welcome along, from another 800 owner

[danthecapriman]

Welcome aboard! Nice old Rover you've got.

[Squire_Dawson]

 

So why did I buy it then? Well, I've known the car for over a decade. So when the ad said "one elderly owner for 11 years" I knew it wasn't a fib. I've driven past it many, many times, and it's always struck me as a loved, looked-after car. So here we are.

 

It's always nice to know the pedigree of a car. Good luck with it.

[Captain Furious]

Welcome aboard

 

The Rover 800 will always have a special place in my memories, my mates dad had one as a company car back in the 90's, an L reg 827i. My mate was able to drive it on the companies insurance so we used it one year to go to Mildenhall Airshow

 

Fark me, that thing was a rocket ship, bearing in mind my point of reference at the time was a 1.1 Fiesta.

[Yoss]

Well that's a great first post, welcome along. You know you'll fit in, much love for anything Longbridge here.

[Squirrel2]

With cars like these you’ll be in good company on AS.

 

There’s a chap not far from here with a yard full of 800s. Will have to entice him onto here too.

 

Squirrel2

[Supernaut]

Ah, hello!

 

I've been following Not £2 Grand on facebook for a little while now. Welcome along!

[Rave]

Hello mate, been following you on Twitter, good to see you here!

[chaseracer]

There’s a chap not far from here with a yard full of 800s. Will have to entice him onto here too.

 

Lord Sterling has a brother?  Oh dearie me... 

 

Welcome along, Chris.  Teapot's over there on the Hostess trolley.  Don't eat all the Bourbons, Cavcraft gets twitchy!

[D Spares & Tyres]

Nice Rover

 

Would you swap for a Bedford CF?

[Shep Shepherd]

It's Chris from Twitter! Hello!

[clayts450]

Hello matey, welcome along - late reg 800 madness, great to see. I will have one of these at some point in time. Lovin' the banana-Saab too

[ThePollitt]

Well aren't you a lovely lot! 

To those that mentioned, yes, I do Not 2 Grand, too. Basically I live for cheap cars, mainly because a career in the motoring press has seen to it that I never have any money. 

Glad you all like the Rover. I'll be getting it transported to my place next weekend, then the project can start. I'm currently giving myself a headache trying to find a new header tank. I did read somewhere that you can fit a Volvo part (850?) as long as it has a 14psi cap? I'll have to dig again, as I'm no mechanic. 

Once the header tank is sorted, and I've thrown some new leads on it (current ones are arcing out apparently) I'll throw a bit more oil in it (seeing as most is all over the engine block thanks to toss rocker gaskets) and stick it in for an MOT. Then I'll play it by ear from there. 

It's old Rover that's been laid up for a while though. So can't see it being a pro... well, we'll see. 

Chris

[Rod/b]

Welcome aboard N2G man!

[tooSavvy]

.....

 

TS

* its traditional

[ThePollitt]

Well, not even had the thing recovered yet, not even looked at the engine oil leak or the broken header tank, nor have I looked at the apparent issue with the exhaust. 

I have, however, got myself a box full to the brim with MTEC brakes, front and rear, fluid and braided lines. 

Priorities. 

[robinmasters]

I'm another N2G follower. Welcome aboard. 

 

And well done for defecting from the blue. 

[Parky]

Fellow N2G follower here. Love that site!

 

One things for sure, you have an entire site of sub £2k car story contributors so website content shouldn't be a problem going forward!

[Rod/b]

What happened to the 3 door R8 you were supposed to be getting? Has that gone out the window?