Sold Viking Longboat trials and tribulations! Roffle £5.00 per ticket

[Steve79]

Sat here freezing my nads off waiting for a train to north somerset

[BorniteIdentity]

Doing it yourself then dude? Good luck and God speed!

[Steve79]

Yep, if a job wants doing, do it yourself and don't rely on fecking idiots!

 

Not been on a local train for ages, GWR have spent some money for once and seats are comfortable and nicely trimmed, even got a seat with a 3pin plug and usb chargers!

 

All aboard!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Are you sitting behind a smurf?

[Steve79]

Got retroshite entertainment for the journey as well

[Steve79]

Her hair is pretty wild, might be a relative of sonic!

[Brodders]

7 hours and no news, is there a shitter MIA?

[BorniteIdentity]

Relax! It's a Rover.

[vulgalour]

WCPGW?

[SiC]

WCPGW?

HGF ofc

[SiC]

North Somerset isn't that far from Bristol at all. I hope he didn't get caught up on one of the big the accidents that happened around here.

[Steve79]

Finally got to my destination and the longboat is present and correct

 

 

 

Got invited in for a cup of tea and a biscuit by the widow of the previous owner. She was quite upset to see the car go but acknowledged that it was time to let it go. Its not been driven at all since October so isn't doing any good just sat on the driveway.

 

Had to jump start it as lets just say the battery currrently fitted is woefully not up to the task

 

It fired up the first time and so i bid the old dear good day and off i went.

 

Apologies for no pez shot as 1/4 tank was deemed sufficient for the journey back to Bristol.

 

Back in Bristol here is what we have

 

 

The drive back was interesting to say the least. The brakes leave a lot to be desired and are very uneven. This is probably due to the partially seized passenger front brake caliper, which also explains the leisurely performance and red hot wheel!

 

Battery definitely needs changing as its definitely too small. Will need to find out the correct size. 

 

Ride seems extremely floaty which is disconcerting so will need to see what shocks are like.

 

But all in all it seems to be a decent enough car, Its now in for MOT so lets see what happens.

[Steve79]

HGF ofc

 

I can confirm that OMGHGF has NOT occured and water and oil are  in the correct places

[eddyramrod]

Bloody lovely.  I'm more and more enamoured of mine.  Can I have your towbar?

 

It's a pity you're so far away, we have twins!

[Steve79]

I know what you mean. The seats are comfy, not as comfy as my XJ8, but comfy enough.

 

Once the brakes are addressed and the MOT's passed the i can get on with putting a few miles on it.

 

Sorry, towbar needs to stay put for occasional trailer towing duties.

 

Funny how are's are both the same year, spec and colour.

 

Really need to also address the dash and glovebox warping!

 

As an aside. I was shopping round for insurance quote for this and it was coming up with over £250 on meerkat.

 

Peter S Taylor brokers were recommended by someone on here previously and for classic fully comp, agreed value with 3000 miles limited per year they came up with £94.40 which obviously i took!

[eddyramrod]

That's funny, I wanted the towbar for exactly the same purpose!  What a coincidence!

 

Re the dash: it seems TADTS so I've decided I can live with it.

[Lord Sterling]

Sweet car man. I have owned many a Rover 800 except for the Mk2 Fastback. Here are my current lot:

 

825 Sterling V6:

 

827 Sterling:

 

My old 820i SE (Sold)

 

I wish I never sold it, it was a pretty nice 820, but sadly my situation conspired against me; it broke down and wouldn't start, I had it recovered to some chap I knew, but things got a bit tougher, promises broken and financial situation was getting worse, I stuck it on eBay and it sold for a measly £100.

 

I've got a few Mk1s aswell;

 

827 Sterling:

 

825 Sterling:

 

1987 820E:

 

Most of these are sadly looking quite sorry for themselves now, they were due to be moved to a new home but my situation has suddenly worsened and I simply cannot afford the time/money to move these now.

[CortinaDave]

i really like these, but as a local radio DJ I cant bring myself to own one due to Alan Partridge connotations.

 

Once my radio days are over i'll be giving one a try

[Steve79]

As predicted, we have an MOT failure.

 

Mate from MOT station has called to say:

 

NSF caliper has limited movement and brake pad on that side is knackered.

 

Apart from wiper blades and the insecure battery, the only other thing is the exhaust emissions. He's put it through 3 times and can't get it to go below 1% and thats with chucking in cat cleaner as well.

 

It had under 1/4 of a tank when collected and i did chuck about 5 litres in before dropping off at the mot station.

 

Thinking about it, it was pinking a bit under moderate acceleration going up hills on the way back home.

 

Apart from replacing the obvious like spark plugs, fuel filter and new fuel, is there anything else i shiuld be looking at?

 

He did suggest it may need a new cat, but i think this was only replaced around 4-5 years ago.

[dollywobbler]

Service items a good start, but an Italian tune up would probably work wonders too. 

[Steve79]

I had the same thought about italian tune up. Its 43 miles back home from burnham and i made sure i accelerated pretty hard for parts of the journey.

 

The condition of the oil and coolant suggest its been serviced VERY recently but will change the pkugs and fuel filter to be on the safe side.

 

Would i get a better emissions reading if i made sure that the engine was red hot after a few high speed runs and then getting it tested immediately after?

[dollywobbler]

Engine doesn't have to be red hot, but I must admit that last year, the tester had to hold my Honda at 3000rpm for a couple of minutes before doing the test, as it just wasn't getting the cat warm.

[BorniteIdentity]

Plugs first - then some VMax - and then it's time to get things red hot.  If you're friends with the tester, ask him to be ready when you rock up at the garage 'post tune up'.

 

This looks smashing - well done.

[Dan_ZTT]

Lovely car sire. I think I need a Rover in my life.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

i really like these, but as a local radio DJ I cant bring myself to own one due to Alan Partridge connotations.

Once my radio days are over i'll be giving one a try

I'm pretty certain that at some point between the Lexus ( it's a Japanese Mercedes) IS and the sponsored Hyundai I40 , Partridge 100% had an MG ZT. It's just he wasn't on telly at the time, so we never saw it.

[fatharris]

Oooh, I need to scratch the 800 itch some day, I almost pulled the trigger on one years ago but the insurance for an 18 year-old was ridiculous!

[eddyramrod]

i really like these, but as a local radio DJ I cant bring myself to own one due to Alan Partridge connotations.

 

Once my radio days are over i'll be giving one a try

 

 

Lovely car sire. I think I need a Rover in my life.

 

 

Oooh, I need to scratch the 800 itch some day,

Despite what I said above about being highly enamoured of mine, I still have the CF itch that I really need to scratch.  There's going to be an almost identical car to Steve's available very soon with a brand new MoT, and only 42,000 miles up.  I will very much regret letting it go, but if it's the only way to get myself into a CF, then so be it.  The CF will most likely be available come the autumn and I'll be hankering for a nice Rover again!

[tommytwo]

I have owned my 1992 820SI for 16 years and I know they are very sensitive to plugs re the emissions so try a new set. NGK BK6RE if my memory is any good. Maybe the cat was replaced 4-5 years ago but it may have been a cheap one. Mine only lasted one year when it passed at under 0.5% Co. But mine being an early Mk2, it can be passed as a non cat car which yours is not, looks like its a 95 reg. Also try a new oxygen sensor, they are easy to replace.

 

My car is non air con and needs a 480 CCA battery so if you have air con, an 075 550 CCA may be what you need . Just bought one from the bay for £41.95 and with a four year warranty.

 

Great looking car. Enjoy!

[Lacquer Peel]

CLASS

[beko1987]

Love it! Would love to own one one day when I don't have a long commute!