For Sale Rover 216 GSI Auto £300 or possible swaps, page 3.

[davehedgehog31]

So, undertook my first shiter collection of the weekend and what an ambitious one it was. 

 

My steed was awaiting pickup from a leafy suburb south of That London, some 430 miles from my home near Glasgow. 

 

After investigating the various transport options the tightarse in me was disgusted by rail and air prices. I identified a cheap fare on the overnight autobus, £12 leaving Glasgow at 22:15 on Friday. An unpleasant night loomed. 

 

I was dropped off by my better half at the bus station early doors and I secured the last window seat, the seat next to me was taken by a rather odd fellow who used his outdoors voice indoors, but was harmless enough. I stuck my headphones on and dozed until the bus lurched off the motorways into London. A not too unpleasant journey in all honesty, I alighted at a chilly Victoria Coach Station at 5:20am. 

 

Sensing I may be a bit early to head to the owner's gaff, I waited on Wetherspoons in Victoria Train Station to open and holed up there with a coffee and my breakfast for a couple of hours until it was time to catch the train to Orpington. 

 

Apprehension was building. I made my way through and met the owner's son who was conducting the sale on behalf of his elderly father who was retiring from driving. Insurance and tax had been arranged and it was simply a case of driving away. 

 

The car - a rather dusty Rover 416 GSI Automatic born in the foul year of our lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three. 63k on the clock and MOT history was absolutely pristine save for a CV joint gaiter and a bit of sill welding some ten years ago. Looks to have covered very few miles in the intervening period. 

 

First impressions - It's very dusty. The Heather Mills spec gearbag shifts well. I should have my string backed driving gloves.

 

Brimmed her and checked tyre pressures. Some miles later approaching the Dartford Tunnel on some disgusting behemoth of a highway the little Rover achieved Engine Warning Light. Became convinced the fucker was going to overheat despite temp gauge being below half and no discernible issue. Made a very nervous passage of the Dartford tunnel with my arse making buttons. I was envisaging a tow truck in my near future. I managed to make it to a service station where I opened the bonnet, no obvious dramas, all levels looked clean and fine and it hot started no bother with no EWL. Fuck knows, I let it cool down then nervously set off again. 

 

Anyway, the rest of the journey went absolutely without incident surprisingly and the car drove well. Only few issues uncovered were;

 

- Needs a wheel balanced, vibration through wheel at about 60mph. 

- No hot air through face vents - air through Windscreen vents and the wee door vents works fine, cools and heats with a turn of the dial...

- Steering wheel off centre, car drives perfectly straight though. 

 

I got it home sometime after 6pm after three cans of Red Bull along the route and also two cold Sausage Rolls which I inhaled at service station north of Penrith.

 

Yesterday I gave it a much needed hoover and blast with the hose and the inside a quick scrub. I'm very happy with my purchase so far. Bits of rust here and there but it seems very solid. Interior is immaculate. I also shoved an £8 stereo in it from China, more out of curiosity to see how shit it is - it is quite dreadful and I think the original cassette deck will be reinstated. 

 

Have some photographs and I'll stick up a wee list of jobs identified later on today;

[davehedgehog31]

Little Rover next to some bloated modern hatebus.

 

 

Interior after a good scrubbing.

 

 

Alternative view of exterior - note rear nearside door trim has been jettisoned at some point. Hoping to source replacement.

 

[Split_Pin]

Well played there, its (almost) come back home too! Plenty of R8 love on here, youll have nae bother getting help and tips on keeping it ship shape.

 

I'll keep an eye out for it around Cumbernauld, I'm there most days.

[davehedgehog31]

Well played there, its (almost) come back home too! Plenty of R8 love on here, youll have nae bother getting help and tips on keeping it ship shape.

 

I'll keep an eye out for it around Cumbernauld, I'm there most days.

 

Cheers! My first thing to look at is the lack of heat from face vents just in case it's symptomatic of something more important. Never really something I've had to troubleshoot on my cars so just doing a bit of reading.

 

The old boy also gave me a tin, yes, tin of Castrol Oil, he thought it was maybe "four or five years old" but insisted it was fine because it was still sealed. I think his age estimate might be a bit out, I'll need to cut it in half and count the rings to put an accurate date on it;

 

[Split_Pin]

My dad had something like that in the garage for years.

 

Could possibly ebay that, pretty sure some folk collect those.

 

Sounds like a stuck flap in your heating system, as long as there is actual heat being produced then no big worry. My mums Metro City didnt have centre face vents anyway!

[sam simmons]

Nice find,i had a friend who worked for Rover moons ago and i remember him raving that these cars "really flew" on a test drive...i think i know your car as i live very close to Orpington (Chelsfield village)..

 

I still see more of these than the Honda Concerto knocking about...a few still in Orpington as it is brimmed full of oldies who love a old Rover

[Split_Pin]

2 of my Friends had 214s as their first cars and both wished they still had them.

[davehedgehog31]

It should also be noted that this car sports the obligatory National Trust sticker to the Windscreen. 

[Split_Pin]

Winning!

[dollywobbler]

Nice write up. I like these first-facelift-but-with-no-grille R8s.

 

Not sure the centre vents ever do hot. I think they're always fresh air if I remember rightly. Which I might not.

 

Willing to bet your engine light is oxygen sensor. Seem to recall you can find the ECU under the passenger footwell and get it to flash a code at you.

[Ghosty]

You're right about the code light, if the EML comes on pull back the carpet in the passenger footwell, ignition on and a little light behind an inspection window will flash fault codes.

It's the door vents that only run fresh air, the centre ones will put out warm air.

 

They're class cars these, hope it serves you well.

[Parky]

Yeah, that can of oil is much more than four or five years old.....

 

The advert seems to highlight a Triumph Toledo!

 

And as for value - check this out - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/castrol-GTX-LIquid-engineering-tin-5-Litres-collectable-vintage/273136891969?hash=item3f983a3841:g:D1gAAOSw3xVaDYHy

 

Thirty Quid for a battered container! Yours looks much better

[DodgeRover]

Don't forget to pay the dart charge as they're robbing sods if you are late doing it.

[Isaac Hunt]

Epic colekshun that. Sold as not seen from 400+ miles away, excellent.

 

The Rhonda boxes on these can seem a little harsh from my recollection of a 416SLi Auto that served some time with us.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Awesome work. I grew up near Orpington, it is indeed the natural home for these. Have some brave points for driving it that far home!

[Ghosty]

Harsh?! Probably needed an ATF change, they're ultra smooth but need to have regular ATF or they start to clunk and miss shifts sometimes. A knackered one is bad but a good one is peachy.

[Jim Bell]

Well done for surviving the LonDon.  Rover look sweet like taffy.

[wuvvum]

The old boy also gave me a tin, yes, tin of Castrol Oil, he thought it was maybe "four or five years old" but insisted it was fine because it was still sealed. I think his age estimate might be a bit out, I'll need to cut it in half and count the rings to put an accurate date on it;

 

Given that that oil has been sat under the ground for probably 60 million years, I'm sure another few years in a can won't have done it too much harm.

 

Nice purchase - I'm with Wobbler on the first facelift being a good looking motor.

[fordperv]

Little Rover next to some bloated modern hatebus.

 

 

Interior after a good scrubbing.

 

 

Alternative view of exterior - note rear nearside door trim has been jettisoned at some point. Hoping to source replacement.

 

Oooffff that looks Nice, I had many r8 214 when I was 18, I loved them they were nippy little things i thought they were great, even if they did like snapping driveshafts, I do prefer the cleaner look of the earlier fronts

[davehedgehog31]

Cheers all - snowy conditions have somewhat curtailed play but looking forward to some fettling over the weekend. Will give her a service and a better look over and see where we're up to. Given the previous owner's somewhat questionable timescales I'd like to at least change fluids and filters before pressing her into full service next week. 

 

Regarding EWL, it hasn't come back on since the initial incident but I'll have a wee look at the aforementioned bulb and see if it's trying to give me any messages, I like the idea that it's like the mute fellow out that Metallica video trying to communicate with me. 

 

I had fond memories of these cars, my uncle had one when I was growing up and always thought it was a cut above the cars my dad was running about in at the time in terms of comfort and refinement. 

 

Edit to add - Oil can going on ebay tonight, it might well pay for the materials for it's actual service!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Given that that oil has been sat under the ground for probably 60 million years, I'm sure another few years in a can won't have done it too much harm.....

It will have been refined to some extent from its crude underground state, so may well have a shelf life - Total certainly thinks so

 

Some think up to five years should be alright

[jonny69]

Have a finger around and see if you can feel a stuck flap. It might be a bit damp and smelly inside pipes that old so expect your fingers to stink for a bit.

 

Did you say the heater was broken on the car?

[spartacus]

No sniggering at the back!

[Parky]

It will have been refined to some extent from its crude underground state, so may well have a shelf life - Total certainly thinks soSome think up to five years should be alright

If I had something old that needed a flush out, I might be tempted to give it a whirl. Appropriate for a highly tuned Honda 1.6? No chance.

[davehedgehog31]

Adjusted the throttle cable to take a bit of slack out the pedal, took it out a wee spin again, still in the honeymoon period but it really is a cracking thing to waft along in with the auto gearbag. 

[Tam]

Hey Dave! Looks like SARR will be an AS event now as well

[davehedgehog31]

Well, my enthusiasm has wained a wee bit...

 

I went out to have a squint at the back wheel arches tonight thinking I could maybe start on tidying them up this weekend. Scraping away all the crud has revealed they're a bit worse than I'd thought. The passenger side inner arch looked a bit frilly but I had thought the inner of the wheelarch itself to be solid enough, as it turns out the rubber liner was hiding some sins. I set to work scraping out a load of crud to harrowing effect... 

 

 

At least the car was cheap!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Annoying! That is the no.1 R8 grot spot admittedly

[bramz7]

Exactly why I sold mine. Rear arches made of hope and tape.

[davehedgehog31]

Yeah, it's not ideal.

 

Can't weld myself so going to have to get it looked at and see if any cheap(ish) repair can be effected. Don't care how it looks, just want to keep it viable as it does seem remarkably good otherwise.

 

Does make it's 100% blemish free MOT history for the last 8 years look rather suspect.