Project Dollywobbler's Rover 45 - STOP - Carry on.

[Sir Snipes]

Surely the ultimate hopeless project is a roverised civic estate with the at 2.5? Or 1.8T?

[Lacquer Peel]

There's a Roverised Civic estate with an L series. Do want.

[Noel Tidybeard]

wasnt that owned by the vicar of dibley longbridge?

 

and as for v6 rover 45s wasnt the mg zs the phull phatt 2.5?

[clayts450]

wasnt that owned by the vicar of dibley longbridge?

 

and as for v6 rover 45s wasnt the mg zs the phull phatt 2.5?

Yup, not the puny 2 litre as in the 45.

[dollywobbler]

Matiz news!

 

Yes, apparently the battery isn't much cop. It has been collected by a friend, who will now fettle it. Eyeing up a collection caper at the end of the month/early Sept to finally get it home.

[dollywobbler]

Today, I have achieved 35mpg in the Rover! Cruising at 60-65 did the trick. As did avoiding sports mode and LOL revs. But now I'm wondering if 40mpg is possible...

[dozeydustman]

Best my brother got from his 75 2 litre auto was 38mpgs at a steady 70 using the cruise controls. The 45 being smaller and lighter I think this is entirely possible, especially if you cruise like a giffer at 55mph....

[dollywobbler]

Well, I don't like going slower than the trucks, I'd rather keep out of their way, and I'm sure they'd prefer it too! I will see what I can do though.

[MondeoBlues]

My 620 could acheive 35mpg between Brum amd Aberystwyth if i drove it like the giffer everyone thought I'd borrowed it off

[dollywobbler]

One day, what feels like a long time ago, I went for a drive in an Rover.

 

On the way, I met over V6 things of which videos later. 

 

By Wetherby, fuel had happened.

 

321 miles was a new record, and it wasn't even empty! That resulted in 35mpg. Wow.

 

I went further north. Weather happened.

 

However, other cars were encountered for yet more video stuff eventually one day.

 

I also saw a real rarity!

 

No, not one of those. It's an Anadol - believed to be RHD but the owner wasn't there to ask. Wow!

 

The day after that also contained a fair amount of 'wow.' This is a 1967 Prince Skyline saloon.

 

The company also specialises in the powerful ones.

 

All Skylined out, I sought out an Autoshiter. He was busy.

 

He then led me on a merry drive (which ruined my fuel economy plans) to meet even more Autoshiters - see the NE thread.

 

The next day, I drove down to Yorkshire. I chose the wrong bit.

 

We found somewhere nicer to take photos of this. Lovely!

 

Then I sought out more Reliants, because lately, no Sunday is complete without lots of Reliants.

 

After collecting bits of Reliant engine, I had another date with brown Japanese goodness.

 

Yes, a Mazda 929.

 

Then I drove to Lincolnshire. I awoke refreshed (apart from dreaming about being chased by a black bear while I was driving a microcar and having to drop ham to distract it) and enjoyed* the fine luxury of a breakfast in Scunthorpe.

 

I went to lick some lovely Fiat vans with Vin. NUMBER PLATE PORN.

 

Then I drove home. This is near the Toyota factory near Burton-on-Trent.

 

Just time for one more Reliant encounter...

 

At Shrewsbury, I went to a garden centre for a cream tea. After all, I am in the Rover Club.

 

Picked up a windscreen, then drove home for one final Reliant/Rover moment.

 

I reckon that was about 600 miles, taking my total in the car to almost 2000. I really, REALLY like it. It is so comfortable. The only problem was the SRS light coming on. Wonderful.

[Isaac Hunt]

SRS light may well be the connections under the seat, its is a bit TADTS.

 

Some say undo the connectors, spray with WD40 and reconnect. That has never worked for me, fekkin typical.

 

So I chop connector blocks of and crimp some spades on and reconnect back up, that works for me.

[SiC]

I reckon that was about 600 miles, taking my total in the car to almost 2000. I really, REALLY like it. It is so comfortable. The only problem was the SRS light coming on. Wonderful.

Srs lighting to alert the end of a serious journey.

[loserone]

Love how I'm being blamed for the poor fuel economy!  Listening to that V6 I can't imagine I had that much of an effect

[dollywobbler]

You get blamed again here too.

 

WARNING - may contain Autoshiters. And chickens.

[dollywobbler]

Today, the Rover and Matiz met up again.

 

It's now at my mate's workshop. He's hoping to start work on it tomorrow, but I thought, as I was in the area, that I'd just whip the cambelt cover off and have a nose. All looks very new in there, which makes me think the belt probably was done when the head gasket was replaced last year.

 

Battery was a flat as a flat thing. I think that'll need replacing.

[dollywobbler]

Work has begun on the Matiz. A pinhole leak has been found in a coolant hose. That'd do the job! Guess hoses can often suffer after a head gasket failure, as I learnt with the Bluebird. Might be we don't have to replace the inlet manifold gasket after all. I say we, I'm now 120 miles away from the Matiz...

[SiC]

Maybe the HGF was caused by lack of coolant due to the leaky pipe?

[dollywobbler]

Maybe the HGF was caused by lack of coolant due to the leaky pipe?

 

Entirely possible, though you would hope the garage that did the work would have spotted a coolant leak after a head gasket job...

[Stinkwheel]

Entirely possible, though you would hope the garage that did the work would have spotted a coolant leak after a head gasket job...

You've used garages before right?  Never assume things like that.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo wobbler, is the Rovers AC still working?

[dollywobbler]

Yo wobbler, is the Rovers AC still working?

 

I'm sorry to report that yes, it is. LOVELY.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

DAMN!!!! Why did I never even bother trying to get it regassed!!!! 

[dollywobbler]

Changing spark plugs on a transverse V6 is fun*.

 

They were all horribly crusty. A couple were quite oily as well... (cam cover gasket sort of oily). No idea if it's made any massive difference, but a slight misfire on idle seems to have gone. 

 

Oh and 34mpg on the previous tank. Clearly not enough red line action going on...

[Noel Tidybeard]

mrs wobbly is deffo autoshite

 98.7% of wives would've looked at that scene, shook their head, muttered "pillock" then wandered of to do woman things- not Rachel! she thinks "calendar shot" and gets camera on the go. lol  :mrgreen:

[dollywobbler]

More FUN*.

[GeordieInExile]

Surely the ultimate hopeless project is a roverised civic estate with the at 2.5? Or 1.8T?

 

I'm not sure the Civic Aerodeck is Rover-y looking enough for this. That rear window shape is a bit... y'know.

[twosmoke300]

The civic was available with the l series diesel but don’t know if the aerodeck was or not

[dozeydustman]

Just watched the video. What a complete arse of a job.

[SiC]

Reminds me of when I did the plugs and coil pack in the Laguna V6. Only difference is that the inlet manifold covers the plugs and so has to come off. Actually wasn't too bad. Longest bit was replacing/bodging those crappy solid plastic pipes that invariably crack after 10 years in a hot engine bay.

[dollywobbler]

I do wonder if it was on the original plugs. They should be changed every four years/60,000 miles, by which time I guess many Rovers were well outside dealer servicing schedules. I imagine most normal garages just wouldn't bother if it was running ok. I should check through the service history really. There is some!