BL Bloke's Motors - 205 still here but the garage has gone

[BL Bloke]

I did post in the introductions thread a few weeks ago but I thought I'd start a thread for my recently acquired Rover 45.

 

DSCF0090 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0091 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0089 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0092 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0088 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

Service history and 31000 miles to which I've since added another 300. It does have some scratches on the paintwork but being silver most of them don't show until you get close The most noticeable are on the rear bumper and both mirrors.

 

DSCF0158 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0157 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0159 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

There is also a scrape on the n/s rear wheel arch.

 

DSCF0103 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

I have made one addition since buying it. 

 

DSCF0095(1) by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

It was originally supplied by Hartwell West Bromwich which is the same dealer I bought a brand new Rover Metro 1.1 from back in 1992. Up until then I'd been driving a variety of old chod including 3 BMC 1300s, 2 A35s, a Morris Oxford VI, Vauxhall Chevette and an Audi 80GL.

 

[Skut]

Nice! I presume it's a K series judging by the rev counter.

[LessThanEqual]

Those scuffs look like paint transfer onto the car, they should mostly buff out with some decent abrasive polish.

[purplebargeken]

Welcome to the 45 club, I have the CVT version and it's life is documented on here under the projects heading.

 

Ace cars!

[Lord Sterling]

Welcome to Autoshite fella. Nice Rover. I love these. They had an unregistered facelift one at the old Rover plant always parked by Q-gate. I've had a nose around it once when I was invited on a private tour during some festival that was going on in Cofton Park.

 

I had use of a 45 Saloon diesel (loved that, wish I'd had bought it) and recently a MG ZS TD which has been sold to another shiter;

 

I own a bunch of Rover 800s in all states of sadness and disrepair because of something called; 'life' and its constant need of attention and money.

 

You're not too far from me, I live in North Worcs by Kidderminster but I am a regular in Blackheath and Birmingham. We're having a meet at Cannock on the 23rd; http://autoshite.com/topic/34425-as-in-the-community-the-association-of-associated-massivs-230319/

[clayts450]

Always nice to welcome a fellow Rover owner onboard.

 

I had the 45 V6 for a few months, and it was a mighty nice steer, despite having a fair few issues which saw me scrapping it, sadly (Bangernomics and all that jazz). 

 

Usual weak spots on these are the door handles which can break if you sneeze near them and the brake calipers seize for fun, so well worth doing some preventative work now if you can.

[Matty]

Have you still got the chevette? Will you take a broken Xbox??

[BL Bloke]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I should have mentioned in the first post that it has a 1.4 K series. 

 

Those scuffs look like paint transfer onto the car, they should mostly buff out with some decent abrasive polish.

 

I thought it might be so after reading your post I popped out with some T Cut and had a rub at the affected areas. It did uncover some paint damage on the bumper but the mirrors look a lot better. I only managed to take one photo before my camera battery died and it started raining.

 

Before:

 

DSCF0157 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

After:

 

DSCF0167 by timothy jones, on Flickr

[BL Bloke]

Have you still got the chevette? Will you take a broken Xbox??

 

The Chevette was an insurance write off in 1982 but I did see it back on the road a year later. It was last taxed in 1987.

[Lord Sterling]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I should have mentioned in the first post that it has a 1.4 K series.

Cool! Welcome to tue K-series club. I've got a 2.5 KV6 Sterling. It did look like this once:

 

It's probably looking a bit sadder these days but I know it'd start up with a battery fitted and some new petrol.

 

It needs the sills doing now and radiator otherwise it's been a properly reliable runner. Wish I still had it on the road. I will do again one day.

[Skut]

Out of curiosity when you start the engine does the rev counter flicker with the churning of the starter motor or does it only come to life when the engine fires.

[BL Bloke]

Nice. I haven't seen a Rover 800 on the road for ages.

[BL Bloke]

Out of curiosity when you start the engine does the rev counter flicker with the churning of the starter motor or does it only come to life when the engine fires.

 

It comes to life when the engine fires.

[Skut]

It comes to life when the engine fires.

 

Ta muchly, guess that's normal for 1400 k series as that's what mine does.   

[Lord Sterling]

On 3/8/2019 at 8:52 PM, BL Bloke said:

Nice. I haven't seen a Rover 800 on the road for ages.

Cheers man. Got an older 827 Sterling aswell:

Its been a long while since it's seen the road. It's not exactly looking top anymore but it still very solid and ripe for a very light resto, but more in the engine department than anything else.

Also have an 820E:

The V6s are sadly in a pretty poor state. I keep them clean and take the cover off regularly but they really need under-cover storage and regular running.

[eddyramrod]

Nice. I haven't seen a Rover 800 on the road for ages.

I think mine went midlands way last summer...

Can't remember exactly where though.  I sold it on here in July, after I came out of hospital.  It had been a bloody good car for an ebay blind-buy too.  2.0 auto, went like greased manure off a freshly-buttered shovel, much to my surprise.  I can't complain, I'd had the thick end of a year out of it.

[Matty]

The Chevette was an insurance write off in 1982 but I did see it back on the road a year later. It was last taxed in 1987.

So I'm a bit late then!

[BL Bloke]

Just a bit.  It was a 4 door Chevette E. Trim level was so basic that only the driver had a sun visor.  

 

Since buying the Rover I have had to top up the coolant a few times. There's no mayo in the engine so I don't think it's OMGHGF but I think the coolant is due to be changed as I don't think it's supposed to look like this...

 

 DSCF0156 by timothy jones, on Flickr

[Remspoor]

^^^^^^^That photo. WTF?

 

[BL Bloke]

Smoll update. Since the last time I topped up the coolant the Rover has been out a few times including a dummy run to the Truckers Rest and the level has remained the same. Also the airbag light, which has been on since I bought it went out on the last run out so a bit of good news. 

 

 

Currently watching England v Czech Republic so I thought I'd leave you with my version. 

 

DSCF0100 by timothy jones, on Flickr

[clayts450]

We can compare 1.4 K series notes in Cannock - I'll be in the Streetwise tomorrow

[BL Bloke]

I took the Rover to POL on Saturday where it was parked next to a very nice 400 saloon.

 

DSCF0301 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

The ex Hubnut Rover 45 was also in attendance.

 

DSCF0380 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 

  I had a chat with clayts450 about various things Rover including the noisy tappets which mine has had since I bought it. He suggested Wynns Hydraulic Lifter treatment so I tried it out and after a run out yesterday it has made a difference. The tappet noise is still there but it's now a lot better than it was. One thing that's still going on is the coolant loss but I have ordered a new expansion tank cap which will hopefully sort it out.

 

  The MoT is up in a couple of weeks so fingers crossed all goes well. 

[clayts450]

Nice to catch up

 

Did you sort out the airbag light ?

[BL Bloke]

Did you sort out the airbag light ?

 

Not yet. It's booked in for its MoT next week so I've got a few days to sort it out. 

[BL Bloke]

The Rover passed its MOT with just 3 advisories. I was told that the airbag light went off at first, then stayed on and finally went off so it did behave itself in the end. ?  The new expansion tank cap has had no effect as I'm still having to top up the coolant. It was OK after I took it for a 45 mile run but if I do a few short journeys I have to top it up, any ideas?

[clayts450]

There's a leak somewhere and you need to find it really. They don't call the K the Kettle for nothing - 5.5 litres is the entire capacity of the cooling system so even a tiny drip could be terminal.

Usual suspects are water pump or inlet manifold gasket - former impossible to spot if it's just a drip, IMG slightly easier if you are using the pink OAT coolant as there will usually be white-ish staining around the inlet manifold area.

Recommend you spend some time researching over on the MG-R forums https://forums.mg-rover.org (especially https://forums.mg-rover.org/how-do-i-answers-common-problems-8/guide-cooling-system-leaks-rover-200-25-400-45-mg-zr-zs-k-series-335685/) or the 200/400 owners club (includes 45 now) http://www.rover200.org.uk/forums/ as MG/Rover owners of K-series engined cars panic ever so slightly* every time there is a need to start topping up coolant frequently.

There's also a fair few K-series owners past and present here of course.

 

 

[paulplom]

Check the rad. My mates streetwise was rotted out. We caught it just in time.

[BL Bloke]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I has a look at the radiator and IMG this morning and they look OK (assuming I was looking in the right places). I topped the coolant up again and took it out for a run as I thought it might be easier to spot any potential leaks when the engine was hot rather than cold. After a 40 mile run which included a traffic queue, a single track country lane and a 60mph blast along a dual carriageway I got back home having notched up 800 miles since I bought it. 

Upon opening the bonnet if the coolant level had gone down it wasn't noticeable. What I did notice was that the upper radiator hose was damp in a couple of places.

DSCF0413 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0414 by timothy jones, on Flickr

It did make a cracking noise when I gave it a light squeeze so maybe it's on the way out.  If it's the original hose it is 16 years old and these things don't last forever. The coolant could do with changing anyway as if it's been in since the last time the timing belt was changed it's 7 years old which would explain the rusty looking gunk in the expansion tank.

I think I've found where the power steering  seepage referred to in the MOT is too as this looked rather moist.

DSCF0417 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Although it can be a nuisance having to check under the bonnet every time I take it out it is helping me to understand it better as I'm not the most technically minded person out there. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BL Bloke]

Quick update. Not much has changed since last time but I did take it out for a run on Wednesday as I thought that if I looked under the bonnet with the engine running while it was hot I might be able to see where the coolant was escaping from. The coolant didn't go down during the run and I didn't see any evidence of a leak while I was looking under the bonnet for about 5 minutes so I switched it off and thought I'd go out in it again on Thursday. Sure enough on Thursday morning the coolant level had gone down. Prime suspect is still the radiator hose so I'll be ordering a replacement . I did have a chap knock on my door and ask if it was for sale but I told him it wasn't, maybe I should have said yes.

As you may have read elsewhere I've won a Peugeot 205 on eBay which I plan to pick up some time next week. 

 

It's located in the Colchester area so I'll have a 180 mile, three and a quarter hour drive home in a smoll engine 33 tear old car that's averaged 300 miles a year for the last 13 years that I haven't even seen, let alone driven, WCPGW. To be honest I am a little concerned about the possibility of an FTP, hopefully my concerns will be unfounded. ?

[clayts450]

Blind purchase for the win -  well done