Popular Post dollywobbler Posted April 7, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 I have acquired a vehicle. This is when I was trying to fix it so I could drive home. The car was offered FOC to the Rover 800 Owners' Club. They weren't really in a position to take it on directly, so it ended up being pointed my way. It's an 820 base model - SU carburettor-fed 2-litre O-Series! BAe was the first owner, for eight weeks, then it was sold to the father of the chap I bought it off, who sadly passed away last year. It has covered 105k, has a fair bit of rust in a few places, but is pretty tidy and looks bloody fantastic. It has a few weeks of MOT, delicious dealer plates, unexpected lumbar adjustment and electric front windows. One piece of wood on the dash, none on the doors, manual tilt/slide sunroof, spoiler! It had barely moved since July last year, but sadly, I got a whiff of hot brakes on the M55. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and the nearside rear wheel was smoking. I limped at 30mph down the hard shoulder to the next junction, which was not fun. I then limped gently back to the vendor, where I stripped the brake, used entirely the wrong grease (as it was all he had) to try and improve things, considered this a success and drove 180 miles home. I seem to have mostly taken photos of the rear. There is a petrol station shot, but you'll have to wait. I developed a horrible migraine on the way back and had to stop for a while. Most unlike me. Eventually made it back. It's all a bit complicated, but the idea is I have it for a bit and at some point, it'll end up back with the club. I think the plan is to sell it to raise some funds for charity longer term, but sadly, it could also do with a set of calipers and tyres, so finances need to be reconsidered I think. The brakes are SHITE. It could be air from boiling brake fluid, so I'll see if a bleed helps, but I reckon all the calipers are buggered. Brodders, Fat_Pirate, w00dy and 59 others 62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraWomble Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Phwoar.I do like these ( and SD1's) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightBulbFun Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 ohh nothing like some crusty rover action the crumpet bread and butter of autoshite (love the fleet shot with all the head lights turned on ) inconsistant 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuboy Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 ur find ur want to keep it.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sterling Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Oh wow. A Mk1 for free! Lovely old barges these. You may or may not remember when I had a very similar one but a saloon some years ago. Can I call dibs on this... EDIT* Just actually read your post. No Mk1 800 Fastback for me then which is good because it'll have a better chance of being looked after properly. Jim Bell, brickwall, solid61 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozeydustman Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Missed the live reveal on YT earlier. Certainly looks a lot more sensible than the Mazda. I can't remember the last time I saw an 800 mk1. I liked the styling of the fastback at the time. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Oh wow. A Mk1 for free! Lovely old barges these. You may or may not remember when I had a very similar one but a saloon some years ago. Can I call dibs on this if it needs moving on? Particularly if it at the end of a month so I can juggle stuff around. I'm sure (hoping) it'll be out of my price range. This is even lower spec than an 820e! Not even fuel injection. Situation is complex, but I'll keep everyone posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moog Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Ahhh this is what hairnet was banging on about... Well bought/received. I need to get mine back on the road. I have got all the bits - then you can compare 820si and 820 back to back eddyramrod, dome, dollywobbler and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 mo ya sniffer less broken than yours get on it Maurice Marina and The Moog 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrcento Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 There was an absolute cracker of an 800 for sale about 80 miles from me about 2 weeks back, think it was the facelifted version of this, green, higher spec... Have to say, if found the state of the roof very Hubnut, not many people could find a way to go from a leaky Mazda to a potentially even more fundamentally leaky Rover. Most people would have went the other way and made certain their next car had a roof not held together with hope and best wishes. Well bought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 "Hello, British Aerospace here. Yes we'd like to buy a car please, but can you make it as simple as possible without any of that complex nonsense like fuel injection. No, we don't trust computers and things" wuvvum, Broadsword, RayMK and 21 others 23 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 "Hello, British Aerospace here. Yes we'd like to buy a car please, but can you make it as simple as possible without any of that complex nonsense like fuel injection. No, we don't trust computers and things" "But make sure it has a spoiler, because that's a bit like a plane." Sigmund Fraud, Supernaut, Lacquer Peel and 13 others 15 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amishtat Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Well grabbed! Any 800 is unusual these days but I haven't seen a base in ages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Absolute winner. Rare sight these days. mrbenn and LightBulbFun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulgalour Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 I'm actually jealous you have this. It's a fantastic looking machine. mrbenn and LightBulbFun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownnova Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 That truly is an epic save! LightBulbFun and Andy F 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 PAH! that's not a bASe, it's got wood, roof, automatic windows, stripey windscreen! marked down to 5/10 because of decadence! ProgRocker and dozeydustman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timolloyd Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 You legend! I love the fact someone optioned a spoiler but not injection. GeordieInExile 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctormop Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Britisher Architect..............................................Sorry you have to be a certain age and have had a very boring childhood to have the faintest idea what I'm on about.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ-DEi1LP50 Noel Tidybeard, Parky, Grundig and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorfolkNWeigh Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 "Hello, British Aerospace here. Yes we'd like to buy a car please, but can you make it as simple as possible without any of that complex nonsense like fuel injection. No, we don't trust computers and things"Except of course they didn't buy it - they made it! Pillock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 I absolutely love this, even being a base spec doesn't put me off, I look forward to seeing how you get on with it. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisItalSLX Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 That looks like a little cracker! These 800 fastbacks just look fantastic, such a great design all over that has aged very well in my eyes. I think this should make an excellent member of the fleet, even if it is only temporary. Question, are the hubcaps correct? they look far too modern. I think a set of SD3 hubcaps would look right on it (or even early R8 ones). LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselassist Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 .... I have acquired a vehicle. This is when I was trying to fix it so I could drive home. The car was offered FOC to the Rover 800 Owners' Club. They weren't really in a position to take it on directly, so it ended up being pointed my way. It's an 820 base model - SU carburettor-fed 2-litre O-Series! BAe was the first owner, for eight weeks, then it was sold to the father of the chap I bought it off, who sadly passed away last year. It has covered 105k, has a fair bit of rust in a few places, but is pretty tidy and looks bloody fantastic. It has a few weeks of MOT, delicious dealer plates, unexpected lumbar adjustment and electric front windows. One piece of wood on the dash, none on the doors, manual tilt/slide sunroof, spoiler! It had barely moved since July last year, but sadly, I got a whiff of hot brakes on the M55. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and the nearside rear wheel was smoking. I limped at 30mph down the hard shoulder to the next junction, which was not fun. I then limped gently back to the vendor, where I stripped the brake, used entirely the wrong grease (as it was all he had) to try and improve things, considered this a success and drove 180 miles home. I seem to have mostly taken photos of the rear. There is a petrol station shot, but you'll have to wait. I developed a horrible migraine on the way back and had to stop for a while. Most unlike me. Eventually made it back. The brakes are SHITE. It could be air from boiling brake fluid, so I'll see if a bleed helps, but I reckon all the calipers are buggered. ...you might be able to revive/get the remaning % life out of the calipers by 'exercising them' - I used to do it to my landrover disco's rear brakes; after a bleed, remove the pads n either insert old pads with zero meat on them/just the backing plate , or an offcut of 3/4mm plate between the piston n disc n get strips of 400/600 sandpaper n thread them round the exposed piston to clean them up- mine passed a few tests doing this, but the rear braking was always near the minimum pass rate - it gets them 'just about working'... I do like these old hatch 820's - my old fella had an 820e automatic for daily duties for about 18months or so - he got it cheap off a golf buddy of his having detonated his old mondeo TD.... similiarly it sat about his gaff unused for the next 18months after he bought an new fangled primera; no one; even the banger lads I knew wanted his old 820, n scrap was worthless at the time... Im not sure how he got rid of it TBH. best of luck with the future 'shenanigans' with it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 The caliper pistons wind in, with an unusual pattern that you can't just wang a screwdriver across (like you can on a BX). I don't have the right tool for that. We went for owner presses brake pedal and releases, I twat the caliper with a hammer a few times, repeat etc, after lubing the piston and pad sliding points with entirely the wrong sort of grease. Got me home! Brakes are shockingly shite though, but it's chucking it down today, so I can't investigate. They were crap to start with, but notably worse after that caliper got hot. I suspect it boiled the fluid. dieselassist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 News just in - I'm visiting DFTR Automotive in Dudley tomorrow, ostensibly to do a video on a couple of their cars. However, they have a free ramp, so I'm going to get the Rover in the air, clean up the calipers and bleed the system and see if that improves matters. Lacquer Peel, fairkens, Cardinal Wolseley and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remspoor Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Oh the moves this man makes.Rover- Škoda- Mazda- Rover. Wingz123 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Except of course they didn't buy it - they made it! I'm sure that in 1990s Britain, that thing had to be bought and sold with pretend money through fifteen different departments just to ensure that everyone had the job they've been doing since 1972 inconsistant, LightBulbFun, BorniteIdentity and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 What are your driving impressions DW? The Mk1 fastback is a very handsome car and my Mk2 825D was one of the comfiest cars I've driven. I don't know how an 800 would suit a 2.0 carb engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicksilver Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Excellent. I knew the O-series 820 existed but I've never seen one and wondered if any had survived. Seems to be a pretty rare car as Rover only made them for a couple of years and the press all thought they were crap. Perfect Hubnut material right there. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProgRocker Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Totally addicted to base! I think that wood trim was retro fitted. Very pleased to see that this has joined the fleet, having watched the live video. I think for a moment we thought it was going to be an MG Metro. A used Rover 800 was on my dad's my shortlist back in 1993 when he wanted to replace the MG 1600. It had to be a 4 cylinder 820 because '6 cylinders use too much petrol' but he wanted a few toys as well so the 820e was off the shortlist, as was any with a beige interior. He eventually bought a V' Hall Carlton 2.2i CD instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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