Any metro/ rover 100 lickers on here? Purple Rover 111 content

[fordperv]

I have recently acquired a 1997 rover 111 mpi and I noticed a leak of fuel from the tank seam, I have seen a tank for a 1994 1.1 metro rio I was wondering if the tanks were the same as in sender size etc

I have no idea when it comes to these little motors so any help is appreciated 

 

The little car in question, it has 31000 miles on the clock an old couple had it since it was new, lots of history and original bill of sale in one of the best colours in my opinion

[Amishtat]

Can't help with your original enquiry but that looks a nice example. Surprisingly lively for a 1.1 too

[BeEP]

Nice looking car in one of the best colours, and looks as if it still has rear arches too.!  Metro Rio would still have been using a carburettor (yes, even in 94), so the tank may not be set up for the return lines of the injection system etc,

[MorrisItalSLX]

That looks absolutely luscious, what a colour!

I really have a thing for Metros, such bonny little things, keep the updates coming.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Not sure on the tank differences but a leak from the seam is normal on these so check any replacement carefully........I'd probably give the new tank a couple of coats of something to keep rust at bay

Sent from my TA-1012 using Tapatalk

[Numpty Dumpty]

Just a thought, have a look on Rimmers website. As far as I can see, there was only one tank used, (no longer available of course). So I guess that means any plumbing differences were taken care of with the pump or sender..... hopefully that'll make sourcing a replacement easier....

[paulplom]

I had a '95 gti 5 years ago. The petrol pump on that was expensive and unique to that model. I needed 2.

[paulplom]

I got to it by removing the rear seat and cutting a hole in the floor. It saved the hassle of removing the tank.

[sutty2006]

I had the pleasure of going out in this last night, it is a time warp kind of car. The low mileage makes it feel like it’s straight out of the late 90s. Dude, give applied radiators a ring in Hanley, they might be able to get a new tank for it. They’ve got me a tank for that old white carlton I had 10 years ago. 

[Aston Martin]

There's a cabrio on here somewhere.

[UltraWomble]

I like Mk 1 / Mk 2 Metros with the A series - but the K series can burn in hell.

I had 2 and they were both woeful items compared with the A series in terms of build quality ( and that is saying something) and HGF issues.

Sure, the 1.4 K series was a fun little motor when it worked. But give me reliability over poke any day of the week.

PHACTOID:

Late Mk 2 cars were given the raised filler location of the K series cars - some say that this was because ARG ran out of Mk2 rear quarters, but it was in fact a design change that heralded the use of unleaded compatible A series units and solved the issue of the fuel spill on the rear OS tyre from over full tanks coupled with enthusiastic cornering.

[fordperv]

6 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

I had the pleasure of going out in this last night, it is a time warp kind of car. The low mileage makes it feel like it’s straight out of the late 90s. Dude, give applied radiators a ring in Hanley, they might be able to get a new tank for it. They’ve got me a tank for that old white carlton I had 10 years ago. 

It was a pleasure to go with you and dave to your stag do in this, a great night made even better with some quirky transport

heres the 3 of us in it for you lovely shiters

 

 

Heres sutty2006 when he was checking it out when I got to his, look at the joy on his face

[Burnside]

That look's a right little Gem! My Grandad had a 1982 X reg Red Austin Metro 1.3 HLS from new. Kept it for about 10 years till he brought a secondhand F reg Maestro 1.6L. He said it was the best car he ever had.

You could try a pm to AS member, The Old Bloke Next Door as I think he has a few Metro's and spares. 

[fordperv]

Well today we gate crashed a little local show with the little purple beaut, I asked nicely on the gate if it was ok to go in with the classics and the lovely lady was very  complimentary of the motor saying how lovely it is and let us in,

 

yesterdays cleaning and polishing session was well worth it

 

 

[JimH]

Controversial opinion. The Metro is the best small car ever built. Period.

Better than the Mini and certainly better than anything anyone else built.

You can disagree if you like. I’ve read about people who like being wrong in the News of the World.

 

 

 

It’s a nice looking example and leaking fuel tanks are common but a complete pain in the tits to change. If you are changing it lash out on a new one so you don’t have to do it again.

[JimH]

And get some proper wheel trims or I’ll track you down and give you a Chinese burn.

[pauldoubleyou]

So, cutting back a few years now when i bought my current house it came witha garage - and i wanted a project for it. 

I really, really wanted to throw a 1.8VVC 160 from a ZR into a Metro, in fact id wanted to for years. They fit nicely and go like a stabbed rat. With the inability to find a decent shell thats how i ended up with the Lupo and retained the larger engine / small car idea. 

Yours looks lovely. I had a 1.4mpi for a while living in plymouth and theyre like a gokart, screaled the tyres everywhere and aside from the 'screw-in' windscreen and the bonnet wobbling when you went over 70 it was a hoot. Very jealous, theyre hard to find in three door without rotten back arches nowadays and have a decent following. Should double its money in time at least. 

If you want to play with it you can individualise the suspension as theyre on fluid balls. Fuel tanks throughout the range and senders should fit fine, if youre replacing the tank you could just keep the one thats in it. Think theres an access panel under the rear bench. 

[UltraWomble]

2 hours ago, JimH said:

Controversial opinion. The Metro is the best small car ever built. Period.

Better than the Mini

This is quite true. The hydragas suspension on my early Metro was tons better than the rubber cone shite on the Mini I had. Handling was broadly similar and tuning the 1300 A series was easy with loads of options available. Plus the boot was bigger and driving position more comfortable.

Rust was of course the big enemy - at 4 years old I was chasing rot in the bottom of the drivers door of the D plate one I had. I was hugely disappointed with the K series ones I had ( a H plate 1.1 and a P plate 1.4) in terms of build quality ( rampant rust) and the frigging HGF kettle of the K series. Johnny foreigner wiped the floor with cars that didnt rust anywhere near as much nor suffer with similar problems of the engines turning into kettles. Rover deserved to die when it launched the 100 - it could have been so much better with only a very few tweaks but it wasnt.

[sierraman]

I like to see a good Metro still on the road but you’ve got to concede by 1997 they really were kidding themselves on against the competition. The fact that they are a bit of a lemon though is where the appeal is for me though. Yours looks really well preserved, haven’t seen a purple one in years. 

[GeordieInExile]

Just now, sierraman said:

I like to see a good Metro still on the road but you’ve got to concede by 1997 they really were kidding themselves on against the competition. The fact that they are a bit of a lemon though is where the appeal is for me though. Yours looks really well preserved, haven’t seen a purple one in years. 

Yep, 17 year old design with miserly kit, a cramped interior and hilariously optimistic pricing. 

I remember when I was a kid there was a 111i on my estate and when they had family over they also owned a 111i. Both on R reg plates iirc so would've been bought new as this was a good 20+ years back.

[sierraman]

I think the crash test finished them off. If it hadn’t been for that they’d have probably still being persisting with it in 2005. Thinking back they were up against the Punto, Corsa, Fiesta etc. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

mmmmmmmmm Amaranth

[GeordieInExile]

20 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I think the crash test finished them off. If it hadn’t been for that they’d have probably still being persisting with it in 2005. Thinking back they were up against the Punto, Corsa, Fiesta etc. 

The plan was to let it die naturally and let the new MINI replace it I think - although if it'd been in production once the Phoenix takeover happened then I think you're right, they'd have persisted with it and it'd have ended up badged the Rover 15 with the quad headlamps and a little Union flag on the rear quarter.

[Noel Tidybeard]

29 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I think the crash test finished them off. If it hadn’t been for that they’d have probably still being persisting with it in 2005. Thinking back they were up against the Punto, Corsa, Fiesta etc. 

typical british slag off leyland- there were other cars that were equally bad (or worse) in the ncap test but we didn't get hysterical reports of those

[sierraman]

You’ve got to face facts though it was past it’s sell by date though by 1997, it wasn’t just the NCAP test, it was uncompetitive in almost every sense. All the same though it’s still nice to see one that’s being kept in tidy nick. 

[Vince70]

A little known fact that I have just made up is when Rover was purchased by BMW they decided to rename the Metro the 111 in honour of the  Heinkel 111 medium German bomber and that’s why it didn’t sell well so it’s days were numbered.

Now if they had called it the Wellington (after the Vickers Wellington) then Rover and the Metro would still be in production to this day lol.

Plus the Germans didn’t win the Battle of Britain due to their aircraft not having Hydrogas although in reality the Spitfire only got Hydrogas while the Hurricane had to make do with Hydrolastic.

[Eddie Honda]

Vince70. a) you're not meant to say you've made it up and b) there's a thread for it: 

 

[sutty2006]

Yeah I’ve just watched the ncap video for the heinkel 111. Driver misses the airbag completely! 

[sierraman]

Add some rusty sills in with that. 

[UltraWomble]

Build quality aside ( remember this was essentially a 1970's car) the Metro as a very adaptable vehicle  - the Scout comcept, pick up and Ranger concepts show what was possible:

The raised roofline and wheelbase meant more usable load space as well as giving the car the SUV / crossover look that was 2 decades ahead of the rest of the market.

The Ranger was the "lifestyle" pick up

But a more sensible utility pick up design was also trialled...

Rear load space in the van was adequate for many small businesses and certainly on a par with similar small vans like the Fiesta / Nova / etc.

And it even lended itself to the Chairman portaloo conversion.

A Saloon was touted

( as everyone knows old folk like booted cars bettterer than hatchbacks dont they?
 

I believe that a "breadvan" small estate version would have utterly nailed it - using the flooprpan for the booted version above but incorporating 2  rear doors think of the flsxibility that would have offered for a lot of drivers in a space not much bigger than the original Metro.