Rover 800 Group save

[Eyersey1234]

This thread is for the possible saving of a Rover 800 that was abandoned at an old garage. So far @Eyersey1234, @Cavcraft, @Dick Longbridge, @omegod and @sdkrchave expressed interest 

[Eyersey1234]

@greengartside has also offered to chip in. Are any shiters near Coventry able to help? 

[Schaefft]

Is there more info about this car then?

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Latest info here:

 

[Kowalski]

17 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Is there more info about this car then?

It's fucked

[Dick Cheeseburger]

And previously...

@omegod Did the lad selling the 800 update the photos as he mentioned? 

And a much earlier photo I found of the deal on offer...

 

[omegod]

He certainly did 

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Bloody hell, I'm impressed with how well the old girl cleaned up!

[Eyersey1234]

Methinks we need to act quickly if we are to save this.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 minute ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Methinks we need to act quickly if we are to save this.

This. I'd say the oval is a real threat. 

Really wish Cornwall wasn't in the arse end of nowhere. Surely there must be someone vaguely near it who could store it until a plan has been formed?

[motorpunk]

I came here with the thought of chucking a few quid in to save it, but it really looks knackered to me. Paint and windscreen means damp and mess and fuck knows what else. Good luck but I think this has had it.

[sdkrc]

Wheels in the West Midlands, unfortunately mostly shite tyres.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1073419

I think this would be a wonderful save but it's looking more and more unlikely. Just getting the glass will be a journey. I'm still willing to chip in if this does come to fruition.

[omegod]

16 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

I came here with the thought of chucking a few quid in to save it, but it really looks knackered to me. Paint and windscreen means damp and mess and fuck knows what else. Good luck but I think this has had it.

It's been well undercover and had windows until fairly recently ( I know this sounds nuts ?) so damp shouldn't be too much of an issue, seats look well considering! 

[Eyersey1234]

Shame I haven't got somewhere undercover

[Springer]

Isn't this a case of FFS just scrap it??

 

I admire the will to save this, but glass, paint and fuck knows what else....what is the point really?

?

[Lankytim]

Wasn't this pillaged for spares at some point because it was deemed too difficult to return to the road?

[Dick Cheeseburger]

5 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

Wasn't this pillaged for spares at some point because it was deemed too difficult to return to the road?

Chris Pollitt was going to buy it. Then he decided not to and some other fella was alleged to have bought it for spares for his own. 

Then that appeared not to happen. 

Now a random has bought it and can't be arsed with it. 

I really hope it escapes the oval. 

[Lord Sterling]

I might have some spare glass but only fronts iirc. They're in my lock-up garage in Telford. I might also have some door cards in the right colour as I changed them over from my mk2 to later mk2s.

I'm completely barrasic otherwise I'd happily chuck a few quid in.

[rusty998]

I can enquire tomorrow about a new windscreen if they're still available? It's from a company i know who sells car glass,  I have absolutely no idea though what it will cost ?

 

[vulgalour]

Short term, you can cut sheets of perspex and stick them in the window holes.  It won't be pretty, but it'll keep much of the weather out and is arguably better than throwing a tarp over it.  It doesn't really matter what wheels and tyres its on short term, so grabbing anything that fits is the answer there.  Storage out of the weather would of course be ideal.

It's easy to poohpooh this idea but I reckon everyone going into understands it's something fun to do, rather than something to make money on, or even try and break even on.  Nobody is going to want a big old automatic Rover, but everyone likes hearing the story of how some silly people on the internet invested time and effort saving one.

Obviously, buying any other 800 is going to be easier to sort out than this one, but that's not the point here, is it?  I've got my own troubles, else I'd be offering some financial assistance on making this ridiculous idea a reality.

[Pieman]

I can probably count on the fingers of my two hands the number of 800s that have been banger raced - they are a weird size that makes them slightly too small for regular unlimiteds and too big for limited cc/weight classes.  Plus they are soft as shite compared to other unlimited choices.

Genuinely cannot believe that a car from that now-legendary garage has been rescued, would love to see it restored.

[Rod/b]

It’s worth saving if only because you’d have the only 800 in existence without massive dash lift. 

[Ghosty]

Fuck me, someone got one of them out. 

I hope it's survived, purely as that garage and that car have been discussed on this forum for at least the last decade, and we could finally say we saved one of the cars from that place. 

[Angrydicky]

7 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

This. I'd say the oval is a real threat. 

Really wish Cornwall wasn't in the arse end of nowhere. Surely there must be someone vaguely near it who could store it until a plan has been formed?

It’s in Coventry, not Cornwall! So pretty central really.

Im pretty skint too but could chuck in a little bit of cash towards it! It’s actually cleaned up remarkably well.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Plenty of glass on the bay- 100 quid

2 windscreens on the bay 130-100 quid

Trims and rubbers- 50 quid

Wheels- 100 quid

HT leads- 25 quid

Battery- 100 quid

Storage- 

Logistics- 

price of car- 250 quid

 

He don't want it because it looks close to a grand to get it weather tight*, moving. and safe.  That's just to get in a workable state where you can start sorting it's problems out. No pictures show the sill damage where it was dumped on blocks either. Parts and trims look like a bugger to get so all the hard to find and easy to remove stuff would have been nicked already and will be difficult to replace too.

IMO it's too far gone and should be parted out into boxes to help the rest survive at least. Rewind a few years to where it had all it's bits and it would have been worth the effort and an exciting project, not now, now it's just a paperweight. Blame the scrotes that turned it over for it's tragic demise.

You're going to need some financial bollocks to take that on- Respect to whoever participate!

 

 

[ThePollitt]

9 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Chris Pollitt was going to buy it. Then he decided not to and some other fella was alleged to have bought it for spares for his own. 

Then that appeared not to happen. 

Now a random has bought it and can't be arsed with it. 

I really hope it escapes the oval. 

It's true, I was. 

The car was bought by a chap called John. He bought my 827 off me. He wanted the Greasly car for spares, which he seems to have taken (though there was nothing wrong with the window regs in my 827, but hey ho. 

Based on what John told me, the car seemed a little too far gone for my time and ability. Plus, I lost my unit, so storage was no longer on the cards. 

Annoyingly, it seems to look okay now it's had a bucket of H20 thrown over it. And if it runs, well, that's something. 

Personally, I think the car should be saved. Yeah, it needs a few quid chucking at it, but for the lore of the old thing, worth it. 

Chris

[Lankytim]

If someone could obtain a scrapper for parts instead of getting the parts individually then you’d be half way there. I didn’t want to piss on the idea, it looks fun project! 

[captain_70s]

Looks like a decent source of straight panels to tidy up a battered but roadworthy example...

I reckon you'd be a grand deep just to get it to the point where you could present it to an MOT tester for a hilarious fail sheet.

[BorniteIdentity]

What it really needs, is money. Sorry to state the obvious but it needs someone with money who doesn’t give a shit if they see it again - and doesn’t even care if they get some enjoyment at the end. Y’all need a rich benefactor, not 10 people with £50 each.

It looks very doable, but half the problem is “not losing interest”. Money makes things happen faster, makes them happen easier and helps you enjoy the process more.

With my Mini, which hadn’t seen the road for 20 years, all it needed - other than Alf’s talent - was money. If I’d done it on cash and spares from facebook it’d be ready next year. You just have to crash into this sort of thing with gay abandon. 

So, does anyone love it enough? 

[sutty2006]

I’ve put worse back on the road. It needs love and attention. Lost a lot of cash putting an Opel rekord back together after it had been pillaged for parts. It’s a good job I loved the car.