Soundwave's selection of scabby stuffs - solo Southern SEAT sojourn

[Soundwave]

So, after a bit of a wobble and wondering if I'd bought the Rover for all the wrong reasons, the conclusion I reached was "probably yes, but it's here now so let's make the most of it. And hey, you might learn something along the way".   So to ease myself in and get some mojo working, I was advised to go to the car and take stock:

Not really sure what relevance it has, certainly didn't do a whole lot. So instead I had a sniff around and made a list of jobs, and pleasingly there's a lot of low expense/high satisfaction ones on here.

- Passenger window slow to close - possibly just needs lubrication.
- Sunroof slow to open - ditto.
- Key doesn't turn in door - fixed it!
- Headliner saggy - a mild afternoon and a can of spray glue may solve this
- Sunvisor from something else - doesn't fit properly at all, have a replacement on the way from a breaker
- Squeaky brakes - I'll check the front pads, it recently passed an MOT but the pads might be just catching the wear indicators. Shouldn't be too hard to replace them
- Clutch - after consulting various scholars on the R200 owners club, it seems possible that the bite point may indeed be merely a cable adjustment issue. Will investigate.
- Central locking - rear driver's side door not working. Solenoid still makes noise, will take door card off and check mechanism.
- Radio makes noise out of one speaker only - leave radio turned off check speaker wiring.
- Driver's door card a bit... flaccid towards the front. This is due to the board backing disintegrating and just leaving the vinyl facia flopping about. Will take off and assess, might be something I can do. Not a massive issue if I can't.
- Paintwork - could do with some, probably isn't getting any. Got to draw the line somewhere given its low value.
- Tyres... matching set, plenty of tread, but Chinese tyres with a wet grip rating of E. They don't feel very good (I noticed how vague it felt in the wet before I checked the tyre brand, not the other way around - so no subconscious bias here!), probably should investigate replacements.

So to form a plan of attack, it's going to be the little things first. The locks, stiff electrical bits and the radio should be fairly simple items which yield immediately pleasing results. Other stuff will follow as and when.

[Soundwave]

So had a couple of hours this afternoon, decided to do a bit of tinkering with the Rover. I'd had a couple of parts delivered, so I decided to head over to my mate's workshop space and get them fitted. Upon arrival however, I realised I forgot to put them in the car... 😅😔

Not to be deterred, decided to do some investigation work instead. First decided to check the brake pads, since the front brakes are squealing - sometimes without the pedal being pressed. They seemed to have plenty of life left in them, so next time I'll dismantle and lubricate the calipers. 

The biggest mechanical bugbear I have with this car is the clutch. It's a very high bite, even resting my foot on the pedal is enough to disengage it. Even with my foot off the pedal I'm not sure it's engaging fully. I'd read that on the K series cars, the cable is auto adjusting so there's not much you can do about a high bite and it's usually new clutch time. On Honda engined cars like this, however, there's a little bit of hope - the clutch cable is manually adjustable so it might just be a case of altering it. Realising it was very likely false hope, I priced up a new clutch anyway, just in case. 

Jacked the car up, and popped the bonnet. Adjuster nut was inaccessible from both above and below.  🤔

Ended up taking the battery and the battery tray out to get at it. To my surprise, I found the adjuster done nearly all the way up, making the cable far too tight. I slackened it a little, popped the battery leads back on and gave it a test... slightly lower bite! Buoyed by this, I had the battery out again and adjusted a bit more... and repeated the cycle a couple more times. 

 

Result? Bite point about 2/3 up the pedal, just where I'd expect it to be! So no need for a new clutch! Woohoo!

 

 

Bloody hell, that was a lot of words just to say "I took it to a garage and turned a nut." Small victories, and all that... 

[Soundwave]

Some very minor league tinkering occurred today. Mazda needed a headlamp bulb... always fun and games when you've got pop up lights with a tendency towards rusty retaining screws. But, with a screwdriver and profanity aplenty, it soon had its full compliment of lights again. 

"Aaagh, my eye!" 

Yay for legality! With that sorted, took a, quick scoot over to the Rover's Return storage place. Motoring like it's 1996!

One minor peeve with the Rover was it had the passenger sun visor out of something else, and it didn't fit properly. Managed to get a correct one (thanks @Anglevan) and swapped it over. 

 

Both jobs done using nothing but a cross head screwdriver. Incidentally, anyone know what car the random, incorrect visor is from? It's the top one in the middle picture. 

[Soundwave]

Didn't do anything on the cars this week beyond take them all for a drive to make sure they're all still being used. Managed to get a speeding ticket with the Skoda. Doh! 

Parked the MX-5 up at the storage place where I keep the Rover, ended up parking next to a Ford Galaxie that someone else keeps there. Size difference made me smile! 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, Soundwave said:

Size difference made me smile! 

You've not met me, then

[Soundwave]

Finally able to get over to the workshop and do a bit of work on the Rover again. Just a little job this time... seat belt buckle on the driver's side was held together with gaffer tape, and frequently came undone while driving. Rather than fuck about trying to fix it, I got another one off a breaker. 

Now to get the old one out. Seat should have been easy to remove, just four torx bolts. Unfortunately the last person to have fitted them was possibly the fucking Hulk, as they were impossibly tight. Persistence and profanity eventually prevailed. 

Then the nerve racking business of very carefully removing the old pretensioner and buckle. Mechanical pretensioners here so no wiring to worry about, but the little key you insert to stop it going off was missing on the old one. The new one had a key, but that was in use, preventing the new one from going off. But with a steady hand, off it came without incident. You can see the dodgy repair here, how the fuck it got an MOT with this is anyone's guess. 

Reinstallation is the reverse of removal, as the book of Haynes says... 

And there we go. Nice, safe seat belt that doesn't pop out when I lean forward. 

Also started thinking about when I'll be putting the fleet back on the road now things are going to be opening up. I think the Rover will be first as it has an MOT, just needs tax. Reckon I'll do that for the start of April, with the Mazda getting a bit of TLC and a new MOT during April for a return to the road in May. 

[Soundwave]

So with lockdown finally easing, I decided it was time to start waking the fleet from hibernation. 

Starting with the MX-5... its MOT lapsed in January, and I didn't bother to renew since I'd be effectively losing the first three months of it. Though I started it regularly, it needed some love... 

Checked and topped up all the fluids, pumped up the tyres, and then began the finicky job of handbrake adjustment. 

For those not familiar with the MX-5 handbrake, you have to adjust each caliper using an Allen key. In a hole you can't really see, in an area you can't really turn the key very well. Then you have to adjust it at the lever end too, then check the calipers again. And so on, until you either have a migraine or a working handbrake. Gave the discs a wire brush when I was done. 

Off to the MOT centre this morning and... 

The hairdresser chariot rides again! Hoping we get some nice days again soon, can't wait to hit the B roads with the top down.

Tomorrow I'll be paying the Rover a visit to wake it up. In theory, it just needs taxing. But we shall see...

[Soundwave]

So last weekend I was supposed to be getting the Rover back on the road, but a personal crisis and consequent depressive spiral put paid to that. 

Forced myself out of the house today to go to it - actually went pretty smoothly, just reconnected the battery and taxed it. And away it went! Seems to have developed a fault with the interior light though, it flickers even with all the doors shut. Maybe a switch issue, I've just turned it off for now. 

Took it for a long shakedown run, and decided to take a photo opportunity outside this derelict Blockbusters. If not for the reflection of the modern car in the window, it could almost be the mid 90s again! 

[Soundwave]

CAUTION: Rambling post below. Having one of my weird thoughtful phases.


For the last couple of days, I've been spending a lot of time with the cosmetically challenged old Rover, and gathering my thoughts on it. To be honest, with me purchasing it during a lockdown and having a modern daily already, it's not been used very much since I got it. So I've had a couple of days where I've taken it on some quite lengthy drives along some of my favourite driving roads and trying to work out just where it fits into Soundwave's motoring world.

As mentioned, it was purchased during a bit of a weird time in my life. With the combined pressures of the collapse of civilisation and hitting a massive mental slump of my own, I needed something to take the edge off it all. Yes, I could have spent the money on something worthwhile like fixing the cars I already had, but this is Autoshite - when the going gets tough, the tough buy yet more knackered old cars. After trying and failing to purchase a couple of things from the classifieds, the Rover popped up locally and I jumped on it. Wasn't especially looking for a Rover, it just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

From the day I got it home, I've struggled to figure out exactly what I want to do with it, or even why it's here. Daily driver? Got the modern Skudder for that. Weekend toy? MX5 covers that. Fixer-upper? My eternal Beetle project fills that hole. So I've been driving it around, and trying to get a "feel" for it, both subjectively and objectively. Two things that have surprised me on an objective level - how decent it is on fuel, and just how comfortable it is. It's actually more comfortable than my modern, the seats feel lovely and plushy and the ride is supple without being wallowy. Can definitely see how the R8 was class leader for quite some time back in the early 90s! Subjectively... it's weird. I do have a bit of nostalgia for the old R8, my mum had a G plate one when I was a kid. Had some of the same foibles this one does, like a squeaky clutch pedal and a completely untraceable water ingress. Driving it around gives me an odd feeling of warmth, like I'm back in a simpler time, and I momentarily forget all my worries. Although I'm pretty sure "weird nostalgic relaxant" isnt really a reason to own a car, I've actually found myself genuinely enjoying tooling about in it. It may have been bought under strange circumstances, but I've come to rather like it.

So, waffle aside, where does it fit in? The answer is, it still doesn't really... and I'm completely OK with that. As a reward for reading all that shite, here's a very flattering photo of it, just before I made my way home with a new appreciation for the car...

... a moment which the little fucker tried to ruin by immediately firing one of its wheeltrims up and over the bonnet and sending it skittering off into a bush at 50mph. Took me twenty minutes of ferreting about in the dark, narrowly avoiding getting my arse removed by passing HGVs before I finally found it in a stagnant, smelly ditch. Cars, eh?

[Ghosty]

A mate of mine shared me that Blockbuster pic on Facebook a few days ago, and I've just come across it here. 

The R8, especially with a Honda engine, is a great all-round car. 

Tons of space, comfy, quiet, efficient, smooth on the motorway, yet if you want to push it, the Civic lurking beneath comes out to play, and the revvy responsiveness and planted handling from the all-round independent suspension mean that if you can see past the body roll, they handle on rails. You can drive them seriously hard and they just lap it up, you just have to see past the body roll from the soft Rover damping - the handling-focused Honda suspension is at the roots.  They're ideal all-round daily drivers, fun and unique enough to keep you entertained, but well put together, comfortable, economical enough etc that they're sensible too. Tons of space if you fold the rear seats down as well. 

I keep coming back to R8s (I've had five and I have a sixth on the way), because they're just a thousand times better than they have any right to be - I do believe that the early ones are the best of the bunch though, they seem to be put together just that little bit better. 

Good luck changing the oil filter though. It's under the inlet manifold. 

[Soundwave]

6 hours ago, Ghosty said:

A mate of mine shared me that Blockbuster pic on Facebook a few days ago, and I've just come across it here. 

The R8, especially with a Honda engine, is a great all-round car. 

Tons of space, comfy, quiet, efficient, smooth on the motorway, yet if you want to push it, the Civic lurking beneath comes out to play, and the revvy responsiveness and planted handling from the all-round independent suspension mean that if you can see past the body roll, they handle on rails. You can drive them seriously hard and they just lap it up, you just have to see past the body roll from the soft Rover damping - the handling-focused Honda suspension is at the roots.  They're ideal all-round daily drivers, fun and unique enough to keep you entertained, but well put together, comfortable, economical enough etc that they're sensible too. Tons of space if you fold the rear seats down as well. 

I keep coming back to R8s (I've had five and I have a sixth on the way), because they're just a thousand times better than they have any right to be - I do believe that the early ones are the best of the bunch though, they seem to be put together just that little bit better. 

Good luck changing the oil filter though. It's under the inlet manifold. 

 

I must admit, I do prefer the styling of the earlier ones, with the gingicators at the back and minus the chrome grille. The latter just seems unnecessary to me, the styling was sharp already. Back in the day, lots of people retrofitted chrome grilles to their earlier ones, but if I could find the bits in the correct colour I'd actually consider doing a chrome grille delete on this!

[Fumbler]

Y'know I wouldn't mind having these one day, so long as the prices don't go sky high. My dad had a slew of these in his sales rep days, quite liked them so they can't be all that bad.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Spotted this rather interesting article:

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/rover/200-400/r8-development-story/

[Wilko220]

21 hours ago, Soundwave said:

I'm pretty sure "weird nostalgic relaxant" isnt really a reason to own a car

It’s highly recommended as a reason!

[Soundwave]

So the Rover's been making some horrible noises from the front brakes, mainly squealing. Even when the pedal wasn't being pressed it made noise, the car becoming a headturner for all the wrong reasons as I drove down the road. Everyone looked around expecting to see someone drop-kicking a sack full of budgies, but instead saw a shitey old car making a horrendous cacophony of shrieking chirps. I popped the wheel off to do a quick inspection, as my first suspicion was pad wear; the pads still seemed to have plenty of meat on them. But I ordered a new set anyway, just in case.

So yesterday evening I jacked the car up, wheel off, caliper lower bolt out... and this is where the issues started. The caliper didn't pivot upwards as it was supposed to, eventually requiring me to shove a pry bar between it and the pad carrier to finally force it forwards. Once the pads were exposed, the outermost one came out with a bit of cajoling, but the inner one was absolutely stuck fast in the carrier. Wasn't moving at all, which explains the screeching, it wasn't backing off from the disc. Eventually managed to hammer a screwdriver behind the little fucker and wrench it out with brute force. Pretty sure brake pads shouldn't need a hammer to remove, I'm no expert. The pads I took out were of very low quality, and pretty much fell to bits when they were removed. They were a poor fit for the carrier, and the brakes themselves were very dry; no grease on the ends of the pads or the caliper bolts.



Rusty backing plates and horrible old pads seen here. I offered up the pads I'd bought, and immediately noticed an issue... wrong damn size. The box clearly stated they were for this model of Rover 200, but the reality suggests otherwise:



Yeah, that isn't right. Quite piddled off by this point, I wound the piston back anyway, and loosely reassembled everything, and did the same on the other side. At least then it would be ready for when I actually had the right parts.

So today, I grabbed the Mazda and headed off to Euro Car Parts - they've got mixed reviews on here, and I've had hit and miss success with them before but they came up trumps today. Grabbed some quality brake pads and some copper grease, and headed back to where the Rover lives, enjoying the sunshine on Drive It Day.

Pads were immediately better than the ones that came out. Gave the caliper bolts and the ends of the pads a good slathering of grease, and it all went together in a very satisfying fashion. Isn't it amazing how much easier things are when you've got the right parts?

That's more like it. Got it all back together, took the Rover for a quick test drive to confirm the brakes work - they do, wonderfully, and better yet the horrible screech is gone! Small victories and all that. I even got a compliment on the car while I was out, which is weird since it looks shabby as hell - but I do still enjoy it when people notice and appreciate something I'm driving.

Lessons here - first, always check what you're buying online. Secondly, don't use cheapo brake pads like the last owner did. For me personally, tyres and brakes are two things one should never cheap out on!

[Soundwave]

Ordered a set of wheel trims from eBay, since the one that flung itself off was too damaged to refit. Went for a used set, decent ones are surprisingly hard to find. I only needed one, but figured it wouldn't hurt to have some spares. Had a bit of a chat with the vendor, who had a history of Rover ownership and still had a few nick nacks about. 

 

Box came today, I opened it to find the trims I ordered... 

 

Plus this note, some manuals, and some small items of switchgear and trim!

 

How bloody lovely is that! Sometimes it's the little things that make the difference. Genuinely made me smile, which is no mean feat. 

[bezzabsa]

Loved my 418Gsd , keep looking for another...but I think they have all rusted away..

J738TWO    Rust in Pieces!!

[Soundwave]

Not really that much been going on with the fleet lately. Starting to go back into the office more now, so the Skoda has finally begun its job as main commuter. 

The Mazda has been doing evening/weekend funsies duties. And occasionally posing for dramatic sunset photos. 

 

And the Rover has... been doing as little as possible, because I was flicking through its history folder, and the last definite evidence of a cambelt change was... 16 years ago. Figured I should probably stop playing cambelt roulette at this point and do something. 

Despite being an idiot, I've decided I'm going to have a crack at it myself. So a belt, tensioner, water pump and rocker gasket have arrived. 

Now I just need a few days where it isn't pissing it down to try and fit them. I also need a lot of luck, and I'll probably be making several panicked phone calls to my more mechanically competent friends. But, I'll never improve if I don't give things a try!

Meanwhile, the Rover is doing its best impression of a pot of gold. 

[Soundwave]

OK, this happened a few weeks ago but I've only just been arsed gotten around to writing it up. DId this at the start of June, bad times all around for the little Mazda as it simultaneously developed a coolant leak AND a power steering fluid leak. Starting it up led to fairly substantial puddles.



 

The PAS pipe was a fairly simple repair, but the water leak meant a new pump and timing belt. A job many of you would see as a matter of routine, but I'd never done it before! So, bits were purchased - a cambelt/pump kit, and some genuine Mazda waterpump gaskets (the rubber-coated metal type, since the paper gaskets that come with the pump kits are apparently utter bobbins). I read up on the procedure, watched some YouTube tutorials, and realising I still didn't really know what I was doing, proceeded to tear bits off the car anyway.


 

With everything out of the way, the belt was soon visible. Actually wasn't as torturous as I'd expected, the only major headache was getting the crankshaft bolt off. I got that to yield by using the scientific principle of torque increasing with distance, and the pseudoscience of persuasive verbal aggression.

Or in practical terms, I used a fucking big pole on the end of my ratchet and swore at it a lot. Seemed to work well enough.

Rotating the engine to TDC on #1 piston, I noticed that the factory timing marks on the cams didn't line up. Not even slightly. Given that the engine runs incredibly sweetly when it's not pissing its vital fluids, I concluded that the cam gears had probably been off at some point and not put back in the same position, but the cam timing was fine. This seemed to be supported by various other faded timing marks that had been added to the gears using tipp-ex over the years. So of course, I added my own set on the innermost teeth level with the top of the engine. I could have tried to reposition the gears to get the factory marks to line up again. but if it ain't broke don't fix it!

So with that done, off came the belt...


 

 

And out came the water pump. I didn't take any pics of the water pump replacement process, because it was an absolute pain in the arse, particularly the side inlet. The fact I've got power steering on this makes the job 10x harder, as the power steering pump is right in the way of the inlet bolts for the water pump. Ended up awkwardly getting a spanner in there and undoing them about a quarter turn at a time. But, eventually it went in, and on went the new belt. My timing marks still lined up...



 

Reassembled it all, topped up the coolant, started it up and... success! Still runs and revs sweetly, so my cam timing definitely isn't off. And it doesn't drop any of its fluids! Ran it for a bit with the rad cap off to burp the cooling system, and then it was off to the petrol station for a celebratory jet wash. Because I'd frankly had enough of manual labour at this point and wasn't about to get the bucket and sponge out.

 

And there we go, it lives again! And I proved to myself I CAN do cambelts/water pumps if I really apply myself to it. Which is just as well, because I still need to do the Rover's at some point. Also although it doesn't leak, the Mazda's radiator looks a bit tired. I'll probably upgrade to an aluminium one during the winter when it's hibernating. Yes, it took several days (evenings and weekends), yes I managed to slice my arms to ribbons on all the sharp edges I didn't realise an engine bay had, and it would have been far easier to have a garage do it.

But, a month and a bit on from doing this and I'm STILL basking in the glow of having done it myself. Every time I start the car and go for a spin, I feel that little bit happier knowing that it's running well despite because of me!

[Soundwave]

Speaking of the Rover though... in more recent events, I decided to try and do something about its headliner, which was sagging like an old tit.


 

So, I grabbed a tin of spray adhesive...

... and removed the rear trim piece from the headliner. The fabric and the backing board are both in fairly poor condition, so I'm not expecting miracles here - at best, this is triage work. Also since the headliner has detached from most of the roof from the sunroof back, and since this is my only point of access, I'm going to have to shove my whole arm in there with the spray can, as if I'm inseminating a cow.

So, I got my arm right in there, and tried to give everything a decent squirt (fnarr, fnarr!). I let it partially cure for a few minutes, then tried to stick it all down as much as I could. Now remember, I'm not going for a 100-point Pebble Beach concours job here, I'm not expecting Jay Leno himself to pop out of my lockup and give me a congratulatory reach-around. I just want to stop the headliner flapping around like MC Hammer's trousers. So here it is for now - there's some creases, and it hasn't quite stuck down in a couple of small areas (it's hard to get an even covering when you're doing your best impression of a farmyard vet and can't entirely see what you're doing!)


 

That being said though, I'm actually really pleased with how most of it came out. I may re-do the rearmost few inches at some point to see if I can smooth out some of the areas that didn't quite stick properly. Beyond that though, I'd say it's mission accomplished. Repeating the finger test from earlier shows the improvement:


 

A small, quick and surprisingly gratifying job.

[Soundwave]

So, the day finally arrived for me to have a crack at doing the Rover's cambelt. I'd been warned that the crankshaft bolts on these engines are ridiculously difficult to undo, and may prevent me from doing the job.

... which is exactly what happened, the fucking thing isn't moving for love or money. And believe me, I offered it both. I did a visual inspection of the belt and it looks OK, although I know looks can be deceiving. And I didn't get a good look at the tensioner or water pump, since I need to remove the crank pulley to remove the cover for those. Which I can't do with the bolt being stuck fast. All is not lost though, I was talking to my MOT man and he's apparently got fuck-off bastard huge impact gun, the type usually used for truck parts, which the garage purchased specifically for getting crank bolts off Honda engines (it's a common issue across a LOT of their engines apparently!)

So at some point I'll nip over to his place and he'll help me crack it off (ooer!). Plan is to go over there, have him loosen it, cinch it up enough to get me home and then hopefully I can proceed with the cambelt.

In the meantime, while I was pratting about trying to get it ready, I noticed that the alternator and PAS belts were a little bit* buggered.

Eep! This was the alternator belt, PAS belt wasn't much better. So, some shiny new belts ordered...

And fitted, along with a new rocker cover gasket which was spraying oil from the frontmost corners. No pictures of that going in though. So with all those fitted, I put everything back together. Here's a gratuitous picture of the engine bay I took afterwards, which shows absolutely fucking nothing because none of the bits I replaced are immediately visible.

So, didn't get the cambelt done but definitely a productive venture.

Meanwhile, I keep seeing other tat which interests me... the idea behind the Rover is that was going to be a temporary car, and the first of a rotating series of shitheaps which would allow me to tick lots of automotive boxes despite limited space. Thing is, I'm actually starting to get remarkably attached to this little car and I'm not sure I want to sell it, even in the face of other tempting prospects.

[Soundwave]

The Rover went off to its new home today. Sold it to make way for something else I was interested in... although it didn't quite go to plan.

Was meant to have gone last week but it developed a fault with the drivers side electric window, which I had to fix before I could sell. By the time I sorted it, the other thing I was interested in was no longer available. 😅

It's gone to a friend of mine who needed a cheap runabout, so I'll still see it sometimes. For a car I purchased on impulse I actually got remarkably attached to it - I'll definitely miss it. But, onwards and upwards... 

[Soundwave]

With the Rover's departure, I faced a quandary. Do I be sensible, and focus my time and resource on my remaining fleet? Or, do I be a buffoon and get something else from the 90s that nobody cares about any more?

Well, I think we all know the answer to that. Thanks to eBay and the ever-helpful @worldofceri, I now possess this Mk1 Ph1 Laguna estate/longroof/tourer/wagon/whatever. Which I bought blind, from 100 miles away, with no MOT and 185k miles. A special kind of stupid, I think you'll agree.

But, it's actually pretty decent! It does have some scabs - the worst two are pictured - but its previous owner had it for 21 years and pretty much cosseted it during that time, at least mechanically. For the MOT it'll need ARB drop links, which the owner helpfully included with the sale, and the exhaust heat shield looking at. Half has come off and the remaining half is rattling about! I'm speaking to my tame welder about the sill end - should be OK for the MOT but I'll have something done about it sooner rather than later. The interior in particular has worn the mileage very well. And most of the electrics still work! Anyway, enough prattle. Visuals:

 

I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this one, I reckon it's going to be my FotU ride for this year, and possibly used for some car camping during the summer. Although... I rather foolishly read @Datsuncog's Mk1 Laguna exploits the night before last, and I'm distinctly hoping I have better luck!

[grogee]

On 8/16/2021 at 12:27 AM, Soundwave said:

So, the day finally arrived for me to have a crack at doing the Rover's cambelt. I'd been warned that the crankshaft bolts on these engines are ridiculously difficult to undo, and may prevent me from doing the job.

... which is exactly what happened, the fucking thing isn't moving for love or money. And believe me, I offered it both. I did a visual inspection of the belt and it looks OK, although I know looks can be deceiving. And I didn't get a good look at the tensioner or water pump, since I need to remove the crank pulley to remove the cover for those. Which I can't do with the bolt being stuck fast. All is not lost though, I was talking to my MOT man and he's apparently got fuck-off bastard huge impact gun, the type usually used for truck parts, which the garage purchased specifically for getting crank bolts off Honda engines (it's a common issue across a LOT of their engines apparently!)

So at some point I'll nip over to his place and he'll help me crack it off (ooer!). Plan is to go over there, have him loosen it, cinch it up enough to get me home and then hopefully I can proceed with the cambelt.

In the meantime, while I was pratting about trying to get it ready, I noticed that the alternator and PAS belts were a little bit* buggered.

Eep! This was the alternator belt, PAS belt wasn't much better. So, some shiny new belts ordered...

And fitted, along with a new rocker cover gasket which was spraying oil from the frontmost corners. No pictures of that going in though. So with all those fitted, I put everything back together. Here's a gratuitous picture of the engine bay I took afterwards, which shows absolutely fucking nothing because none of the bits I replaced are immediately visible.

So, didn't get the cambelt done but definitely a productive venture.

Meanwhile, I keep seeing other tat which interests me... the idea behind the Rover is that was going to be a temporary car, and the first of a rotating series of shitheaps which would allow me to tick lots of automotive boxes despite limited space. Thing is, I'm actually starting to get remarkably attached to this little car and I'm not sure I want to sell it, even in the face of other tempting prospects.

I see this post is from August so my advice here will be next to useless, unless someone else sees it and tries it. 

When tackling the timing belt on my Legend, I faced the same issue (bastard tight crank pulley bolt). Did a bit of YouTube searching and saw various people struggling with it. Then found a Murigan guy who said (something like): "Fuggetabboudit! Put a breaker bar and socket on the bolt, and tickle the starter."

Took a brave pill and tried it (with suitable safety* measures in place like cardboard and cable ties) and it worked with no fuss. Engine rotates clockwise, so if you hold the bolt still it's moving anti-clockwise relative to pulley.

Saying all that I know some Honda engines go anti-clockwise, so please file under "worse than useless" as appropriate.

[worldofceri]

Good to meet you, Soundwave. Sorry it was brief. The Gooner looks pretty tidy. You can tell it’s been in a lock up when not in use over the last twenty odd years.

[Soundwave]

4 minutes ago, grogee said:

I see this post is from August so my advice here will be next to useless, unless someone else sees it and tries it. 

When tackling the timing belt on my Legend, I faced the same issue (bastard tight crank pulley bolt). Did a bit of YouTube searching and saw various people struggling with it. Then found a Murigan guy who said (something like): "Fuggetabboudit! Put a breaker bar and socket on the bolt, and tickle the starter."

Took a brave pill and tried it (with suitable safety* measures in place like cardboard and cable ties) and it worked with no fuss. Engine rotates clockwise, so if you hold the bolt still it's moving anti-clockwise relative to pulley.

Saying all that I know some Honda engines go anti-clockwise, so please file under "worse than useless" as appropriate.

Yeah, I no longer own the car now but I appreciate it anyway .  Unfortunately, as you say, some Honda engines do indeed go anti-clockwise... including the D-series used in the Rover 200!

[Soundwave]

Having a flip through the documents... really has been loved, this car. All the manuals are here, MOTs since the year dot, service history up to 171k! Love stuff like this. 

It's even got the original bill of sale... from 2001. Story goes that it was a Renault fleet/pool/company car for the first few years, then punted on via a dealer to the previous owner, who then kept it for over 20 years! 

Looking a bit closer, we can see what he PX'd... 

A Sierra, which judging by its absence on the MOT database probably never made it back off the Renault forecourt! 

[High Jetter]

Well it had done 119k!

[Datsuncog]

Ohhh, nicely bought!

Rare old buses, these - it's been a good few years since I've even seen a Mk1 Laguna hatch on the road, let alone a Phase 1 estate.

Other than the bit of blebbage, it looks very nicely looked after too. Fiji Green for the win, also. Hope it proves a slightly* more reliable steer than mine!

And if you're thinking about putting in an aftermarket head unit for some choonz (guessing this has its original radio cassette?), I have not one, but two different sets of audio harnesses for pre-2000s Renaults going begging, that should allow you to keep the steering column stalk controls functional regardless of what specific fitment is in yours.

They're going in the bin otherwise - if you think you might be able to use them, I'll happily post them over to you, free! PM me your address if you'd like 'em.

[Soundwave]

8 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Ohhh, nicely bought!

Rare old buses, these - it's been a good few years since I've even seen a Mk1 Laguna hatch on the road, let alone a Phase 1 estate.

Other than the bit of blebbage, it looks very nicely looked after too. Fiji Green for the win, also. Hope it proves a slightly* more reliable steer than mine!

And if you're thinking about putting in an aftermarket head unit for some choonz (guessing this has its original radio cassette?), I have not one, but two different sets of audio harnesses for pre-2000s Renaults going begging, that should allow you to keep the steering column stalk controls functional regardless of what specific fitment is in yours.

They're going in the bin otherwise - if you think you might be able to use them, I'll happily post them over to you, free! PM me your address if you'd like 'em.

A generous offer, thank you! I'll get back to you if that's OK - currently it has no radio at all, with the original having gone pop a long time ago and the previous owner opting to keep the aftermarket unit they had in there. I think it might still have the wiring adaptor in there - if not, I'll be in touch. Wouldn't want you to go through the inconvenience of posting stuff if it isn't needed. I've got a suitably 90s Pioneer CD player to go in there, so we'll see if the wiring matches up or not.