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The Castle Gresley Rover 820


Motown

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Well i have spent many hours today trying to get the car to start. I have spark and I have put fresh fuel and oil in the car but only got as far as the video below with regards to easy start of which i used two cans with little results. (the car only seems to be running briefly off what i spray in)

Turning the key in the ignition i cant hear a click from the pump in the boot but can hear clicking under the bonnet in the area forward of the steering wheel. I suspect i have a ceased fuel pump and would like to swap it out but i am 6ft 1 and finding access difficult so tomorrow i am hoping to remove the rear seat.

Tonight i bought a new rotor arm, spark plugs and leads and i am currently searching for an 820 fuel pump so i can hopefully get the car started before Christmas. I've decided am not going to fit the new windscreen unless i get the car running as i could use it for my Vitesse in the future

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11 hours ago, sierraman said:

What planet is he on with £700? £70 perhaps. Which once some kids set it alight is more than what he’ll be getting. Perhaps the amount of interest he’s getting makes him think that if he holds out some mad man will give him £700 on it. 

Totally agree but some mad man probably will give him what he wants for it. He must have shifted or sold a few of them recently because most of the cars pictured online are no longer there 

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Excellent to see the Rover getting saved and totally agree with your estimation on the Maestro.  Good luck with the 820 resurrection, it sounds like you've got the bug bad enough that it stands the best chance it ever will of getting back on the road.

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12 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Excellent to see the Rover getting saved and totally agree with your estimation on the Maestro.  Good luck with the 820 resurrection, it sounds like you've got the bug bad enough that it stands the best chance it ever will of getting back on the road.

Thank You. If i can just get it started id be alot more hopeful of its future

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31 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

If it's anything like R8s, it could be the immobiliser giving you issues if it has one.  Or a dead fuel pump.  Or a blocked pick-up filter... you'll figure it out, I'm sure.

I found R8s to be incredibly easy compared to this...  I am only a few days in and with every step forward i feel i take two steps back. The 216 GSi i restored had the Honda D engine and despite needing a whole new interior electrics and abit of welding round the arches was a doddle compared to this.  I've restored a few rovers but this has been by far the hardest one yet my Vitesse was off the road for thirteen years and didnt put up a fight as much as the one. Despite the upcoming stresses and headaches iam sure il figure it out.

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@MotownWasn't this running shortly after the lad liberated it from the garage? I'm sure I read it was running and driving. Maybe the kift pump gave up the ghost after being out of action for so long. The car definitely deserves to live though. 

Also, could you do updates on your original thread rather than start new ones? Much easier for continuity for you and us readers. I wonder if one of the mods @Mrs6Cfor example could combine this thread into your original? 

Keep going!

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9 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Also, could you do updates on your original thread rather than start new ones? Much easier for continuity for you and us readers. I wonder if one of the mods @Mrs6Cfor example could combine this thread into your original? 

Done! :-)

Link left so folk can follow to the right place.

@Motown - you can edit the name of the (now merged) thread if you like.

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4 hours ago, Motown said:

so i can hopefully get the car started before Christmas

There is a lot of love for this car in the AS community.  Not sure of your location and lockdown tier, but within whatever is allowed, you may well find there are some local AS members who would be pleased to come over and give you a hand on a weekend with diagnosis and fettling, in return for tea and biscuits.

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8 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

@MotownWasn't this running shortly after the lad liberated it from the garage? I'm sure I read it was running and driving. Maybe the kift pump gave up the ghost after being out of action for so long. The car definitely deserves to live though. 

Also, could you do updates on your original thread rather than start new ones? Much easier for continuity for you and us readers. I wonder if one of the mods @Mrs6Cfor example could combine this thread into your original? 

Keep going!

Apologies am new to the world of Internet forums feel free to combine/merge the thread.

Yes It did run when it was liberated and i was also told it started after a simple application of easy start.

I suspect it’s either the pump has ceased or low oil pressure. If the oil pressure is low, the fuel pump is cut off to stop damage to the engine. Turning the key in the ignition i cant hear a click from the pump in the boot but can hear clicking under the bonnet in the area forward of the steering wheel. It has spark and does sound like it wants to start at times. I’ve bought a new rotor arm plugs and filter tonight but have been unable to find a pump.
 

I won’t give up to easily the car is pretty solid as mentioned previously and everything seems to work electronically. I do worrie that the engine bearings have been starved of oil. When it did turn over briefly I could definitely hear abit of knocking at the top end.

More work to be done tomorrow il hopefully get it sussed out by this weekend. 

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2 minutes ago, Motown said:

Apologies am new to the world of Internet forums feel free to combine/merge the thread.

Yes It did run when it was liberated and i was also told it started after a simple application of easy start.

I suspect it’s either the pump has ceased or low oil pressure. If the oil pressure is low, the fuel pump is cut off to stop damage to the engine. Turning the key in the ignition i cant hear a click from the pump in the boot but can hear clicking under the bonnet in the area forward of the steering wheel. It has spark and does sound like it wants to start at times. I’ve bought a new rotor arm plugs and filter tonight but have been unable to find a pump.
 

I won’t give up to easily the car is pretty solid as mentioned previously and everything seems to work electronically. I do worrie that the engine bearings have been starved of oil. When it did turn over briefly I could definitely hear abit of knocking at the top end.

More work to be done tomorrow il hopefully get it sussed out by this weekend. 

As Mrs6C said, there will undoubtedly be people who can help with diagnosis and getting it running properly. Don't rush it! 

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5 minutes ago, Mrs6C said:

There is a lot of love for this car in the AS community.  Not sure of your location and lockdown tier, but within whatever is allowed, you may well find there are some local AS members who would be pleased to come over and give you a hand on a weekend with diagnosis and fettling, in return for tea and biscuits.

Eternally grateful would be an understatement.
 

Anyone willing to help. I am located between Sheffield and Doncaster and I can do better than tea an biscuits if needed ;) 

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3 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

As Mrs6C said, there will undoubtedly be people who can help with diagnosis and getting it running properly. Don't rush it! 


No intention of rushing it i enjoy working on these cars and like to take my time. January onwards isnt going to be a particularly busy period for me so il have plenty of time to work on it. I simply want to get it running, secure, and more importantly weather proof it’s  suffered enough 😆

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  • Motown changed the title to The Castle Gresley Rover 820
15 hours ago, BlankFrank said:

Very nice to see this one being worked on. :)

I'm not sure about the chances of that engine though, considering it sounds a bit rodknocky when 'running'. Could just be dry hydraulic lifters or something rubbing a belt/pulley.

I removed the plugs today and added a spoon full of oil to each cylinder it doesn't sound rodknocky at all now.  Although the engine could quite possibly be knackered am pretty sure its a fuel related issue as i made alot progress on the car today. I will be posting an update shortly 👍

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6 hours ago, The Moog said:

This give me flashbacks to the big green bastard ! 

What colour spark are you getting? I had an issue when had no start - it was diagnosed to bad coil terminals.  There was spark but not strong enough 

 

Hows the fuel filler neck? 

The fuel filler neck is good it was the first thing i checked actually.  I didnt note the colour of the spark just that it sparked ive made alot of progress on the car today and iam fairly confident its a fueling issue

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I was tinkering with the 820 today and seem to have made a breakthrough with regards to what may be preventing the car from starting.

The first thing i did was remove the plugs and added a spoonful of oil to each of the cylinders. i then cranked it and if by magic the engine no longer sounds rough or rodknocky. I have to be realistic though and say i am not ruling out the engine being knackered but only time will tell.

84947369_EngineBay.thumb.jpg.951e5e66e9a037f32aeb309dbf301f08.jpg

 

I then removed the bolt and pipe from the end of the fuel filter and noticed no fuel was escaping whatsoever not even a trickle on ignition. 

1624537550_fuelfilter.jpg.f036caf2351f7409666ae1a505b83273.jpg

 

So my attention turned to the fuel pump however before i started to remove it i checked the the plugs, leads, fuel, oil and inertia switch again just to be sure all of which seemed good. To gain better access to the fuel pump i removed the back seats and found 58p from 1997 my initial excitement was short lived when i realised i couldn't spend it :lol: 

 

As the video above showed the fuel pump is knackered but sadly i have been unable to locate a 820 pump so decided to use an 827 one i had spare. I wasn't sure if this would work or not but they look almost identical i think the 827 pump may have a bigger output but i thought it was worth testing.

pump.jpg.e7ef00c0a7252ca3fafc4620698a8bbc.jpg

 

I then tried to start the car despite the engine no longer knocking and sounding like it wanted to start move than ever it still just cranked. However checking the fuel filter and lines again it leaked fuel so i now have fuel running to the front of the car. This weekend i am planning to drain the car of oil completely before filling it with fresh oil and all new filters. I feel like i am getting closer everyday and will keep at it.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciate. All the best 👍

 

 

 

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