Hey! Anyone got the address of the designer of the K-series?

[Rocket88]

Forgot about those as well!Apart from the 2.8, which burnt pistons, the only problem I had was the stupid AED on the carb models.The v12's are a nightmare to work, [4 hrs to change the plugs.....]

[Richard]

The Avenger engine was pretty good. It was economical by 1970s standards and quite sprightly in GLS form. I once drove my Sunbeam for about 40 miles with no water at all. At the end of that I replaced the bottom hose and filled it with cold water- all with no ill effects.

[Station]

What was the road tax/engine connection?

[seth]

What was the road tax/engine connection?

Road tax was worked out on the basis of a horsepower rating that itself used piston area but not stroke in the calculation. Hence lots of tiny pistons doing an imense amount of traveling and torquey low speed sluggers.

[Rocket88]

The Avenger engine was pretty good. It was economical by 1970s standards and quite sprightly in GLS form. I once drove my Sunbeam for about 40 miles with no water at all. At the end of that I replaced the bottom hose and filled it with cold water- all with no ill effects.

To my shame, only ever had about 2 weeks experience of the good old 1725 Rootes lump, seemed fine to me, a bit smoother than a Pinto, from memory.One I did forget was the old ohv 1600 Vauxhall lump [FB/FC Victors etc] I had an FB VX4/90, which had a pair of Zeniths strapped to it, which went well, although the carbs were mahoosive in size, and dwarfed the engine........

[mk2_craig]

I wonder if, as their numbers rapidly dwindle, the owners of K-equipped Rovers will acknowledge each other like NSU Ro80 drivers used to. Number of fingers held up = number of head gasket changes

[Parky]

Do all "k"s have the same problem? For some reason I have it in my head that the smaller capacity early models are pretty tough but its the later models that suffer, especially when the capacity was stretched up to 1600cc. Lots of v cheap Rovers about and I remember my Dad practically drooling over the Autocar road tests when the R8 was first launched in 1989. Always quite fancied owning one.

[Station]

They all have the same problem.

It's alleged it's to do with:

a) the plastic located dowels. Replaced with steel ones, these stop -the head from moving about- (a slight problem, you'd think),

Wet liner cylinders can travel up, and render head gasket useless,

c) Head bolt sump rail uprated over old type which was supposed to offer less clamping ability,

 

The problem is more-so on the MGF, what with the 6 foot long coolant pipes going to the radiator in the front. AND airlocks in the system (difficult to get rid of).

 

Some useful links if you need them - as you can see, there are a lot of things to look out for:

 

Diagnose the problem:

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.p ... hlight=hgf

 

Guide on changing the head gasket:

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.p ... hlight=hgf

 

And an interesting Rover press video on the K-Series (and it's long bolts):

 

[Pete-M]

At the auctions the other day there were loads of K series Rover 25s, all fetching the square root of fuck all. Even the 'international buyers' walked away when a Rover came in, the trade all went outside to see what was next in, and the private punters weren't going to buy in an auction room that had become very quiet and very empty very quickly.A 54 plate, 40k mile, FSH, "Direct from main dealer" Rover 25 went for about £1500. All the other ones that went through were three to four hundred quid and glaringly unwanted.It's a shame, I love V8 Rovers but I don't think many of the late ones will survive much longer. 25/45/75s are all worthless, the 800 was never any good, the 600 is a Honda (although I don't mind the Ti) the Honda based ones are boring, the MG ZR/S/Ts all go well but the little ones are over-bling and the ZT-T needs the V8 before I'd be interested in one.What is going to be left? A load of SD1 Vitesses (mmmm) for mega money, a few SD1s with the chocolate cammed six pot and a couple of Marina engined ones which should be used as donor shells for V8s. For the company that made the P5B Coupé that is a sad, sad ending.

[Parky]

Couldnt agree more Pete, couldnt agree more.....

[Milford Cubicle]

Most of the survivors of the K series era seem to be cars fitted with the unburstable L series diesel which has its roots in the B and O series engines.

 

It's a shame Rover went a bit mad with making class leading engines without ensuring their future reliability. It is true that 1.1 and 1.4 K series motors are pretty sturdy, it's the enlarged 1.6s and 1.8s that are more liable to failure. Perhaps they were hastily developed to avoid paying Honda royalties for their 1.6.

Having said that, the K series 416 I owned was utterly reliable even though I wasn't the most caring of owners at 18 years old.

I wonder how many of the cars with x amount of head gaskets replaced have just been badly repaired, or haven't had the root cause of the HGF fixed.

 

I quite like the Rondas, they are a bit dull but they're good to drive and generally rugged.

[AnthonyG]

Do the KV6 engines suffer as badly? I know the early ones did, as fitted to the 800, but I thought the 75 ones were generally OK. Fairly shite on fuel consumption though.I would have another 75, but it would have to be a diesel.I would risk a 25 at a bargainous price, but only a 1400, or a diesel. I would never touch a MGF or 75 1.8.

[pogweasel]

I would risk a 25 at a bargainous price, but only a 1400, or a diesel.

I was just thinking the same thing, reckon they would be quite useful for running up the miles & binning when they break... had a look on eGay - not many bargains there! Most seem to be marked up at £2-£3000: Bollocks to that, £500 risk it for a biscuit but three large I think I'd be buying something else.

[Station]

Wouldn't be too bad if it was a 25/45/75, but the lacerations on my hands/arms are still healing from leaning into the Sarlacc-like labyrnth that is MGF's engine bay:

 

 

 

[Milford Cubicle]

Stick an A-series in there, you know you want to.Would it be possible, using parts from an A-series Metro?

[pogweasel]

Did make me groffle a bit seeing an article in the current Retro Cars...Bloke had a tuned Mini, but the A-series ate three HG's, so to solve the problem, he put a K-series in instead....

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I thought the Rover straight six was derived from the Triumph ones.

I think it ended up being quite different, though the original plan was certainly to just 'OHC' the older engine.

The Rover straight six was designed by Triumph engineers, that enclave of design ingenuity. It was made on the Triumph six cylinder tooling just as the O Series was made on B series tools.The 2300 was a bit gutless but the 2600 was pretty pokey and if truth be known wasn't much slower than a 3500. Something like 5-10 bhp difference.They had a distinctive sound and feel to them, not harsh but not BMW turbine smooth. The valve gear was all okay, as was the basic engine. the problem came from a one way oil non return valve that fitted into the oilway in the blcok that fed the top end. The idea was that with the engine shut off and no pressure from the pump, the valve would close and trap the oil in the head gallery. Trouble is, they could stick shut, starve the top end of oil and the cam would seize in the cam carrier, break the belt etc. So the standard mod by most BL mechanics when fitting an exchange head was to unscrew the valve and bin it - the engine worked fine without it. With the valve removed, they were a decent enough engine.

[wilko]

I have finally found a bright side to K-series failure - yesterday I slipped into my favourite wooly hat & well used overalls to go to play with banger cars - on the way I had to pop to the garage. As I was musing over the various Ginsters offerings, an 54 plate MG pulled up to get petrol. As I was negotiating my way out of the garage, the driver, a reasonably attractive bird in her early 20's, walked in. She looked at me like something the dog had thrown up, and used nearly all of the garage to detour around me - stuck up cow, I thought... then I reflected upon the fact that she will be spending a lot of time talking to people in grubby overalls at some point soon, and be handing them lots of money too, and drove away laughing to myself.

[ashmicro]

I feel your pain Station. MGFs are a sod of the highest and most exalted order.