Jump to content

Jcr's thread. 38k mile Convoy ex-minibus


jcr

Recommended Posts

Here is the wagon of excellence:  

20211227_125120.thumb.jpg.bcc293585591a3013fabef0644304215.jpg

Bit tatty and sills quite crusty but decent MOT XUD9 avec pompe Bosch (needing seals as it is trickling diesel everywhere) and a boost leak.

First impressions quite good. Second impressions 200 metres down the road less good when the rear shoes collapsed.

Guy I bought it off was a sound guy and took it back.

20211227_132830.thumb.jpg.30f5fa7692484a41c028362c6f9b9799.jpg

For now.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, JMotor said:

Nice choice of Longroof there. 

 

Estate. It's an estate. Not a longroof.

Estate. 

 

OP - Hopefully the seller will be true to his word. It looks surprisingly good on the 205 GTI alloys too. I wonder if it was the original FIREMOTH before the younger, snazzier model came along?!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Estate. It's an estate. Not a longroof.

Estate. 

 

OP - Hopefully the seller will be true to his word. It looks surprisingly good on the 205 GTI alloys too. I wonder if it was the original FIREMOTH before the younger, snazzier model came along?!

 

Alloys? Or am I missing something???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I plugged 'Firemoth' into Google and found the results rather confusing, lots of drawings of weird robots and one photo of a creature called the Colorado Firemoth.  Have you any other pictures of the modified 406?  Not enough of that sort of thing around these days.  A friend's mum had one many years ago; it was a nice car to travel in, but you already knew that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • jcr changed the title to 406 veggie burner

Car in my possession as of Friday. Did an 80 mile round trip today:

 

20220102_160813.thumb.jpg.b2cbdd399c78dceeec0d64cba56bf88d.jpg

 

154k on the clock but still rides pretty well. 

Urgent things:

Fuel pump leaking. It is leaving a little puddle of diesel everywhere it idles for a minute or two. I have the kit, just needs doing some time next week. 

Boost leak. Over 2k rpm there is a whoosh under acceleration and a big loss of power. A little bit gutless on the motorway as a result. 

Thermostat needs replacing. Never gets warmer than 70 ish degrees.

 

Significant things:

3 tyres are borderline legal and almost into taking the piss territory 

Inner sills are rusty

Pooling water in space behind boot panelling.

Electrical gremlins: 12v socket and driver's window not working. Blower motor has a dodgy connection, as does indicator stalk turning right. 

Missing gear knob and gaiter (?)

Belt squealing and power steering very notchy as if the belt is slipping, but only after startup. Might be diesel leak related I reckon.

 

Little things:

Radio broken

Clock backlight broken

Instrument cluster steams up from the inside (?)

Absolutely filthy inside and out. Previous owner parked it up for a few months after fuel leak was discovered not long after purchase. Owner before that used it for taking out the dog. Reckon it will come up pretty presentable with a good seats out hoover, polish, wax etc.

Passenger mirror held on with tape

Door cards in typical fashion are grim, fabric peeling off

Remote is broke but central locking still works!

 

Not too bad for £500. Will be ramping up the veg % shortly, should pay for itself doing delivery driving soon enough. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

First job was the fan as I quickly got tired of driving one-handed whilst wiping the condensation off the window with the other. That was relatively simple, ordered a set of brushes for the motor and swapped them.

Next job was the belt. I can see why the power steering was notchy:

20220420_093406.thumb.jpg.0e682dc2d32b8d134d5fe03d0e7318c3.jpg

New belt stuck on and tensioned correctly this time so the above doesn't happen.

Then acquired this:

20220420_093429.thumb.jpg.efb892cc92d17c829356af063c735fc8.jpg

which was very welcome indeed! although next year's one will not go the same way without the inner sills being replaced. The rest of the car underneath is solid however.

I decided that I wouldn't waste time cleaning it before a new MOT was obtained... because the last time I did that it very quickly turned out to be a wasted effort.

However I couldn't stand the interior being 50% dog hair woven into every surface so I had already given that a good amount of attention. The exterior though had not been touched in many years, so this was a pretty satisfying quick scrub up and polish:

20220419_160325.thumb.jpg.cd557b657edb7d42f48e8ae94a6efd36.jpg

I won't be getting too obsessive over the looks on this one, but it is nice to finally remove some of the greener touches to the paintwork. 

Next jobs are swap the thermostat and track down the boost leak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interested to see how you get on with this, I still think these are one of the best looking estate cars made.

Regarding your boost leak I am sure you know you can buy kits for this (maybe you have one) .......or you could do it the tight arse way I did.....1 sradder valve, some 50p plumbing fitting from wickes and pump of your choice.....some pics below of how I bodged my setup together...

 

 

20211128_120450.jpg

20211128_120455.jpg

20211128_120501.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • jcr changed the title to Jcr's thread. possible collection

Unfortunately, this 406 was much rustier than expected, and head gasket was beginning to go. Along with a coolant leak developing (potentially related, although it never overheated.) I think I've picked the right time to get rid. Definitely quids in from vegging

 

I am currently en route to near Braintree for a possible collection. This time, avatar might be relevant!!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

One year+ later, Rover has gone very nicely without any major issue. But it definitely needs to come off the road for a while for some big ticket suspension items, some welding, along with a plethora of niggles. I'm definitely keeping it long term, but in the short term something bigger is probably needed.

So, with that in mind....

Screenshot_2023-09-02-09-15-39-06_93b6efe4a64639a5f533c36376a6f21d.thumb.jpg.4d47918499b6995b7039cae898f6b44f.jpg

 

Hold my industrial action, I'm going in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...