RFU rescues a Rover 620ti! Back on the road - new shocks and YOUTUBE FAMOUS*

20,044 · January 26

5 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Never did that for me, but check the rubber block just before the inlet manifold, they're a known weak spot for letting air in I believe.

Great work so far! 😎

Ah yeah good shout, I'll give that a check. Without looking at it too closely it does seem like it mechanically sticking rather than some sort of air leak, or maybe it's a combination of the 2

It probably just needs a good run with some fresh fuel, it's been started up and moved around countless times over the past couple of months but not actually been anywhere!

Thank you!

2,488 · January 27

11 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Ah yeah good shout, I'll give that a check. Without looking at it too closely it does seem like it mechanically sticking rather than some sort of air leak, or maybe it's a combination of the 2

It probably just needs a good run with some fresh fuel, it's been started up and moved around countless times over the past couple of months but not actually been anywhere!

Thank you!

T series stepper motor reset is always a helpful process to go through whenever there's weird idle/off throttle behaviour

20,044 · January 30

A couple of more progress updates

Refitted the rear bumper and to be honest I'm feeling pretty bummed out because it doesn't seem to line up brilliantly against the new arches, the shape of the new panels aren't quite a match.

Bit of a dilemma here, do I just accept it will look shit despite all the work I've put into it, or throw lots of money at getting the body work done professionally to do some panel beating and filler work- as it's quite a bit beyond my own skill level. I'll have to have a think, but it's a bit of a downer at the moment.

The new caliper arrived within a couple of days which was nice.

I followed the workshop manual advice for adjusting them as follows:

Slacken the interior adjuster nut such that there is no tension on the cables and the lever arms on the calipers are sitting on their stops.

Pump the brake pedal hard, then nip up the adjustment nut to take the majority of the slack out of the cables

Lift the handbrake lever by one click, and turn the adjuster nut one complete turn until a slight bind is felt at each wheel.

Release the handbrake lever and check the wheels now spin freely, and the caliper lever arms are resting on their stops

Now check operation of the handbrake, which should lock between 7-11 clicks.

Indeed it does now lock on the 7th click with the wheels off the ground.

Testing the car on a light incline, it seems to hold steadily by 8-9 clicks. Then on a steep slope, it's held steady on the 11th/12th click. I think this is acceptable being on the upper end of the limit on the steepest of slopes taking into account some amount of wear/stretch in the cables that won't have been there from the factory.

I would say this should be good enough to get it through an MOT!

Some more good news is that I've just had an email to say the clock has been repaired already and is on its way back to me!

Next job is fit the set of new tyres, give the interior a bit of a tidy, enough to be presented for an MOT. All being well it should be visiting the man from the ministry next week - that's my aim!

I will get a quote for the bodywork, yes it's going to end up exceeding the value of the car but it would be a shame for it to look shit after going to all this effort

20,044 · January 31

I may have been a little harsh on myself, with the car on the ground I don't think it looks too offensive aside from the obvious incorrect colour match and irregular filler work as previously mentioned

January 31

Paint match aside, that looks very good, well done !

39,009 · January 31

It’s a shit time of year to paint, it’s never going to look good done in a damp cold garage. Get it roadworthy then respray it in the summer.

1,221 · January 31

Excellent work. Really like these. Great to see it getting so much love.

Just curious, if a customer had brought this in, what would they be charged to do just one of the arches? Presumably £££ because there's many hours of work involved

12,350 · January 31

Oh that looks fine, it’s pretty impressive considering you’re DIY-ing it. I’d put the effort into the mechanicals over the cosmetics. This is a great car, lovely to see your progress.

7,182 · January 31

could you not use the now redundant coinage to make spacers for the bumper? 😂

20,044 · January 31

12 hours ago, Erebus said:

Excellent work. Really like these. Great to see it getting so much love.

Just curious, if a customer had brought this in, what would they be charged to do just one of the arches? Presumably £££ because there's many hours of work involved

[South east labour rates £££] For the welding and the bodywork, easily north of £1k per side to include the inner arch repairs and all the rust treatment (although it would be done to a better standard than above!)

If you took it to a bodyshop, it may be cheaper but they'd probably not get involved with all the rust proofing

The most likely scenario is that we would outsource the bodywork, maybe even the outer arches, but do the rust treatment and inner arch repairs in house.

I still expect to be charged north of £500 for doing the finishing touches both sides, and that's mates rates. £800 may be more realistic and is probably the max I'd be willing to put into it depending on the MOT outcome.

As an aside, this is absolutely not the sort of work garages would be wanting to get involved with!

20,044 · February 1

Repaired clock received back from the Rover coupe owners club! Very efficient service, posted off last Monday and received this morning (Saturday) so around a 5-6 day turnaround including the postage both ways.

And the replacement retractable aerial also works a treat! Not sure why the other one had jammed up, I've kept it to investigate later down the line

12,350 · February 1

What’s the gauge set into the ashtray/cubby?

20,044 · February 1

5 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

What’s the gauge set into the ashtray/cubby?

Boost gauge, which works!

12,350 · February 1

Could’ve done with some boost in ‘Slim’ last October 😂

8,841 · February 1

49 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Boost gauge, which works!

Annoyingly, obscured by the gear knob when in fifth gear 😅

20,044 · February 1

24 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Annoyingly, obscured by the gear knob when in fifth gear 😅

Oh, typical Rover strategic design 😂

6,717 · February 1

On 11/01/2025 at 01:06, RoverFolkUs said:

@worldofceri if you did manage to find any spare door switches in usable condition I would gladly exchange them for some beer tokens

Apologies for the extremely late reply, but I can’t find them, sadly.

Great work on the Rover by the way. I do have a large soft spot for a late nineties q-car, and these must be one of the best.

20,044 · February 2

31 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

Apologies for the extremely late reply, but I can’t find them, sadly.

Great work on the Rover by the way. I do have a large soft spot for a late nineties q-car, and these must be one of the best.

Thank you! I appreciate you looking for them

February 2

13 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Repaired clock received back from the Rover coupe owners club! Very efficient service, posted off last Monday and received this morning (Saturday) so around a 5-6 day turnaround including the postage both ways.

And the replacement retractable aerial also works a treat! Not sure why the other one had jammed up, I've kept it to investigate later down the line

Father had a 620 back in mid 90s to 2004, plastic guide breaking inside the aerial gearbox was common I think.

the same rot you had and dodgy electrics killed it come the end,

20,044 · February 3

On 28/11/2024 at 18:49, RoverFolkUs said:

Set of 4x Goodyear EfficientGrip tyres acquired, got a good deal on these having had maybe 500 miles of use based on the fact they still have at least 7-8mm of tread and no signs of wear. 2 of them are 2024 date code and the other 2 are 2021 I think.

It does feel like every time I try to do something, there's a hurdle thrown in front of me 😂

Went to replace the tyres today to get it in for a test later this week, but it's now rocking THREE Goodyear EfficientGrips because one seems to have sustained a sidewall puncture....

🤬

Oh well, I'll have to source another brand new one.....

20,044 · February 4

Finally a positive update.. £85 later I've sourced a new tyre to match the rest, so overall it's still a fair saving for the set despite the annoyance factor.

I've reassembled the interior and tidied it out ready for an MOT, which I have booked for next Monday 10th! Exciting times

I've given myself a bit of time to clean out the arches and apply a wax treatment before the MOT

20,044 · February 9

All ready for the MOT in the morning.

Surely it will pass, SURELY?

Well, no. I'm expecting a fail. *Somehow* I missed a section of grot on the offside front floor which extends along behind the wheel arch liner, and I think it's just about within 30cm of the front subframe/anti roll bar mounting

No time to deal with it before the morning, so I'll present it as is. At least I get (another!) list to work with if it fails, or maybe it's outside the prescribed area and will pass. Not my decision to make. Let's see!

I decided to refurb the fuel filler pipes. Well worth doing in my opinion because they were getting crusty and it won't be easy to get hold of replacement ones in the future:

Also jetwashed the inner arches and applied a fresh film of waxoyl. Crucially this type of underseal is oil based, not that horrible thick rubbery stuff which dries and causes further rot (which is what's happened in the offside front area) - I've wiped it off the brake pipes and hoses to allow the MOT tester a full inspection of them.

I then carried out the weld repairs to the nearside front chassis leg:

And finished off with a waxoyl treatment on the front inner arches

That's all for now!

I've dropped the keys off, ready for it to be MOTd tomorrow. Not sure what time it's going to be done, so F5 at the ready

8,841 · February 9

Properly excited now! 😍

22,325 · February 9

Fingers crossed! You deserve an easy pass on this one after your graft to save it. So glad to see it looking better by the day.

20,085 · February 9

20,044 · February 9

2 hours ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

Fingers crossed! You deserve an easy pass on this one after your graft to save it. So glad to see it looking better by the day.

Thank you! I don't mind it failing on the newly discovered rot because I will sort it anyway, but I hope that's all it is, if anything at all 😅

20,044 · February 10

*live excitement*

It's just gone, so looks like it's going on an early slot 😅

February 10

20,044 · February 10

👺

20,044 · February 10

HALLE-FUCKING-LULLIEH!!!

I'll take that 😅

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RFU rescues a Rover 620ti! Back on the road - new shocks and YOUTUBE FAMOUS*

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