Rover 100 Kensington Restoration

[Roverjoe]

So I thought I’d start a Thread on my Restoration project of this little Rover 100 that my boss gave me at work. It was sat in the corner of the yard in a bush and when they had a clear out of the old coaches etc they pulled this out too. I saw it and was instantly interested so I put a word in and after a few months he very kindly let me have it, as long as I did something with it which is what I’m exactly doing! I hope to get it on the road and back to its former glory all original spec and hopefully a tidy little example of a Rover 100

 

Here’s some photos of it when it got pulled out since then it’s been cleaned and the paintwork came up absolutely lovely 

[Roverjoe]

Shown above, Its a shame i had to start cutting as the paintwork was in such good condition, needs must though. The first point of call was to get the car jacked up at the back, remove all the suspension and fuel tank and get welding.

 

[Roverjoe]

I managed to luckily remove the rear subframe the mounting bolts were exceedingly rusty. I got this all stripped back treated and painted black. New bolts to go on too! The hydrogas spheres will get sent off to be regassed and painted etc, the radius arms will get new fasteners and brake pipes. The radius arm pins will get a bit of a service too. New nuts, greased and new nipples. They weren’t too bad and the needle bearings were okay too. 

[Roverjoe]

Next step was to tackle the near side rear arch. It was probably the worst out the two I think. And because repair panels are non existent now I had to make it myself it was not a perfect job and I didn’t get many photos as I got carried away but there’s some atleast I didn’t want to cut too much away either to save time on fabrication as I have limited tools. The metal was so thin, however any pinholes were welded up as I went along then once I was satisfied with that I then went onto filling. There’s still a bit left to do I need to apply a stopper and then we should be good for paint. 

[grogee]

Wow, you and @JMotor could make sweet music together. That's some hot wheelarch action going on right there. 

Welders of the chod unite

[Eyersey1234]

49 minutes ago, Roverjoe said:

So I thought I’d start a Thread on my Restoration project of this little Rover 100 that my boss gave me at work. It was sat in the corner of the yard in a bush and when they had a clear out of the old coaches etc they pulled this out too. I saw it and was instantly interested so I put a word in and after a few months he very kindly let me have it, as long as I did something with it which is what I’m exactly doing! I hope to get it on the road and back to its former glory all original spec and hopefully a tidy little example of a Rover 100

 

Here’s some photos of it when it got pulled out since then it’s been cleaned and the paintwork came up absolutely lovely 

That's cleaned up really nicely, chodtastic 

[Matty]

I hate people with a natural aptitude for bodywork. Work looks as excellent as the civic was 👌

[adw1977]

Lovely colour!

[bigfella2]

Can't you get the rear arches from here.

https://www.magnumclassicminipanels.co.uk/rover-100-1995-onwards.html

[Wibble]

With his skills, why would he?

[High Jetter]

Have you warned the Kennedys?

[Mr Livered]

They rebadged it you fool... this looks like a lovely little thing, and with your obvious welding talents it's well on track to being a charming and usable runabout. 

I did one weldathon thread on here, years ago, that was well received, but I found it really hard to keep taking pictures when what I really wanted to be doing was just getting on with it. This thread is a really good example of how impressive, interesting, and useful it is to have loads of really clear pictures so that we can follow exactly what's going on - and it's absolutely brilliant. Top shiting sir 😀

[Pieman]

Oh very nice, and great work.  My first car was a 100 Kensington, in turquoise - owned it for a year and used it as a Uni commuter, then some git in a Merc crashed into it and wrote it off.  Following with interest.

[Cavcraft]

That's come up a treat, great going.

Here's the garage it came from back in the day...

...and how it is now...

[Roverjoe]

Cheers for all the Comments Guys! Hopefully some more updates this weekend!

[UltraWomble]

I admire your work and determination in saving this. Your skills are excellent. 

Personally I would have no hesitation in pushing any K series Metro over a high cliff into the sea, but someone has to love them and preserve some for future generations. 

[motorpunk]

9 hours ago, UltraWomble said:

Personally I would have no hesitation in pushing any K series Metro over a high cliff into the sea, 

You. Outside. Now. 
 

🙃

[Marshall2810]

Great work, followed 👍

[2flags]

We had these when I first started as a driving instructor 30yrs ago. Great little cars. Went well and were good on fuel.

[Roverjoe]

So its been a while and plenty more work has been done. Safe to say that all the welding is now complete and things should be on the up for the little Metro. The otherside was much worse, and i had no reference to go from apart from the other side. so a bit of Cardboard Aided Design helped me out with this one.

As you can see the Closing panel is also worse than the other side so i removed that too. 

 

Thankfully the panel behind it was all good so it received a bit of treatment ready for welding.

I made the arch piece and sill piece, cocked up with the sizing of the sill so i had to cut and realign, Whoops.  Oh well! 

Next up was fitting the closing panel! Thats all done then i just required to get it all joint together.

Its by far not my most cleanest work. But i want the car on the road and usable, The Honda was a much different situation. the main thing is that the inner arch is now all properly solid and protected. Bilt hamber Electrox and some epoxy was also used. 

 

After a bit of Filler work this is the Drivers side rear arch. It still needs more sanding and shaping before paint.

I have also done a few other jobs recently such as Painting the underside and the wheel wells.

The underside was all sanded back where there was rust, Treated with Hydrate 80 then a good Coating of Dinitrol Black Wax. 

 

 

The Arches were painted Body colour

 

 

I started Prep on the rear subframe Mounts. I had to get new ones as the old ones had seen better days. A good before and after though!

 

 

Another little job was to clean up the Exhaust shield, i went to all the trouble of making the underside nice and tidy but the shield then let it down. i wrapped it in some Heat proof foil tape. I think it looks rather good tbh. 

 

 

 

Next up was to finish off the Passenger side rear arch. I did the filler work i just needed to get the thing painted.

I Put a good coat of High Build down to iron out any imperfections in the filler. then proceeded to coat the arch in Base and Lacquer.

 

Here is is with the Masking removed and the Trims cleaned and Fitted. (Still need the screw the Cover to the arch) I will wait for the paint to cure so i can then cut and polish and drill the holes for the sill cover.

Safe to say though im really pleased with how this wheel arch has come out. I believe this little metro wants to see the road again with how easy it has been to take things off and to clean them up etc. A Nice little straight Metro that was begging to be saved. 

 

 

[Dan302]

That's some talent!

Following with interest 🙂

[vtec-e]

Superb job! Looking forward to the next update.

[AndyW201]

Great stuff! Some resto skills on show here.

Really nice to see one of these given some love, they were just seen as disposable for so long. Love the original dealer plates and stickers.

I have fond memories of the Metro/100s I had in the mid '90s,

L551 JVN,

1994 Metro Rio Grande in Arizona Blue.

That was traded in for N441 VPY, a new Nightfire Red 100 Kensington, the same as the subject car, in August '95. This was written off before it was 6 months old after being punted into the side of a VW T4 doing an illegal u-turn on an NSL road...

N275 ADC,

 It took a while to get a replacement as the Kensington had by then been replaced by the Ascot, and the insurance company would only supply a car with the same spec. Eventually, the local dealer found one in Kingfisher Blue. The colour scheme was inspired by a Corsa project car in Fast Car magazine...

[Tommyboy12]

Great job so far! I love seeing more modern stuff like this being restored (ignoring the fact its based on something much older)

[camryv6]

Your boss gave you that, he must hate you ?

[Carl1981]

Makes me want to get mine sorted and back on the road!

 

[2flags]

That looks lovely!

[Roverjoe]

Cheers for the kind comments guys!

[Arthur-walker]

Great work, not many of these get restored.  I can't remember the last time I saw a 100

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

There's one outside my living room window.