Timewarp Rover 214 SEI
Discussion
spreadsheet monkey said:
Nice R8! My first car was a 1990 214Si, which I ran for 18 months (with no HGF).
What do you plan to use the car for? Seems too nice and too low mileage to be a daily driver.
Definitely not-it’s being used sparingly for shows, events, sunny days and trips down memory lane. I’ve set a mental limit for an annual mileage of about 1,500, ideally not breaking four figures.What do you plan to use the car for? Seems too nice and too low mileage to be a daily driver.
Just remembered, I practised (while learning to drive) in my Uncle's 414SLi. His was a G reg iirc, no power steering, but fun all the same.
Did anyone else have the 'mooing' petrol tank? With the car switched off after being out, and as everything cooled and pressures/vacuum equalised the tank would give off a noise like a cow
I miss those days.
Did anyone else have the 'mooing' petrol tank? With the car switched off after being out, and as everything cooled and pressures/vacuum equalised the tank would give off a noise like a cow
I miss those days.
Edited by csd19 on Sunday 29th December 15:47
csd19 said:
Just remembered, I practised (while learning to drive) in my Uncle's 414SLi. His was a G reg iirc, no power steering, but fun all the same.
Did anyone else have the 'mooing' petrol tank? With the car switched off after bieng out, and as everything cooled and pressures/vacuum equalised the tank would give off a noise like a cow
I miss those days.
Our family Concerto 1.6i-16 did this. A weird humming noise from NSR areaDid anyone else have the 'mooing' petrol tank? With the car switched off after bieng out, and as everything cooled and pressures/vacuum equalised the tank would give off a noise like a cow
I miss those days.
Lovely. Unbelievable these are still around on such low miles.
I had a Tahiti Blue 214 SEi as my first car... and my second car after I wrote the first off. Both 3 doors with primer grey lower, the bumpers always let it down.
Moved onto a British Racing Green 220 GSi Turbo, which I had for almost 10 years.
I had a Tahiti Blue 214 SEi as my first car... and my second car after I wrote the first off. Both 3 doors with primer grey lower, the bumpers always let it down.
Moved onto a British Racing Green 220 GSi Turbo, which I had for almost 10 years.
Kitchski said:
I like these, always did. I can just imagine how it smells!
Absolutely glorious! Not quite as lovely as my 75 Connie, with lashings of Connolly leather and real wood everywhere, but still lovely.The 214 is now with my favoured body shop having a couple of bits tidied and perfected in time for BL National Day at Gaydon in July, then Festival of the Unexceptional. If anyone is at these and spots me with the car, come over and say hi!
LordGrover said:
Most excellent!
I had a 216 EFI Vanden Plas company car way back when. Loved it. Was well used and abused but shrugged it all off, great little cars.
Same, well mine was the earlier gen (87) 'E' regd, full leather seats, nice drive, just lacked A/C but most cars did then. Fond memories though like a mini pocket limo.I had a 216 EFI Vanden Plas company car way back when. Loved it. Was well used and abused but shrugged it all off, great little cars.
Edited by techguyone on Thursday 13th June 10:13
clayts450 said:
I'm at both - I'll be in my scratty 420SLi at Gaydon, but my sumptuous 620Si at FOTU. Are you going to Gaydon with the 200 owners club ?
I am indeed!It’s a shame A/C was such a costly option back then (about £1,100 on the 200 if memory serves, and it wasn’t available on the SEI for some bizarre reason) as it meant a lot of cars did without it. If you have full leather, you really should have (and need!) it.
Remember leafing through the owners manual of my parents’ car and seeing the section about A/C (*optional extra, if fitted), which seemed such a luxury then!
They specced it on their subsequent 200Vi, which had to have it fitted at the dealer by a specialist, as it was a stock car rather than a factory order.
clayts450 said:
Seeing this in the flesh yesterday, it really is a remarkable looking motor., one of the cleanest, least worn out R8s I've ever seen.
captainslow is probably far too modest to announce he won an award for Best R8 200 series at Gaydon yesterday, and rightly so.
Thanks! I was debating whether to post about it as I’m not a shouty sort. captainslow is probably far too modest to announce he won an award for Best R8 200 series at Gaydon yesterday, and rightly so.
Credit to the owners club, rather than the usual plastic trophy that to be honest, looks a bit pants, they’ve had some classy awards made up. Maybe if I win some more, I can play Jenga.
The car is in Reader’s Rides in Practical Classics this month after Danny the editor took a snippet of an email conversation we had (which I’m absolutely fine with!) about the car-only thing is he’s listed it as a 400!
I’ve just got the car back from the bodyshop after having a few bits done to make things as close to perfect as I can get, which I’ll do an update on soon.
C. Grimsley said:
Lovely car, love the golden oldies, one thing to mention the tax disc telephone number would it not have been a different area code at that time?
Carl
Number and design were sourced from the original dealer sticker in the back window Carl
Think an extra digit was added into the UK dialling codes around 1993 so a couple of years before this car was registered.
Got some pictures of the underside after I’d cleaned it up, I’ll try and upload them soon.
The 214 has been living a typically cosseted life over the past couple of months, tucked away under a cover in my “prime” garage. I’ve done a bit of underside detailing which I’ll get some pictures up once I’ve got some decent ones.
I hit a pothole in my daily drive a couple of weeks back on the A1-thanks to the dry, salt free weather we were having I thought it would be a great excuse to get the 214 out one Sunday evening.
Failure to proceed happened.
I have to admit it was one of the more scary motoring events I’ve had-rounding a sweeping bend on an unlit NSL A road, the car cut out with the loss of all electrical functions-even exterior lighting. Obviously not desirable when you’re on an unlit A road...
Fortunately I coasted to a stop in a straighter bit of the road, and managed to warn traffic behind me while doing some kind of random rave dance holding a lit iPhone,
I managed to coax some life back into the electrical system enough to elicit function from the hazard warning lights, and with the help of a friend who kindly came to my assistance with a car full of electricity and functioning lighting, drove it to a lay-by half a mile up the road. Then waited two and a half hours for the RAC after being promised initially 45 minutes, but that’s another story...
After getting the car home, a few checks with a multi meter of the earths (initially my thought), battery and alternator charge rate when I got the car restarted found the charge rate randomly spiking from 1v to 15v. No wonder the electrical system got stroppy.
Genuine new alternators for early K-Series are NLA-however I was fairly sure the regulator was the cause of the fault (these get fried thanks to being right next to the exhaust manifold. Early R8’s had a protective cover over them, deleted on the later cars. Go figure...) which are delightfully available and only £36.
Turned up in a nice box which looked like it had been on the shelf since 1998. Probably because it had.
Fitting the new regulator was easy-remove the drive belt, then the alternator, marvel at how tidy the alternator is and how the date stamp has survived, unbolt naughty regulator and fit shiny, shelf warming regulator. Refitting is the reverse of removal, apart from the addition of a prayer you’ve fixed it.
Seems like I have-the car now starts, runs happily and the introduction of electrical load no longer creates the panic a Daily Mail piece about cancer/weather/foreigners/Jeremy Corbyn does. A steady 14v of electrical stream is nice, too.
The Roewe lives on. I’ll take a set of jump leads and a multimeter when I next go out though, just in case.
I hit a pothole in my daily drive a couple of weeks back on the A1-thanks to the dry, salt free weather we were having I thought it would be a great excuse to get the 214 out one Sunday evening.
Failure to proceed happened.
I have to admit it was one of the more scary motoring events I’ve had-rounding a sweeping bend on an unlit NSL A road, the car cut out with the loss of all electrical functions-even exterior lighting. Obviously not desirable when you’re on an unlit A road...
Fortunately I coasted to a stop in a straighter bit of the road, and managed to warn traffic behind me while doing some kind of random rave dance holding a lit iPhone,
I managed to coax some life back into the electrical system enough to elicit function from the hazard warning lights, and with the help of a friend who kindly came to my assistance with a car full of electricity and functioning lighting, drove it to a lay-by half a mile up the road. Then waited two and a half hours for the RAC after being promised initially 45 minutes, but that’s another story...
After getting the car home, a few checks with a multi meter of the earths (initially my thought), battery and alternator charge rate when I got the car restarted found the charge rate randomly spiking from 1v to 15v. No wonder the electrical system got stroppy.
Genuine new alternators for early K-Series are NLA-however I was fairly sure the regulator was the cause of the fault (these get fried thanks to being right next to the exhaust manifold. Early R8’s had a protective cover over them, deleted on the later cars. Go figure...) which are delightfully available and only £36.
Turned up in a nice box which looked like it had been on the shelf since 1998. Probably because it had.
Fitting the new regulator was easy-remove the drive belt, then the alternator, marvel at how tidy the alternator is and how the date stamp has survived, unbolt naughty regulator and fit shiny, shelf warming regulator. Refitting is the reverse of removal, apart from the addition of a prayer you’ve fixed it.
Seems like I have-the car now starts, runs happily and the introduction of electrical load no longer creates the panic a Daily Mail piece about cancer/weather/foreigners/Jeremy Corbyn does. A steady 14v of electrical stream is nice, too.
The Roewe lives on. I’ll take a set of jump leads and a multimeter when I next go out though, just in case.
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