1985 Rover 3500 Vitesse
Discussion
Mr Tidy said:
Based on this thread I'd love to read one on your A3. 
To be fair if you did one about a Daewoo Matiz I'd read it!
haha you're too kind. A3 and mini threads now updated To be fair if you did one about a Daewoo Matiz I'd read it!
bolidemichael said:
From the Barge thread a number of us will attend Bicester in Jan followed by a pub lunch. Let me know if you're interested in joining.
Sounds really good, I'll check with who I'm taking first see if they're game to also join! jamesson said:
As a fellow A3 3.2 owner - albeit mine has 197,000 miles - I'd love to read about your experiences with it.
Brilliant to hear, and I thought I'd done a lot of miles! I've just updated the thread.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I plan to go through most of my experience with any problems I've had. Hope you enjoy.
macp said:
Well it took me two flippin days to read this but boy did I enjoy reading it. Lots of feelings of nostalgia and admiration at the work gone into this thing of beauty. And talking of nostalgia. Your SD1 started me thinking about the Professionals. Cop show from the late 70s to the early 80s. I thought to myself. There could be space for a nice Capri 3.0S
Cheers, really appreciate that. Yeah I do tend to ramble on!
Yeah the nostaliga is strong, I used to watch The Professionals with my dad, so am very familiar, shame BL didn't carry on supplying cars, but even I have to admit watching 3.0S capris and RS2000s being thrown around is do damn cool. Sadly I've not had a chance with work travel to take the Rover out at all over the last month, but my dad does send me pictures to show it's still tucked up safe.
Looking forward to exercising the new gearbox soon though.
Joe
Mr Tidy said:
Right in my era!
Back in the 80s I had a MK2 Granada Ghia (like Cowleys') followed by a MK2 Escort RS2000 and a 2.8i Capri that I bought from someone who had replaced it with a 3500 EFi VDP as his kids were getting bigger.
Absolutely love all of those! I really did love watching those RS2000's getting thrown around, the 3000S Capri's. were my favourite though. I can understand that choice, the SD1 does have an amazingly large boot. Back in the 80s I had a MK2 Granada Ghia (like Cowleys') followed by a MK2 Escort RS2000 and a 2.8i Capri that I bought from someone who had replaced it with a 3500 EFi VDP as his kids were getting bigger.
21st Century Man said:
There's a story behind that, BL really dropped the ball, something to do with a reluctance to supply the same spec cars and so a lack of continuity in filming. Huge opportunity wasted, as usual I suppose.
That really is a massive shame, I'd also heard that BL expected the production to start paying for cars, and Ford was more than willing to fill in for free! mercedeslimos said:
I'd heard that too. Hard to explain a plot hole when you've got a purple Marina on Monday and a brown Allegro on Tuesday
finlo said:
Could always make out it had conked out!
Now they're good ones!
Lincsls1 said:
I love this car! Like many reading on here I'm sure, I'd pay good money for it too, but in all honesty don't think I could afford what its now worth!
Have read the thread from the start, amazing work you have done, amazing skill set.
A real credit to you.
Cheers, I really appreciate that. Have read the thread from the start, amazing work you have done, amazing skill set.
A real credit to you.
Yeah value is always an interesting topic, I really have no idea what it would be worth. For now I'm being selfish so don't intend on finding out!
I've certainly learnt a lot from this car.
So not a great deal has changed with the car with working getting in the way, but I have been planning some winter projects.
One project that's turned out very nicely began with a few messages with Retro Plates.
The rear plate was looking a little old, and always loved the look of proper dealer plates.
I'd got an idea in my head of what I wanted and found a few examples of other dealers, and after a brief discussion I ended up with these!
Matched to the sticker in the rear window, and using details I found in a similar age magazine!
Now just to get them on the car!
Joe
Stick Legs said:
bolidemichael said:
Stick Legs said:
Lovely attention to detal.
Isn't it ironic, don'tcha think? Like rain...
whytheory said:
Love that plate, defs going to them to get plates for my MX-5, just need to research the branding, original dealer no longer exists.
Yes I had to do some digging to find mine too, I think it's worth the effort though. Good Luck! DRFC1879 said:
Be careful with plates; I'd not heard of this until I read the thread below but apparently you can incur a fine if your plate doesn't include the plate maker/dealer's full postcode and the appropriate British standard. Seems ridiculous to me but it can happen:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Oooh that is interesting, the current plates on the car don't have any markings so I'm just as at risk currently. I think you'd be much more under scrutiny with a modern car and from his pics they're also gel plates, something police home in on too! https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I'd hope a 36 year old car would get a bit of leeway and if not I'm claiming they're the originals officer, that's how they were! Not sure were I stand with the older pre-2001 font either!
Stick Legs said:
I just ordered a set for my Range Rover.
He subtly included the correct marking & confirmed road legal.
No post code, but I’ll let you know how I get on at MOT time!
Looks brilliant! He subtly included the correct marking & confirmed road legal.
No post code, but I’ll let you know how I get on at MOT time!
I really like the subtle offset landrover logo too. Joe
21st Century Man said:
A bunch of us from the barge thread were pleased to see this today and a brief chat with Joe.
It was an absolute pleasure to meet all of you, and hoped you enjoyed me rambling on. Hopefully the car measured up to the pictures! 
I took a ridiculous amount of pics during the day, so I'll go through those and write up, even had my new plates on for the occasion
Joe
bolidemichael said:
Posting photos on Ph takes aaaaaaaaaages.
It was very nice to meet you in person and get to experience the 3500. It looks great and really striking in red.
You too It was very nice to meet you in person and get to experience the 3500. It looks great and really striking in red.
Really enjoyed meeting you and showing you around it. Well before Bicester I thought I'd go through a few jobs.
Most were under the car, and things that would have bugged me after the gearbox install.
The bracket that holds the wiring to the speedo transducer and reverse switch had disappeared when i got he gearbox back, so that was replaced with a SS rubber coated P-Clip, and I also re-secured the fuel lines with a few more billet pipe separators.
Of course I forgot to take any pictures...
The main topic though was I managed to break the wires off my speedo transducer...
Luckily I managed to source a replacement and to do some preventative maintenance I gave it a good epoxy lead in to prevent the wires flexing again.
I will try and repair my original though (as I poached it off my other Vitesse when I first got it!)
Next up was my new retroplates!
But I couldn't install them on my slightly grotty front bumper. You can see where this is going...
Looked good from a distance, but had some weird flaking around the top right of the numberplate and chrome trim from a previous repair.
After some stripping, and swearing, sanding, and painting, I had this.
And rebuilt again.
I'd already rebuilt previously with stainless hardware, so everything came apart and went together very easily.
Really like the finish the VHT bumper paint gave really nice satin finish.
I did run out of time to repaint the overriders though, something i now regret, and will probably have to do soon.
I think the plates look bloody brilliant!
The drive down to Bicester was a real pleasure with no issues.
Actually that's not quite true, the fan belt squealed like a bast**d when i first started it, despite the belt being brand-new.
Such a good day, and a pleasure to meet you guys!
Joe
KelvinatorNZ said:
I did it again. I read from page 1 right through to the end, and this statement once again stands true as it did 2 years ago when I first said it. Gorgeous car, and such great work on it, a real credit to you.
Small steps to try and get it juuuust right wormus said:
Beautiful car....although I'm starting to think you're not going to sell to me, as agreed! (like many of us, I asked for first refusal)
I don't think I'm going to get bored of it! (like many of us, I asked for first refusal) 21st Century Man said:
So it turns out if you click the wrong link you unsubscribe from your own thread... 
Appolgies. Loved your Century! Absolutely gorgeous.
Biker's Nemesis said:
That's me in the black jacket chatting away laserboy said:
And spotted on Twitter too
https://twitter.com/thecarfactoids/status/15197856...
I got tagged in this on instagram! good series of pics https://twitter.com/thecarfactoids/status/15197856...
So again appologies, it's been far too long since I've updated this!
I of course have been busy slowly improving the old Vitesse.
Like everything stuff looks better from a distance, another area that lets down the interior was the wood. I will eventually get it properly re-veneered, but for now I wanted to have a go myself.
It had gone matt and started to crack and come away, definitely not what you want.
What I had on the right, and the same sanded down ready for re-lacquering.
All sanded down, and the black outlines redone.
The lacquer sank a little in some places leaving some "pocs" but in general much better than what I had before.
Installation back in the car, definitely an improvement.
The rest of the year has been made up of lots of driving and picture taking!
Front bumper still looks really good, very happy with how that's survived so far!
Since the original rebuilt engine went back into the Vitesse it's run really nicely, but not quite perfectly.
Low speed driveability wasn't perfect, but I've always put that down to the hotter cam and lightened flywheel.
It did occur to me (again using KelvinatorNZ brilliant pictures and Ramon's original guide) that I should again check my throttle potentiometer. I had checked it for function when I first got it running, but 6 years is a long time!
Pulling it apart revealed the classic worn carbon track.
So I followed the procedure, moving the pickup, and got really good resistance values. I was really hopeful that it would help, just a little bit, but it made absolutely no difference! ahh well at least I know it's good now.
Joe
21st Century Man said:
Love it
KelvinatorNZ said:
A failing throttle pot will usually show itself as a hesitation/surge at a part throttle cruise. If you haven't already it would be worth using a multimeter to check the voltages are correctly set as it may not be getting the right amount of acceleration enrichment. It should be approx 0.32V throttle closed and 4.7V WOT.
Oh, and I can only blame this thread for whats about to appear in my own garage...
Yeah that's the symptoms I had, after moving the track I got lovely readings. Oh, and I can only blame this thread for whats about to appear in my own garage...
Oh DANG!!!
It feels right that you're back in an SD1, feels weird reading about you in anything else !
Welcome back to the club
bolidemichael said:
It's going to be the PH equivalent of a rap battle!
Mallard126 said:
That's lovely. The chap across the road used to have on back in the late 80s when I was a lad. He seemed to spend most weekends underneath it fixing one fault or another!
They do like constant attention...So back to the Rover, in my efforts to improve the running it actually started to get worse!
I thought I'd have some fun and make a few tiktok videos of the car and suction cupped a gopro to the rear bumper. I got some lovely exhaust noises but noticed that at high RPM it was just showing a hint of breaking up.
This got gradually worse to the point it wouldn't rev over 4500rpm.
I had a good feeling that it would be HT lead related, and rang Magnecor to order a set of new ones. A few sellers had them in stock but only the 8mm blue leads which I thought would clash horribly!
The lead time was over 6 weeks on a set direct though!
In the meantime a sensible person would have parked up the car..
Rather than drive 200 miles to The Motorist and back
Quick polish beforehand obviously.
Arrived in good time for the Hubnut social!
Parked up next to this gorgeous E28 525e.
Had a brilliant day, car got loads of attention, The Motorist is quite a place!
Thankfully I got the call from Magnecor to say my leads were ready soon after. I had ordered their red 8.5mm leads but they rang to say they now offer them in black, I caved and thought it would keep a more OEM look. (Still think red would have been cool though..)
I also realised from the very clear instructions that my distributor was set to regular RV8 position (4 o'clock), and not SD1 position, with No.1 lead at 1 o'clock as you look at the front of the engine.
So out came the distributor to sort that! With aircon the lockdown bolt is so hard to get too!
All installed, and not a bad looking engine bay now, if I do say so myself
I can also confirm there's not a hint of a misfire now, and it's smoother at low RPM, and will pull from idle in 5th with no issues! I have to appologies to the cam and flywheel now! Just a hint of shunting at 1500rpm now is the only running gripe.
Joe
Another thread that I've been very poorly updating!
After getting the Vitesse running properly again I have just been loving using it!
First up was Pride of Longbridge
I know not a Longbridge built car, but they're accepted
The next day was Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble
A personal favourite show.
(taken from a brilliant article on car and classic)
Some absolutely amazing cars on display, including a very cool Toyota Century parked behind me
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA6eaV
So many more pics that I've uploaded if people want to have a browse.
Joe
After getting the Vitesse running properly again I have just been loving using it!
First up was Pride of Longbridge
I know not a Longbridge built car, but they're accepted
The next day was Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble
A personal favourite show.
(taken from a brilliant article on car and classic)
Some absolutely amazing cars on display, including a very cool Toyota Century parked behind me
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA6eaV
So many more pics that I've uploaded if people want to have a browse.
Joe
Lotusgone said:
I was 15 when I first started to buy the Motor magazine, my first issue was the launch of the SD1. It's a sad indictment of BL that you see more P6s than SD1s.
Many, many thanks for keeping this one in fine fettle.
I'd never really considered that but you are right, a very sad insight into the Rover cost cutting, and longevity of both cars! At the recent Roverfest show I'd say there was 3x as many P6s as SD1s, and a ridiculous amount of P4s! Many, many thanks for keeping this one in fine fettle.
Next up for the Vitesse was an SD1 club meet at the Great British Car Journey. I was early for once!
Absolutely loads of SD1s!
Was a really good morning
I'd also applied for another show spot at Retro Rides Weekender at Goodwood, They'd got a display called "The Red Room" for red cars, so I was a sure thing
After getting accepted I knew I had some prep work to do. The car is clean, but needed a good polish and wax to be show ready!
A good friend of mine had set up a lovely detailing bay, so I had to make use of the facilities.
Polished using my meguiars DA polisher, and a good coat of Auto Finesse Passion wax.
Engine bay cleaned up well too
As show ready as I could get it!
Joe
21st Century Man said:
GBCJ is just up the road from me, I'd have dropped by if I'd known.
It's a really cool venue, hopefully be able to do a few more events there! It's only about an hour from me. lrdisco said:
Absolutely stunning. Another car my mum had when I was a kid.
Stag/XR4i/TR7 convertible/Jensen interceptor/XR3i Mk2 convertible/Mk1 MR2/ Supra/ Capri 2.8i & 3.0S/ Granada 2.8i.
Your mum had excellent taste! Especially the interceptor absolutely loves those, and 3.0 S Capri makes me think of The Professionals! Stag/XR4i/TR7 convertible/Jensen interceptor/XR3i Mk2 convertible/Mk1 MR2/ Supra/ Capri 2.8i & 3.0S/ Granada 2.8i.
Mr Tidy said:
Your SD1 is still looking fantastic.
Thankyou as always miniman said:
Are you going to the October Scramble?
I certainly am, on display with the Scramblers in the technical site are you going too?? I'm also at Retro Rides at Mallory Park this Sunday!
KelvinatorNZ said:
Good golly I wish my engine bay looked half as good as that! A stunning car as usual.
I took inspiration from yours! How's the new project coming on?? I need to have a read to catch up! FNG said:
I love this car. One of the top 5 in readers rides for me. Just awesome OP 
Very high praise thankyou very much, really appreciate that. williamp said:
Same. Would love to see this lineup. My Corgi SD1 in blue was one of my favourite toys. And as for the scalextric police rover...
I still have mine somewhere, and the scalextric police car! I'll try to publicise the club meets a bit more in the future, was a really good turnout! Cheers
Joe
B'stard Child said:
Don’t forget a helmet if you fancy some track action Sunday Afternoon at Mallory - we have a few spaces available
I was too chicken, I think I need to sharpen up the suspension before I brave the track! williamp said:
...if you are free next friday and find yourself near Belper..
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gbcj-gathering-vint...
Sadly I wasn't, but I'll try to make one of the future events! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gbcj-gathering-vint...
So after all the polishing it was time to have some fun
A comfy cruise 3 and a bit hours and 200 miles later.
I had of course signed up for Retro Rides weekender at Goodwood, and luck would have it, this years theme was The Red Room!
I do love Retro Rides, and Goodwood.
Had a brilliant day watching all the track action and looking at some brilliant cars!
Some absolutely stunning cars on display! This was a favourite of mine.
Even and SD1 on track! (My good friend Ross)
This picture does make me smile, I'm stood next to two Japanese legends but still a good amount of interest around the old British bruiser
I again took so many pictures, so created a nice album
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRtjq
Of course the camping is always a highlight, and a perfect opportunity for some pictures.
I wasn't the only one making the most of golden hour, and even got featured by drone on the offical retro rides video
Ross also couldn't resist joining for some pictures.
Another good friend Kieran also couldn't resist, and although an SD1 nut, he brought something older and much more American, and was feeling a little left out!
Even managed to convince the E30 boys that a British vs German would make for good pictures
I really need to properly edit these as I think there's some epic shots hiding in these.
That wraps up the Saturday, plenty more to come from the Sunday!
Joe
So Sunday of Retro Rides!
So many cool cars
This doesn't even tickle the surface of all the pictures I took. It's still one of my favourite shows, and a pleasure to attend and show at.
Album link if people want to see more pics.
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRtjq
Car behaved admirably and really did me proud
Got lots of attention and doesn't look half bad!
37.5l on the way down, filled up bombed home and parked up with half a tank still in it!
Journey home was an uneventful 3 hour journey splattering a good amount of bugs!
Even caught Phil Morrison's Murcielago in my rear view mirror, so had to let him past to get a flyby going up the A14!
Joe
So many cool cars
This doesn't even tickle the surface of all the pictures I took. It's still one of my favourite shows, and a pleasure to attend and show at.
Album link if people want to see more pics.
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzRtjq
Car behaved admirably and really did me proud
Got lots of attention and doesn't look half bad!
37.5l on the way down, filled up bombed home and parked up with half a tank still in it!
Journey home was an uneventful 3 hour journey splattering a good amount of bugs!
Even caught Phil Morrison's Murcielago in my rear view mirror, so had to let him past to get a flyby going up the A14!
Joe
KP328 said:
Cheers for that! Absolutely love that. Had such a good time at Bicester So I haven't post much as I really haven't done much this year!
Well that's not strictly true, I've done bloody loads, but not much work, all enjoying the Vitesse!
Well saying that I'd actually forgotten I'd done this work!
An improvement that I wanted to do for a while was trying to get some better brakes!
I thought a nice improvement would be new brake flexis. I figured they're original and probably a good idea to change them anyway!
The arches are still looking nice!
First off was the rear flexi. This connects the hard-line to the live rear axle.
New flexis in!
I went with Goodridge classics line, cause why not.
I then had a stroke of genius when I realised the original spiral protective covers can be removed!
You'd never know they weren't OEM!
Joe
So as we begin 2023, I haven't really summarized 2022!
After I last left off I took the car down to Herefordshire for the Bromyard Speed Festival.
I met a good friend on the way down and we convoyed down.
It was my first time at the event, and I had no idea what I was doing! I drove to the event parking and was told I was in the wrong place, and I should head back to Holden Vintage & Classic. Turns out I'd been selected to do the parade lap around the town and was representing the 80s! (I'd applied late and didn't even think I would get to display)
Was a really fun event, and definitely not what I was expecting. It was so well attended, and I got to speak to some brilliant people.
Next up was a good old fashioned evening car meet.
Even had another SD1 friend ( A good friend of mine Tim's)
I then had a week or so to get the Vitesse ready for another show at Goodwood.
I'd applied for Players Classic not really expecting to get in, and got selected for their Concours d'Elegance.
I even bought some new wax to bring out more redness
A very early start to get down on time meant a coffee stop was definitely necessary.
Had a lovely 200 mile jaunt down, and the car stayed nice and clean
Ended up arriving a little later than I'd have liked due to having to queue for ages to get in. But managed to get parked up!
Such a fun selection of cars on display, and tbh mine really didn't fit in, it was a bit too unmodified, but I still had fun!
During the night it rained a bit, leaving the car absolutely covered in silt!
Luckily I'd come prepared with many detailing products, and managed to get it cleaned up without scratching the crap out of it!
Players is a two day event, so of course I was back for the Sunday.
Driving in you get directed to the correct areas you've been picked for, so I drove into the paddocks, were the show organizers give the point of destiny if you're good enough for the lawn...
Had a brilliant day, and at the end a nice short 200 mile 3 hour journey home. But again car did me proud and was trouble free.
I always love events at Goodwood, and although on paper you'd think this would be similar to the Retro rides weekender, they have such a different feel, with very different variety of cars on display.
I plan to be back at both next (well this) year and maybe I'll do something to fit in a little better at Players...
Joe
After I last left off I took the car down to Herefordshire for the Bromyard Speed Festival.
I met a good friend on the way down and we convoyed down.
It was my first time at the event, and I had no idea what I was doing! I drove to the event parking and was told I was in the wrong place, and I should head back to Holden Vintage & Classic. Turns out I'd been selected to do the parade lap around the town and was representing the 80s! (I'd applied late and didn't even think I would get to display)
Was a really fun event, and definitely not what I was expecting. It was so well attended, and I got to speak to some brilliant people.
Next up was a good old fashioned evening car meet.
Even had another SD1 friend
( A good friend of mine Tim's) I then had a week or so to get the Vitesse ready for another show at Goodwood.
I'd applied for Players Classic not really expecting to get in, and got selected for their Concours d'Elegance.
I even bought some new wax to bring out more redness
A very early start to get down on time meant a coffee stop was definitely necessary.
Had a lovely 200 mile jaunt down, and the car stayed nice and clean
Ended up arriving a little later than I'd have liked due to having to queue for ages to get in. But managed to get parked up!
Such a fun selection of cars on display, and tbh mine really didn't fit in, it was a bit too unmodified, but I still had fun!
During the night it rained a bit, leaving the car absolutely covered in silt!
Luckily I'd come prepared with many detailing products, and managed to get it cleaned up without scratching the crap out of it!
Players is a two day event, so of course I was back for the Sunday.
Driving in you get directed to the correct areas you've been picked for, so I drove into the paddocks, were the show organizers give the point of destiny if you're good enough for the lawn...
Had a brilliant day, and at the end a nice short 200 mile 3 hour journey home. But again car did me proud and was trouble free.
I always love events at Goodwood, and although on paper you'd think this would be similar to the Retro rides weekender, they have such a different feel, with very different variety of cars on display.
I plan to be back at both next (well this) year and maybe I'll do something to fit in a little better at Players...
Joe
wormus said:
What a lovely collection of cars and great photos.
I’m still waiting for your call btw. You’ve owned it long enough, about time someone else had a go!
Cheers I’m still waiting for your call btw. You’ve owned it long enough, about time someone else had a go!
maybe one day. I've still got some more plans to do with it first bolidemichael said:
Hopefully see you on Sunday at the Scramble, Joe?
Yes I'll certainly be there, sadly not in the Vitesse though.I've got some parts removed at the moment for some planned improvements.
Mr Tidy said:
That's a brilliant update Joe, and getting onto the lawn at Goodwood must feel pretty special!.
I was thinking of you car when I saw this one on New Years Day.
Cheers I was thinking of you car when I saw this one on New Years Day.
it really was a cool moment. Definitely made the weekend for me. I've still got another 6 months worth of shows to go through!
There's some really nice cars coming out of the woodwork a March '86 built car! I don't think that's one I've come across before.
Joe
Well I'm almost up to July, appolgies for falling so far behind!
BMC & Leyland Show @ the British Motor Museum.
A really good show with a good turn out, but god it was hot!
Always a fun show, and a good test of my cooling system!
So I have a terrible compulsion of not leaving things alone, and the Vitesse is no exception.
I've got it in my head that the wheels don't stick out enough...
The Rover is a right pain to modify, with the 5x127 PCD, and 58.1mm centrebore.
So a cheap set of deadly 10mm spacers would do for a mockup!
Fronts definitely look good, but the studs are definitely too short to run like that.
The rears though could still do with quite a bit more!
Definitely food for thought...
Next I attended a local show, made for a much more sociable start to the day for once, and had an absolutely brilliant turnout with hundreds of cars. I even found a stall that had loads of Austin Rover posters!
I won second best 80s car of the show!
I had actually planned on ducking out early as I had to catch a plane for a work trip later that afternoon. But I couldn't not get an award. So I got a lift home and my dad received the award for the Vitesse.
I hadn't really planned on attending Roverfest, but after waking up slightly hungover I had too didn't I.
Loads of SD1s, but again god it was hot! Worth the trip though.
I also found a brilliant little photo stop again not too far from my house.
Definitely a contender for the SD1 Club calendar I think!
Now it hasn't just been enjoying it I even did some work on the old girl, who am I kidding I love that too.
A note during it's previous MOT was the handbrake cable had started to fray, and I couldn't have that.
Old one out without too much bother.
Of course the brackets had to be stripped and painted.
Rear axle I think needs the underseal stripping and re-painting but it all went back together nicely, took a little while to dial in, but following the workshop manual was quite easy.
Another mention, and a little naughty on my front, was when I'd replaced the steering coupling a few years back for it's first MOT I'd just chucked nylocs on rather than replacing the lockwire, again picked up by my vigilant MOT tester.
So I bought a pair of lockwire pliers and gave myself a little lesson!
The SD1 club has also had most of the air piping for the EFI engines reproduced, and I'm a sucker for new parts!
My Vitesse has a slightly higher than I'd like idle (more like 900rpm than 750-800) but if i drop it any further it won't catch itself 100% of the time on start up.
I had hoped that maybe my old pipework could be causing a slight leak, but it made absolutely no difference to the running but nice to know they're all sorted and not cracked.
Joe
BMC & Leyland Show @ the British Motor Museum.
A really good show with a good turn out, but god it was hot!
Always a fun show, and a good test of my cooling system!
So I have a terrible compulsion of not leaving things alone, and the Vitesse is no exception.
I've got it in my head that the wheels don't stick out enough...
The Rover is a right pain to modify, with the 5x127 PCD, and 58.1mm centrebore.
So a cheap set of deadly 10mm spacers would do for a mockup!
Fronts definitely look good, but the studs are definitely too short to run like that.
The rears though could still do with quite a bit more!
Definitely food for thought...
Next I attended a local show, made for a much more sociable start to the day for once, and had an absolutely brilliant turnout with hundreds of cars. I even found a stall that had loads of Austin Rover posters!
I won second best 80s car of the show!
I had actually planned on ducking out early as I had to catch a plane for a work trip later that afternoon. But I couldn't not get an award. So I got a lift home and my dad received the award for the Vitesse.
I hadn't really planned on attending Roverfest, but after waking up slightly hungover I had too didn't I.
Loads of SD1s, but again god it was hot! Worth the trip though.
I also found a brilliant little photo stop again not too far from my house.
Definitely a contender for the SD1 Club calendar I think!
Now it hasn't just been enjoying it
I even did some work on the old girl, who am I kidding I love that too. A note during it's previous MOT was the handbrake cable had started to fray, and I couldn't have that.
Old one out without too much bother.
Of course the brackets had to be stripped and painted.
Rear axle I think needs the underseal stripping and re-painting but it all went back together nicely, took a little while to dial in, but following the workshop manual was quite easy.
Another mention, and a little naughty on my front, was when I'd replaced the steering coupling a few years back for it's first MOT I'd just chucked nylocs on rather than replacing the lockwire, again picked up by my vigilant MOT tester.
So I bought a pair of lockwire pliers and gave myself a little lesson!
The SD1 club has also had most of the air piping for the EFI engines reproduced, and I'm a sucker for new parts!
My Vitesse has a slightly higher than I'd like idle (more like 900rpm than 750-800) but if i drop it any further it won't catch itself 100% of the time on start up.
I had hoped that maybe my old pipework could be causing a slight leak, but it made absolutely no difference to the running but nice to know they're all sorted and not cracked.
Joe
KelvinatorNZ said:
Looking good Joe, a stunner as always.
I got some of those new plenum hoses for Lucas, its surprising how much some of the old hoses had swelled compared to the new ones.
Yeah I thought the same too! nice to know it's done. I got some of those new plenum hoses for Lucas, its surprising how much some of the old hoses had swelled compared to the new ones.
21st Century Man said:
I still find it amazing how better than new this is, superb work and attention to detail Joe
Cheers hopefully only going to get better! 
A niggle that I've had ever since I got my gearbox back was the gearstick wasn't in the same position!
It was just sliughtly too far forward. It engaged all gears, but didn't feel right.
I think just a difference of the polybush kit that Ken installed, which only had a single bush between the box and the selector.
I'd checked my previous kit and pictures and that had 2 bushes between, which would angle it back to where it should be.
Of course to get it just right I had to removed the whole selector to drop in some headbolt washers to get the perfect fitment.
Worth the effort though, devil is in the detail.
I of course did many more shows, Radwood @ Bicester Heritage, retro rides weekender @ Mallory Park, the October Sunday Scramble @ Bicester Heritage.
Radwood was a lot of fun little smaller that I was expecting after attending scramble events @Bicester, but still really fun.
The Vitesse caught the attention of the Fuzz...
After a brief chase, I thought it best to turn myself in...
I definitely had the legs on him...
Full album if people want to browse.
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA3J3C
I had to visit a friend who after spending too much time talking at work about cars, decided a project of his own was a brilliant idea!
Next was a brilliant excuse to get as many cars to a show as I could.
Mallory Park is really quite close for me, and as I love Retro Rides events I couldn't not rope in my parents to bring 3 cars to the same event. I'd wanted 4, but couldn't find another driver!
I'd applied to display with The Late Brake Show, as I'd really enjoyed the format in my GT the year before.
The day before was spent cleaning a lot of cars!
As sadly my GT didn't make the cut, the yellow GT, Cooper S, and Vitesse convoyed in.
Definitely a bit of a fan boy moment meeting Jonny Smith again, and showing him around the Rover and minis.
Track action is always a way to make a car show even more involved too.
I am so tempted to take something on track, but terrified of breaking something!
Next was one of my favorites, another Sunday Scramble!
Again I took hundreds of pics.
Full album:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAp9S7
I was displaying and got a brilliant spot in front of another SD1!
Sadly I didn't catch the owner though.
Some absolutely stunning cars on display and spent the whole day absolutely loving everything
Joe
shoestring7 said:
They really were slow with the 1:43's models, they were announced at the same time as the 1:18th models! I'm sure that'll find it's way into my collection
bolidemichael said:
Brilliant photos Joe and the video of being pulled by the police is very amusing.
Have another couple
Love them Have another couple
There's just something cooler about pictures taken by someone else. Appreciate those KP328 said:
Seeing the photo's of the mini's reminded me how much i wanted a set of GKN wheels for my 1275 back in the 80's. I couldn't find a set so settled on Dunlop D1 12".
I was the same, took me years to find a set, and I consider myself very lucky to have multiple sets now so I can have them on multiple cars!I think we're up to October!
The weather was getting worse, but I saw collecting cars were having a cars and coffee event at the Triumph factory.
It's relatively local, and I'd saw that Chris Harris was also planning on attending...
I'm not gonna lie, one of the few celebs I fan boy over.
About 30mins after I turned up, a frozen green M5CS turned up
It was a really chilled event, not too crowded, and of course I had to say hello. I've been reading his articles and watching his youtube long before Top Gear, and always loved his stuff.
We got talking about his M5, as it's powertrain I'm very familiar with professionally along with a guy with an Alpina B7, of which we wondered over to have a look.
I of course couldn't help asking if an old Rover was also of interest as we walked back...
V8's were started, revs happened, happy Joe.
bolidemichael said:
That must've been almost as cool as when I lay across the rear bench, re-enacting my three year old self travelling to Cornwall in 1981.
Nothing will be as cool as that JeremyH5 said:
you are a card BoMi I can't even remember why the MOT's slipped round to November, I think maybe because of the gearbox?
but it's now when the weather's not very nice.
I don't use the car too much when the weather closes in, but I like to have the option!
It's 5th MOT in my custodianship, and it's 4th at Lutterworth MOT Centre.
Really can't see taking any of my cars anywhere else now!
Of course there's always the fear I've missed something, but 5th year on the trot advisory free.
Inadvertently we tested the rear axle articulation, and found that at full droop there's not much holding the rear springs in!
Shorter shocks are definitely needed, but I have a plan for that.
I really couldn't find anything! There's a few paint repairs that I did that that haven't stood the test of time. Well that's being kind, they've reacted and gone nasty, but that's next years (well this years) problem!
Final outing of the year was another Collecting Cars event, this time at Donnington.
Genuinely took longer queuing to get in that it did to drive there!
Pic taken from "cars you don't see anymore" on Facebook as I didn't get any myself!
So that's pretty much 2022!
An absolutely brilliant year full of Vitesse-ing.
Now I can update you guys on the silly stuff I have planned for 2023!
Joe
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff