Rover 3500 Vanden Plas EFi
Discussion
Apologies for the long post, I've had the car 18 months or so now and a lot's happened in that time!
When my first car (a Volvo 340) was written off I decided I wanted a Jaguar XJ12 SIII. My grandad had had one and I was intended to inherit it but unfortunately it had been stolen and disappeared without a trace. However, having not long passed my test it became clear that the insurance companies would rather I didn't have the Jag, and on top of that the fuel and maintenance bills would quickly drive me into poverty. XJ6s were hardly better and so I began to look at the Jag's biggest in-house competitor, the Rover SD1.
Quickly it transpired that I could insure a Vanden Plas EFi (essentially the Vitesse-spec fuel injected V8, autobox and every optional extra available in the SD1 range thrown in one car) for less than a Fiesta or the like. It took a bit of searching to find the right one (and when I did find it I didn't manage to buy it) until this one came up on eBay.
An ex-press car, it had then been owned by a professor and his wife for 24 years before spending six months with the seller. According to the seller it was in near perfect condition, and all the electronics worked (rather unusually). Its coolness was aided somewhat by the addition of a Motorola carphone by its previous owners
. I won the eBay auction and from there it's all been downhill.
Far from being perfect, it turns out that the good Dr. and his wife took the car to the same mechanic for most of the time they had it. Unfortunately he was crap. Among the litany of faults he built into the car, the most notable were: hole drilled in the diff housing for no apparent reason causing fluid starvation; bits of cylinder head ending up in the cylinders themselves, seizing the engine; fan belt several sizes too big which as a result sheared through the air con pipe; water pump not fitted properly causing overheating, plus a shedload of minor faults.
On the other hand they had every panel replaced and a full bare metal respray carried out (twice) and the car has more rustproofing than paint applied to it. As a result the bodywork is in mint condition, even after two salty winters. And all the electrics (usually the weak spot of the SD1) worked fine. Being an idiot, I used this as justification to work with what I’d got and bring the car up to scratch mechanically. After a year of work and too much money spent I’ve finally managed to make a sound car out of it. All that’s left to do now is:
-Replace knackered diff with Quaife LSD (standard diffs are virtually impossible to find these days and I fancy an LSD, even if I don’t have a manual gearbox).
-Fit 30mm lowered springs and Koni shocks (which should improve the ride over the naff standard items to make up for the added stiffness).
-Polybushes all round.
Once this final round of work is completed in September I should be able to start to enjoy the Rover to its full potential. I haven’t been on that many long journeys with it yet, but living on the edge of the Dales there have been a few epic drives. Apparently it’s tuned to about 220bhp (although I am yet to verify this) so it’s quick enough, handles surprisingly well for such a big old bus, and generally requires effort to get the best out of it, which is what makes it enjoyable to me.
That’s a fairly brief summary, apologies again for the length of the post. I’ll keep this thread updated as the car gets more use and I get through the remaining work.
When my first car (a Volvo 340) was written off I decided I wanted a Jaguar XJ12 SIII. My grandad had had one and I was intended to inherit it but unfortunately it had been stolen and disappeared without a trace. However, having not long passed my test it became clear that the insurance companies would rather I didn't have the Jag, and on top of that the fuel and maintenance bills would quickly drive me into poverty. XJ6s were hardly better and so I began to look at the Jag's biggest in-house competitor, the Rover SD1.
Quickly it transpired that I could insure a Vanden Plas EFi (essentially the Vitesse-spec fuel injected V8, autobox and every optional extra available in the SD1 range thrown in one car) for less than a Fiesta or the like. It took a bit of searching to find the right one (and when I did find it I didn't manage to buy it) until this one came up on eBay.
An ex-press car, it had then been owned by a professor and his wife for 24 years before spending six months with the seller. According to the seller it was in near perfect condition, and all the electronics worked (rather unusually). Its coolness was aided somewhat by the addition of a Motorola carphone by its previous owners
. I won the eBay auction and from there it's all been downhill. Far from being perfect, it turns out that the good Dr. and his wife took the car to the same mechanic for most of the time they had it. Unfortunately he was crap. Among the litany of faults he built into the car, the most notable were: hole drilled in the diff housing for no apparent reason causing fluid starvation; bits of cylinder head ending up in the cylinders themselves, seizing the engine; fan belt several sizes too big which as a result sheared through the air con pipe; water pump not fitted properly causing overheating, plus a shedload of minor faults.
On the other hand they had every panel replaced and a full bare metal respray carried out (twice) and the car has more rustproofing than paint applied to it. As a result the bodywork is in mint condition, even after two salty winters. And all the electrics (usually the weak spot of the SD1) worked fine. Being an idiot, I used this as justification to work with what I’d got and bring the car up to scratch mechanically. After a year of work and too much money spent I’ve finally managed to make a sound car out of it. All that’s left to do now is:
-Replace knackered diff with Quaife LSD (standard diffs are virtually impossible to find these days and I fancy an LSD, even if I don’t have a manual gearbox).
-Fit 30mm lowered springs and Koni shocks (which should improve the ride over the naff standard items to make up for the added stiffness).
-Polybushes all round.
Once this final round of work is completed in September I should be able to start to enjoy the Rover to its full potential. I haven’t been on that many long journeys with it yet, but living on the edge of the Dales there have been a few epic drives. Apparently it’s tuned to about 220bhp (although I am yet to verify this) so it’s quick enough, handles surprisingly well for such a big old bus, and generally requires effort to get the best out of it, which is what makes it enjoyable to me.
That’s a fairly brief summary, apologies again for the length of the post. I’ll keep this thread updated as the car gets more use and I get through the remaining work.
Cleon Fonte said:
Johnnytheboy said:
Rupert Rigsby said:
Like the car phone!
Yep, that totally seals the deal. Presumably it's illegal to use now?This may not necessarily be true.
Bangin' SD1 though OP. Awesome.
The Nur said:
Cleon Fonte said:
Johnnytheboy said:
Rupert Rigsby said:
Like the car phone!
Yep, that totally seals the deal. Presumably it's illegal to use now?This may not necessarily be true.
Bangin' SD1 though OP. Awesome.
Well, it's fully run in after its engine rebuild but the fun's been spoiled by the thermostat giving up, open roads result in the water temp dropping to virtually nothing. Then again, I suppose it wouldn't be the same if everything worked properly all the time.
I do wonder about my sanity when it comes to keeping the car sometimes.
I do wonder about my sanity when it comes to keeping the car sometimes.
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