The restoration of a (not) classic - Rover 618
Discussion
Rovers eh? So utterly crap that you have got to love them.
My grandfather has owned this BRG 618i since new and its now fallen out of use due to him giving up driving but he has kept for sentimental reasons (departed gran loved the car). For around seven years now its been exposed to the wind and the rain and everything else that mother nature can throw at it. Fast forward to last week and my brothers much loved Corsa B (1.2 Trip for those taking notes at home) is finally starting to show its age at 19 years of use and 160k miles.
This left us with a quandary - should he spend £2.5k on a new old car with high mileage, or could we get this green beast back on the road.
We did a survey on the car on Monday to identify what we are working with and how much work is required.
First thing, opening the doors was surprisingly tough! The seals were welded in with mould:
But once open, we could survey the beigesplendant majesty of the interior:
The oft sought beige on beige interior!
Timewarp condition this car may not be, but rooting around the glove box and center console reveals memories of past journeys we had in this car in our younger years (and plenty of Trebor extra strong mints!).
Now to see what that thunderous, Honda powered, award not winning engine looks like:
Many Bothans died in this engine....
Mint condition dead battery:
I've nabbed a few fuses from here over the years:
So far so expected, its need of a good clean but the interior is dry and the boot floor is too.
We're getting cracking tomorrow from 7am, first thing is to change all the fluids and then see if the thing starts.
More to come!
My grandfather has owned this BRG 618i since new and its now fallen out of use due to him giving up driving but he has kept for sentimental reasons (departed gran loved the car). For around seven years now its been exposed to the wind and the rain and everything else that mother nature can throw at it. Fast forward to last week and my brothers much loved Corsa B (1.2 Trip for those taking notes at home) is finally starting to show its age at 19 years of use and 160k miles.
This left us with a quandary - should he spend £2.5k on a new old car with high mileage, or could we get this green beast back on the road.
We did a survey on the car on Monday to identify what we are working with and how much work is required.
First thing, opening the doors was surprisingly tough! The seals were welded in with mould:
But once open, we could survey the beigesplendant majesty of the interior:
The oft sought beige on beige interior!
Timewarp condition this car may not be, but rooting around the glove box and center console reveals memories of past journeys we had in this car in our younger years (and plenty of Trebor extra strong mints!).
Now to see what that thunderous, Honda powered, award not winning engine looks like:
Many Bothans died in this engine....
Mint condition dead battery:
I've nabbed a few fuses from here over the years:
So far so expected, its need of a good clean but the interior is dry and the boot floor is too.
We're getting cracking tomorrow from 7am, first thing is to change all the fluids and then see if the thing starts.
More to come!
Makes me feel old these being old and getting scarce, remember them coming out in 1993, I was 22, spotted one in a night club car park, got there early for a pint in the attached bar and there was a brand new one parked up, Nightfire Red, remember us discussing it and making some positive noises about it, these had quite a good image back then, 24 years ago !
MJK 24 said:
Learn something new everyday! I thought the Honda engine was badged 623! Thought the 618 was the trusty Rover K series!
That's definitely a Honda motor. Runs backwards hence mounted on the right.
Only the 620ti and the diesel use Rover engines, the rest were Hondas. I understand the 2.3 had some most un-Honda like reliability issues with heads cracking or some such?That's definitely a Honda motor. Runs backwards hence mounted on the right.
Have fun working on the front brakes-if you need to remove the front discs they're behind the wheel bearings! Absolute PITA.
My old 620ti was good fun to drive and a comfy old barge, just cost me a ridiculous amount in refreshing what seemed like the entire front suspension system to get it to drive right!
My old 620ti was good fun to drive and a comfy old barge, just cost me a ridiculous amount in refreshing what seemed like the entire front suspension system to get it to drive right!
Firstly you're putting the car back on the road for the right reasons, the older of my E-Types was my Fathers and I wouldn't part with it for any amount of money. I very much doubt you will have many problems getting the engine back in running order, as stated above it's a Honda unit, so thats that.
craigjm said:
I had one of the very last 623GSI built after the introduction of the 75, registered on a V plate and painted in some unusual light green metallic that was apparently a BMW colour. Was very good for what it was at the time and the price I paid.
That is a late one. Up in Aberbargoed I used to regularly drive past a Rover 800 on an X plate! Must have been sitting around for a good couple of years before they sold it.We finally got going around 1pm and filled the Corsa with the needed tools and then some:
First things first, adding some air to the original supplied dunlops (only had dropped to 15 PSI, god know when they were last filled so I am actually pretty impressed they had that much in them:
Second on the list is to de spider the engine bay:
Dustpan and brush soon fell by the way and the hoover was added to speed things up:
Safe to say this car was pretty dusty:
Replaced a lot of missing fuses:
And cranked her up:
https://youtu.be/YxqV9EmJchE
Nothing, nadda, entire dash was dead save the hazard lights?
Cue testing fuses to check they all worked, all the blade ones were fine, it was this that was the culprit:
80 amp battery fuse, no idea how that could have blown in the past and not something that we had a spare for. Necessity, as they say, is the mother or all invention:
With the new 'fuse' in place, we tried our luck again:
https://youtu.be/GmXM48ECwks
She sounds suprisingly decent all things considered, we then attempted to move her and the clutch is dead - no friction on the pedal it just either stays at the top or the bottom. So one we set checking the hydraulic parts of the clutch - its possible that one of the hoses has died, or that the slave/master cylinder has given up the ghost. We removed the cylinder attached to the clutch pedal (possibly master?) but it seemed to hold pressure fine so don't think that's the source.
Our plan for today is to pick up some fresh clear hoses and a new slave cylinder and bleed the system.
First things first, adding some air to the original supplied dunlops (only had dropped to 15 PSI, god know when they were last filled so I am actually pretty impressed they had that much in them:
Second on the list is to de spider the engine bay:
Dustpan and brush soon fell by the way and the hoover was added to speed things up:
Safe to say this car was pretty dusty:
Replaced a lot of missing fuses:
And cranked her up:
https://youtu.be/YxqV9EmJchE
Nothing, nadda, entire dash was dead save the hazard lights?
Cue testing fuses to check they all worked, all the blade ones were fine, it was this that was the culprit:
80 amp battery fuse, no idea how that could have blown in the past and not something that we had a spare for. Necessity, as they say, is the mother or all invention:
With the new 'fuse' in place, we tried our luck again:
https://youtu.be/GmXM48ECwks
She sounds suprisingly decent all things considered, we then attempted to move her and the clutch is dead - no friction on the pedal it just either stays at the top or the bottom. So one we set checking the hydraulic parts of the clutch - its possible that one of the hoses has died, or that the slave/master cylinder has given up the ghost. We removed the cylinder attached to the clutch pedal (possibly master?) but it seemed to hold pressure fine so don't think that's the source.
Our plan for today is to pick up some fresh clear hoses and a new slave cylinder and bleed the system.
dme123 said:
craigjm said:
I had one of the very last 623GSI built after the introduction of the 75, registered on a V plate and painted in some unusual light green metallic that was apparently a BMW colour. Was very good for what it was at the time and the price I paid.
That is a late one. Up in Aberbargoed I used to regularly drive past a Rover 800 on an X plate! Must have been sitting around for a good couple of years before they sold it.
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