Rover 3.5 SD1, why so thin on the ground?
Discussion
Always liked the SD1's, seemed to spend most of the time racing against them in the 80's-90's. Especially in the 'Slick 50' Road Saloons where Class A was almost all Rover's and Capri's, the capacity limit was 4.0 so all the Rover's were 3.9's.
In that championship where mods. were very limited, they were pretty evenly matched with some tracks favouring the Rover and some the Capri.
Some pics. from 1988-90 for SD1 lovers....
In that championship where mods. were very limited, they were pretty evenly matched with some tracks favouring the Rover and some the Capri.
Some pics. from 1988-90 for SD1 lovers....
grumpy52 said:
That could possibly be one that we swapped the engine on for the customer, if so it has a nicely tweeked 3.9L with a uprated cam and big bore stainless exhaust, I think it's got uprated shocks too .
If it's the same car it sounds glorious and goes very well .
Another mod back in the day was to shove jag XJS brakes on the front . They did suffer from brake fade on early cars if pushing on . Much better on cars with alloy wheels . This was why the police fitted Minilight wheels , they also binned the self levelling rear shocks for a uprated conversion.
Rumour had it the early police cars had skimmed heads and re-jetted carbs but not sure if true or not .
Minilite not minilight.If it's the same car it sounds glorious and goes very well .
Another mod back in the day was to shove jag XJS brakes on the front . They did suffer from brake fade on early cars if pushing on . Much better on cars with alloy wheels . This was why the police fitted Minilight wheels , they also binned the self levelling rear shocks for a uprated conversion.
Rumour had it the early police cars had skimmed heads and re-jetted carbs but not sure if true or not .
grumpy52 said:
They did suffer from brake fade on early cars if pushing on . Much better on cars with alloy wheels . This was why the police fitted Minilight wheels , they also binned the self levelling rear shocks for a uprated conversion.
Rumour had it the early police cars had skimmed heads and re-jetted carbs but not sure if true or not .
My old man was still in the Met when they introduced the SDI 2600's to replace the P6 V8's, and yes, that is indeed why they fitted the Tech Del Minilite Sport alloy wheels.Rumour had it the early police cars had skimmed heads and re-jetted carbs but not sure if true or not .
I don't have any memory of any mention of tuning tweeks though, I suspect it's just a story, as the Met garage staff were overworked as it was back then, so I would think it's not true.
The SDI was a universally disliked car by the Met - full stop, after coming from the P6 which was hugely popular. Once they had decided to bin the 2600 in favour of the V8 for traffic roles it was popular with the traffic guys. IIRC, the area cars soldiered on with the 2600 until getting replaced with other stuff such as the Sierra's and all sort of other junk equally unsuited to the task, until the whole concept of the 'area car' was effectively done away with in subsequent years.
My dad had a 3500 when I was a lad. DVLA checker says it hasn't been taxed since 1996. Shame.
I loved that thing. It sounded like a car should. It was beautiful. It once towed a 6-berth caravan for 3 miles with the handbrake on. We eventually noticed the smell of the brakes, but there was no lack of progress to give the game away.
Anyway, it went to a local coachworks because of the insane levels of rust on it. It went in as a "do it when you have some downtime" mates-rates sort of job, and it was away for months, if not years. It apparently needed some new panels.
When dad picked it up, it I think most of the panels had been replaced. But not with OEM parts. Oh no. They'd only gone and HAND ROLLED a full set of panels from aluminium! Never was such a modest shed treated to such craftwork!
I loved that thing. It sounded like a car should. It was beautiful. It once towed a 6-berth caravan for 3 miles with the handbrake on. We eventually noticed the smell of the brakes, but there was no lack of progress to give the game away.
Anyway, it went to a local coachworks because of the insane levels of rust on it. It went in as a "do it when you have some downtime" mates-rates sort of job, and it was away for months, if not years. It apparently needed some new panels.
When dad picked it up, it I think most of the panels had been replaced. But not with OEM parts. Oh no. They'd only gone and HAND ROLLED a full set of panels from aluminium! Never was such a modest shed treated to such craftwork!
aeropilot said:
Once they had decided to bin the 2600 in favour of the V8 for traffic roles it was popular with the traffic guys. IIRC, the area cars soldiered on with the 2600 until getting replaced with other stuff such....
...,such as the Honda based 800. The facelifted 800 saloon handled so badly the cops nicknamed it the General Belgrano!
Mr Tidy said:
But that isn't a Rover, so probably is not relevant to this thread!? 
1995 Circuit of Ireland, Alastair Cochrane's Lada Samara.
For a good "destroying an SD1 on a rally" vid, this is a good one. Watch Pond's head at the point of impact - it's a mystery as to how it didn't just come off (note - it's absolutely nothing gorey).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhurF49VKRw
Edited by Dapster on Thursday 19th April 06:52
Dapster said:
Mr Tidy said:
But that isn't a Rover, so probably is not relevant to this thread!?
1995 Circuit of Ireland, Alastair Cochrane's Lada Samara.For a good "destroying an SD1 on a rally" vid, this is a good one. Watch Pond's head at the point of impact - it's a mystery as to how it didn't just come off (note - it's absolutely nothing gorey).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhurF49VKRw
Edited by Dapster on Thursday 19th April 06:52
I'm going to hand in my PH card I think 
My first was a burgundy red 2.3 auto this was s
te and i wrote it off, i also wrote off the new mk1 escort van i punted into an articulated lorry writing off my rover
I then got a v8 which sounded fantastic, i sold that and bought a v8 vitesse, which had the extra long dash pod, at this time i was at the ripe old age of 20 and my mates took the mick, saying i was driving an old man's car, however none of their cars sounded, or went as fast as mine for some reason.
After this period i went into mk1 1680s and 1800s with twin webbers and mk2 escorts, rs2000 if only i knew then what i know now..fantastic days
te and i wrote it off, i also wrote off the new mk1 escort van i punted into an articulated lorry writing off my roverI then got a v8 which sounded fantastic, i sold that and bought a v8 vitesse, which had the extra long dash pod, at this time i was at the ripe old age of 20 and my mates took the mick, saying i was driving an old man's car, however none of their cars sounded, or went as fast as mine for some reason.
After this period i went into mk1 1680s and 1800s with twin webbers and mk2 escorts, rs2000 if only i knew then what i know now..fantastic days
Not totally relevant to the thread but I followed a lovely moonraker vitesse last night through midhurst untill it pulled into cowdrey Park,
Looked absolutely gorgeous when the lightning lit it up beautifully, I was the weirdo waving and flashing as you turned off, made me very
Jealous and brought back memories of my old one
Looked absolutely gorgeous when the lightning lit it up beautifully, I was the weirdo waving and flashing as you turned off, made me very
Jealous and brought back memories of my old one
Dapster said:
Mr Tidy said:
But that isn't a Rover, so probably is not relevant to this thread!?
1995 Circuit of Ireland, Alastair Cochrane's Lada Samara.For a good "destroying an SD1 on a rally" vid, this is a good one. Watch Pond's head at the point of impact - it's a mystery as to how it didn't just come off (note - it's absolutely nothing gorey).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhurF49VKRw
Edited by Dapster on Thursday 19th April 06:52
Anyhow, for all things austin rover-ness check this out
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvl3lLguUuY
And then wonder why rover isnt thought of as as sporty as ford
iSore said:
Wasn't Tony Pond a mad bugger?
No, nor was Tony Fall...always loved his deadpan understatement...From Harogate It Started [worth buying the DVD if you've yet to watch]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUnHsafuHJQ
Lovely driving cars was the V8 SD1, but as stated, they rusted out quickly like many others due to being built, then languishing in a wet grassy field for a year before being sold. Few cars went from factory to showroom without being stashed on grass for extended periods.
I well remember my mate showing off his brand new delivery mileage Discovery years ago, only to swap it after we 'Discovered' extensive rust on the underside.
Dodge Nitros were imported deep in the salty bilges of a ship then abandoned dockside for a couple of years necessitating warranty repairs and replacement parts before after being sold off.
I well remember my mate showing off his brand new delivery mileage Discovery years ago, only to swap it after we 'Discovered' extensive rust on the underside.
Dodge Nitros were imported deep in the salty bilges of a ship then abandoned dockside for a couple of years necessitating warranty repairs and replacement parts before after being sold off.
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