Kelvinators Rover 220 Tomcat
Discussion
Good Morning, and welcome to another day of cars I have wanted to own for ages, but have been too scared to, until now.
It should come as no surprise to any of my regulars that I am somewhat a fan of Rovers. Generally unloved and kinda forgotten about (or remembered only as "the car grandad had), Rover has always been a bit all over the place as a company, but they could push out some great cars when they needed to.
When you think about Rovers, you probably think leather, wood, big engines, soft ride and luxury... not Honda.
Honda? What have they got to do with anything?
Well, back in the late 70s BL teamed up with Honda to expand their range and help reduce platform development costs.
A few years later, and a few "successful" platforms, the R8 was developed. The R8 was a platform that was jointly developed with Honda, who on their side, turned it into the Concerto.
Rover took the platform and made the 200, and 400 series cars. Initially in liftback and sedan form, but the platform also spawned the coupe, convertible and touring too.
Of course, Rover couldn't leave well enough alone, and instead of the double-wishbone front suspension the JDM cars have, the European Concerto and Rover use McPherson strut in the front. Apparently this was at Rovers request, as it has longer suspension travel for a smoother ride, is cheaper to produce and easier to package. Honda obviously didn't agree with this, as for years all their JDM cars had double-wishbone up front, including the JDM version of the Concerto. The rear of course was pure Honda, with a multi-link independent rear.
among a bunch of other engines available in the 200 were the 1.6L SOHC and DOHC ZC/D-series Honda engines, the infamous K series (no BHG jokes pls), and the T series Turbo engine.
The T series is the focus of my attention here. A coupe with a 200HP 2L twin-cam turbocharged engine, a manual gearbox and a super aggressive and agricultural torsen LSD (marketed as "traction control") sounds like a winning recipe to me. This was a genuine, tested and proven, record-breaking 150MPH (240KPH) car.
https://youtu.be/YC9suCkz-zU
The coupe was developed after a few years of the R8 platform being around. The name Tomcat comes from the codename used during that development, and is such a cool name. It was originally going to be marketed as a sporty MG, with even the concepts wearing MG badges, but somehow found its way into the ranks of the Rover lineup instead.
So that brings us to today, where after waiting a couple of weeks that felt like an eternity, the truck with my new car on it arrived.
A 1994 Rover 220 Turbo in Tahiti Blue.
It arrived with a dead battery (Which was a surprise to me, I was told it had no battery), but swapping to the battery from the Marina and much to my surprise, it fired on the first turn of the key and settled into a smooth idle. No smoke, no hesitation, no roughness.
A quick drive around the block, and it ran and drove smooth. The engine revved well, and made all the right noises, but seemed to have no urgency. I suspect there is a lack of boost.
I was told when I purchased the car that it ran but ran badly and would hesitate, bog down and run like a bag of diddles. I'm yet to see that. It is low on fuel though, with a dicky battery, which won't help. I'd also doubt it's been run on 98 as it should.
Being me, I did preemptively purchase a few service items, so will be going through the ignition system to refresh that, just in case it was a weak spark that had been causing issues. I will also get my old boost gauge temporarily hooked in and see what the turbo system is doing.
I have everything needed to build a diagnostic cable for the car too. Since it doesn't use OBD1 or two, it has its own diagnostic terminal under the bonnet that taps into the MEMS ECU system, and although cables can be purchased, it's easy enough to make one.
The car isn't perfect, it's far from it really. The paint is pretty good everywhere except the bonnet, which has peeling clearcoat, but overall the car has seen a lot of sun and various rubber and plastics have perished, peeled, cracked or shrunk. It will come up nice with a clean though, and looks nice from afar.
Of course the first thing I did was pop the T-Tops...
The interior is the same. It's filthy and some of the seat stitching has blown out due to the leather shrinking, but it's all saveable. I'm looking forward to getting some conditioner into the leather.
The AC has had the pipes removed, and unfortunately the compressor outlet has just been left open to the elements for who knows how long, so that is probably ruined.
Apparently the engine has had the head gasket done, but with all the oil leaks and various scum everywhere, it's hard to tell what's been done and what was porkies. We will see in time what happens with the engine I guess. Hopefully it doesn't overheat, and I can get it boosting as it should.
It does make a hell of a noise though, with a straight-through exhaust to the stock rear muffler, plus the pod filter hanging off the nose of the turbo. It's all growls and whooshes. I'm looking forward to giving it a decent thrash.
The other major issue is the boot, which is stuck shut. You can turn the key and pull the release all you want, but it doesn't move. On most cars this wouldn't be an issue, just fold the seats down and climb into the boot. Unfortuanately in Rovers wisdom, they put the only release for the seat backs inside the boot >_< I'll need to do some digging on that one. I don't need to use the boot, but I wouldn't sleep knowing it was broken.
There is a lot to do on this car, and I feel it will be a source of pain for a while, but once it's going as it should it will be quite rewarding to drive. These are getting to be very rare cars in turbo form, even in the UK, so saving one is a good thing. Plus, it looks bloody good.
It should come as no surprise to any of my regulars that I am somewhat a fan of Rovers. Generally unloved and kinda forgotten about (or remembered only as "the car grandad had), Rover has always been a bit all over the place as a company, but they could push out some great cars when they needed to.
When you think about Rovers, you probably think leather, wood, big engines, soft ride and luxury... not Honda.
Honda? What have they got to do with anything?
Well, back in the late 70s BL teamed up with Honda to expand their range and help reduce platform development costs.
A few years later, and a few "successful" platforms, the R8 was developed. The R8 was a platform that was jointly developed with Honda, who on their side, turned it into the Concerto.
Rover took the platform and made the 200, and 400 series cars. Initially in liftback and sedan form, but the platform also spawned the coupe, convertible and touring too.
Of course, Rover couldn't leave well enough alone, and instead of the double-wishbone front suspension the JDM cars have, the European Concerto and Rover use McPherson strut in the front. Apparently this was at Rovers request, as it has longer suspension travel for a smoother ride, is cheaper to produce and easier to package. Honda obviously didn't agree with this, as for years all their JDM cars had double-wishbone up front, including the JDM version of the Concerto. The rear of course was pure Honda, with a multi-link independent rear.
among a bunch of other engines available in the 200 were the 1.6L SOHC and DOHC ZC/D-series Honda engines, the infamous K series (no BHG jokes pls), and the T series Turbo engine.
The T series is the focus of my attention here. A coupe with a 200HP 2L twin-cam turbocharged engine, a manual gearbox and a super aggressive and agricultural torsen LSD (marketed as "traction control") sounds like a winning recipe to me. This was a genuine, tested and proven, record-breaking 150MPH (240KPH) car.
https://youtu.be/YC9suCkz-zU
The coupe was developed after a few years of the R8 platform being around. The name Tomcat comes from the codename used during that development, and is such a cool name. It was originally going to be marketed as a sporty MG, with even the concepts wearing MG badges, but somehow found its way into the ranks of the Rover lineup instead.
So that brings us to today, where after waiting a couple of weeks that felt like an eternity, the truck with my new car on it arrived.
A 1994 Rover 220 Turbo in Tahiti Blue.
It arrived with a dead battery (Which was a surprise to me, I was told it had no battery), but swapping to the battery from the Marina and much to my surprise, it fired on the first turn of the key and settled into a smooth idle. No smoke, no hesitation, no roughness.
A quick drive around the block, and it ran and drove smooth. The engine revved well, and made all the right noises, but seemed to have no urgency. I suspect there is a lack of boost.
I was told when I purchased the car that it ran but ran badly and would hesitate, bog down and run like a bag of diddles. I'm yet to see that. It is low on fuel though, with a dicky battery, which won't help. I'd also doubt it's been run on 98 as it should.
Being me, I did preemptively purchase a few service items, so will be going through the ignition system to refresh that, just in case it was a weak spark that had been causing issues. I will also get my old boost gauge temporarily hooked in and see what the turbo system is doing.
I have everything needed to build a diagnostic cable for the car too. Since it doesn't use OBD1 or two, it has its own diagnostic terminal under the bonnet that taps into the MEMS ECU system, and although cables can be purchased, it's easy enough to make one.
The car isn't perfect, it's far from it really. The paint is pretty good everywhere except the bonnet, which has peeling clearcoat, but overall the car has seen a lot of sun and various rubber and plastics have perished, peeled, cracked or shrunk. It will come up nice with a clean though, and looks nice from afar.
Of course the first thing I did was pop the T-Tops...
The interior is the same. It's filthy and some of the seat stitching has blown out due to the leather shrinking, but it's all saveable. I'm looking forward to getting some conditioner into the leather.
The AC has had the pipes removed, and unfortunately the compressor outlet has just been left open to the elements for who knows how long, so that is probably ruined.
Apparently the engine has had the head gasket done, but with all the oil leaks and various scum everywhere, it's hard to tell what's been done and what was porkies. We will see in time what happens with the engine I guess. Hopefully it doesn't overheat, and I can get it boosting as it should.
It does make a hell of a noise though, with a straight-through exhaust to the stock rear muffler, plus the pod filter hanging off the nose of the turbo. It's all growls and whooshes. I'm looking forward to giving it a decent thrash.
The other major issue is the boot, which is stuck shut. You can turn the key and pull the release all you want, but it doesn't move. On most cars this wouldn't be an issue, just fold the seats down and climb into the boot. Unfortuanately in Rovers wisdom, they put the only release for the seat backs inside the boot >_< I'll need to do some digging on that one. I don't need to use the boot, but I wouldn't sleep knowing it was broken.
There is a lot to do on this car, and I feel it will be a source of pain for a while, but once it's going as it should it will be quite rewarding to drive. These are getting to be very rare cars in turbo form, even in the UK, so saving one is a good thing. Plus, it looks bloody good.
Edited by KelvinatorNZ on Saturday 4th September 07:06
Looks like you've got your hands full, will follow with interest.
There's plenty in the hands of enthusiasts here (including many models destined for Japan but never made it) but our climate and in particular our road salting is not kind. I had a factory hatchback GSi Turbo but gave up when the orange appeared all over the place.
There's plenty in the hands of enthusiasts here (including many models destined for Japan but never made it) but our climate and in particular our road salting is not kind. I had a factory hatchback GSi Turbo but gave up when the orange appeared all over the place.
tvrfan007 said:
Looks like you've got your hands full, will follow with interest.
There's plenty in the hands of enthusiasts here (including many models destined for Japan but never made it) but our climate and in particular our road salting is not kind. I had a factory hatchback GSi Turbo but gave up when the orange appeared all over the place.
The body seems sound on this one, but I'm shocked at how crusty things like the coolant pipes are. Clearly not the best metal!There's plenty in the hands of enthusiasts here (including many models destined for Japan but never made it) but our climate and in particular our road salting is not kind. I had a factory hatchback GSi Turbo but gave up when the orange appeared all over the place.
You'd think opening the boot would be a simple task, but no, not in this Rover.
The seller did tell me the boot was jammed shut, so it wasn't a surprise, but it still bothered me. He told me some spare parts were in the boot too, so I wanted to know what they were (nothing interesting).
It was stuck in such a way that you could turn the key in the lock, or pull the cable until the cows came home, and although you could hear the mechanism moving, nothing happened. I even tried the old trick of getting someone to push down on the boot as you try to open it, as that can take pressure off the catch if it's binding. It didn't help.
The obvious way to get into the boot was to fold the folding seats down and clamber through. Nothing is ever easy though, the only way to fold the seats down is to pull a cable, which is on either side of the inside of the boot. Ah.
After much googling, I found one person that had a similar issue, and he explained how he did it. It involved bending the pivot points on the bottom of the seat back, lifting it, and pulling the release.
Sounds easy.
I started by removing the seat bottom, which pulls up from the back of the base, to unhook the hooks at the front edge. This was the first of the water puddles.
I then used a small pry bar to gently lever both of the pivot points so they bent off the pins mounted to the body. Once both were free the back of the seat could be moved around slightly, just enough to lift it up and see into the boot from under it. Using a torch and my longest prybar I managed to push on the back of the release cable for the seat I was working under, which released it and I could remove it. I then used the prybar to reach over and pop the other seatback too. I used an 8mm ratchet to undo the bracket and remove the seat base properly on this side.
This left me with a wide, but not too tall opening into the boot.
Through which I could see both the boot latch, and the large spider guarding it. I killed the spider, and used my phone to record a video of me pulling the cable, just so I could see how it worked. It was doing as it should, but the lever that should release the catch just wasn't working.
I ended up climbing through that gap, into the boot and undoing the three 8mm bolts that attach the latch to the boot lid, and eventually this released enough tension on the catch to unbind it and the boot could be opened. You wouldn't want to be much fatter than I am for this job, I barely squeezed through as it was.
By golly that boot lid is heavy though!
I used a pair of vice grips and a rag on one of the gas struts just to ensure the boot lid didn't choose to brain me whilst working inside the boot. Might need new struts.
After removing the latch it was somewhat obvious why it didn't want to play the game.
I'm pretty sure that it shouldn't be twisted like that, and the Lh side should meet the orange line I drew. A quick trip the vice, a few smacks with the BFH, and twist be gone.
Refitting and adjusting the latch means the boot now opens and closes, albeit it does need to be slammed to latch. That's fine, as long as it opens and works, I'm happy.
Unfortuantely I did find the Tomcat swimming pool though. The spare wheel well was under a bit of water, and the weight on the soggy boot board meant that it has deformed and fallen into the water, thoroughly soaking it.
I removed that board, and the carpet on top, and I'm trying to dry them out. The board is probably a write-off, and a new MDF one will probably be on the cards, but the carpet should be saveable.
Waste oil containers coming in handy to flatten the board
For some strange reason there are no drain plugs in the bottom of the boot, so I had to drill a small hole to drain it. There was a good litre or so sitting in there.
So, now that I can open and close the boot, I probably won't use it anyway. The opening is stupidly shallow. Can probably get some shopping bags in there, but anything bigger would be a battle. The parcel shelf also hangs really low (part of the coupe/convertible platform sharing I suspect).
It's a good first fix, and I'm glad that I can dry it out now too.
The seller did tell me the boot was jammed shut, so it wasn't a surprise, but it still bothered me. He told me some spare parts were in the boot too, so I wanted to know what they were (nothing interesting).
It was stuck in such a way that you could turn the key in the lock, or pull the cable until the cows came home, and although you could hear the mechanism moving, nothing happened. I even tried the old trick of getting someone to push down on the boot as you try to open it, as that can take pressure off the catch if it's binding. It didn't help.
The obvious way to get into the boot was to fold the folding seats down and clamber through. Nothing is ever easy though, the only way to fold the seats down is to pull a cable, which is on either side of the inside of the boot. Ah.
After much googling, I found one person that had a similar issue, and he explained how he did it. It involved bending the pivot points on the bottom of the seat back, lifting it, and pulling the release.
Sounds easy.
I started by removing the seat bottom, which pulls up from the back of the base, to unhook the hooks at the front edge. This was the first of the water puddles.
I then used a small pry bar to gently lever both of the pivot points so they bent off the pins mounted to the body. Once both were free the back of the seat could be moved around slightly, just enough to lift it up and see into the boot from under it. Using a torch and my longest prybar I managed to push on the back of the release cable for the seat I was working under, which released it and I could remove it. I then used the prybar to reach over and pop the other seatback too. I used an 8mm ratchet to undo the bracket and remove the seat base properly on this side.
This left me with a wide, but not too tall opening into the boot.
Through which I could see both the boot latch, and the large spider guarding it. I killed the spider, and used my phone to record a video of me pulling the cable, just so I could see how it worked. It was doing as it should, but the lever that should release the catch just wasn't working.
I ended up climbing through that gap, into the boot and undoing the three 8mm bolts that attach the latch to the boot lid, and eventually this released enough tension on the catch to unbind it and the boot could be opened. You wouldn't want to be much fatter than I am for this job, I barely squeezed through as it was.
By golly that boot lid is heavy though!
I used a pair of vice grips and a rag on one of the gas struts just to ensure the boot lid didn't choose to brain me whilst working inside the boot. Might need new struts.
After removing the latch it was somewhat obvious why it didn't want to play the game.
I'm pretty sure that it shouldn't be twisted like that, and the Lh side should meet the orange line I drew. A quick trip the vice, a few smacks with the BFH, and twist be gone.
Refitting and adjusting the latch means the boot now opens and closes, albeit it does need to be slammed to latch. That's fine, as long as it opens and works, I'm happy.
Unfortuantely I did find the Tomcat swimming pool though. The spare wheel well was under a bit of water, and the weight on the soggy boot board meant that it has deformed and fallen into the water, thoroughly soaking it.
I removed that board, and the carpet on top, and I'm trying to dry them out. The board is probably a write-off, and a new MDF one will probably be on the cards, but the carpet should be saveable.
Waste oil containers coming in handy to flatten the board
For some strange reason there are no drain plugs in the bottom of the boot, so I had to drill a small hole to drain it. There was a good litre or so sitting in there.
So, now that I can open and close the boot, I probably won't use it anyway. The opening is stupidly shallow. Can probably get some shopping bags in there, but anything bigger would be a battle. The parcel shelf also hangs really low (part of the coupe/convertible platform sharing I suspect).
It's a good first fix, and I'm glad that I can dry it out now too.
Shin-Etsu silicone grease may be what you need to keep the seal on the T-top in err, tip-top condition - it is recommended by NSX Targa and S2000 owners and avoids or prolongs very expensive bills for new roof seals, as well as unwanted puddles.
Available from Honda dealers and Amazon etc. Honda part # 08798-9013
I looked into buying a Tomcat years ago, but went for a CRX instead, as the insurance (in my circumstances) was lower, for one thing.
Available from Honda dealers and Amazon etc. Honda part # 08798-9013
I looked into buying a Tomcat years ago, but went for a CRX instead, as the insurance (in my circumstances) was lower, for one thing.
Edited by dobly on Saturday 4th September 12:17
I had an N-reg one identical spec as a company car back in the day. Great looking thing and I Loved it, even when it overheated in traffic trying to escape Silverstone after having been at an F1 test session.
Rubens Barrichello was in the car behind me and was laughing his head off as he drove past through my clouds of steam
Luckily, one of the F1 team trucks (Tyrell I think) stopped and topped the car up so I could get home. The water pump died a week or so later…
Also remember borrowing a development prototype of the 220 Turbo Coupe a few times. We had big problems cooling it, and this car basically had most of the front bumper cut away and replaced with mesh. It was running crazy levels of boost and taught me all about torque steer.
The production version was still the quickest car we’d produced but was massively toned down and produced 200PS. The prototype was much, much more.
Happy days. Enjoy the car
Rubens Barrichello was in the car behind me and was laughing his head off as he drove past through my clouds of steam
Luckily, one of the F1 team trucks (Tyrell I think) stopped and topped the car up so I could get home. The water pump died a week or so later…
Also remember borrowing a development prototype of the 220 Turbo Coupe a few times. We had big problems cooling it, and this car basically had most of the front bumper cut away and replaced with mesh. It was running crazy levels of boost and taught me all about torque steer.
The production version was still the quickest car we’d produced but was massively toned down and produced 200PS. The prototype was much, much more.
Happy days. Enjoy the car
Your bit in the opening post about grandad is spot on. My grandad had a Red 218 sd turbo and have fond memories of him picking up me up in the school holidays in it whilst my parents worked. Still had it when he passed away, RIP.
Those Tomcats are awesome, always liked the 2 door coupe shape. Great thread!
Those Tomcats are awesome, always liked the 2 door coupe shape. Great thread!
Edited by ahenners on Saturday 4th September 09:17
DuncanM said:
Few points knocked off for killing the spider though!
So far I've killed about 6 of the bEdited by DuncanM on Saturday 4th September 10:25
ds lol, most of them from the boot trim.Awesome to hear so many positive comments about the Tomcat. This one isn't perfect, but its really hard to get "perfect" ones these days, most got ruined years ago.
If you can get it to a good road worthy standard that'll be excellent enough!
Its great there are people like you/us keeping interesting old stuff on the road.
Maybe weirdly I always wanted a 418GSD - top spec turbo diesel back then using the robust Peugeot engine in the Honda saloon shell. Nightfire red with grey leather interior
All dead now I'd imagine.
Its great there are people like you/us keeping interesting old stuff on the road.
Maybe weirdly I always wanted a 418GSD - top spec turbo diesel back then using the robust Peugeot engine in the Honda saloon shell. Nightfire red with grey leather interior
All dead now I'd imagine.
Lincsls1 said:
I also really like and prefer the older squarer dash that this has, IIRC a little later this generation got the newer dash (along with the 1.8VVC) that was then fitted in the next gen car.
That's correct, the later 200s came with the same dash as the 25. Also doesn't really do anything for me, so I'm glad I have the old boxy dash.
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