Rover 825 Sterling Diesel Coupe

[tonewheeldude]

When i first got mine it sounded like a tractor

The only difference is mine is 'supposed' to sound like that

Thanks for the links, will order the ball joints this morning. With regards to the Anti Roll Bars - something else I did not know. Just goes to show, although I drove 800 series cars for almost 20 years I can honestly say they were so reliable that apart from normal servicing I never realy had to worry think about kind of thing before. (except I had to change the head gasket on my series one back in the 90s and my first facelift model bew a valve whilst I was racing an Opel Manta... )

[tonewheeldude]

I just found a set of mint looking 16" Roversport alloys with excellent Good Year Eagle tyres for £120. Collecting Friday

[tonewheeldude]

came home from work to these:

Rover 800 Series Car Mats by T_W_D, on Flickr
Side Indicators by T_W_D, on Flickr

[scoobyh123]

Essential additions in the last post!

Good news on the wheels too!

I only found out about the ARBs a few years back - Tim (Whitelion) is the guru on ARBs but all the info on them can be found either on here somewhere (courtesy of Tim) or in the Rover Workshop Manual.
I'm currently (amongst all the other things i have going on!) trying to develop some moulds for cold-cure polyurethane ARB bushes as the stocks of all sizes is almost exhausted.

As for racing an Opel Manta, unless it had been tweaked or was a GT/E to start with, it wouldn't have stood much chance against even a basic multi-point EFi 16v 820. If it had been tweaked then it could have been enbarassing so maybe that valve did you a favour!

[deano]

Them side repeaters arent original Rover parts are they ?

As far as i know 800`s only ever came with orange side repeaters....

[tonewheeldude]

Them side repeaters arent original Rover parts are they ?

As far as i know 800`s only ever came with orange side repeaters....

No - not original....the orange ones look ok on Rosalinds mini's but imo they never seemed to belong on a late model 800. Rover toned down the orange on the expensive lights at the front and rear and seemed to completely forgot about the cheap little side repeaters.

So I make no apologies for fitting them

[Richard Moss]

I think that the clear ones look great on 800s - and it's such an easy mod to do/undo

[tonewheeldude]

I now have all the parts except the wiper mechanism....which is a pity as it would have been ready to MOT on the the weekend.

[scoobyh123]

Them side repeaters arent original Rover parts are they ?

As far as i know 800`s only ever came with orange side repeaters....

No - not original....the orange ones look ok on Rosalinds mini's but imo they never seemed to belong on a late model 800. Rover toned down the orange on the expensive lights at the front and rear and seemed to completely forgot about the cheap little side repeaters.

So I make no apologies for fitting them

Annoyingly things like the Range-Rover got clear and/or smoked side repeaters as standard from the factory - the good thing is these are also a direct swap from the "classic" Range-Rover - not too sure on later models like the P38 and L422 i think they are. I think even the Mini got them as well so the 800s were (unfairly) overlooked it seems.
The front indicators on all 800s were never overtly orange, they all had an orange lens hidden behind a polarised reflector (lets light out but reflects light coming in) which is why there's a "crystalline" formation along the lower edge of the front indicator lenses, just like on the rear reflectors. That said when they facelifted the Mk2 and fitted smoked rear lights, they should have done the whole job and fitted clear, preferably smoked side repeaters. I have a pair of smoked repeaters on my coupe that i liberated from an MG-f/TF in a scrap yard and put through the dishawsher - they came up like new.

[tonewheeldude]

Brake pipes on today, new discs and pads all around, 2x calipers on the rear.

Tonight I collected the Roversport alloys from a charming young Lady in Birmingham, she wrote in her advert:
"Rover 800 Turbo alloys - RoverSport design as fitted to limited edition Tickford models - will fit all Rover 800s plus Rovers 600s and Maestro Van" set of 4" And she wrote the advert herself! She used to be a mechanic before changing to a Nurse.

Tomorrow afternoon I am picking up the wiper linkage ass'y from Bedford. All on track for an MOT on Monday.

[traineefarmer]

Where did you get those mats from? Are they genuine with the locking clips?

[tonewheeldude]

Where did you get those mats from? Are they genuine with the locking clips?

Yes they are new originals with the clips.

Rimmers have them on sale for £17.95 or therabouts but there are other sets too
You can use this code to get another 20% off: EX0314D

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-GRID005025

Darren

[tonewheeldude]

I am a bit worried about the wiper linkage I picked up frm Barry - the guy break an 800 in Bedford (by the way he has a full set of BRG fastback body panels). The metal ball is slightly damaged and is a loose fit in the joint. He reckons it will stay on once fitted to the car but I am not convinced. I cant get to the car now until Monday am and its going for the MOT at lunchtime.

Does anyone know if it should be a tight push fit?
If so i can use some heat shrink which should be a temporary fix.

[rovercoup]

A similar problem experienced by MGF and TF owners and this is the solution and maybe worth ago on the 800. I have not had this problem on any of my 800's so can't say if this will work or not but is maybe worth a go.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/x2-NICKEL-MGF ... 233285fe02

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MGF-MG-ZR-ZS- ... 4ad748d1c4

[tonewheeldude]

Thanks, Stevee - Just ordered a couple. I might have to delay the MOT by a day.

By the way..according to this ebay listing Varta make this battery just for my car
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-800-Cou ... 0570505324