Scoobys 827 SLi - a new addition to the fleet!

[scoobyh123]

I first spotted this car about 12 months back and more recently discovered it lived locally and was owned by a USAF person.
Knowing that very often they scrap their cars simply for a quick sale (our local breakers yards are littered with some seriously nice machinery that's way too good to be in there!) and preferring to save it from that, i put a note through his door to the effect if he wanted/needed to sell it, get in touch.

Long story short, he did!


Full set of 4 Vitesse Sport 17" wheels with near-new Chinese ditch-finders.


A familiar sight - expansion tank repaired with Wrigleys!


Front view


Rear 3/4 view


Aftermarket back box looks almost standard!



Immaculate Factory fit leather interior (Build sheet to prove!!!)


Mileage a bit high at 159k but engine is sweet and the auto box smooth.


Aftermarket Clarion head unit only non-standard interior bit (so far!)

There's a few silly niggles that need sorting before i put it in for MoT - the wiper self-park doesn't, no dipped beam (fuses etc ok so possibly bulbs or an earth, maybe the column switch which might fix the wipers too), N/S front fog not working, coolant leak from the upper radiator fan switch and obviously the expansion tank, horn not working (think it's the relay) and a number plate bulb out. Oh yeah, a nasty graunching sound from the O/S/F suspension, possibly the ARB drop links.
There may be more but that's all i've found so far. The last MoT ran out in november last year but he was still using it, didn't seem to understand the importance of the MoT test here!

Once i get it MoT'd i'll decide what to do with it. I have a few ideas, one is to return it to how it left the factory (that might include keeping the Vit Sport wheels depending what i find on the exterior build sheet), second is to create my interpretation of what Rover would have done if they'd built an 800 version of one of these :

http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/sto ... l-phantom/

Third option is bring it into line with the other two (LED colour coded switches, switchpacks, radio etc and the other bits i've changed/added) and not sure on the fourth option yet! Open to reasonable suggestions though!

Won't be doing much with it until i sort the steering rack etc on the Sterling but at least i can make a start on that soon.

[CHR15E]

Was it late registered?

Has late lights and colour coding as well, do you think that was done at the factory too?

[vito]

Nice Dave,thought you'd have gone for a gold hatch to make the trio though ......

[scoobyh123]

It was registered 25/2/95 so just coming up to its 20th birthday any day now. The build sheet i found was January 95 i think (can check later) so it appears it was built to order.
The original reg was M61 ORX although for a while it wore J66 SJP (i think, again i can check later - the glove box is full of old receipts, documents etc) and it was first supplied to a company in Pangbourne near Reading (consistent with the RX reg) who appeared to own it for quite a while and there is a note in the Service Book about paint damage suggesting it was resprayed under warranty - if i find evidence to support this then it may shed more light on the colour coding.

As for the later lights i had assumed someone changed them at some point, now with the respray as a possibility i'm beginning to wonder. It could be that if it had a respray under the Bodywork Warranty that the owner put their paw in their pocket and had the later lights fitted and the colour coding at the same time to make it look like they had bought a new car. Let's face it, if you had a new car and there was a fault in the paintwork so 3 years or so after buying it, you were offered a free respray and for a few hundred quid (at the time for the later lights and colour coding) more you could make it look like a complete new car, you'd probably do it. I have a feeling this may have been when the "private" plate of J66 SJP went on - again another little thing to throw people off the scent.

Right, i've been out and got all the paperwork out of the glovebox and there's nothing to support a respray although i would think it's had one at some point. The J66 SJP number plate was put on by the second owner, a Mr SJ Parker who transferred it from a 1992 820SLi when he bought this one in January 2000. Three years later he transferred the SJP plate onto something else and put the original plate back on this one.

Nice Dave,thought you'd have gone for a gold hatch to make the trio though ......

Thanks Gaz - i didn't intend buying another 800 yet although the possibility of getting a gold hatch/Fastback may still exist if i can find a Sterling. A big part of the reason for buying this one was to save it from the scrapyard which is where a lot of USAF owned cars end up when they PCS - Permanent Change of Station as the rules are they must sell their cars before leaving. At one point they used to let the people who were leaving put their cars up for sale "on base" when they left and the new intake of personnel had their choice whether to buy or not. Trouble was, they ended up with a full car park that were all out of tax and MoT in addition to cars that were being driven round without being registered to their new owners, no insurance, MoT, tax etc and then of course things were going wrong because people were getting stopped by the local constabulary, sometimes charged with Traffic Offences etc and the way they operate is if someone gets arrested and/or charged with something, that person gets the next plane back to the USA. Apparently at one point they were sending more people home as a result of cars not being sold than were still on base so they made the rule about selling before they went.

Something i am curious about - if a car was supplied new with 17" wheels, what size was the spare? The reason being there is a 16" full size steel spare with a barely (if at all) used tyre on it. Now if the 17" wheel equipped cars had a 17" spare then this points to the 17" Vit Sport alloys not being there from new. If for some unknown reason Rover did provide a 16" spare with 17" alloys (stupid i know but if the overall diameter is the same blah, blah....space saver blah, blah) then maybe they were.

It could be someone has spent money getting it to the spec it's at now i.e. the colour coding, the Vit Sport alloys and so on. This would seem the obvious answer, especially as it has the IR alarm fob (the fob doesn't work, even with new batteries so another job on the list, fitting an aftermarket alarm/immobiliser with an RF fob) and as such means the car was already modified when i got it. As such i think that makes it project material.

[CHR15E]

Sounds very plausible regarding the re-spray. Not unlike MK1s being fitted with 2/400 grilles I guess?

Being 20 years old I guess anything could have happened?

They're all things I would have done to a similar car and have done in the past. I think those wheels were the best of any 800 ones IMO.

The interior along with the recaros were also my favourite.

[TDHFastback]

Thats quite a collection your building up there Dave.

Well done for saving it from the scrappy.

Kate

[scoobyh123]

I didn't find anything definite to say it had been resprayed except on the anti-corrosion warranty (in the service book) at 48k (ish) in February 1998 it was noted there was paintwork damage all over the body. I don't know how long the anti-corrosion warranty was but i think most were about 6 or 7 years? In which case it probably did have a respray courtesy of Rover.

Thats quite a collection your building up there Dave.

Well done for saving it from the scrappy.

Kate

Thanks Kate! Barring a lottery win i think it will be my lot for now but at least it's one less candidate for razor blades!


Forgot to mention, i've sorted the horn and diagnosed the headlamp (dipped beam) problem so just the number plate lamp and N/S/F fog lamp (sure it's only bulbs), the cooling system leaks and the suspension noise to sort before the MoT. The wipers still don't self-park but that in itself isn't (or at least wasn't) an MoT failure. Obviously i'll be doing my usual pre-MoT oil/filter change and air filter change and maybe a spark plug change which should help, at least on the emissions.

[rovercoup]

Nice Dave,thought you'd have gone for a gold hatch to make the trio though ......

My thoughts exactly but a nice save never less.

It is just as well Rover only built 800's in white gold

[scoobyh123]

Thanks Steve - to be honest i was coming round to the idea of a gold fastback, just for the trio effect but in all honesty i didn't intend buying any more cars for the foreseeable future.
Then again for what i paid for it, if i put it in for MoT and it turns out to be a total rot-box i know there's enough equity in the spares from it to more than cover my outlay. Obviously having bought it with the intention of saving it from being scrapped, the last thing i want to do is break it but at least that option exists and if i did, it might yield enough to buy a nice gold 2.7 Sterling fastback.

I'm not in a hurry (yet) to MoT it as i have jobs i need/want to do on the Sterling (they have somehow crept into my coupe project thread, suspension repairs in particular the upper wishbone bushes and nylon/Oilite replacements) but nonetheless i'll work towards getting it MoT ready as and when i get time to do odd bits.

Having said all that, part of me is like a kid on xmas morning and i can't wait to get it road legal to go out and have a play.

[rovercoup]

Having said all that, part of me is like a kid on xmas morning and i can't wait to get it road legal to go out and have a play.

I know exactly what you mean Dave, but heah mot, trip to Longbridge in the spring for a shake down ready for August, what do ya think

[scoobyh123]

Have to see how i get on doing the rack and suspension work on the Sterling and how the coupe behaves now it's got a new water pump and cam belt. Hoping to use one or other of them for the PoL run and maybe a different one for august.

Depending what i find on the SLi and how it fares on the MoT will influence which car goes where this year.

[scoobyh123]

Minor update - £2.88 worth of headlamp bulbs from Euro Car Prats and the dipped beam is restored! Still no dim-dip but that is no longer an MoT failure so not worried just now.
Also fixed the number plate lamp with percussive maintenance - gave it a tap with my paw and it came back to life. Sadly the same trick didn't work with the front fog lamp and a brake light went pop while testing the other lights! Doh!!!

Removed the aftermarket Clarion stereo in preparation to fit a Rover head unit, had hoped to find the loom for a CD changer but sadly not. Long term if i go down the route of turning this into a project (i have a project in mind) then i may treat it to a head unit with a built in motorised screen and the ability to play from a USB stick or SD card or similar.

Meanwhile i'll keep doing bits and pieces until it's MoT ready and then get it booked in. That will be the ultimate decider on what happens with this beastie!

[CHR15E]

Be wary of flip out type screens IMO. Not a lot of room for them in an 800.

I had one and had to fit it upside down.

A better but less discrete solution is a double din setup.

I'll see if I can find a PIC later, sure I have one.

[scoobyh123]

Thanks for the heads-up on the head units with the pop/flip out screens Chris, i have to admit i wondered if space might be a problem because of how the dash and console are shaped.
Looking at the one i was thinking of, it appears to have an angle-adjustable screen :

http://www.in-car-stuff.com/shop/sniper ... p-610.html

Would that get round the problem do you think?

[CHR15E]

In my experience no, mine was similar and I'm pretty sure you won't get that to work acceptably in the standard slot. I think it would need to be mounted lower in the console.

Then you'll have to watch for the gear knob/selector.

As a precaution I would buy one from someone who will accept returns just in case.