Recommissioning the Sterling!

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Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Fri Jun 30, 2017 11:36 am

Well after a few years and several false starts my Sterling was finally recovered from it's long term hidey hole to the garage to start the long process of getting her back on the road! It's been far too long so I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel again.

Plan at the moment is to get an MOT on her so that she's mobile again and then find a good body shop to start the exterior restoration. The key issues are the extensive rust on the drivers side door, rust around the sunroof and then the fact that every panel has car park dings etc. I managed to pick up a new-old stock door skin from Rimmers so that takes care of that, the biggest issue will be whether they can repair the existing roof panel or whether it needs a replacement. Once done I'm going to have a complete respray and refurbish the wheels.
The interior isn't actually too bad so just a bit of leather food and a good clean should be all it needs. I am going to reinstall the ridiculous stereo that I used to have in it, the Kicker Solobaric L7 sub is still in my garage unused as my Merc came with the upgraded Burmester system so it will be going back in along with a new amp to drive it and the door speakers.

At the moment I've no idea what all this will cost, I'm hoping less then £5k however I'm braced for the worst. Already starting to find that the parts situation has got a lot worse since she was last on the road, fingers crossed I can actually get all the bits I need!
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by mjc9967 » Fri Jun 30, 2017 12:48 pm

Sounds like a sensible budget James.

New metal always better than repaired old, though of course we all know hard to find in the right shapes.

If it's worth a trip to Dunstable near Luton, Harris Coachworks are good, they did the work on my Green Mk2.
Mark

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by deano » Fri Jun 30, 2017 12:50 pm

5K.... :shock: :shock: :shock:

I've just blown 50 quid on New brake discs and pads :?
1993 Rover 827 SLI Fastback Mk2
1999 Rover 825 Sterling Saloon Mk2 (HGF)
------------------
Previously
1996 Rover 825 Sterling Coupe Mk2
1993 Rover 827 Sterling Saloon Mk2
1990 Rover 827 Sterling Saloon Mk1
1972 Rover P6 2000TC

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Fri Jun 30, 2017 1:42 pm

Yep, I'm hoping the budget it realistic. I know it's probably crazy spending that on a car that will probably be worth a fifth of what I'm spending but it was my Grandfathers car so has sentimental value.
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by scoobyh123 » Fri Jun 30, 2017 4:48 pm

James - have a word with Tom/traineefarmer on here, he recently had some work done on his Coupé by an "old skool" bodywork place that repaired various panels, straightened etc others, did some other remedial work (i think) and finally painted it for him.
All the reports i've heard from him are good so it sounds like a useful place to know of. I can't remember where he said it was but not far from where he lives near Swaffham so within shouting distance for you in Norwich. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by SJG » Fri Jun 30, 2017 5:07 pm

Great news! About time! I bet the budget is doubled in the end. It's good to see you back on here James
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by dollysprint » Fri Jun 30, 2017 6:25 pm

Yes good to see back on the forum James, time just seems to fly away these days.
As you say whilst you've been gone good parts are getting harder to source, but along with that the prices of our cars have gone up too so whilst 5k is a lot excellent MK1's are heading in that direction anyway. Let me know what parts you need James, I may be able to help.

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by Richard Moss » Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:03 pm

Good luck, James. Nice to see another 800 getting the works. :)
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Fri Jun 30, 2017 8:57 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:James - have a word with Tom/traineefarmer on here, he recently had some work done on his Coupé by an "old skool" bodywork place that repaired various panels, straightened etc others, did some other remedial work (i think) and finally painted it for him.
All the reports i've heard from him are good so it sounds like a useful place to know of. I can't remember where he said it was but not far from where he lives near Swaffham so within shouting distance for you in Norwich. :wink: :D
My mechanic who has the car now has a very good bodywork chap however if that falls through I'll drop Tom a line. Once the car is roadworthy again it'll open up my options for getting the bodywork done however for the sake of convenience if I can get it all done in the same place it will be easier.
SJG wrote:Great news! About time! I bet the budget is doubled in the end. It's good to see you back on here James
Ha ha, it better not be! I've got away with £5k because Mrs Guru knows what the car means to me however £10k would be a stretch!
dollysprint wrote:Yes good to see back on the forum James, time just seems to fly away these days.
As you say whilst you've been gone good parts are getting harder to source, but along with that the prices of our cars have gone up too so whilst 5k is a lot excellent MK1's are heading in that direction anyway. Let me know what parts you need James, I may be able to help.

Dave
Cheers Dave, I will do. In the first instance if you have or know of a scuttle panel and rubber door seals that would be great however I'm sure that will be the tip of the iceberg! I've spent a good chunk of today searching for a complete exhaust system however I think I've managed to find one now.
Richard Moss wrote:Good luck, James. Nice to see another 800 getting the works. :)
Yep, I'm really looking forward to having it back on the road again :D
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by traineefarmer » Sat Jul 01, 2017 7:56 am

The chap who did mine is in Shipdham, near Dereham. I think that James is located way over the "wrong" side of Norwich, so it may be too much of a trek to bring the car for repairs.

As dave mentioned, I can't speak highly enough of the work done and the chap is quite sympathetic towards 800s too.

I can understand the benefits of getting all the work done in one place, but please PM me if you want details.
Tom.

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Sat Jul 01, 2017 12:09 pm

PM'd ;)

Shipdham's actually not too bad for me and once the car is mobile again it won't be a problem getting it there. For an easy life I would like to get all the work done at the same time however thinking about it getting a good job done is more important.
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Wed Sep 27, 2017 3:31 pm

Went to see the mechanic today to give him a big nudge as it's taking far too long and also to drop off some filters and a replacement fuel filler. Car looks pretty bad however it's pretty much all cosmetic and the structure is still very solid, so that's good! Still starts and runs just fine and the tyres are even holding air OK, although I think I'm going to have them replaced anyway as a precaution.
I think I'm going to change the order of things slightly with the restoration. The original plan was to do absolutely everything mechanically first before starting on the bodywork however I think instead I'll get it to an MOT'd state and then have the respray and bodywork done before returning it to the mechanic to complete the other work. That way if there is something really terminal bodywork wise I won't have spent a fortune on other work first.
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by mjc9967 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:01 pm

Hi James,

I'm guessing you would already have seen this, but just in case....

http://www.rover800.info/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=14477
Mark

91H 820i Auto F/B Nordic Blue 32k
91H 820i Auto F/B Nightfire 65k
99V 825 Sterling Auto 4dr BRG 77k

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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by guru » Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:19 pm

Well we've had some pretty significant progress!

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She's had 29 years of car park dings and scratches removed and then a complete respray. They've also repaired and removed all the rust including the sills and bottom of the drivers door and most importantly the sunroof aperture which was quite badly gone. She's off to the trimmer next week to have the roof panel recovered and the leather restored and she should then be back with me by the end of the month...........very excited now!
Guru - AKA James
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Re: Recommissioning the Sterling!

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:25 pm

Looking good James! :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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