Rover 820 Vitesse Sport Lux Gold

[Fastback]

Scooby
Sounds like you might get away with new core plugs, a cooling system flush then new fluids (oil/filter change, new antifreeze - not the red sh!t!) and then be able to sort out the other problems with it.

It's been bothering me but forgive my ignorance, what's wrong with the red stuff and what else would you suggest?

[scoobyh123]

The blue or green ethylene glycol stuff Mark, like they left the factory with. The red stuff (OAT - Organic Acid Technology) was developed primarily by the Japanese because they had all aluminium engines. In a mixed metal engine, the red stuff can attack the cast iron part.

The block in a T series is cast iron so that's one problem area to start with. The other problem that is almost universal regardless of what the engine is made from is when it was made. The OAT stuff can attack many of the gaskets and seals in the cooling system in vehicles made before 2000 so even on an all aluminium engine, if it was made before 2000, stick to ethylene glycol - the blue stuff and be careful about using so-called "Universal Antifreeze" as that can be either OAT or ethylene glycol.

Now for the really nasty part - if ethylene glycol and OAT antifreezes are mixed, they form a gel which can block radiators, waterways around throttle bodies and so on.
You've drained the cooling system and flushed it and put OAT in after ethylene glycol? Great - NOT!!! It's almost impossible to completely remove all traces of the old stuff simply by flushing, it needs an extremely thorough flushing then allowed to dry and rebuilt using all new gaskets before switching to OAT - much simpler, easier and safer to just put the correct ethylene glycol in when it's done.

Yes these are extreme examples and there are probably cars running round with no ill effects but one day, there may be a problem and people will wonder why.

Do you remember Phil (Nuts4my827) had to do a top end rebuild and head gasket change on an 827 soon after a garage had done the cam belt and water pump?
Silly garage used OAT when it should have been ethylene glycol, blocked all the waterways as a result of the gel formed by the mix and blew the head gaskets. Took him ages to clean out all the waterways!

[mercedade]

Re: radiators.

I know the guy who's doing a bit of a rolling refurb on my old Vitesse has managed to get a Freelander radiator to fit. Because the issue is the side-mounted intercooler, it's impossible to find a proper Vitesse rad. The Freelander one can be made to fit with very few modifications - trimming a mount (on the rad, not the car), extend the overflow return pipe, cable ties to hold it next to the intercooler.

Readily available, and CHEAP.

[zcar12]

Adrian, that is a very good tip. Thank you. I will check out the price of Freelander radiators.

[scoobyh123]

Yours isn't a turbo is it Nick?Easier to find radiators for 2.0 n/asp models and no size problems because of the intercooler.

[Richard Moss]

Re: radiators.

I know the guy who's doing a bit of a rolling refurb on my old Vitesse has managed to get a Freelander radiator to fit. Because the issue is the side-mounted intercooler, it's impossible to find a proper Vitesse rad. The Freelander one can be made to fit with very few modifications - trimming a mount (on the rad, not the car), extend the overflow return pipe, cable ties to hold it next to the intercooler.

Readily available, and CHEAP.

Which model of Freelander? I assume Mk1, but any particular engine?

[Fastback]

Er, guys....

https://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/prices.p ... make=ROVER

[scoobyh123]

Genuine turbo sized as well if i'm not mistaken! Nice find Mark!

[Fastback]

Well it certainly worked in my car. Pictures slightly higher in the thread if you've missed them.

[n1tr0_9]

This evening I started cleaning up the engine bay, doing the areas I couldn't get to with the jet was. I used more Gunk and then neat petrol with rags. Smelt lovely!



Hammered out all of the remaining core plugs. That make 6 in total. 2 at the front, 4 at the rear. I think there is a 7th behind the flywheel. None of the others were as bad as the first two I removed. In fact the one at the rear offside was minty. So hopefully the one I cant get to will be in that same condition. I'm glad I went to the trouble to do these now.



Corrosion again, just at the very edge.



Then I began cleaning up the water ways. So much scale in here. Most of it just turned to dust when I poked it, with a few harder areas.





The only way to get rid of this was to give it a thorough flushing with a hose pipe. I was reluctant to do this as I didn't want to fill the cylinders or oil ways with water, so I stuffed paper towel with wd40 on it.

I actually recorded this bit and put a video on youtube for the hell of it.


After that I dried it off and then used a chisel and scotchbrite to clean up the core plug ports. Access at the rear was a bit harder but got there eventually.



Then it was time to fit the new core plugs. Ive read various posts on the internet, some say insert them dry, others say use a sealer like Hylomar Blue. I opted for Hylomar Blue as I couldn't see how it could do any hard and I had a tube already. I also coated the complete rear side of the plugs as its sticky stuff and should prevent them from corroding. Then fitting them was a piece of piss. I just used a socket and hammer to tap them into position. Again, access to one of them at the rear was a little tricky but got there eventually.



Front



Rear



So satisfying, and my first actually constructive rather than destructive work on the car itself!

In other news..... The new bearing for the auxiliary belt tensioner arrived. Its a rather fetching shade of green. I reckon that adds about 3bhp. I refitted it and pressed the stud/rived things back in. They are pretty lose so when I get back to my Dads garage, ill weld them secure.

[n1tr0_9]

Er, guys....

https://www.adrad.co.uk/prices/prices.p ... make=ROVER

Ahhh dammn it. Well found that man. Leaves me in the awkward position of do I tell the refurb bloke not to bother fixing mine and buy the pattern part or stay with my previous agreement.

Still excellent news they are available.

[n1tr0_9]

https://youtu.be/g1Q5QOvPg1A

[scoobyh123]

In other news..... The new bearing for the auxiliary belt tensioner arrived. Its a rather fetching shade of green. I reckon that adds about 3bhp. I refitted it and pressed the stud/rived things back in. They are pretty lose so when I get back to my Dads garage, ill weld them secure.

WOuldn't weld them if i were you James - either rivet them again if you have the right kind of rivets and tool or use a short bolt and Aerotite nut in place of each rivet - they look like 6mm holes so a short M6 cheesehead/button head stainless cap screw with and Aerotite nut on the back should work nicely.

Also less likely to cause any balance problems than welding.

[n1tr0_9]

Just done some quick maths. I have spent £480 on parts for this car so far, and that doesnt include the refurbished radiator!!!

[scoobyh123]

Just done some quick maths. I have spent £480 on parts for this car so far, and that doesnt include the refurbished radiator!!!

You don't want to do silly things like that - when you realise how much you send on getting cars right it takes the fun out of it and can in fact put some people off doing it!

That said when it's done, you know you've got a car that will last for many years without needing anything other than routine servicing.

Now THAT is a very satisfying feeling! It makes the expense worthwhile and puts it into perspective - after all you couldn't rent a car for that sum over however many years!