Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Topcat Tomcat wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:59 pm Nice, but it's wet!

Road was damp but it was dry enough for the sunroof to be open.
Hasn’t been given a decent airing for 6 weeks and the weather is likely to get worse. So decided a run out before the winter really sets in would be more beneficial than a temporary damp bottom

Well done

I bet you smiled a lot too

GTiJohn wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 7:18 pm Well done

I bet you smiled a lot too

Yep always brings a smile to my face when I go for a drive in her.
The perfect tonic for a dull day

Very nice I wish mine looked like that!

With the passage of time those early bonnets & indicators look far classier imo.

Yh, I agree I've always thought the prefacelift is so much better looking and more elegant

Mr Teddy Bear wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 1:24 pm Very nice I wish mine looked like that!

Thanks for the compliment I wish it looked as good up close as it does in the photos.

The paint is crazed/scratched all over the roof, boot and the front of the bonnet and there are tiny hailstone dents in the bonnet and roof (from its time stored up a tree) .
I think I've count 10 in the bonnet.
After the rust-proofing has been done early next year the next job big job on the bodywork will be to decide whether I have these small dents sorted before a full respray , which could be several years away after I've done all the mechanicals.
With the bonnet its a choice of a better condition second hand bonnet resprayed or let someone fill the dents.
With the roof I'm wondering if the dents can be removed by a paintless dent removal body shop , if the headlining was removed, easier than a body shop filling them as they are so small.
Questions to be answered

It's lovely to see this rolling resto make good progress

Small update on the radiator.
Sent it to Exeter Radiators who pressure tested it etc and found no leak in the tubes .

Anyway they found it was leaking around the tabs They said they could try and repair it but couldn’t guarantee the repair integrity which is important to me as I will be trying to do some of the shows this year from Devon.

They managed to find a replacement core with some difficulty at their sister company in Newquay.
Decided to cut my losses and try to get the best permanent long term fix based on the difficultly in getting radiators for automatics.

I think in the future most people will be fitting radiators without the transmission cooler on the side and joining the 2 auto transmission oil outlets up together because there won’t be any alternative.
This has been suggested as being ok , if your not towing or in the Sahara , on this forum many times.

Still waiting for the extended right angle piece to complete the new top hose which should be due soon.
Decided also to replace the thermostat whilst its all drained down as a bit of preventative maintenance

My favourite thing about it, is that is a prefacelift which is better looking in my opinion

Another update.
Despite their best efforts Exeter Radiators were unable to replace the core as they couldn’t fit the side tanks on to the new core. Original core has been refitted and pressure tested. Fingers crossed.
I feel I need to work on an alternative solution as the original one saw 27 years of trouble free cooling but this one has failed twice in the last 2½ years and I'm not convinced the repair carried out is going to last .
Repainted oil transmission pipes yet again using E-Tech Silver Engine Paint this time. A friend recommended E-Tech Brake Caliper paint so decided to give this paint a go. Cleaned it up with my new Xmas toy!

The paint initially seemed soft but after 10 days in a sunny window it hardened up nicely.(Courtesy of Covid)
Sorted the auto transmission oil pipe clips on the bottom of the radiator at the same time.
Previously the clips broke up on removal (Left hand clip in photo). I sourced some 5/16” brake pipe separators from Bresco but these didn’t have a boss on them and the M5 radiator studs weren’t long enough to reach the new separators. I’ve looked again for a similar clip but found nothing. But I did find some M5 x 20mm long sleeve connectors on ebay.
Drilled out the brake pipe separator clips to suit the connectors and araldited the parts together to produce a viable alternative (Right hand clip in photo)

Put a small fibre washer between the steel connector and aluminum radiator core to prevent any corrosion of the radiator core.
The paint was a lot better then the previous paint but still chipped when I pushed them into the clips. I guess I should have used etch primer first to get a better key.

Radiator ready for reinstalling – AGAIN!

Whilst I had a bit of space I decided to replace the battery earth lead as the battery clamp had started to distort and wasn’t tightening up properly which meant I haven’t been able to install my recently acquired Dis-car-nect Battery Isolator.
Having removed the lead however I realised that it is not a simple battery to engine earth lead. In the middle of the lead is a tag that is crimped through the insulation to make an earth connection to the bodywork.

So I’ve cleaned the lead up and manipulated the battery clamp so I could reuse the lead. It’s worth remembering this hidden connection if you’re having electrical issues related to dodgy earth connections.
I have now been able to fit the Dis-car-nect isolator.


Swapped out the thermostat whilst I had the opportunity and replaced the thermostat cover, as the existing one had corrosion on the face. The sealing bores in the thermostat housing were also a bit messy but cleaned up a bit with wet/dry paper and WD40. Not perfect but much better .
The inside of the housing was clean with no build up or corrosion visible which was nice to see.
Before and after shots

Managed also to clean off 30 years of grime from the air filter to engine inlet pipe and air filter intake with some tooth paste and rubber /vinyl cleaner. Very pleased with the result


Finally installed the extended 90 degree hose piece that I have waited for 12 weeks. The expansion pipe and top hose configuration now look more sorted as the longer elbow pushes the top hose/expansion hose connection further back.

This results in a much better profile for the expansion hose across the engine bay than previously achieved.

For those who are interested I’ve put a few words/costs together about my experience of replacing the top and bottom hoses and will offer it for one of the forthcoming editions of the Viking magazine soon.

Replaced the spark plugs as well, not that they really needed it as they only had 6000 miles use , but they were 8 years old.

All the spark plug bores had some oil in the bottom, obviously leaking a bit since I refitted the camshaft cover 2 years ago. Have re-torqued the cover down a lit bit more, but have purchased a new camshaft gasket with the spark plug tube seals and will replace them when I do the valve clearances in a couple of months

This was going to be a short piece on getting the new elbow fitted but as with all things cars - one job leads to another and another.

Off for rustproofing next week more to follow soon

Thanks for looking.