[Vulgalour]

Not doing too badly here. House hunting going well, found a few likely candidates in budget, just not quite the right house yet. Princess is being used as my daily! Rover is having a little rest as a result. As of tonight I've got almost all the pieces I need for the folding-rear-seat conversion and later this month will be off to North Yorkshire to collect that last few bits I need. Nothing doing on the 1100 yet, I've been bogged down with Princess and Rover responsibilities instead. MoTs next, but I'm feeling uncharacteristically confident about that.

[ROVER Cabby]

Well I hope you find something mate.

[StubbornPatriot]

Next is to get our bike returned to the road. It doesn’t require much, mainly aesthetics. New set of 3 Amal carbs arriving in January (or supposedly, they were ordered last August!). Going for a set of stainless downpipes. Old rack needs a modification and then rechroming. A few other bits need rechroming too. Oil leak needs fixing, which will require a top end strip down. Couple of small fixes for MoT test (brake light and number plate). Then hopefully a bit of fun for a few months this year.

A bit of a progress update. New Amal carbs fitted, stainless exhaust fitted. I removed the chokes from the new carbs before fitting (as I did with the original ones 40 years ago) but it looks as if I'm going to have to put them back if piddling with the settings doesn't resolve the cold running issues. Stainless exhaust was a pig to fit as it's not a very accurate fabrication of the original. Top end stripped and rebuilt twice, as there was still a weep of oil from between the barrels and head after the first attempt. Needed to do 2 helicoils on the head threads. Now oil leak free except 2 tiny weeps that are probably down to me being overly cautious with torque settings on rocker boxes and covers. Front brake light fixed. I still need to refit the rear number plate and declare it Tax & MoT exempt. Aesthetics can wait for now as I've run out of money. Would still be nice to get out for a run before the weather turns particularly nasty.

Nothing done to my other 2 Rovers yet, other than continuing to accumulate parts. Looks like these will be carried forward to 2019 now.

How are others' projects coming along?

[ROVER Cabby]

You should get some photos up buddy.

No progress here, Cabby still laid up, waiting on the bulder to pull his finger out and start bulding the garage,
he told me in April that EVERYTHING would be done by the end of August, no ground broken on the garage as
of today and the plastering for the utility only got done yesterday, just hoping the Cabby will last a few more
months outside.

[StubbornPatriot]

Well, since you suggested it, here are some photos. She's now all road legal as an historic vehicle, so free tax and no MoT necessary. I've done 4 rides out, gradually going a bit further each time. I don't want to go too far until I've sorted the residual niggles out. Still a faint film of oil appearing on some of the cylinder fins, which is probably down to a silicone rocker cover gasket I've tried out and have not found very satisfactory - will replace with a conventional gasket and hope it sorts that out. Runs a bit unevenly at low revs and is probably down to ageing ignition components, so I'll clean all the coil contacts up and then replace plugs, leads and coils if/as necessary. Runs great over 3,500 rpm. A little bit of residual smoking from the exhaust which I'm hoping will be cured with finer tuning of the carbs, otherwise it's trial and error with inlet valve stem oil seals, new rings or a re-bore.

So nice to have her back on the road, such a gorgeous machine.






Hey-Ho, Rovers next.

[redandwhitE]

Cheers Johnny - will take a look this weekend when I swap the wooden dash trim over from the parts car

No doubt there is a thread on here about the most successful way to remove the wooden trim but......have you any guidance about their removal?

There is a 214 in my scrapyard and although its a bit battered, the wooden inserts are salvageable. Any hints, tips or guides.....

Cheers, Richard

[Paul_1978_yorks]

Cheers Johnny - will take a look this weekend when I swap the wooden dash trim over from the parts car

No doubt there is a thread on here about the most successful way to remove the wooden trim but......have you any guidance about their removal?

There is a 214 in my scrapyard and although its a bit battered, the wooden inserts are salvageable. Any hints, tips or guides.....

Cheers, Richard

I start from the door side (curved side of trim). Get a flat blades screwdriver underneath and slowly prise it off. There are 4 clips that hold it to the dashboard.

It’s an easy piece of trim to remove, just take it steady and try not to bend the wood.

[220 GSi turbo]

Well, before contributing to the "plans for 2019" thread, here is what I think I achieved in 2018

220 turbo MoT'd once more and put back under a cover in the man cave, just need to pump one of the rear tyres up every month

Both of my 'Wedge' Princesses taken out of hibernation and used to support the Leyland Princess club at the NEC. Then both put back into hibernation, although one now has an MoT

Allegro 1100 coaxed back into life after 11 years off the road and used to test the viability of MoT exemption. 15 feet travelled before the brake pedal sank to the floor, then a 15-mile journey from its resting place to the man cave, struggling to exceed 30mph and with plenty of black smoke (after fitting a new master cylinder). Hasn't moved from the man cave since and hasn't been treated to a cover. Conclusion: MoT exemption has its limitations!

Wife's Austin 1300 restoration continued but not completed: new headlining installed, various random parts bought at the NEC, still need to make gaskets for the door handles and install the rest of the interior.

Wife's Rover 100 cabriolet taken out of 5 years' hibernation and recommissioned in time for that fantastic summer we all enjoyed. Now tucked away in the man cave and deserves a cover.

Allegro 1.7HLS bought on impulse after seeing it on eBay. Kind of a 420 GSi of the 1980s. Well, I think so, but not expecting many others to agree
Needs a few minor body repairs but has only done 30k.

MoT failure Rover 25 1.4 bought on eBay to donate various Solar Red panels to our 25 GTi and 25 diesel. After a couple of hours' work and a quick raid of my parts bins, all of the MoT items had been fixed. 6000 miles later, I am still using it as a daily drive (see ZR notes below)

Proof given to me that German engineering is not as infallible as many would have you believe. My 55-reg ZR with just over 40k on the clock expired in the middle of a roundabout. Cause? Faulty Bosch diesel injector pump.

Received a 'pscan' for my birthday. All of our cars now have plenty of spare key fobs and no warning lamps showing

[ROVER Cabby]

Well 15ft is better than nowt.

Any photos of the 100 Cabby ?

[220 GSi turbo]

Any photos of the 100 Cabby ?

Haven't got an online photo a/c myself, but did a quick Google and found a pic taken at Peterborough this year:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128691640 ... 115757422/


Mrs. 220 had considered selling it this year and getting an MGF instead, but after putting almost 1000 miles on it, she has decided that she won't part with it after all