Wanted : Rover SD1 V8.

Glad to see you've seen the light...

I'd have an EFI model all the time, though, it's much better than the carb ones. Of course you could get the same performance with carbs, but not the economy. And the EFI system is pretty reliable - and easy to fix if not.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@argonet.co.uk, Dave Plowman decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I saw the light years ago, Dave, I've always loved the SD1, I've had 4 of them.. The only reason I'm not worried about getting a carb one is I have one of the original Janspeed twin turbo kits in my garage doing nothing and might as well bolt it on and see how well it works..

My last SD1 was a lovely Monza red Vitesse which was sadly written off (by an accident courtesy Corsa of all things). Took me a year to find a nice one so I've not been looking too hard this time.

Hope he has deep pockets though. THe last one I saw on Ebay went for=20 well over =A32000.

--=20 Conor

If you're not on somebody's shit list, you're not doing anything=20 worthwhile.

That would be cheap for one in good condition - if a desirable model. But good ones are getting pretty rare.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@argonet.co.uk, Dave Plowman decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Pah, I've seen decent EFi SD1s for less than £1500, and V8-S's seem to be about £800 for a useable one.

Depends what you mean by decent. ;-)

In news: snipped-for-privacy@argonet.co.uk, Dave Plowman decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Useable, not the kind of SD1 that gets laughed at by kids in the street. something capable of passing an MOT or two without major structural work... ;-)

My experience is that later ones at least rarely suffer structural problems - apart from the rear wheel arches, if that's structural. But there's an awful lot else to go wrong on a car which is nearing 20 years old - at least. A good interior is essential, and also check carefully for water leaks into the car. The mechanics are the least of your worries. Oh

- good electrical fault finding skills help too.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@argonet.co.uk, Dave Plowman decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I'm pretty handy when it comes to the SD1. I've owned a fair few, I was even sick enough to buy a 2600SE once. Last one I had was a lovely Monza red Vitesse which it took me a year and about 3000 miles to find. I was well peeved when it turned up, 4 miles from my house.. cheap at £1500 though. Shame it was written off. The electrics haven't been a major problem on the ones I've owned, occasional dodgy trip computer (speedo sender), dodgy central locking on one of them, and that was about it. Windscreen leaks are a pain in the arse though. I've long learned not to put stuff in the gloveboxes of an SD1 with a leaky screen...

When they were used as rally cars the first thing to do was to screw brackets on to hold the screen down !!

"Pete M" wrote

What about immaculate ones?

At the moment, I've got dodgy CL - only one side works first time. Operate it a few times and it's fine. Ok when locking... A quick look suggests voltage drop in the switch unit. I've got a spare, but it might be as bad. I think I might just re-do the whole lot with decent sized relays fed from the door switches, but located in an easy to get at place. The heated screen doesn't work, and neither does the rear wiper. The rear screen washer runs, but doesn't squirt. I'm not sure how you get the jet off for cleaning. And the front washer jet blocks weekly. Still, all easy stuff for a fine day. The speedo drive too is iffy. And no longer available.

It's one thing I'm going to get sorted this year. Regardless.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.teranews.com, The Blue Max decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Huge money!

Silliest I ever saw one advertised for was £18500, but it was a bit on the tweaked side, and beautifully done.. I'd have been sorely tempted if the cash had been useable for a mad old Rover.

I must be lucky then. My '85 Vitesse has never leaked. The w/s was chipped and replaced immediately after I baught it, so maybe that helped. As far as electrics go, I had to replace the ECU in 1988, 3 months after I baught it. Shortly afterwards the indicator switch was replaced, and at present some of the computer buttons don't work. Starter solenoid was reconned after a paper gasket managed to distort and get between the contacts, and being an auto that meant an undignified trip from Marlow to W Sussex on the back of an AA recovery truck. The only time it's ever let me down. The hatch c/l motor was replaced, but not because it was faulty. The mechanical part went wrong, and the local Rover garage made a mistake. I got the complete lock inc motor, but was only charged for the mechanical part. Mechanically, I've replaced both head gaskets, because of a small exterior water leak on one head, springs and shocks all round, and virtually all the suspension bushes. I've lost count of how many exhaust parts have been replaced. At least 3 back boxes, and 2 centre boxes, but at only about £30 each they're not exactly expensive. It's been a cheap car to maintain, but ATM is languishing in my garage, untaxed, uninsured, and un MOT'd, and needing another central exhaust box. With that I've no doubt it would pass an MOT with ease. I can't afford to run it, as well as my 525i and Celica GT4, but it's not for sale. Mike.

Mine seized due to dirt - it's in the airflow extraction from the car. A good clean and it was as good as new.

Did the OP have to have an SD1? Thee's what appears to be a nice P6 3500 on ebay at present.

Having had both - and several examples of the P6 - you'd not know they were both from the same company. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but very different ones. The only answer is to have one of each.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@argonet.co.uk, Dave Plowman decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

done that in the past an all... just a shame the P6 was Mexico brown...

I'd have another P6, but the back brakes, fuel vapourisation problems and contantly checking sills for rot sort of puts me off.. so I suspect it'll be an SD1.

There's a lovely looking SD1 on eBay at the moment, S1 V8 manual which looks very nice, but it's a non runner (allegedly just fuel pump) with no MOT and it's up to about £400.

If it wasn't in bloody Swindon I'd be bidding on it, but it's a bit far to bring a dead SD1 back..

I'd gladly trade the difficulty of replacing pads in the P6 for the discs though - the self adjusters on the drums of my SD1 have never been much good - despite replacing them a couple of times.

I used to slacken the final drive mounting bracket on the P6 and drop it an inch or so at pad change time, which made all the difference. And I never had problems with the calipers seizing - although others had.

Never did get round the fuel evaporation problems which unleaded made worse. My EFI also suffers, but not so badly.