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New toys

Sold the Volvo yesterday, so decided it would be a shame to put all of the proceeds in the bank, so went out and picked up this lot:

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That'll be a complete 3.5 Rover V8 with SUs and K&N filters plus some tubular manifolds. It was all a bit mucky (previously sat in a TR7 rally car), so spent a bit of time with a wire brush, some degreaser and a toothbrush and cleaned up the important bits:
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Mush better!! Just ordered some new gaskets, plus some K&N cleaning stuff, so with a bit of work hopefully I'll be able to get them into the SD1 soon, and get the old girl running properly ready for some spring-time fun!

Also picked up a tidy little 106 XR 1.4 last week for the sum of £245. Had some problems with the remote locking / immobiliser / alarm plus needed a service. But sorted all that now, and I'm left with a nice little motor for my sister. TBH I'm actually quite impressed with it - drives spot on, is pretty nippy and seems to only sip fuel. Ideal for her, but I'm sure she'll wreck it! Ah well.

And did some work on our 106 too - new new speedo cable and new speedo drive pinion has resulted in a completely non-flickering speedo. First one I've ever had on a Pug I think! Also noticed the rear trailing arm bearings are getting worse quicker than I expected resulting in some wheel rubbage on the inner arches. So I've bodged it with some 5mm spacers for now, plus put some slightly better dampers on (never know, might help a bit), but need to find some time to sort that in the near future! Otherwise the little red rocket it going great!

Hopefully there'll be another SD1 related update soon!!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs
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For cleaning up the rusty bits, try electrolysis.

Here's one of my steering arms after a dip in the tub.

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No wire brushing or grinding involved. This was previously covered in very heavy rust.

Just do a google search for Rust and Electrolysis.

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

That's pretty impressive, but most of my bits are aluminium anyway. I don't want to spend too long on making it look pretty, just wanted it clean and ready to go in. You wont see it once the bonnet is closed :)

However I will definiately give that electrolysis lark a go at some point. Wonder if Nat would mind me putting those tubular manifolds in the bath ;)

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

I'm pretty much stripping my Sylva down to the last nut and bolt, so I want it to look presentable under the bonnet. Suspension, as well as other running gear and engine will all be on show, so it's well worth the effort in my case.

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

nice but this all sounds like modding to me!

Reply to
Vamp

Sorry dude.

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

I would like everything to be perfect, but for now I'll settle for running well :)

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

Hydrogen embrittlement - thinking about that on the motorway should keep you alert!

Reply to
Burgerman

Yes, I'm aware of that. Light bake in the oven afterwards ?....

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

No need, it will most likely have normalised itself by the time you use it anyway, I was joking! I wouldnt try it on critical bolts though!

More interestingly have you tried anodising yet? Its easy. And it looks great (on ally of course...) rocker covers, inlet manifolds, alternators water pumps, countless other dubries?

Reply to
Burgerman

Look here a 123!

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Reply to
Burgerman

Sulphuric acid ?

I reckon that's maybe a step too far for me :-)

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

needs a couple of turbo's looking at the pics of it again ;)

Reply to
Vamp

While it's in there, coat it with this

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works quite well :) Just warm part in oven, coat with powder and cook it again.

Main advantage for me is, there's no 24 hour wait for it to cure like paint, so parts can be used as soon as they've cooled.

I'm not allowed to use it again until I've procured my own personal oven though.

SWMBO insists, "really" insists...

Reply to
Tony (UncleFista)

It works well but I've found it's hard to completely remove rust from pitted areas and that it soon comes back. Very handy if rust's causing a physical problem though - like brake calipers being covered in the stuff and binding.

Reply to
Doki

Nice manifolds, have you converted to electronic ignition yet ?

Reply to
Geoff

Manifolds need a bit of tidying if I was going to use them - the ends of one of the downpipes has been a bit mangled, and they've been repaired in the past. But I wasn't going to refuse them!!

TBH I really don't know much about electronic ignitions, as I've never needed to do anything with my previous cars. The SD1 runs an electronic distributor, so at least there's no points to worry about, and it doesn't seem to have caused any issues so far. However the new engine did come with a Lumenition box of tricks and some gubbins in the distributor:

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I know nothing about this - but should I think about using it in the Rover then?

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

That's why painting the part immediately is a good idea.

Reply to
Bob Sherunckle

Even if painted immediately.

Reply to
Doki

Fill the tank with copper sulphate and copper plate it. Copper doesent rust!

Reply to
Burgerman

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