Project Assessment
I rather like the interior which is both well put together (no rattles) and pretty good quality. It is however filthy and could do with a freshen up. This will be addressed shortly.
The initial assessment went quite well. The underside is in very good condition and the previous advisories of a damp steering rack and corroded front brake lines don't look to have worsened. Both sides will probably clean up fine.
Having driven it another 20 miles or so we discovered the thermostat is probably stuck open, which accounts for the temperature gauge I thought was non-functional. It does actually start to read when stationary, but cools straight off again when on the move. Annoyingly thermostat replacement is a cambelt-off job on these, however I have a work-around for this, which involves installing a thermostat in one of the top-hoses. Apparently this is a common fix on Rover 75s too.
The cool running, very short runs and long periods standing all appear to have contributed to condensation and thus mayonnaise in the underside of the oil cap. I was a bit concerned this could be a symptom of head gasket failure, however the coolant is fine and it's exhibiting no other symptoms of HGF. I'll keep an eye on it.
Initially it ran very well this morning, but after 15 miles or so it started to hesitate and misfire. We hooked up the diagnostic gear and a few codes came up. They relate to the EGR valve, crankshaft position sensor and camshaft position sensor. We managed to clear them and remove the EML, but the crankshaft sensor fault kept returning.
On the cosmetics front we tried and failed to remove the dent in the rear bumper (a job for a warmer day) and my neighbour tested some wax treatment on the rear 3/4 panel. We concluded something stronger is required!
So what's the plan? With the sensors being relatively inexpensive I'm going to get one of each and see what difference they make. I'm aware the actual problems could lie elsewhere, but this seems a reasonably inexpensive place to start. I'll also look at some options for the thermostat work-around. I'll not get a lot of time on this over the next few weeks, so it'll be a bit of a slow burn. I'll collect some parts, start to tackle the interior as and when I can and then do some fitting up in a few weeks time. Watch this space...
Project Assessment
I rather like the interior which is both well put together (no rattles) and pretty good quality. It is however filthy and could do with a freshen up. This will be addressed shortly.
The initial assessment went quite well. The underside is in very good condition and the previous advisories of a damp steering rack and corroded front brake lines don't look to have worsened. Both sides will probably clean up fine.
Having driven it another 20 miles or so we discovered the thermostat is probably stuck open, which accounts for the temperature gauge I thought was non-functional. It does actually start to read when stationary, but cools straight off again when on the move. Annoyingly thermostat replacement is a cambelt-off job on these, however I have a work-around for this, which involves installing a thermostat in one of the top-hoses. Apparently this is a common fix on Rover 75s too.
The cool running, very short runs and long periods standing all appear to have contributed to condensation and thus mayonnaise in the underside of the oil cap. I was a bit concerned this could be a symptom of head gasket failure, however the coolant is fine and it's exhibiting no other symptoms of HGF. I'll keep an eye on it.
Initially it ran very well this morning, but after 15 miles or so it started to hesitate and misfire. We hooked up the diagnostic gear and a few codes came up. They relate to the EGR valve, crankshaft position sensor and camshaft position sensor. We managed to clear them and remove the EML, but the crankshaft sensor fault kept returning.
On the cosmetics front we tried and failed to remove the dent in the rear bumper (a job for a warmer day) and my neighbour tested some wax treatment on the rear 3/4 panel. We concluded something stronger is required!
So what's the plan? With the sensors being relatively inexpensive I'm going to get one of each and see what difference they make. I'm aware the actual problems could lie elsewhere, but this seems a reasonably inexpensive place to start. I'll also look at some options for the thermostat work-around. I'll not get a lot of time on this over the next few weeks, so it'll be a bit of a slow burn. I'll collect some parts, start to tackle the interior as and when I can and then do some fitting up in a few weeks time. Watch this space...