Rover 2600S Auto

[33grinder]

Well, Rover's tune-up day came yesterday. I took her to my mate's MOT station after he had finished the last MOT. The gas analyser was put up her exhaust pipe and the timing gun set up.

As suspected, the timing was quite far out, we ended up setting her to 7 degrees BTDC. COs was measuring about 6 or 7%, which is a little high for MOT purposes but she seemed to run better at this level.

Further tuning of the Holley continued and my friend found that each front barrel could be independently set and one side was running lean. This was all adjusted.

Well, the difference was startling to say the least! There is a very slight cough when the accellerator is floored, and there was much head scraching and adjusting of the dwell angle to try to find the sweet spot.

In the end we couldn't totally erradicate it and from further research I believe that due to the age of the engine there has been some stretch in the timing chain which prevents timing from being set accurately. I was planning at some stage to fit a piper cam so when the time comes I will fit a duplex timing chain at the same time which should resolve that.

Friends' comments so far range from 'bloomin' Hell!' to 'I think you should upgrade your brakes!', so that bodes well. ;D

Now my mechanic friend has returned from Malta I have broken the bad news about the leaking core plug(s) and that it will be a gearbox out job but he seems unphased by that which is good. Ho-hum, onwards and upwards!

[stefan]

never a dull day mate

[33grinder]

It gets worse Stef. There are three or four core plugs at the rear between engine and gearbox and I don't know which one is leaking so guess I'll have to buy them all as I want to start and finish the job the same day. ;D

[stefan]

Core plugs are cheep enough mate keep the kettle on and it will fly by

[33grinder]

I think it should be easy enough. Four bolts for the prop shaft, about eight or so on the gearbox to engine and a couple on the gearbox braket. I'm lucky that I can do it on a four poster and use a gearbox stand.

Only thing that concerns me is I reckon if I'm taking the gearbox out then it's best to renew all the core plugs whereas my mate who I'll assist in doing the job says no, just replace the one which is leaking.

[spunkymonkey]

He's got a point.

There's always a slight risk that a new plug doesn't seal properly (they're not exactly high-tech after all!) and by replacing them all you're increasing the chance of that happening. As long as the others show no sign of seepage or movement in the past I'd tend to agree with him and leave well alone.

Once they're in place and sealed they don't generally give problems unless the block gets a little too cold (or a lot too hot)

[33grinder]

Things have been quiet on the forum this week, apart from the happening gang but I wouldn't know what they're up to!

If plans are afoot to save Biddy, then great stuff guys!

Anyway, life can sometimes be dull and boring and we cannot all live the lives on Eastenders (or 'Corrie' I believe you have north of Watford Gap) where something is happening in your life every five minutes. For this very reason I thought I would post some photos of my last Rover club meet.

Yes, the core plug(/s) is/are* still leaking (*delete as appropriate) and I was anxious about making the journey to Duxford as this meet was out of the badlands and into neighbouring Cambridge to meet with their club members.

I needn't have worried, having topped up the levels before setting off and despite the sat nav delivering me to the train station rather than the place I actually wanted to go to (sound familiar Matt? ;D) in this case a pub off the A505, it all turned out good eventually, despite the roadworks on the M11 which ground to a halt when some numpty decided to drive his Vauxhall Astra into a ditch. Mind you, I do share his view of the later bodied Astra!

But no, the temperature gauge held. I arrived a little cold, having cracked the window to have a smoke and then leaving the window down to clean the air, but not using the heater, because bizarrely it makes the temperature gauge go UP when you switch it on.

The SD1 club isn't so big in the Cambridgeshire area. There were only a couple of SD1s, mainly the Essex crew who made it up, the other Rovers being P6s of which I regret that I didn't take any photos.

There was however a reason for this, insofar as a car turned up at our Essex meet (which I missed) but was going to be at Saturday's meet. It is a series one pick-up truck, totally unique and professionally converted when the car was still relatively new. Plenty of bracing went in at the time, it is all very sturdy. The tarp was custom made for it. You'll also note it has wide arches blended in and some american wheels which despite the high profile I think suits it. She is a V8 and also running on LPG. The fuel inlet for this can be seen adjacent to the tow-hitch. Lee, the owner paid £1,200 on e-bay for her.

The interior is modded with a custom dashboard and Lee is adapting some leather bucket seats for her. What a dream car. Unique, no snobbery as to what is/isn't correct for it, and the chance to customise the car to suit your needs.

She's a strong vehicle, Lee earlier volunteered when his boss needed a gearbox picking up, but his boss failed to tell his it was a bus gearbox. She coped with carrying that.

Anyway, here's some photos.









There was much good banter and I left and by that time it was absoultely p!ssing it down with rain. An uneventful journey to my friend Martin's workshop ensued, with the temperature gauge rising a little, but I had to keep the windscreen demisted! And why is it that mindless cretin boy racers always travel in packs of threes and, there being nobody in front of me for a good two hundred yards, when overtaking have to pull over 30 feet afterwards leaving me absolutely no visibility. This is not what you want in a motor the size of the Rover that wallows like a whale (not for the lack of new suspension components that is) with brittle tyres in the lashing rain.

Anyway, rant over, I get to Martin's where he has kindly bought me a tool from his local Mac man which I had been after for a while.

Problem is, if I want to work on Gavina, I need to open the garage door. Fine in the daytime, at night though, the garage door, being an up and over type, blocks the strip light so I cannot see. So artificial light needs to come in, then there's messing around with a lead light etc.

So I could push Gavina back further within the garage, but that is the inner sanctum of the Grinder household, the only room in the house where smoking is allowed and where many parties end up. I even have Sky in there. Sad I know, but every man needs a refuge!





Sorry about the mess, if I had realised I was going to take the photos I would have tidied up first! ;D

So, what's the answer then. Well, it's this:



There's nothing new in wearing a light on your bonce, coal miners have been doing it for years! The advantage is that this light is that, very light. It uses three AA batteries and has an on/off switch. I can use it in the inky black outside Martin's workshop at night to help find the lav. Wherever you look, you see! Why I've been messing around with lead lights I don't know. The light has a year's guarantee and emits 56 lumen (whatever that means). It's jolly bright, even in a fully lit up workshop I created extra light, a bright light with a bluish tint as one would expect from LEDs (it has six of them). It cost £22. Mac aren't the cheapest but I am sure the quality will make it worth it. It is also water resistant and impact proof.

Well, that's all for now I guess.

Cheese,

33G.

[dafdaffer]

thats fine i live under the stairs.... in the cupboard with the shoes and coats

ps are the dog biscuits a snack for you ;D

Paul

[33grinder]

Well, it's one step up from the last house, the shed at the end of the garden! The missus used to call me on the mobile to tell me that dinner is ready. But now the side door to the garage is opposite the kitchen so I can keep an eye on things! ;D

The biscuits are for my mutt, Harvey. He can be a nuisance, if he gets into the garage sometimes the only way to get him out is to throw a dog biscuit into the kitchen then shut the door after him! I also give him a biscuit when I leave for work.

Not the best photo but here you go:

[dafdaffer]

my son is called harvey and he's a nuisance ;D

he comes into my cupboard and demands numberjacks or postman pat on, he then pulls all of the DAF pictures of the wall.

its quite cool that you can get your car in your sitting room ;D

[33grinder]

Thanks. I used to have a Fiat 126 in there which gave me more space. I was worried when I bought Gavina that she may be taking up my chillin' space, but I needn't have worried. Aparently the last owner used to keep a Ferrari in there, so it must be a decent size garage.

What is it about Haveys then? Really, when people ask whether Mrs. Grinder and I consider having another child, we tell them we have the dog, so it is like having two children already! ;D

[33grinder]

I'm really peeved today

I received my tax reminder earlier this week so thought I'd best go to the DVLA website and renew my road tax. The reminder says £104.50 for six months, yet when I went on line you can imagine my disappointment to discover that it's been hiked up to £112.75!!

To compound matrees further, if a certain government hadn't scrapped the rolling exemption she would be tax free by now being of 1984 vintage.

Hey ho, I'll get off my soap box now! ;D

[33grinder]

I guess you're right Richard, my Rover's tax band comes from the 'is it under or over two litres?' category, so if you're going to go over then you might as well do it in style! I do however think that my local Shell petrol station should contribute towards Rover's running costs given the amount of petrol I buy from them!! ;D

I guess the only way to avoid it in a non-exempt car is to run something like Mrs G's 500 1.2 pop, which she taxes for £35 a year, but where's the fun in that?

[33grinder]

I remember those days Richard!

As a 17 year old I saved all my Esso tiger vouchers (one for every £5 spent!!) and that got my my crockery set for the bottom draw, ready for the day I would eventually get my own gaf.

Oh, and not forgetting the glass tumblers too, of course!! ;D

There's nothing like finding letters from old flames, especially the saucy ones!! Unfortunately those went when I moved in with Mrs G!!!