In the first part of this journey, I had travelled about 250 miles from home to Kent. I was in high spirits about the car and looking forward to the rest of the journey. The next stint saw me drive to Solihull. That meant another battle with the M25 so I left fairly early in the morning. This was a Bank Holiday after all. That strategy worked well and while the orbital was certainly busy, I barely had to drop out of fifth gear.

Once on the M40, things improved dramatically. As I was ahead of schedule, I took the unusual step of going into fuel-saving mode. A 60mph cruise. It certainly made a dramatic difference to noise levels. Instead of buzzing incessantly, the engine was near-silent. This was extremely relaxing. I may have even selected BBC Radio 3 on the wireless. I managed to avoid buying Werther’s Originals and a tartan blanket, but did go as far as to stop at a garden centre for a nice cup of tea. Sure beats the manic rush of the South East.

After a successful evening of beating a friend at Scrabble, it was then off to Northamptonshire. Again, I was in no rush and found myself heading towards Coventry – where there was a Transport Festival that very weekend. Once again, the smart phone came in handy and I was able to discover that there was a road run, that very day. It made sense to try and meet it, so off I went to rural Warwickshire, very close to a village I called home for several years.

A Swift, a Beetle, a Jag and a ropey old Rover

You can just spot the Rover in the background of this picture of a Swift – a little-known Coventry manufacturer that sadly left this world in 1931. Note excellent headgear. I was truly in seventh heaven here as all manner of wondrous machinery paraded past. Static shows do bore me. It’s so good to see even really old vehicles heading out for a drive. There were over 400 vehicles, but I sadly didn’t have time to watch them all – or listen to them. The Ferrari 250GT sounded glorious in exactly the way an F40 didn’t. Bentleys wafted past while Triumph Vitesses attempted to use sonorous decibels to hide their Herald origins.

I headed to Northamptonshire for a night with more friends and the utterly addictive world of Mythbusters. Oh and they let me drive their Citroen XM, which only made me want one even more. Certainly, it was more comfortable than the Rover, and far better over unsmooth roads. However, after a bright and breezy start the next day, it was to Rockingham Motor Speedway I headed, just 20 minutes away.

The weather was bloody appalling, but a few hardy souls still came out to play. The day was made up of static displays, tea-drinking and then, for those of a lively disposition, an introductory track session. I skipped this bit, but did opt for a session on the skid pan – primarily to test the Uniroyal RainSport 3 tyres I’d had the Rover equipped with.

Rover finds another Citroen companion at Rockingham

Sadly, no photos exist of my hilarious antics aboard the Rover, but much fun was had. The tiled surface offered as much grip as sheet ice and even my tyres couldn’t save me. The ‘kicker’ that induces a tail slide I found quite easy to counteract. Am I surprisingly gifted or were the tyres an unfair advantage? I went through and lifted off the throttle and much spinning occurred! Not just the tyres then. I was impressed though. Even on doused tarmac, the car remained fully in control. It took yanking the handbrake on at 40mph to induce a rather hefty slide. Impressive.

I was glad I’d had this opportunity to test the limits in the wet as the M in M6 appeared to stand for Monsoon. There was horrific standing water, yet the Rover felt planted and comfortable. In fact, I’d say that’s the only downside of the tyres. Perhaps they inspire a bit too much confidence.

A few hours later, I was home. The Rover had averaged 37mpg again, which is mightily impressive given the on-skidpan hoonery it had endured. Even better, it appears not to have used a drop of oil. Changing it before departure, even though it wasn’t yet due, has clearly helped clean up those piston rings. I haven’t seen any puffs of blue smoke either. If I’ve cured the Honda D-series blue smoke issue with a simple oil change  – it worked with my smoky Sirion – then I will be pleased.

Now, the Rover can rest. The 2CV is being prepared (well, I changed the gearbox oil) for the 2CVGB National meeting on Anglesey this weekend, which includes the 24-hour 2CV race and hopefully a chance for some on-track antics for us non-race drivers too. Should be fun!

According to the Logic of the Internet ExpertS (LIES), buying a Rover 200/400 with the K-Series engine is about as sensible as trying to use rattlesnakes for shoe laces. “Oh they’re hideously unreliable and the head gaskets ALWAYS go. You want one with the reliable Honda engine.”

I’m not convinced.

For a start, I really rate the K-Series engine. Yes, OMGHGF is possible, but then that’s the case with LOTS of engines. Even BMWs, Hondas and Toyotas – the latter’s diesels as fitted to the Lucida and Hilux Surf seem to use cylinder heads made out of rice paper. For sure, there are some weaknesses in the K-Series that seem to make it more prone than most, but the news certainly isn’t all bad. 100bhp from a 1400cc engine isn’t too shabby, and they’ll deliver in excess of 40mpg too.

Rover gets new boots. Sills apparently quite solid!

But, I’ve got a Honda with the super reliable, bullet proof Honda engine. Only it’s all a bit myth. The Honda engines can blow head gaskets too. Worse, they seem absolutely shocking for piston ring problems. I know this because my 416 will regularly pump out a cloud of blue smoke. That can mean only one thing – it’s burning oil. A quick search of various forums backs this up as far from unusual. From 80,000 miles upwards, it’s really rather common. Given that I know of K-Series engines with over 200,000 miles on them, the battle between the two engines is looking far from one-sided.

I’m not fretting just yet. Cheap motoring is full of situations like this. The Daihatsu Sirion was an oil burner when I got it and they also suffer from piston ring issues. Despite it only covering 2000 miles since its last oil change, I decided to do it again before thrashing it all the way to Northern Scotland. The Sirion was then vastly better. I shall employ a similar technique with the Rover. It’s not so much wear that’s the issue, but carbon forming around the ring, preventing it from sealing properly against the cylinder wall. This seal is necessary to keep the oil in the sump from squirting into the cylinders and making your car look (and smell) like a two-stroke. What didn’t help was Rover changing the recommended oil change period from 6000 miles to 12,000! I’ve also got no history with mine, so it could well have been neglected even more than that during its 85,000 miles.

I shall therefore treat it to an oil change, and will do so again in another few thousand miles. Hopefully that will help. I’m also hoping to get the timing belt replaced – again the lack of history is a concern. Has it ever been replaced? It should have been at around 60,000 miles, but there’s no way of knowing. Five years is generally considered a good innings for a cambelt anyway, so even if it was replaced at 60,000, that could be years ago for all I know.

Other minor improvements have also been made. Touch-up paint has been carelessly applied to previously rusty (treated and zinc primered) areas. It looks crap close-up, but will do from a distance. I’ve also fitted a missing piece of trim to the rear wheelarch and replaced the disfunctional clock. The main change since I last wrote about it is the fitment of four brand new Uniroyal RainSport 3 tyres. A-rated for wet weather grip, they certainly give a lot more confidence than the very worn/Chinese mix it wore before. A full alignment check has also improved things – the tracking was out front and rear. I’m looking forward to properly testing these tyres later in the month.

Can you spot the new bit of trim? It’s tiny

I’ve got some serious mileage to do in this car later this week too. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m liking this car a lot more than I expected to.

If a Citroen 2CV can do it, and a Land Rover can do it, and a Rover P6 can do it, many Mercs can do it so why can many cars NOT do it?

I talk of course of the ability of a car to provide warm air to the windscreen and/or feet, while also supplying cool air to the face. A Citroen BX can’t do it, a Saab 9000 finds it a struggle and I’m pretty sure my Alfa Romeo 164 found such a scenario too perplexing.

Happily, my Rover 400 CAN do it. I spent a decent chunk of today driving around in horrendous weather. To keep the windscreen clear, I had to direct warm air upon it. But it’s summer, so I don’t really want to heat up the interior, which is why being able to use the face-level vents to provide fresh air to ones nostrils is so pleasant.

Rover’s ventilation is rather wonderful

The magic happens thanks to that slider, bottom right in the picture above. Though it doesn’t much seem to reduce the air flow when you move it…

However, I’m still very glad of it! With air-conditioning becoming more prevalent, such controls aren’t really needed. That’s because air-con dries the air, so you can set it to a comfortable temperature and still see where you’re going – though I don’t much like the way it also dries out my sinuses.

That makes the set-up in the Rover just about perfect. The 2CV is rather more direct about it – just open the flap beneath the windscreen – but it’s still a feature I welcome. That was refined somewhat on Dyanes, with individually controlled air vents at each end of the dashboard – though it must be said that I once had hail come flying in during a particularly bad storm, so simple isn’t always best!

I still find it odd that manufacturers found it acceptable to do away with any form of fresh air ingress. Quarter lights had their uses, but then they became fixed to boost security, and then vanished altogether. I guess it’s much more simple to not bother with fresh air vents, which is presumably why Vauxhall and Ford did away with them – other mainstream manufacturers followed suit.

Of course, more ventilation joy comes from the tilt/slide sunroof. That is also a good way of bringing more fresh air in as well as more natural light. I really am starting to like this car an awful lot! Apart from the lack of rear wiper perhaps. That is annoying. Mind you, I’m not sure I could fit four full-size tyres in the boot of a 200 hatchback. Swings and roundabouts as ever!

A week today, I was sitting in The Midlands, frantically browsing the internet to find a car to buy and drive home in. The things we do to avoid three hours on a train.

Eight days and 250 miles later, I’m very pleased with the way my emergency purchase has panned out! In the past two days, I’ve been tackling issues. The wheels have been balanced to cure an annoying wobble and the loose catalyst heat shield has been silenced with an exhaust clamp. I’ve also had a new oxygen sensor fitted, which means the Check Engine light has finally gone away. A frustrating rattle from the back end turned out to be the bars that hold the boot open. A bit of insulation tape padding cured this. Obviously, there was a fair ol’ burst of sticker removal too.

Rover receives rectification

But the more I drive this car, the more I like it. A lot of people seem to write the car off as nothing but a Honda wearing Rover badges. That’s seriously unfair. Honda were not at all keen on the MacPherson strut front suspension for a start, preferring double wishbones (as used on the Japanese-market Concerto). Rover won out though, using its experience at providing good European-friendly suspension. It’s a good history too, when you consider the different techniques used – baffling bulkhead-mounted springs on the Rover P6, Hydrolastic, Hydragas, rubber cone, torsion bars. With the Rover SD1, Spen King even proved that a simple live rear axle with coil springs could be good!

I digress. Rover also had the main say on the interior, and that’s one reason it’s such a happy place to sit. It’s one of those cars that just feels ‘right’ as soon as you clamber aboard. There’s a hint of Honda-esque low scuttle, but it’s not too low. Visibility is superb and the steering wheel, which has a surprising amount of rake to it, feels wonderful in the hand.

This is a lovely place to sit

What really impresses is that it’s nice to drive quickly, but also relaxing due to the lack of engine revs. I was pretty sure it’d be a rev-happy monster, and it just isn’t. I also thought it might be a bit genteel – perhaps because the flat cap brigade like them so much. It isn’t though. It has a lovely poise about it when cornering, and the steering is surprisingly pleasant. A touch light perhaps, but not alarmingly so.

The power steering pump does make alarming noises though – I fear for its future! Other than that though, the car seems really good. I’m hoping to get the sill patched up tomorrow and then it’s just a case of driving it and seeing how much I like it in a few week’s time!

Well, almost. I do have one big problem with the car and I don’t know what to do about it. Dating from 1992, this car is a late pre-facelift model. But it now wears a later grille and later two-tone bumpers. At this age, it should have grey bumper and grey lower body colour. The rear lights are also incorrect later items and of course that silly 200GTi rear spoiler is definitely not right! The alloy wheels are from a later Rover too. It’s very wrong. EDIT – actually, this car is from a rare period when they did have body-coloured lower edges and small indicators, but no fancy grille.

Many details are incorrect. Do I care?

But, I’m not sure I’m really bothered. My 2CV is nowhere near stock condition after all. It also has the ‘wrong’ bumpers and many detail inaccuracies. I wanted to put my own stamp on it and I did. Why would I try and make it look like original factory spec? Is it not better for a car to show how it has evolved over the years?

So, I’m not sure I care about the wrongness of my Rover. It’s a nice looking car as it is, so let it be, let it be.

With the mileage covered since purchase on Tuesday now standing at over 210, I’m able to reflect more on my feelings about the car. I don’t feel any disappointment that it isn’t a 600 –  I will still own one at some point.

There’s naturally a big nostalgia kick with this car. The 200 (project R8) was launched in 1989 – the year I started Secondary School. The 400 saloon followed on early in 1990. In 1993, I had my school work experience at the Land Rover factory, and I still  remember being driven up to the Gaydon test facility in a Rover 200 – though I can’t recall which engine it had. I do remember that the bloke, a test driver, borrowed it from a colleague, and then gave it a darned good thrashing. “It’s good to blow the cobwebs out,” he said. As he spent his days driving the Discovery Mpi, he was probably glad to be driving something with a bit of oomph…

Rover’s high point?

A few years later, my dad owned a 414 – an M-plate one, so fairly near the end of production for the R8. I was driving myself by then, so don’t have many memories of travelling in it other than the occasional time I borrowed it. These cars were everywhere at this time though, especially if you travelled around Longbridge – where the cars were built alongside Honda’s Concerto.

This may cause arguements, but I reckon the R8 was the first Rover since the P6 that was actually any good. Don’t get me wrong, I like pretty much everything Austin-Rover/BL built, but the R8 was a real move forward. Maybe that was the influence of parent company BAe, but I’m sure it has more to do with the increasingly happy relationship that Rover and Honda enjoyed. The Triumph Acclaim was the first flowering of this relatoinship, but really was just a Honda Ballade with different seats. The SD3 Rover 200 that followed was pretty good, but also clearly very Honda, even if the 216 used a Rover engine. The Rover 800 may have shared the Honda Legend’s underpinnings, but managed to look and feel very different indeed. A shame then that build quality was just not quite there.

The R8 changed that. It had the quality but you also felt that Rover had a far larger say in the design of the car than what had gone before. Honda’s double-wishbone suspension was replaced by good old MacPherson struts up front and a clever-Accord-esque four-link rear suspension. The driving experience was a great deal better too, with far more concession to the European market. Greater ride comfort allied to improved (if still not perfect) ergonomics. Now the 216 used a Honda engine while the 214 used Rover’s new K-Series engine. A great engine in my experience, ruined by cost-cutting and production issues that harmed reliability. Something British Leyland knew a lot about! Head Gasket Failure became sadly common-place, but far less so on earlier cars. When it began production, it was a corker – 96bhp from just 1.4-litres and also 45mpg economy. It made Ford’s Escort and Vauxhall’s Astra seem woefully outdated.

The Rover 600 was perhaps even better, being more like the 800 and looking very different to its Accord sibling. But all was not well. The re-skinned 800 was not entirely successful, hindered by a need to retain the flat roofline of the earlier model. Then BMW took over and the Honda relationship was utterly doomed. 1995’s new Rover 400 was also a good car – the ride in particular was especially fine from personal experience – but it somehow lacked the clean-cut lines of the R8 and the view of it has been somewhat tainted by the fact that it remained in production, as the 45, until the very end of MG Rover in 2005. Also, the main beam was absolutely hopeless. I certainly remember that! We flogged it and bought our 1986 Mini instead. I think the headlamps were better.

Our previous Rover 400. Looks were always a bit bland

So, I shall just bask in the enjoyment my R8 gives me. It demonstrates just how good Rover could be, and perhaps could have remained if the Honda partnership had been maintained. After all, platform sharing is no bad thing. Just ask Volkswagen.

I’d hoped to have started work on one of my videos by now, but I had a sticky problem. As you’ll recall from yesterday’s Blog, the Rover came covered in stickers. Most were removed yesterday, but some nasty residue was left.

Being keen as ever to avoid spending money, I raided various cupboards for various potions. WD40 can sometimes be good, but not this time. White Spirit was similarly hopeless. Brake and Clutch cleaner was very, very good, for a few seconds. Then you were left with an even bigger sticky mess than you started with. I even resorted to petrol, which did remove the residue, but turned it into very sticky, petrol-stinking globules. Even then, I was still having to use a credit card (not an actual credit card obviously as I hate them) to scrape the sticky gunk off. Ugh. Horrible!

Eventually, I dug out my bottle of Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover. It doesn’t spray particularly well, but it doesn’t evaporate either. I gave areas a good soak, then rubbed very lightly with a cloth and left for another minute or two. Then it was out with the non-credit card again for yet more scraping. Bloomin’ hard work, but the gunk I was scraping off was at least not sticky with this treatment.

The end result is a car that now looks really good from only a few feet away rather than at least 30 feet.

A couple of day’s of graft have paid off well

Yes, I’ve left the blocky door graphics and Hamster Racing stickers for now. I quite like them. It has been very fulfilling to see the car emerge from its stickered state. I’m up to about 160 miles in it now and I’m really enjoying it. With the 108bhp Honda D16 engine under the bonnet – a single-cam but 16-valve unit – it has more than enough power. Not that it’s a rev-heavy monster – it really isn’t. I love the generous spread of torque it possesses. Most unusual for a multi-valve engine, but perhaps due to the unusually long-stroke – 90mm compared to a 75mm bore. That’s unusual at a time when ‘square’ engines (where bore and stroke are very similar) were the rage. For instance, the K-Series has a 79mm bore to 75mm stroke – great for power, but not so good for low down grunt.

Boring stats aside though, the engine suits the car very well. It doesn’t feel like a car to fling into corners with abandon in the same way that it doesn’t feel like it wants you to utterly thrash it. That said, it is very composed when cornering, it’s just that the numb steering doesn’t really encourage you to go for it. It almost has that classic Mercedes-Benz feel of making you just want to relax. What’s the rush? You don’t get stressed by gearchanges either, as the shift is delightful and rarely needed. It’ll slog its way up hills with no downchange needed. Wonderful.

There is still that Check Engine light, but reading the blinking light on the ECU tells me it needs a new Lambda sensor. Shouldn’t be too expensive if I can get the old one out of the exhaust manifold… At least it’s nothing serious.

Part One Here

Having said goodbye to the Maestro van and it’s happy new owners, I now had to do that public transport thing. A browse on my phone told me I needed two changes. I bought tickets – £2.30 well spent – then went and asked at the ticket office which route I’d actually be taking! The lady told me, then said my train to Birmingham New Street was about to depart. I said thanks and ran to the platform, forgetting the route as I went.

I quite like a bit of rail travel, and I do mean a bit. There’s something very interesting about the comings and goings – all those human stories going on all around you. However, I’d committed. I wasn’t going to catch a 3-hour train home, I was going to catch 3 trains and buy a car! At New Street, a very helpful guard from London Midland told me not only where to get off the train, but also how to find the next one. It was at some Smethwick station I’d never heard of and it seemed to have several levels. There, I caught a train that looked like it had steamed straight out of the eastern bloc.

I’ve never seen a train like this one before

No destination board, no helpful signs on board, though the seats were fabulous. I settled back and eagerly awaited an announcement to tell me I was on the correct train to Stourbridge and not heading off to Siberia. Thankfully, it came. Some time passed, and I eventually arrived at Stourbridge Junction. Here I was collected by the owners of my new motor vehicle. After a spot of sight-seeing (they were checking out an MGF they’d spotted for sale) we arrived. A rudimentary check was carried out, paperwork signed and the Maestro van balance was handed over. Just £300 and I had a newer car with tax and test and a collection of stickers that needed removing.

A quality purchase and no mistake! I think

It was an unusual experience. I’d not driven a Rover R8 (these 200/400 models) since my Dad owned a 414Si many moons ago. I seem to recall that after a session on a private test track, I discovered that the steering was horribly light at naughty speeds. Sorry Dad. Some things never change. I found myself on the M5 before long, and the steering was rather too light at speed. There is a shimmy at the wheel too, so I’ll get the wheel balancing checked.

It goes nicely though. It’s an engine that’s quick to rev, but not particularly punchy. Perhaps the unfashionable long stroke is to blame for that. To be honest, I’ve always felt that this engine was a waste of space given how enthusiastic the K-Series 1.4-litre engine is. That has 96bhp compared to the 108 of this model, but there’s very little real world difference. Maximum torque is produced at a rather high 4800rpm but the torque curve seems quite flat. It’s an engine happiest between 2000 and 4000rpm, which is good. I didn’t want to rev it as I’ve no idea when the timing belt was last replaced…

The clutch isn’t ideal. It has a long travel but is also very light with little feel. I remember feeling much the same about a later Rover 414 ‘bubble’ we owned a few years back. It ate up the motorway miles with little drama though, demonstrating an excellent main beam but letting the side down with a somewhat jiggly ride. Perhaps the alloy wheels and 55-profile tyres are to blame. They’re not really my cup of tea (and nor is the boot spoiler, taken from a 200 hatchback).

How to deal with a ‘Check Engine’ light

It wasn’t all plain sailing. The seller had admitted in his advert that the Check Engine light kept coming on – but as he’d driven to Benidorm and back without issue, he’d decided not to worry about it. I attempted to cover it up with some random black gunge that was dotted around the interior.

After a quick stop at Telford, I decided to remove some items from the boot that were rolling around. I should have left them as I accidentally dropped the heavy bootlid (because of that spoiler perhaps) and bent the latch. No chance of fixing it so I had to push on with another warning light displayed. Perhaps the spoiler actually does generate downforce (yeah, right) as the bootlid stayed pretty much closed all the way home.

The drive home gave plenty of room for reflection. I hadn’t got the car I wanted, but I had got a nice car. My 600 dreams will have to remain on hold for now, but I shall enjoy some Rover/Honda motoring in the meantime. Work has already started on stripping the stickers off. My fingers are very sore!

Here’s how she looks now.

Most stickers gone, some residue remains

There’s a good car starting to emerge I reckon, though I did accidentally wire brush a hole in the nearside sill! A common rot spot. Even with the wrong grille and silly stickers though, it’s a reminder that the R8 was a really good looking car.

Yes, wrong lights too, not as wrong as spoiler!

So, naturally any new car has a To Do list. What’s to do here? Firstly, more stickers need to come off. I’m not planning to get into Hamster Racing anytime soon, though I do like the block pattern on the front doors. In mechanical terms, I need to deal with a loose catalyst shield. It rattles in a rather unsettling manner, removing the acres of streed cred that driving a sporty Rover provides. I’m going to have to have a good hard think about the timing belt too. I may be able to do the work myself, which would help. I aim to find out what’s wrong with the Check Engine light too. There are some simple on-board diagnostics.

I’ll see how I get on with it though. I suspect it’ll stick around longer than the Maestro van did, but only because it isn’t a van. It’s so nice having visibility again!