Rover Sports Register Forum

That rear bumper looks good Richard

I've decided that I like the TWR bumpers after all - but I still can't decide what to do with the paint scheme as a whole.

That does look good, it's starting to come together now, I think the paint scheme is a personal choice, I would keep it the same colour as it is.

I've had another go at the bonnet today - a couple of cans of Halfords Azure Blue which seems to be a better colour match than the Tetrosyl version used before. It's still not great - it will only ever look right when I get around to doing a proper respray.



I've finally got round to posting up a photo of the mirror covers after their respray.

My car on the RSR stand at the NEC.

Confession time:

I'm seriously considering selling the Sterling and my Jag to buy one, bigger engined XJ40 to use as my daily driver.

Whilst I like the Jag, it is not particularly great on LPG. Underpowered to begin with, the loss of power on gas means that it feels dreadfully slow - and is frankly embarrassing on hills! It is better when fully warmed up, it has to be said, but is never going to sparkle.

I suspect that part of it is down to the mixer I'm using being too small, thus restricting the airflow too much - so I'll see if I can get a bigger one to try. I may open out the venturi on the mixer to see if that helps but there's only so much that can be done.

I've done the maths and the money saved from having one less car to tax, insure, MOT and maintain will more than pay for the increased fuel consumption (£5 per week for commuting). Until today I hadn't bothered to work out that one LPG equipped XJ40 for all my driving would be cheaper than using the the Sterling daily and the XJ occasionally.

The 2.9 is great apart from the lack of go - and working on it has given me a feel for how easy/difficult they are to run (no worse than an 800, just more expensive). Of course, I may just bung in a bigger engine - the XJ is actually remarkably solid all round and would be a good basis to build upon. It's almost as well specced as a Sovereign, too, and I've got ALL the electrics working (apart from the central locking which goes on strike every now and then).

I love the Sterling - but it's a manual, and I can't forgive it for that! I prefer big, big engined, automatic cruisers. A manual box on the Jag would offset some of the performance loss - but that would be missing the point.

Decisions, decisions.

I wish you lots of wisdom.

The Flying Dutchman wrote:I wish you lots of wisdom.

I wish I had just a little wisdom - that would be an improvement.

All plans on hold at the moment as my employer is going through a rough time right now and I don't even know if I'll have a job at the end of the month.

In the meantime, I've changed the two fast idle valves on the Sterling, fitting the items from my "spare" engine. This seems to have sorted out the excessive idle speed and made the car easier to drive.

Next job - sort out the rattly brake caliper on the front left (the anti-rattle shims are missing).

Things have settled down a bit on the job front - I still have a job, I'm still being paid (for now) so still have the car!

Update: December 20th 2008:

I cured another irritating fault today - an annoying rattle from the front left caliper. Fitting the chrome anti-rattle shims to the brake pads got rid of a noise that I've been putting up with since July! I had to do it this weekend as I won't be up to it next week, that's for sure.

I've also had a couple of decent tyres fitted to replace the Chinese budget tyres on the front and the car is transformed. I can now accelerate on wet roads and go around corners at a sensible speed.

I need to adjust the driver's door a bit - it's not quite aligned and is a bit noisy at speed. I'll have to see if it's possible to get a spanner on the hinge bolts.

Update: 24th Jan 2009:

Last weekend I replaced the backlighting bulbs on the trip computer - I can now seem the VCM panel in daylight and the labels for the buttons at night.

I've also made on major, but frustrating, discovery - saloon and hatchback headliners are NOT the same! The original on my Sterling was saggy and manky - so I decided to fit the one out of the 820 I'm breaking. It was not until I'd removed both and tried to fit the "new" one that I realised that the rearmost 3" or so are a different shape. Bugger - or words to that effect.

So, a choice. Refit the original one or fit the "new" one as best I can and live with a few gaps for a bit? I settled for the second option - it still looks better than before unless you're sitting right at the back(and I don't).

The original came out in one piece so I will pop into the upholsterers in town and see if I can pick up some suitable covering. Failing that, there's Wollies trimmers who can supply the right material. Once I've recovered it, it can go back in.

Update: 27th Jan 2009:

New wheels. It's sitting high at the front because the rear is full of wheels, tools, my trolley jack etc.