Richard Moss's 1990 Sterling

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:50 pm

Here's the restoration (so far) on my 1990 mk1 Rover 800 Sterling. All work has been done by me and I've tried to reuse the original bits where possible.

When I got the car it was probably heading for the scrapyard as the owner didn't have any desire to put it back together.

1990 mk1 827 Sterling manual, 95,000 miles. Azure blue over storm grey paint, with Prussian blue leather interior.

I got this back in November but couldn't really get much done to it until about March (due to bad weather and other commitments). My aim was to get it reasonably sorted by summer.

Jobs done over winter:

Replace driver's door window mechanism
Un-jam driver's side rear door lock and replace with serviceable item.
Replace cracked rear lights (one new, one good used)
Replace headlights with new items.
Un-jam sunroof
Fix driver's seat brackets and seatbelt
Replace a couple of interior trim items
Replace faulty bonnet release mechanism
Replace spark plugs, air filter
Un-jam all door locks (corroded and seized)
Fix inoperative hazard flashers

Left to do at Easter:

Replace clutch (I have a new Unipart one) - waiting on weather
Replace water pump and cambelt - items acquired, waiting on weather
Replace a couple of perished tyres
MOT!!!!!
Tidy up scabby body work - waiting on weather, too
Fit TWR bumpers and aftermarket spoiler and side skirts
Recharge aircon and fix/replace heater valve.
Fit LPG conversion
Sell my mk2 Sterling

The look I'm aiming for is like this, but with the standard wheels and ride height:

I'll do the respray myself but have yet to decide on the colour. The originals are easiest but I fancy Caribbean blue all over (no grey lower half).

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:51 pm

I managed to get access to the hangar at the flying school where I work, so that I could finally do the clutch change.

It went well enough, taking about 14 hours over 2 days as:
a) some things gave a bit of trouble,
b) as I anticipated, lack of familiarity with the 827 means it took longer and
c) I'm doing a load of those "while I'm at it" jobs.

The old one was completely shot - the friction plate was down to the rivets on one side and the friction material on the other side was breaking up. The pressure plate (clutch cover) had overheated to the extent that it had cracked but thankfully, the flywheel only had light scoring which I was able to polish out. It's hard to believe that it got that bad in 93,000 miles (although the condition of the rest of the drivetrain seems to back up the mileage).

Having a compressor, air powered tools, trolley jacks, engine hoist etc. makes the job manageable. I'm not overly keen to do another, though. There's also a parts washer in the hangar which is handy as the inside of the bellhousing had a thick, hard layer of caked on clutch dust all over it.

Problems:

All the bolts in the fore/aft gearbox support member were so tight that even the air powered impact wrench struggled - one took 15 minutes to free off!
Honda always do bolts up VERY tight - and this box has never been off so they're all still VERY tight (and 17 years old).
The brakes, mounts, crossmembers and suspension were all suffering from extensive surface corrosion, all of which had to be cleaned off.
Front brakes were seized and discs rusty (but are now freed off and discs cleaned up).
The tappet covers are leaking quite badly - I suppose I'll need new gaskets.
All the balljoint dust covers needed replacement (I had spare covers) but all the balljoints themselves are OK.
One steering rack gaiter needs to be replaced - I have a spare new one, and it will be done on sunday.
The differential oil seals may be past their best (they've gone hard)- I will have to get some just in case.
I discovered that the rust patch on the passenger side sill was worse than previously thought

Good bits

Nothing actually broke when being removed.
The gearlinkage roll pin came out easily enough and the UJ isn't worn.
The exhaust downpipe is in excellent condition.
Nothing appears to have been bodged in the past (although one water pipe has been repaired in an inventive manner).
None of the undercarriage was badly rusted and has all cleaned up well enough.
All driveshaft gaiters are still good.
PAS pipework isn't too rusty.
Some aspects of the job are actually easier than the T series box - the rear mounts are much easier to access and (especially useful) easier to refit!

Whilst I was at it, I made a bit of a start on some of the crusty bits of bodywork. I also treated all the front suspension, brakes and crossmembers to a coat of Hammerite and changed the engine oil and filter. I still have a precautionary water pump and cambelt change to do at some point.

In the hangar

Cruddy suspension

Cruddy brakes

Suspension and driveshaft out

Box off

Old clutch - sorry, rubbish pics

Box cleaned up a bit

New clutch in

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:52 pm

Some "after" pictures. My painting style is of the "slap it on" school, but it does the job.

Front left suspension

Hub/upright etc.

General view

Rusty sill

The sill was expected to take an afternoon to put right - so not too bad.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:53 pm

Sill repairs

I chopped out the old, rusty metal. The hole just seemed to get bigger and bigger!

Fresh metal was welded in and treated with Kurust.

Treated to a coat of Hammerite.

Sealant to smooth it out.

I've sprayed stone chip paint on it but forgot to take a piccie!

I also cleaned up the filler pipe (rusty as usual) and rear suspension and painted them up too.

Just the dodgy steering UJ to do now.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:54 pm

Progress as of 4th June.

Here's the spoiler:

It will have to come off to be sprayed but looks OK I reckon.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:55 pm

10th June.

I've been plugging away at the paintwork recently. The spoiler has been sprayed (aerosol) and all bar two of the rust patches have now been treated the same way. It's a bit blotchy because the aerosol isn't a perfect match, but it will do for a bit. The metallic grey lower section is OK but the blue is a bit too blue.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:56 pm

14th June:

Gold rear bumper removed, rubbed down, sprayed blue and refitted. LPG filler bracket (towbar) fitted at the same time.

Right rear suspension and brakes cleaned up and painted.

Right front and left rear arches painted.

Right rear door lower panel painted.

Plus numerous other paint jobs.

I'm going to leave the standard bumpers on for a bit - I'm still undecided as to whether the TWR ones would look better or not.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:57 pm

18th June last bits of pre-MOT test prep:

Replace a couple of blown bulbs and reseat a couple more with dirty contacts.
Adjust headlights.
Glue quarterlight trim in place.
Swap over a couple of wheels - can't send it to test with perished tyres.
Adjust boot spring tension to stop it falling on my head due to the weight of the spoiler.
Fit new number plates - ebay bargain at £12.25 for the pair (inc postage!).

The plates were ordered late sunday night and arrived in the post tuesday morning - excellent service. The seller is this guy:
[Cheap numberplate]

I took it for a quick test drive around the block - damn, it's quick! At least as fast as a standard Vitesse (maybe faster) and with a MUCH nicer noise. I'm really looking forward to using it.

Wednesday lunchtime MOT: first time pass and no advisories. The plan is to change the water pump and timing belt this weekend, then it will be my daily driver as of 1st July.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:59 pm

22nd June

I managed to change the timing belt and waterpump today - about 6 hours all in which, given that quite a few bolts were corroded, isn't bad for a first go. You know it's a bit of a bodge design when the gap between the cam pulley and chassis rail is narrower than the timing belt you're trying to slip through it!

The adjuster for the aircon belt has seized solid and didn't respond to WD40 and persuasion - so had to be removed, rather than just slackened off.

I have to say that Honda did not make the car service friendly - the bolts on the timing cover are all either a) inaccessible or b) invisible (several have to be done by Braille). Everything felt like trying to decorate your hallway from outside the house, working through the letter box.

They also do up the crank pulley bolt so hard that it breaks your 12v impact wrench and have to undo the bolt with a breaker bar wedged against the floor and a flick of the starter motor!

This is where the pump lives:

The old and the new:

Still it's all done and back together apart from the thermostat cover which broke when I was refitting it after changing the thermostat. Anyone have a spare?

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:00 am

June 28th:

Having previously broken the thermostat housing, yesterday I fitted a second hand replacement. I found that the rubber gaskets was so big that the stat wouldn't fit into the aperture, but without it the stat rattled around and would not stay put.

I ended up trimming the gasket down and slapping a load of instant gasket on it - it seems nice and watertight. Now I'll have to get some anti-freeze in there.

I'm also part way through fitting the LPG kit - the tank, filler and associated pipework are now in. Next is the main fuel pipe to the engine bay, followed by the induction plumbing.

Getting there.