Am I going mad?

M0T · 4 Apr 2006 at 17:48

After speaking to my cousin a bit about cars I have become strangely attracted to the idea of owning something a bit older than the average car.

More specifically I have been looking at Rovers....Rover Sd1 Vitesses. I just love the mean look they have plus the v8 engine as well as the idea of having a car to restore and work on.

Are these cars even any good (I know the police loved them)? Whats insurance like on them, I assume they would come under classic insurance and I may be able to get a limited mileage policy on it.

Lashout_UK · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:03

They rust like a barsteward. I looked at a shell of one, put my foot through the floorpan.

Can get a nice one for a grand and a bit though. Knew of a metallic blue TVR engined one, probably about 200bhp, 5 speeder, nice piece of kit.

Very heavy though and certainly not excellent handlers - they're GT's more than anything.

Norwich Union is about 400 quid for me on a standard Vitesse (3.5 - avoid the straight six or 4 cylinder ones, total dogs).

The 3.5's come fuelled with either SU HIFs, Stromberg CD175s, Single plenum fuel injection and rarest of all (Although there's lots about) Twin plenum form.

Standard single plenum is flexible enough, Twin plenum is bit of a white elephant, doesn't actually help much.

Best off with fitting an American intake, phenolic carb spacer (resin) and a Carfer AFB carb, best out there. That'll do you nicely. Get a fairly gentle cam, decent leads, plugs, exhausts, electronic ignition kit, ditch the viscous fan, might see you 180-210bhp without much effort.

M0T · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:05

The handling is not too much of a problem since I already have another car, the gt bit is quite good - one of the reasons I was looking at them was because they are supposed to cruise quite well whereas my Coupe is far too cramped for that.

Its either that or a Dolomite Sprint, which has no structural rust but the head gaskets gone.

Lashout_UK · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:09

Well, a Dolly Sprint engine can be had in GWO for ~200 quid, so might be worth considering......faster & better handling too, certainly a damn sight more attractive.

When you say no structural rust, what other rust is it suffering, and has it been standing long....

M0T · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:11

Its got rust all accross the roof and in the middle of some of the panels.

That ones my cousins, he got it a few years back and has spent a load of money on it, then the head gasket went on the way back from a classic car show.

He offered it to me for £500

Lashout_UK · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:14

Rust across the roof? Should be vinyl.

M0T · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:15

Well thats what I thought he said, we were pelting down a mountain at the time

But he had all the structural areas sorted it was just body panel rust.

Lashout_UK · 4 Apr 2006 at 18:18

Hmmmm.....could be worth looking at.

Bearing in mind if it's been standing for a year then it's automatically 500 quid to recommission the braking system :eek:

And changing the headgasket is much more involved on the Sprint, it could get 'interesting', easier to swap the lump for a known one.

Considering you could buy one of ebay with T&T for 800 quid, I know what I'd do

Or look into cheap SD1's, but like I said, you need to plough a lot of money into one before it becomes something that's fun to drive. Well, fun to drive fast, anyway