Team-BHP - Restoration of 1994 Rover 800 Series 825 SLD

I am not sure if this thread belongs to some other section. I thought of Super-Cars & Imports in India first but then was double minded. Moderators Please Help.

Friends the Story began on Saturday when I received a call from my friend Ramesh. He sounded very excited about this new find.

Me and a few like minded friends were in search for a classy old imported car to restore. We didn’t wanted the car to be too old that we find it difficult to source parts. We had seen quite a few cars which included a classic car from Volvo which we saw at Borivali, Mumbai.

Ramesh saw this Green 1994 Rover 800 Series 825 SLD imported in India in 1998 and called me to explain the condition and details. We procured it on Sunday and got it shifted to Rameshs garage at Dahisar, Mumbai last evening.

The Car is in a non working condition right now. The Engine Bearing needs to be sourced and replaced. The car also needs new paint job and a cleanup job at a few places.

The List of features is too exciting.

Trip computer
ABS
Speed sensitive power steering
Self levelling rear-suspension
Power Wash
Front and Rear Electric windows
Electric sunroof (This is the main reason I got attracted when I saw it for the first time last week)
Heated Electric door mirrors
Vehicle Condition Monitor
Cruise Control
Air Conditioning
Electronic Traction Control
Electric Memory Drivers Seat

Have clicked some pictures last night but couldn’t get time to transfer and resize them for your delight but will defiantly do it tonight. As of now am posting reference picture of how this car looks like in original condition.

please: @ Need Help with 1. Colour Shade Card. 2. SunRoof Wiring Diagram.

The Rover 800 was the front wheel drive successor to the Rover SD1 or Standard 2000 as we know it.

It is based on the orignal Honda Legend floor pan but do not expect Honda like reliability though as only the floor plan and gear box are shared. Everything else is different. Being a 1994 car, it had the facelift that made it look a lot richer.

The diesel engine in this car (you said it was an 825D) is VM motori engine from Italy. Sourcing parts will not be too easy.

Build quality of this car was not the best, expect electrical issues. Parts are rare as the car was not considered as desirable as the SD1 so most cars are in the process of getting scrapped

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1186793)

Any particular reason for choosing this car as a restoration project? Do you guys want to restore just for the fun of it? Something like an MR2 (any generation) or an old Benz will be a lot more fun! This car is going to require some serious amount of $$$.

Hi GTO,

Thanks for moving the thread to the right place.

You are right. We just want to restore it for the fun of it as painting and other auto work will be an inhouse activity for us.

My friend Ramesh has already started working on the wirings being authorised service station for BOSCH we have access to most of the wiring diagrams.

We procured this car for approx 1.5L we have already sourced Engine parts. (Engine Bearing to be precise). the painting will cost another 20K approx plus we are estimating a few misc expenses which should not be more than another 30K.

There is a slight issue with the car the number on the Chassis and RC Book are completly different. if 1 or 2 charecters were different it would have been ok but the number is complely different.

A friend told me that most have the old imports have this kind of issues. Is it true?

Kindly suggest what can be done about it. I dont wanna go the wrong way to find a fix for the issue.

We have asked an RTO agent to find the history of the vehicle as per their records.

Let sleeping tigers lie as this may be a case of underinvoicing and the DRI will get involved unless it is a genuine admni glitch as underinvoiced cars have the id plates completely removed!!. This car seems to have been submerged in water say the 2005 deluge or the mileage on speedo has been tampered as the interriors seem to worn out or water damaged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by canonball (Post 1189691)

This car seems to have been submerged in water say the 2005 deluge or the mileage on speedo has been tampered as the interriors seem to worn out or water damaged.

Hi CanonBall,

How can u say that the Speedo has been tampered?

The car was unaffected with the 05 delug. The ECM and all the other electronic parts are fine. Only the wiring needs to be redone for a few sections.