Yesterday ended up being quite a busy mess, even in addition to the new arrival turning up so I didn't get nearly as much time to look into it as I would have liked, and it was well into the evening before I could even think about starting to write things up. So apologies this is a little later than I'd planned - You're essentially getting yesterday's update while I'm between jobs this morning. Things weren't helped yesterday by only really being able to spend 30 minutes or so outside at a time before staring to seriously overheat, so that further hurt my efficacy where actually getting anything done was concerned.
Right on time, the car arrived. Delivered by
Walsgrave Transport who I've used several times now and have always been fantastic to deal with. Felt rather guilty that I'd completed neglected to account for it being the second day of the school term and warn them about it, still we made things work.
Unlike the last couple of cars I've had delivered by them, this one was actually able to start up and drive off the transporter under its own power and into the parking space, which definitely made things easier. The BX was a particularly awkward one given the lack of a footbrake or more than 3mm of ground clearance without the engine running. With the Rover now on the drive I could get a look around it a bit more properly. Given the asking price I really didn't dig too deeply when I looked at it at the seller's place as provided that it wasn't rotten and that all the annoyingly expensive bits on cars of this age like trim were present I knew I was still getting a decent deal.
So let's take a closer look at what I've got myself into.
The sole item in the glovebox seems somewhat foreboding...
I think a new fuel filter will probably be on the cards...
Why can't more companies provide this information under the bonnet?
The boot also turned out to be full of mysteries, I've barely even touched this yet.
Need to get a cover on at least the positive terminal of that battery, it is giving me serious anxiety from a fire safety perspective. Especially with that wheel sitting right next to it.
So, onto the issues. Which we absolutely knew that there would be.
The most obvious probably being that we currently have the rare Rover V7 engine. I'd hoped that this might just be a fouled up plug, but it appears that we do have a lame cylinder, with number 5 showing very little compression compared to the other seven - you can clearly hear this when cranking. We do have what looks to be exactly the same amount of movement at the rockers as on the neighbouring cylinders based on a really quick visual check, so I don't think we're looking at a wiped cam lobe. Further investigation needed. Optimistically it could be a bit of crud holding a valve open - though based on my previous track record I doubt I'm going to be that lucky!
The oil was badly, badly contaminated with ancient fuel (unsurprising given the car's been off the road for a long while, especially given we've discovered a dead miss on one cylinder). Seriously, it reeked like old paint stripper - I think what came out the sump smelled stronger than what went into the fuel tank. So before I did anything else I wanted to get that changed.
What came out was...well...was this.
Lovely.
No chunks nor any glitter I could detect when I drained the pan, but that's obviously not what you want in your sump. Looking at it, my immediate suspicion is water contamination due to head/gasket issues. Especially given we have a conspicuous lack of compression in one cylinder. Coolant level does look to be spot on though and as far as I can tell the system isn't being pressurised, the oil level wasn't high either - further investigation needed. Either way, I'm glad I made the decision to change it before running the engine beyond parking the car.
Reported electrical faults were that the oil warning light and both oil pressure/temperature gauges were inoperative. A quick check from the driver's seat added choke warning light, indicators (hazards were fine though), heater blower and radio to that list. This collection of things (not so much the radio) made me immediately suspect a power supply issue. Let's keep it simple and check fuses first before I go on a huge deep dive dismantling half the car.
Main fuse box on a P6B is behind the passenger side glove box in case you wondered.
Sure enough, the one labelled "ignition control" was blown. Legend in the fuse box calls for a 25A fuse, but only a 20A was fitted. It's also what went back in as it's the highest rating I had aside from a lone 35A (and no, I am NOT going to be that guy who just stuffs a larger fuse in!). Turning the ignition on then showed we had working indicators, no oil light, and an oil pressure gauge which immediately started heading towards full scale high.
Choke light had also sprung back to life.
Interesting that wasn't deemed important enough for a legend, just a blank amber light.
Thirty seconds under the bonnet later swapping the connections from the senders for the oil pressure gauge/warning light around and we had a working pressure warning light.
Thankfully when the engine was started, the light almost immediately went out (there WAS an element of trepidation there) and the gauge started to register pressure.
The only light I seemed to be missing then was the brake light, though lifting the level sensor out of the reservoir did bring the light on correctly so it must just be the handbrake switch which is either faulty or stuck.
The ammeter does move, though I'm not really convinced about its accuracy as it doesn't seem to move very far in either direction. Temperature gauge is an unknown, the engine hasn't run long enough for anything to register on there yet - I'll probably do a quick test today to at least prove the gauge operates. Fuel gauge is also an unknown, it's not showing empty - but equally I don't think it's moved. Though I have only thrown two gallons in the tank so not sure whether I should really expect it to move visibly from that much fuel - that's not going to make a huge dent on a 15 gallon tank.
I know it's nothing much in the grand scheme of things, but having got at least the dash from "mostly dead" to this stage felt like at least some progress.
The main beam light is actually working there, it's just really really dim.
At least I have some verification now that I do actually have some oil pressure, which was the main target of that exercise.
The radio still doesn't work, but at least does look rather tidier now I've pushed it properly back into the dash and reassembled the little cubby hole above it.
Answers on a postcard as to what these switches do. Guessing based on the absence of a switch for it anywhere else that one is the rear screen heater, the other not a clue.
It's not a car that's devoid of nicely done little details. The rear quarter light mechanism for instance.
Little covers over the locks to keep water out.
No shortage of chrome either.
Definitely channels proper 60s muscle car vibes in the styling from the front.
That's about as far as I got yesterday - well save for the obligatory couple of photos after dark when I went to see how much of the dash lighting was working.
Somewhat surprisingly the answer appeared to be "all of it."
I'd always been curious to see how the central control panel was lit based on its construction - edge lit from below was the answer.
So that's as far as we've got so far.
Watch this space over the next couple of days as I investigate things further.
It was perfect today when my house was, for a time, sans windows!
