1.8T Rover 75 Tourer HGF

[jbrown]

For sale is my 1.8T Rover 75 Tourer Connoisseur SE. Around 130,000 miles.

I bought this car through the forum in January of this year with suspected head gasket failure, with a view to fixing the problem as a project. After collecting the car on a trailer, I brought it back and set about getting the head off.

Once I got the head off, I spoke to some K-series specialists who informed me that it needed a light skim as there was indentation around the fire rings. I then took the head to Exon Race engines in Coalville who agreed to give the head a light skim, informing me that that there was plenty of metal left on it. I was very pleased with the results – it looked great!

I then set about reassembling it, re-sealing the cam-ladder with the correct sealant before replacing the head with an elastomer gasket (as the cylinder liner heights weren’t bad, but weren’t 100% even). I used brand new head bolts and fitted the uprated oil rail, all purchased from DMGRS.

Once reassembled, the car ran really well – I was chuffed! It worked well for about a week, throughout which I did a good number of miles, but then one evening I started it from warm and it decided to dump all of its coolant into the sump… all at once!

I’ve now had a couple of months to think about what to do with it, and I can’t justify spending any more on it. I’ve therefore decided to offer it for sale here for what I paid for it, which is £360.

I’ve spent a lot trying to fix it up to now with new parts from DMGRS including:
- DMGRS Elastomer Head Gasket
- BGA Head Bolts
- Uprated Oil Rail
- Dayco Cam-Belt
- Metal Cam-Belt Tensioner
- Cam Belt Cover (old one was cracked)
- New Cam Seals
- OEM Water Pump
- Inlet Manifold Gasket
- Exhaust Manifold Gasket
- Dayco Aux Belt
- Dayco Power Steering Belt
- 1.8 T Service Kit
…and so on.

I think the car is actually a lovely example of a Moonstone Green tourer, with all the usual Connoisseur SE refinements. It’s MoT’d until the 20/09/2023, and I think it would probably go through another. The only other big issue which I think is worth mentioning is that the rear suspension arms are looking crusty, but I think that’s probably the same for most 75s by now. The previous owner also informed me of an intermittent electrical issue with the lights, but I can’t comment on this as it’s never done it during my ownership. Apart from that it’s just silly stuff like a missing rear door card (£25 on ebay), and that it sits a bit low at the back.

Bodywork-wise its fairly straight, with just a few bumper scuffs here and there and some rust creeping in at the front edge of the bonnet.

With a bit of love, I think it could genuinely be a nice car – and I’d like to think that another enthusiast would like to try to give it that chance.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions – it will of course need collecting on a trailer.