1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

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TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Mon Mar 26, 2018 3:43 pm

The car seems to be ever improving, I do get frustrated that I don't get much time to tinker with it.

New washer jets done! These have been annoying me for some time now, they keep getting bunged up with stuff so I bought the forum-recommended direct-fit alternatives with an improved spray pattern which i'm pleased with (found ebay link somewhere on here).

Old and new, was quite difficult getting the old tube connection elbow off of the old one, resorted to a pair of pliers and hoped for the best!
Image

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Much tidier, I did notice the laquer peel around them though...
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

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scoobyh123
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon Mar 26, 2018 5:54 pm

They do make a great improvement don't they Tom? I wouldn't go back to the ordinary jets now. Not to mention the fact they are cheaper for a pair delivered than Rimmers want for one jet! :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Sat Mar 31, 2018 12:35 pm

So new TPS arrived unexpectedly today, only ordered Thursday! Now successfully changed.

New and old, different part numbers and the new part is branded Ford?! So must be common to a multitude of cars.
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Rubber throttle body gasket housing/thingy still looks good. It was quite a fiddle to get anything on the bottom on the two retaining nuts, more so because of the LPG stuff in the way here, ended up using my smallest socket wrench and a two handed approach, one around each side of the TB.
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All back together! Interestingly the old screws don't hold the new TPS in, you can pry them off with a scredriver, but the TPS is quite snugly fitted on the spindle so shouldn't be a problem for now. When the little fastners shop opens on Tuesday i'll pop in and get two small bolts and nuts to secure it properly.
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Checked the throttle cable beforehand, it sits on the rest stop correctly but does have a little slack. I didn't mess with this today as it was raining (again, or still?) and I knew i;d have to be back under here another day to correctly secure the TPS.

Results? MUCH BETTER! Drives like a normal car should do! Is very very good on petrol, still a little jerky on LPG but no way near as bad as before. Idle is smooth and purrs and as an added bonus it feels noticably quicker, but also quieter :D

A good Rover 800 day :)
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

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scoobyh123
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Mar 31, 2018 1:05 pm

Good news all round Tom! The TPS does indeed fit a multitude of cars including many Fords. Have you considered removing that strap across the TPS to save having to mess about getting different screws?

The LPG should re-learn the TPS and become smoother with use and the reason it feels quicker on petrol now is because you have the progression instead of "start to accelerate - oops, no voltage - ooooh, voltage! Throttle 1/2 open, loads of fuel - oh dear, too much fuel, that's better - ah, still accelerating, a bit more fuel - oops, no voltage again - ah-ha! voltage again, 3/4 throttle, loads more fuel - aaaarrrgh! too much fuel, that's better". :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Sat Mar 31, 2018 1:33 pm

The screws won't go in any further and don't 'bite' on anything, so I assumed they were not the standard ones. Even a after a 5 mile trip to Sainsburys, on the way back it was further improved still.
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

User avatar
scoobyh123
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Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:34 pm

Even if you remove the strap they won't go any further?

That suggests the plastic mounting block is worn where the threads were. Any number of reasons, a common one is they've been overtightened which could even have happened at the factory.

Two options - first is longer screws with a nut on the end, second is cable ties to loop through the thread holes and hold the TPS in there. It's a bit of a bodge but there's so little load on those screws they will keep it in there quite happily forever and a day.

If you do simply get longer screws, put a drop of Threadlock on the ends of them to help secure them if the threads in the plastic block are suspect.

Good to hear it's still improving though! :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:53 am

I hadn't thought of cable ties - good suggestion Dave! I'll do that for now if i can find some nice little ones in the garage.
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

TomSaintJames
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Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:29 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:03 pm

Hopefully fixed* two annoying rattles today!

1. Map reading light/sunroof parts here. Removed the light and housing (which was incidently only secured by one screw) tightened everything up, ac ouple of screws and some little bolts and replaced. Maybe half the rattle is gone from here - nut difficult to tell! Other sunroof mechanisms may need looking at and de-rattling at some point.

2. Clock trim piece in the centre of the dash. Had all this out, tightened the coin tray (main rattly culprit), tightened all the tiny little nuts that secure the wood trim and put some electricians tape around the inside-edge of the centre dash part - this appears to to have cured the rattle. Could do with a new clock though, mine has some black paint missing from the clock face, and some green stuff?! Also some of the retaining clips are broken, but this doesn't seem to be an issue for now.

I'm compiling a list of trim parts needed to sort out the door cards, has to be the next job - one of the rear ones is very rattly at all times now, the rest rattle only when the engine is cold.
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

User avatar
scoobyh123
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Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Apr 07, 2018 2:38 pm

TomSaintJames wrote:
Sat Apr 07, 2018 1:03 pm
Could do with a new clock though, mine has some black paint missing from the clock face, and some green stuff?! Also some of the retaining clips are broken, but this doesn't seem to be an issue for now.
Might sound as if i'm being picky Tom but there isn't any paint missing from the clock face. It is in fact screen-printing ink that's missing - the big difference is the texture and thickness of the colouring media used to colour not only the front of the clock face but also the rear.

There's also a subtle difference in how to remove that colouring media and that's why i've been picky. Here's why :

When Rover created the 800 series in partnership with Honda in the early 80s, the standard lighting was always white and to set themselves apart a little, many prestigious manufacturers would use coloured backlighting for the instruments etc. Rover chose a strange shade of orangey-red.

Because of where the bulb is mounted in the back of the clock, they had to create "shadows" on the back of the clock face to maintain even illumination. This meant that to change the colour, the ink on the back of the clock face has to be removed.

What Dusan did (and i have also done) is use acetone as a solvent for the screen-printing ink. It makes sense as the inks come in very thick to the factories that use them and they have to dilute them using....................... acetone. Next time you get a yoghurt pot or similar out of your fridge, all the pretty pictures and words are actually sprayed on, it's a similar process but the ink needs to be even thinner and dry quicker and be capable of being fired from an ink gun at high speed.

Screen-printing is kind of like stenciling but the ink still needs to be fairly thin and dry quickly.

Getting this back to your clock, i think i have a standard clock but would you want an orange clock in among the green LED lighting in the car? It looks odd, very odd! I did mine blue :

Image

I also fitted some chrome tape inside as a reflector to eliminate any shadows/bright spots, same as i did with the front lighting on the instruments :

Image

Again Rover used a piece of orange acetate printed with a strange array of lines to eliminate shadows, yes there are a couple of minor shadows from the needles with my reflective method but nothing like it is without!

In addition to almost certainly having a clock, i am fairly sure i have the panel it mounts in with all clips intact.
Let me know if you want to change the clock or want the bits of trim. :wink: :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:03 pm

First full tank of LPG with dodgy TPS = 28.2 mpg, equating to a calculated 62.4 equivalent (with this tank of LPG costing 53.7 p/L).

First tank of LPG with good TPS = 32.8 mpg, equating unfortunately to 54.3 mpg due to expensive LPG (71.9 p/L).

However a 4.6 rise in real mpg is acceptable for a £20 part :)

Back calculating, the car would have been doing about 39.2 mpg equivalent on petrol in the last tank (as gas has approximately 19% less calorific value than petrol). Pleased with that for a big 2.0, I think the diesel 5th plays a good part in this. Also pleasing is the range for this LPG tank of probably over 400 miles, maybe even approaching 500 on a good run. I've yet to run out! This is the biggest LPG tank i've ever had in a car, most i've put in so far is 61.02L so maybe a 70L tank?

Did 500 miles in the old thing today, first Citroen show of the year! Sadly I couldn't make it to POL even though that would have been good. The 800 received a fair amount of attention at the citroen show, seems to be quite a lot of love for them - even with rather gold wheels! Long live the 800.
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

User avatar
scoobyh123
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Sun Apr 15, 2018 9:53 pm

That's better economy than Dusan got Tom, he was regularly getting 24mpg when he had it.

If you don't already use it, go on https://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=home.php and sign up, look at your local LPG map and you'll see it's colour coded for price - you may even find a cheaper place closer to home!
There's also an app so if you're in an unfamiliar are, it finds your nearest stations (usually with prices) and will navigate there for you.

If memory serves it's a 98L tank, seem to recall it was originally in a Range-Rover before Dusan got it and fitted it to the green beastie.
I know it's a bigger tank than i have in my Coupé which is a 54L tank so the most i can squeeze in is a smidge under 10 gallons (45L) and usually it gets to the 40L point and runs out, due to low pressure. If i rest it a few miles and let the temperature come back up i can get another 20 ish miles out of it but mine does about 24-26mpg on gas which still equates to 55mpg on petrol give or take. My last fill up yesterday on LPG was 63.9p/L Vs 138.9p/L for 98 octane unleaded so you can work out the exact figure if you want - i can't be bothered as i know i'm getting cheap motoring! :P
Mine is also a single point system with a vapouriser as opposed to an SGi system with a reducer on yours so isn't as efficient.

It seems (i might be wrong) the PoL was cancelled or at the very least, the grassy part was "out of bounds" so it seems you didn't miss much and probably had a better time at the Citroen meet showing them what they're missing without an 800 in their lives! :wink: :P :D
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Mon May 21, 2018 8:16 am

Not much to report with the 800, I don't know if MEMS has now finished learning the new TPS but it seems to be driving very well now, smoother and more responsive than it's ever been in my possesion. It's a great car to drive in this lovely hot weather, a massive sunroof and bloody good air con give the impression of topless motoring but also at a nice temperature :D

Also with sunroof open you can hear the exhaust note, which is quite nice! Although surprisingly loud outside the car, you can't hear it half as much from the inside, a tesatament to the sound proofing on a 800 I suppose.
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

TomSaintJames
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Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:29 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Mon May 21, 2018 8:33 am

Gratuitous shiny photos.
Image

Image

Image
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

User avatar
scoobyh123
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Posts: 12149
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:27 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by scoobyh123 » Mon May 21, 2018 10:43 am

Looking good there Tom, by the way, have you seen this :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/rover-sterli ... Sw0-Ba7Ke9

Granted it's grey leather but can easily be recoloured and you will probably have to use the control boxes from under your seats or change some wiring but it's not that hard. Saves trying to hunt down a Stone Beige set if you recolour them.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

TomSaintJames
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Posts: 67
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:29 pm
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Re: 1999 BRG 820 Si Fastback

Post by TomSaintJames » Tue May 22, 2018 7:50 am

I hadn't seen it - thanks Dave. I'll leave the seats as they are for now, because - and this has caused quite some internal conflict - I have decided to sell. A combination of factors, niggles that I don't want to spend time/money fixing, the deteriorating parking capactiy around here means I often have to park a reasonable distance from home (new housing estate = crap parking) and the fact that really, I don't need an everyday car, let alone one such as this! Even though the running costs are quite reasonable for a car of this size.

So please see the advert in the for sale section - I am willing to accept offers rather than stick to my guns and never sell, so keep that in mind - but on the flipside I am in no rush. I would prefer the car to go to an enthusiast, but appreciate most of us on here already have one! But in 800 ownership, this is probably one of the cheapest to run and has had all the important work done.

LINK
I'm by no means a Saint, nor a James - but a Tom. My cars are:

1985 Citroen BX19 GT Bleu Romantique
1999 Rover 820 Si Fastback British Racing Green

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