Manalishis Mk 1a 827 Vitesse (manual)

[Manalishi]

Approved!!!

[Manalishi]

I noticed while messing with my rear wheels that the tyres were full of cracks. No big surprise really as the car has been standing more or less for ten years. So I decided to swap for the 17s. The ride is a bit harsh with them on but I don’t have cash to get new tyres. The long term plan is to restore the original vitesse rims and fit new tyres to them but that is really in the future.

Now the Idea is to chase some more rust, get the arches fixed and the bonnet also has a few spots. After that more attention to my extra doors.

[scoobyh123]

Yay! Congratulations Henrik!

[Manalishi]

Thanks Dave!

[Fastback]

Excellent! It's so much easier when you can drive the car to where it needs to be, wheels, exhaust etc. That's what I had to do and getting a custom exhaust adaption was fun when the car was thirty miles away from the fabricators. 17s are what's on my Vitesse, I think they were pretty much standard by 1996 and yes, the ride is deffinitely harder. I believe some people changed the suspension set up to make it softer.
But it's a Vitesse .

[Manalishi]

Thanks Mark!
I’m a bit dubious on the 17s on the mark 1 but they have new tyres and are well balanced. My mk2 coupe is garaged anyway so I might aswell use them.

Money will be plowed into a cambelt change and probably a full service on plugs and leads. Probably some other stuff. It would be very nice to get the AC running again...

Fixing up the body is pretty straight forward and not very expensive. Just a lot of work really. But it’s a nice thing to spend time on doing a few days in summertime!

A quick list of whats done that cost money:
Alternator
Front discs
New exhaust

Other than that is mostly elbow Grease.

[Manalishi]

I popped over to a part dealer after work and got me one of these. I had an old one but it is some 30 years old and as it is still attached to the can I believe it’s pretty full of gunk!

After that I went to my mothers house were my compressor is (and the coupe and one of my Austins) and then I managed to get some stuff into the sills. So no I feel a bit more comfortable with it!

The car runs so very very good. Loads of power from pick up and smooth and quiet. No tapping tappets! The ride is harsh. My coupe has the sterling seats so that helps but this is a different car.

The exhaust is still too loud and I really don’t like that. But that is very far down the list.

The trip computer says the fuel economy is very good, but I don’t trust it. Fuel gauge dead still... But according to it I get some 8litres/100km.

The locks I ordered from Rimmers were cancelled as the left hand lock was OOS. It seems my spare door (right hand) has a working lock and I have the key for it, so problem solved. But I really need a lock for the boot eventhough my first plan is to remove that lock and let it soak in solution to maybe get it working.

[scoobyh123]

You've had a busy day Henrik! By my rough mental arithmetic, that's sbout 33mpg which is pretty good and also about right.

The ride will be very harsh on the 17s, i had one with 17s on for a while, very harsh ride and that was on SLi suspension as well!

[Fastback]

I had my Sterling on 17s. They were on when I bought it, together with lowered and bump stopped springs. Generally it was awful (not bad in the dry on smooth roads), very un-Sterling-like but I changed it to standard springs with gas shocks on 16" six spokes. Standard wheels, as many will know, are 15s but the 16" rim is a bit more responsive but does not affect ride quality that I've noticed. It's a good balance.

[scoobyh123]

I had my Sterling on 17s. They were on when I bought it, together with lowered and bump stopped springs. Generally it was awful (not bad in the dry on smooth roads), very un-Sterling-like but I changed it to standard springs with gas shocks on 16" six spokes. Standard wheels, as many will know, are 15s but the 16" rim is a bit more responsive but does not affect ride quality that I've noticed. It's a good balance.

From late 1994 to late 96 i think it was, the standard size for Sterlings was 16" Mark, before and after that you're spot-on, they were 15s and the 16s really improve the handling and roadholding without sacrificing the comfort. A further improvement is 6.5J rims on 16s, the 205/55/16 tyres are almost balloon like on the standard 6J rims and that extra 1/2" of rim width let's them sit more as they should. It's also safer as well, having an 8" (205mm) tyre on a 62 (6J) rim is right on the limits, the 6.5J rim gives a little extra space.

[Manalishi]

I think you're missing the point guys. The wheels are from my mk2 coupe and that is a lot more comfortable with 17s than this mk1 is. So something is different between the cars, one thing I know is the seats. The ones in the 827 are the flat ones (Recaros?) and the Coupe has the ful Sterling interior with plush seats. I remember the red 820ti (Vitesse Sport mk 2) I had was similar to the Mk1 and that one had the half leather Recaros common in that model. It could also be that the Vitesse Coupe is a Vitesse 180bhp, not a Vitesse Sport. (Not as lowered springs)

But it doesn't matter. Oh my God what a nice car this is. It is solid like a train in every speed, fantastic bottom end torque, with loads of power on tap. Good fuel economics and may I say so it looks really good!

I took a drive tonight and it is awesome to drive, nippiness combined with comfort and to be honest cool luxury items. I've just started to fiddle with the trip computor and every detail work!

The only down side is absolutely no one in the entire country understands what the hell I have here!

[scoobyh123]

The only down side is absolutely no one in the entire country understands what the hell I have here!

That's a down side? I'd keep them guessing!

The Mk1 Vitesse springs as standard were about the same rate as the M2a Sterling springs but about 20mm lower. I think the SLi Mk2a springs were slightly stiffer than the Mk2a Sterling, probably cloer to the M2a Vitesse but not quite as stiff.

The 827 SLi i had with 17s on (from the factory as well) was a Mk2a and that was horrendously harsh on them. I don't know if the Spanish market got stiffer springs on your age Vitesse than we did but it's possible.

[Manalishi]

The only down side is absolutely no one in the entire country understands what the hell I have here!

That's a down side? I'd keep them guessing!

The Mk1 Vitesse springs as standard were about the same rate as the M2a Sterling springs but about 20mm lower. I think the SLi Mk2a springs were slightly stiffer than the Mk2a Sterling, probably cloer to the M2a Vitesse but not quite as stiff.

The 827 SLi i had with 17s on (from the factory as well) was a Mk2a and that was horrendously harsh on them. I don't know if the Spanish market got stiffer springs on your age Vitesse than we did but it's possible.

I would be suprised if the Spanish cars, or export in general were stiffer but everything is possible I guess. Looking from pictures it looks equally low as British Vitesses do. And they do look lower than Mk2s. The old wheels (not original rims) were 195/65/15 and they were really comfortable. But to be honest it's not our family car for long journey trips. It's my toy.

I need to make a new list of what to do, but knowing my speed in getting stuff done, I wont get far.
Priority one is surface rust now really. Getting the body fixed, in parallel with getting the doors fixed in my other garage. Goal one now is to get it to look good. So rust, and paint the doors, fitting the doors.

Cambelt is also priority but that will be done by a garage so only takes a few hours!

After that, sometime in 2023 I need to fix the fuel gauge not working. Oh, and the AC comes there too.

But it's getting there. Rolling restoration. No hurry.

[scoobyh123]

I've forgotten which wheels it had on Henrik, weren't they the 5-spoke Roversports? If so, they were optional on the 827 Vitesse.

Making a list is always good but i've found mine tend to grow quicker than jobs get done!

[Manalishi]

I've forgotten which wheels it had on Henrik, weren't they the 5-spoke Roversports? If so, they were optional on the 827 Vitesse.

Making a list is always good but i've found mine tend to grow quicker than jobs get done!

Something very non-Rover. They are Fittipaldi. Not bad looking but the tyres were old and cracked.

I do have the original vitesse-rims too, but they are painted black and the tyres are even worse. I keep them in Gunnars barn, so too far away to fix up aswell.

Lists are good to keep priority. But I never follow them anyway...

The wheels with hub cap: