rovers

[JPB]

I quite like the rover kv6. It goes like poop off a shovel in the 75, even quicker in a minor.

Yes, and in a Minor it's surely possible to access both heads without taking the car half to bits to do it. Ken Wood (the rally driver) uses a KV6 in his GRP bodied Dolomite, in which he competes all over the country and has for many years without engine-related disasters, even when he's had the car upside down in ditches and that wee car goes well, as you'd expect it to given that it weighs under 900Kg but again, it's accessible in there, he uses very expensive oil and it gets serviced more frequently than possibly any other KV6 out but to be kind, all I'm saying is that given the choice between a Honda engine that occasionally sends an erroneous "low oil pressure" signal to its ECU when trying to start the car and a Rover one that suffers from camshaft and valvegear-related carnage as a matter of routine, I'd sooner live with the Honda one. Or better yet, that Diesel.
I have to admit that I'd be tempted by a cheap KV6 propelled model but with such a low annual mileage I'd be flushing that engine as soon as I had it home, then fitting a Sureflow Supreme filter, filling the sump with 0W40 and making sure that it had a good spanking at least weekly to keep it all healthy.

Rich, get a Diesel one!

But if you must, then have a listen to some healthy KV6 sounds and note how Ken doesn't need telling where and when the deviations are coming up! This guy knows every road and forest trail in Scotland like the back of his hand. Volume up full pelt to hear that howl from the engine:

Ken at work!

[Richard Moss]

Remember that there are two different KV6s - the prototype version used in the 825 (an engine made from cream cheese and chocolate with cardboard gaskets) and the half-decent version used in the 75 etc. Very different engines.

[mach1rob]

But if you must, then have a listen to some healthy KV6 sounds and note how Ken doesn't need telling where and when the deviations are coming up! This guy knows every road and forest trail in Scotland like the back of his hand. Volume up full pelt to hear that howl from the engine:

Ken at work!

And some unhealthy KV6 sounds, watch for the rattle of death from the inlet thanks to knackered VIS motors, new manifold is around £500. Cambelt change in a75 can cost the same as buying another depending on where it's done too.

Just get a Vitesse, the T series is a good angine, and providing you don't get silly winding the boost up, it *should* last an age, well until it starts to weep oil from the front corner of the head, Klinger MLS gasket cures that permanently. Other weak point on them is the diff, replace the plastic caged bearings with steel cages and it should last, unless you do it properly

[rich.]

well due to a lack of cash i havent bought anything, brother sold his focus, & the rover 75 estate i was looking at has sold also... have found a 90s mini for sale with a leaky rad & a very stiff clutch pedal.. any idea what might cause this??

[TerryG]

leaky rad will be caused by the rad leaking
stiff clutch will be be caused by stiffening of the clutch

I hope that is some help

[JPB]

^^^ Wot 'e said!

Or the clutch could be stiff because it's one of those crappy counterfeit Verto ones that are currently doing the rounds and the radiator could have a fookin' gert big hole through it where a previous owner shot the car 'cos they were so peed off about how heavy the clutch had become. Or the clutch damper (if present) could be failing or the master cylinder could be one of those sh*te Indian ones whose seals swell up and cause the hydraulics to become somewhat erratic or, etc. It's a mini, Rich. Assuming it isn't falling apart through corrosion, just buy the bloody thing and worry about the unimportant stuff later.

[TerryG]

As John said, if it is solid and you want a mini, buy it.
mechanical bits are easy to find and cheap. They are serious fun to drive, fun to drive and in just in case I forget to mention it later, fun to drive.

[rich.]

thanks chaps,ive had lots of minis.. ive got the bad back to prove it ...i wondered what might cause the clutch to be stiff..i will be nagging the wife until i get it

[JPB]

Any progress here mate? Please record the wife-nagging procedure as an instructional tool for others in similarly domesticated environments.

[jimmyybob]

everyone loves old rovers,

Minus 1 If you dont mind.....Ta