The K is a good engine, it's rover's typical lack of build quality that ruined the reputation of a nice little engine. Land Rover's modified design fixes the problem. Keep the coolant topped up and make sure if you change it that you bleed the engine properly and you will never have a problem.
As Luxo says, better to start with something standard and see if there is anything you don't like so want to change before you get your spanners and wallet out. I have a standard minor 2 door which is great fun (with the exception of the carb as I broke the HS2 many years ago and had a HIF38 in the garage. The headlamps were swapped for halogens as one blew and a pair of halogens were cheaper than the sealed beam units). I do have a disc brake kit which I may or may not fit depending if I decide I want to start driving it often again or just at weekends as currently.
the right project ??
Re: the right project ??
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: the right project ??
Agreed, and not helped by the majority who don't know where the bonnet catch is, let alone how to use a dipstick or check levels, and only take the thing to the garage when it's finally refused to proceed any further.
Re: the right project ??
wow i did read that right you payed £20 for it ?? i sold one of mine to a friend for £250 the facelift 214 i.e 25 in silver we paid £1100mach1rob wrote:I've had several 200s and 400s (plus 6 and 800s for that) and I don't care what others say, they are decent enough motors and far nicer than an equivalent Escort or Astra! Yeah, so the head gasket can be an issue, but that's easily sorted for good with the uprated gasket (god knows why MG-R never fitted it as standard, but probably because it cost £5 more than a crap one so it was a truckload of pies less Fat Kev could get for lunch!) and if you're handy with the spanners can be done in a few hours for less than £300 including new water pump, stat and timing belt!TerryG wrote:Is that really the sort of thing you want to admit to on a public forum?andypandy wrote:having 3 rover 200s
This was my old 216 I bought for £20 with HGF, all fixed and sorted, tarted up and looking like this for just over £300 total cost, 54,000 genuine mileage too, and as far as I know still going strong.
I'd happily run a K in a Minor
its still on his dads farm parked up i had it done and a about 14 months latter went again:( so is it the freelander gasket he would need to get then guys?? it would be nice to see it sorted again once and for all. he said to me whats the point in fixing it its only going to go again!! so i cant wait to tell him theres one thats even better lol
Re: the right project ??
The current Payen gasket has the necessary resin around that waterway, it makes no difference whither the engine comes from a Freelander, MGF, Rover 100, Caterfield or Reliant Scimitar; they're all the same in that respect.
Michaels' of Selby - Reliant dealers since the dark ages - only sell the Payen gaskets for K-engined cars and in spite of the SS1/SST having a coolant level that only just sits above the top of the head, I can't recall ever having had a Scimitar HG to deal with. Apart from the Ford and Nissan engined ones.
Michaels' of Selby - Reliant dealers since the dark ages - only sell the Payen gaskets for K-engined cars and in spite of the SS1/SST having a coolant level that only just sits above the top of the head, I can't recall ever having had a Scimitar HG to deal with. Apart from the Ford and Nissan engined ones.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: the right project ??
Yes you did! This was before the price of scrap rocketed and you had to pay the scrap man to collect cars, or dump them in remote laybys with the plates and chassis numbers destroyed so they couldn't trace it! Admittedly, it didn't look like that when I picked it up, it had been run with HGF for quite some time going by the state of the oil, if you could call it oil still! This was the same car just after I picked it up, spot the damp patch, where the water would run out the water pump just as fast as you filled the expansion tank!andypandy wrote: wow i did read that right you payed £20 for it ??
Re: the right project ??
Land Rover use metal dowels rather than plastic ones for locating the heads which are much more resistant to HGF and also a stronger design for the studs. I haven't looked in to which make of gasket is required but if you google about you will see that fitting the LR kit to your Rover / MG is a popular fix for the HGF issues. John is probably correct on the make of gasket required to give a permanent solution.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: the right project ??
lol that looks a familiar site i think the best rovers i had was a 216 GTI a 213 sprint old old shape and a 414SLI not one bit of trouble from any of them no pics sadly but GTI was stolen the 213 was sold to a friend that sold it on again not seen it since and the 414 was traded in for a chavalier SRI (NOT MY THING) SO i then traded for the 924s end so on the list goes on and on i do wish i had the GTImach1rob wrote:spot the damp patch, where the water would run out the water pump just as fast as you filled the expansion tank!andypandy wrote: wow i did read that right you payed £20 for it ??
i went through a phase of having 4 or 5 cars at a time at one point as i do love my toys 
Re: the right project ??
I think we've all been there, I have 4 at the moment but 2 of them are just boring modern runabouts.andypandy wrote:i went through a phase of having 4 or 5 cars at a time
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
-
mr rusty
- Posts: 469
- Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:17 am
- Location: Harlow, the birthplace of fibreoptic communication, as the town sign says.
Re: the right project ??
I think the real weakness with the k isn't the gasket as such, that fails showing up the actual weakness which is the thermostat design...it's a thermal shock issue of lots of cold rad water suddenly rushing into a hot engine which causes the gasket to fail.
As designed by Rover the stat sits on the 'wrong' side of the cooling system, and the best fix is a remote thermostat conversion kit which puts the stat in the right part of the system. fit one of these to a known good engine and you may never need to change the head gasket.
Another K point- beware of inlet manifold gasket failure masquerading as HG failure..........its a thin green latex rubbery thing and it can fail allowing coolant into the inlet which means steam from the exhaust, loss of coolant.....all the symptoms of impending total hg failure-I bet a lot of HG's have been needlessly changed because of these horrible things......I've done it myself in fact.... I got the exhaust manifold off, then the inlet manifold, thought 'hang on...' but then did the HG anyway as i'd bought the stuff already. Mine had well over 100k on it at the time and still had the plastic dowels and the good news is the Hg is not a complicated job, provided you spend a couple of quid on a cam locking tool rather than faffing around trying to make the haynes home-made option.
As designed by Rover the stat sits on the 'wrong' side of the cooling system, and the best fix is a remote thermostat conversion kit which puts the stat in the right part of the system. fit one of these to a known good engine and you may never need to change the head gasket.
Another K point- beware of inlet manifold gasket failure masquerading as HG failure..........its a thin green latex rubbery thing and it can fail allowing coolant into the inlet which means steam from the exhaust, loss of coolant.....all the symptoms of impending total hg failure-I bet a lot of HG's have been needlessly changed because of these horrible things......I've done it myself in fact....
I got the exhaust manifold off, then the inlet manifold, thought 'hang on...' but then did the HG anyway as i'd bought the stuff already. Mine had well over 100k on it at the time and still had the plastic dowels and the good news is the Hg is not a complicated job, provided you spend a couple of quid on a cam locking tool rather than faffing around trying to make the haynes home-made option.1968 Triumph Vitesse Mk1 2 litre convertible, Junior Miss rusty has a 1989 998cc Mk2 Metro, Mrs Rusty has a modern common rail diesel thing.
Re: the right project ??
I won't list all my Rovers here otherwise the site may have a meltdown
As mentioned, they used plastic dowels in early engines, and we all know what happens with plastic when it's constantly heated and cooled, they eventually gave way, and along with the sealant strips which were just stuck on to the gasket, movement allowed these to dislodge from the gasket and leak, problem was it could go anywhere, I had one that was sound around the bores and oil and waterways, but had gone on the front face through to one waterway so it would squirt a nice jet directly out the front of the block!
The gasket was uprated with bonded on silicone, which is much more effective at staying where it's supposed to be, and along with metal dowels provides a much more reliable gasket. This was then joined by the MLS gasket, which is supposed to sort the HG issue once and for all, this can be got with a lower strengthening plate to help provide a stronger area to keep everything just so.
Providing the liners haven't dropped and the head hasn't warped, with a bit of effort, the K series can be made a reliable engine. The smaller capacities 1.1 to 1.4 are the best, once they started increasing capacity to 1.6 and 1.8 things became a bit more stressed.
I reckon a 1.4 with MLS gasket, strengthener, a PRT (pressure relief thermostat) and a low coolant level warning just in case would be an ideal fit into a Minor. 103 brake is far better than other 1400 lumps put out, and a K does sound nice with a decent filter on it. OK the ultimate would be a 1.8 VVC, but I think I'd stick with the 1.4.
As mentioned, they used plastic dowels in early engines, and we all know what happens with plastic when it's constantly heated and cooled, they eventually gave way, and along with the sealant strips which were just stuck on to the gasket, movement allowed these to dislodge from the gasket and leak, problem was it could go anywhere, I had one that was sound around the bores and oil and waterways, but had gone on the front face through to one waterway so it would squirt a nice jet directly out the front of the block!
The gasket was uprated with bonded on silicone, which is much more effective at staying where it's supposed to be, and along with metal dowels provides a much more reliable gasket. This was then joined by the MLS gasket, which is supposed to sort the HG issue once and for all, this can be got with a lower strengthening plate to help provide a stronger area to keep everything just so.
Providing the liners haven't dropped and the head hasn't warped, with a bit of effort, the K series can be made a reliable engine. The smaller capacities 1.1 to 1.4 are the best, once they started increasing capacity to 1.6 and 1.8 things became a bit more stressed.
I reckon a 1.4 with MLS gasket, strengthener, a PRT (pressure relief thermostat) and a low coolant level warning just in case would be an ideal fit into a Minor. 103 brake is far better than other 1400 lumps put out, and a K does sound nice with a decent filter on it. OK the ultimate would be a 1.8 VVC, but I think I'd stick with the 1.4.