1994 420 Gsi Turbo
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2021 6:54 pm
This is a bit of a strange project thread, as its a retrospective. I bought this car back in April of this year. It might look familiar to some as there was a thread about it being advertised on Facebook under threat of being broken for parts. The seller never had any attention of breaking it, he was just fed up of timewasters.
I really liked the 420gsi Tourer that i repaired and then sold on (see herehttps://www.rover200.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 217#p87217). I was super impressed with how good the R8 rovers are and so had an eye out for another one.
This car had been off the road for around ten years, and although it ran and drove, needed attention. The good news is that apart from a stainless exhaust and cone airfilter it is standard. Even had its original wheels. Interior was grubby and mouldy in places but actually in very good condition. Minimal rust too and only 80,000 miles which appears genuine. It was quite cosmetically challenged as the lacquer was peeling of the bonnet, front wings, boot and the roof looked like it had been baked in a desert. But basically its an extremely sound and pretty rare car.
I loaded it up on the trailer and then took it to my Dads place.
Got it off the trailer and started giving it a poke and working out what parts i needed. I always intended to removed the cylinder head and fit a new gasket as it was leaking oil real bad, not just the front left corner, but pretty much everywhere. The radiator looked extremely marginal and was actually weeping at the bottom. All the water pipes were corroded and more rust and paint than actual metal. All the black painted metal brackets in the engine bay were rusty and flaking too.
After writing quite long list of parts required, i started buying stuff. Because the car was so original, i decided that if i was going to do it, id try and do it right, so where possible ive been buying Rover parts, or as close as i cant get.
I really liked the 420gsi Tourer that i repaired and then sold on (see herehttps://www.rover200.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 217#p87217). I was super impressed with how good the R8 rovers are and so had an eye out for another one.
This car had been off the road for around ten years, and although it ran and drove, needed attention. The good news is that apart from a stainless exhaust and cone airfilter it is standard. Even had its original wheels. Interior was grubby and mouldy in places but actually in very good condition. Minimal rust too and only 80,000 miles which appears genuine. It was quite cosmetically challenged as the lacquer was peeling of the bonnet, front wings, boot and the roof looked like it had been baked in a desert. But basically its an extremely sound and pretty rare car.
I loaded it up on the trailer and then took it to my Dads place.
Got it off the trailer and started giving it a poke and working out what parts i needed. I always intended to removed the cylinder head and fit a new gasket as it was leaking oil real bad, not just the front left corner, but pretty much everywhere. The radiator looked extremely marginal and was actually weeping at the bottom. All the water pipes were corroded and more rust and paint than actual metal. All the black painted metal brackets in the engine bay were rusty and flaking too.
After writing quite long list of parts required, i started buying stuff. Because the car was so original, i decided that if i was going to do it, id try and do it right, so where possible ive been buying Rover parts, or as close as i cant get.
I spent months writing mine before I finally caught up with the present.
