Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Hi all,
Just thought I would introduce myself, had rovers in the late 80’s, early 90’s, always wanted a cabby, now have one.
Brilliant driving thing, the only this is the scuttle shake, I have had convertibles before,but this is the first 4 seater, what’s the consensus about a strut brace, are they worth it,if so where would be the best place to get one.
Apologies if this has been covered before on here.

Gorann24 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 11:04 am Hi all,
Just thought I would introduce myself, had rovers in the late 80’s, early 90’s, always wanted a cabby, now have one.
Brilliant driving thing, the only this is the scuttle shake, I have had convertibles before,but this is the first 4 seater, what’s the consensus about a strut brace, are they worth it,if so where would be the best place to get one.
Apologies if this has been covered before on here.

Strut braces don't cure scuttle shake, unfortunately. There's nothing easy that does.

Most of the movement is between the dash and the front seat mountings meaning you feel and see it more than in other models of cabbys of the period. Their movement is more evenly spread out down the length of the body.

Thanks for the reply,it’s not putting me off the car, just seen on different sites that a strut brace works.

I have run one of these nealy 10 years and drove numerous cabriolets, some are worst than others with this issue and is well know Issue on reviews of the car .

I have a brace and on pot holes and b roads with the shakes the strut brace does make a difference but does not cure it fully but well worth the difference think .

i planned to brace to the bulkhead from struts tops as standard on some ford St but I think this wouldn't end well and at the end off the day it's a drop top sunshine and chill and enjoy the wind in your hair especially in the rear seats

The more you beef up the suspension and put 25 mm rollbar on the harder it becomes so enjoy and let it flex .

GTiJohn wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:52 pm

Gorann24 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 11:04 am Hi all,
Just thought I would introduce myself, had rovers in the late 80’s, early 90’s, always wanted a cabby, now have one.
Brilliant driving thing, the only this is the scuttle shake, I have had convertibles before,but this is the first 4 seater, what’s the consensus about a strut brace, are they worth it,if so where would be the best place to get one.
Apologies if this has been covered before on here.

Strut braces don't cure scuttle shake, unfortunately. There's nothing easy that does.

Most of the movement is between the dash and the front seat mountings meaning you feel and see it more than in other models of cabbys of the period. Their movement is more evenly spread out down the length of the body.

So why it it so different from other models of the time ?

961tat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2024 11:27 am

GTiJohn wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 6:52 pm

Gorann24 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 26, 2024 11:04 am Hi all,
Just thought I would introduce myself, had rovers in the late 80’s, early 90’s, always wanted a cabby, now have one.
Brilliant driving thing, the only this is the scuttle shake, I have had convertibles before,but this is the first 4 seater, what’s the consensus about a strut brace, are they worth it,if so where would be the best place to get one.
Apologies if this has been covered before on here.

Strut braces don't cure scuttle shake, unfortunately. There's nothing easy that does.

Most of the movement is between the dash and the front seat mountings meaning you feel and see it more than in other models of cabbys of the period. Their movement is more evenly spread out down the length of the body.

So why it it so different from other models of the time ?

Basically, different body design and construction from manufacturer to manufacturer...

The 200 was not intended or designed to be a cabby, so had to be adapted.

Some companies, VW for example, who had much more experience of designing and building cabriolets. Rovers last one was in the 1930s and the only 'recent' cabriolet in the group was the TR7, on which the bumpers acted as harmonic dampers!

The VW Golf and Ford Escort cabriolets were measured on the same rig and had the same overall stiffness as the 200 cabriolet but the deflection was more evenly spread over the wheelbase, not concentrated between the dash and the seat mountings...