redrover
Well-Known Member
Well it has been a long time hasn't it! :?
I posted a few days ago and noticed it was well over a year since I'd checked in! But it must be two years at least since I was a very regular poster on here.
Some/most of you may have noticed that I got very heavily involved with the running of The Rover P6 Club, which we've put through a massive transformation and rebrand over the last few years. It's been one helluva journey and we're really starting to get some great recognition for it, but as is often the case with these things, your own projects tend to get left by the wayside.
As such, very little has happened with the Red Rover since my major engine overhaul in late 2011/early 2012. He's had a few welding patches, a rebushed rear suspension (now V8 spec with 5.5J wheels), new exhaust (NOS TC manifold chrome-ceramic coated, with 2" stainless pipe and 2-cans), and a lot of electric improvements. But beyond that, he's been sat around doing barely more than 10 miles a week! A pittance compared to my usual 4000 to 5000 a year!
Some pics from the last year or two:
So I've decided it's high time to get cracking on the car again!
When I first got him nearly 6 years ago, I was 21. It was my only car, daily driver, and had to work in all weathers and traffics. I was on what we would now term a 'zero hours contract' and did all the work myself. I had to as I had no money, but I loved that time - I learned SO much in short a short spell, stripping and rebuilding practically everything in a very methodical way. It really was properly well sorted engine and braking wise. Paint was always a bit flaky, but it's red and goes like stink - who's arsed! ;-)
Back then I was time-rich and money-poor. These days, I'm swinging the other way a bit - well, at least on the time front! I had 4 cars for a while last year (now 3) and have become everything my 21-year-old self was adamant he'd never be.... a marketing manager for a new age techie-software company with a German executive hatchback and fashion-conscious facial hair. Oh, and it's a diesel. I'm even starting to think about mortgages. And healthy eating....
But locked somewhere in the pages of this very forum is the spirit of a younger me. A Michael who'd never heard of device-independent website development, targeted email marketing or social media channel engagement. A younger man with an inherited Britax socket set, an eighth-of-a-tank of fuel and an all-consuming determination to build the best damned 2000 twin-carb on the face of the earth... utterly convinced that he could match a V8 auto for performance if he put enough thought into it.
Well tonight I am making a pledge to that younger man. Because I'm going to do it!
I'm building a 2100cc over-bored TC with Hepolite Heron-headed pistons, a harmonically-balanced crank and flywheel with 0.5g rotational unbalance, and fully mappable coil-on-plug electronic ignition.
And this thread will be the story of how....
I posted a few days ago and noticed it was well over a year since I'd checked in! But it must be two years at least since I was a very regular poster on here.
Some/most of you may have noticed that I got very heavily involved with the running of The Rover P6 Club, which we've put through a massive transformation and rebrand over the last few years. It's been one helluva journey and we're really starting to get some great recognition for it, but as is often the case with these things, your own projects tend to get left by the wayside.
As such, very little has happened with the Red Rover since my major engine overhaul in late 2011/early 2012. He's had a few welding patches, a rebushed rear suspension (now V8 spec with 5.5J wheels), new exhaust (NOS TC manifold chrome-ceramic coated, with 2" stainless pipe and 2-cans), and a lot of electric improvements. But beyond that, he's been sat around doing barely more than 10 miles a week! A pittance compared to my usual 4000 to 5000 a year!
Some pics from the last year or two:
So I've decided it's high time to get cracking on the car again!
When I first got him nearly 6 years ago, I was 21. It was my only car, daily driver, and had to work in all weathers and traffics. I was on what we would now term a 'zero hours contract' and did all the work myself. I had to as I had no money, but I loved that time - I learned SO much in short a short spell, stripping and rebuilding practically everything in a very methodical way. It really was properly well sorted engine and braking wise. Paint was always a bit flaky, but it's red and goes like stink - who's arsed! ;-)
Back then I was time-rich and money-poor. These days, I'm swinging the other way a bit - well, at least on the time front! I had 4 cars for a while last year (now 3) and have become everything my 21-year-old self was adamant he'd never be.... a marketing manager for a new age techie-software company with a German executive hatchback and fashion-conscious facial hair. Oh, and it's a diesel. I'm even starting to think about mortgages. And healthy eating....
But locked somewhere in the pages of this very forum is the spirit of a younger me. A Michael who'd never heard of device-independent website development, targeted email marketing or social media channel engagement. A younger man with an inherited Britax socket set, an eighth-of-a-tank of fuel and an all-consuming determination to build the best damned 2000 twin-carb on the face of the earth... utterly convinced that he could match a V8 auto for performance if he put enough thought into it.
Well tonight I am making a pledge to that younger man. Because I'm going to do it!
I'm building a 2100cc over-bored TC with Hepolite Heron-headed pistons, a harmonically-balanced crank and flywheel with 0.5g rotational unbalance, and fully mappable coil-on-plug electronic ignition.
And this thread will be the story of how....