New Toy

The Cowley ones were pre dip washed and treated before dipped again in primer using electrical charge. This was not done at Solihull so they suffer more from rust. At Cowley they also used a lot more mastic to seal the undersides which also helps.

Typical British engineering, get it right at the end when its too late.

Yes, just the same as Norton did ;-)
 
The cool thing to do is fit a K1100 BMW head on the engine. DOHC 16 valve.

The guy who did my Commando motor was doing this in his workshop a few weeks back
 
I seem to remember the SD1 was a supposed to be a Triumph in the beginning.

It could have been badged a Triumph but it was a Rover team design that won over the Triumph design. At the same time it was decided the Triumph brand was given the smaller cars and Rover the larger cars. So if the decision had gone to the Triumph puma design it would still have been badged Rover.


Progressive wins over conservative
This internal competition was brought to a close when the BLMC Board met at Solihull on 9 February 1971 to see both the Rover P10 and Triumph Puma proposals, with a view to the deciding which was the better of the two cars and then go on to become the new large Rover-Triumph saloon.

David Bache had produced six scale clay models, five hatchbacks and a notchback for consideration by the board. Triumph’s Puma was thought to be too conventional in style by the Board which included Rover Chairman Sir George Farmer, former Triumph boss George Turnbull, Jaguar Chairman and stylist Sir William Lyons, Finance Director John Barber and Chairman Lord Stokes. In this ‘head-to-head’ competition, Rover’s car was adjudged to be superior by the British Leyland Board, so development resources were exclusively directed to David Bache’s design.
 
Another sad thing about that story is the wasted effort. Two design teams working totally independently right up to that decision point.

How good could have the design been if resources from BOTH teams had worked together from the beginning ?!
 
Another sad thing about that story is the wasted effort. Two design teams working totally independently right up to that decision point.

How good could have the design been if resources from BOTH teams had worked together from the beginning ?!

It depends on how many options you want to be presented to the board, if its only one and it gets rejected then what do you do. Designs cost money but are relatively cheap when only on paper or a clay model compared to a high volume car in production. So it makes sense to have plenty of options early on when the cost is lower to choose before tooling up.
 
1988, Tony Pond driving an SD1 Vitesse on the TT circuit. Pretty impressive - especially through balla scary. He just missed the 100 MPH (99.58) lap (possibly because there was a commentator in the car too!)

 
There is a small 10 volt bimetal voltage stabilizer driving the temp and (I think) the fuel gauge. They can be replaced by a solid state version which is much more accurate and reliable.

Here's an example:



Cheers,

cliffa.
Ive had a look at the clocks by removing the panel they mount to. The two clocks are a Japanese assembly, embedded in moulded fixture with a flexible circuitry sheet overlay. No sign of a voltage regulator on the assembly but did see a black relay shaped box with two wires in and out. Perhaps that is a reg? Not the flasher relay as that is fitted in engine bay.
Re the temp gauge, I tested grounding the signal wire to block and gauge goes full hot. So connection and movement is good. Ive watched it while out driving and it does reach a bit over the blue cold mark at times. Looks more like the scale card might just bea bit off set, making reading appear too low.

Speedo also out by reading low roughly 12 kph when at gps confirmed 90 kph. This appears to be due to different cable drive gears in gearbox used for different final drive ratios. Who knows what this car has with non original engine and possible different wheel sizing. They can be changed but it takes much work to access.
 
While poking about under dash I discovered two aftermarket toggle switches on driver side lower edge point straight down, inconspicuous. One shuts off the fuel pump so likely an anti theft effort. Other didnt seem to have any effect noticeable. Im guessing either its a Mad Max Road Warrior style self destruct fuse timer or for now removed rally lights :D
 
The wee beastie gets more attention out and about than the Norton. Brings lots of smiles across all walks of folks. Even had HD riders giving thumbs up as they pass at highway speeds. Muscle cars, monster truckers, little kids in plastic wagons all signal their like for this little red car.
 
The wee beastie gets more attention out and about than the Norton. Brings lots of smiles across all walks of folks. Even had HD riders giving thumbs up as they pass at highway speeds. Muscle cars, monster truckers, little kids in plastic wagons all signal their like for this little red car.

Minis have (nearly) always been universally liked
 
Here in Japan (south of Yokohama), you still see quite a few of them about. One of the fellas I worked with just PCS'd, back stateside and took a '94 model with him to Portland Oregon. It had a laundry list of mods and custom parts, A/C, worked well.., it was kinda loud inside though.
 
Here in Japan (south of Yokohama), you still see quite a few of them about. One of the fellas I worked with just PCS'd, back stateside and took a '94 model with him to Portland Oregon. It had a laundry list of mods and custom parts, A/C, worked well.., it was kinda loud inside though.
I actually considered using one of the many Japan Domestic Market mini cooper import services to bid on one at auction and bring in to Canada. Surprisingly quite common here. I think it is prohibited in the US unless the car is beyond a certain age. Would have worked out to about half what they typically sell for on used market here. But would take around six months and you really dont know what you're getting into.
 
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