Thread: It was only a matter of time

Originally Posted by knares

Is that about 1960, if it is I don’t remember them engines being any good

Must admit, this comment raised a few eyebrows - I wonder where it came from ....

Originally Posted by 87County

Must admit, this comment raised a few eyebrows - I wonder where it came from ....

Yes, I wondered too. The 2.25 petrol engine has very few detractors, and most of them are only complaining about its size. Almost the only engine ever designed from scratch for a light four wheel drive, it has very good 'driveability', very robust and durable, and reasonable fuel consumption. It also withstands abuse and is easy to work on.

Holden Dealership ????

whitehillbilly

well....after several hours of degreaser, a wire brush and words that would make a sailor blush I tried the engine.

and.....

the blasted thing needs new glow plugs. These have been ordered, new fuel lines and a fuel lift pump.

So in the meantime the roof and sides are off.
The roof has been sanded back and primed, side windows removed and cleaned (new seals ordered), front wings sanded back and a few dents knocked out.

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Originally Posted by donh54

The fact that quite a lot of them are still running five or more decades later, would seem to disprove that theory.
Proper maintenance, and a dose of good old mechanical sympathy can do wonders with all classes of machinery.

Looking at the photo, I thought it was a diesel and according to a later post by Nick, it is
I was an apprentice in 1960, at a rover dealers
The rover diesel or whatever it was they fitted at that time, I was led to believe was rubbish.
I never worked on one, but there was one in the car park, almost new, it had engine problems.
They had spent a lot of time on it without success.
I asked several times over the years if I could have a look at it as I was keen to see what was wrong with it, but I was told no.
Although it was nearly new, it was just left to rot
In the three years I was there, I don’t think they sold another diesel, the boss wouldn’t

Later on I was involved with another rover diesel and it had engine problems too, most likely the same problems as the first one
there wasnt many rover diesels around at that time

The Rover diesel, introduced in 1956 was very advanced for its time - it was one of the first small high speed diesels. And there were a few teething problems with it, but these should have been fixed by 1960. However, you need to remember that in 1960, very few mechanics knew anything about diesels, and even very minor problems could defeat them. The major issues with them were that few owners or mechanics understood the need for cleanliness in the fuel and air intake, and the issues of need for bleeding the fuel system.

The engine was updated in 1961, and much improved - mainly by another quarter litre of capacity and a rise in maximum speed to 4,000rpm. I drove one of these all round eastern Australia including a non-stop trip from the middle of the Simpson to Sydney in 1966. The only engine issues I ever had were a fuel pump leak, a waxed up filter on a cold morning in central Australia, and difficult starting at Uralla in mid winter when the speedo cable shorted out the glow plugs.

Originally Posted by Nick6273

Time to re-cover this

Attachment 128211

Have you recovered the dash yet? I have one to do.

cheers
Veronica

Originally Posted by Garry Treen

Have you recovered the dash yet? I have one to do.

cheers
Veronica

I ended up grabbing a second hand one from a gent down here in Tassie who has a lot of spare parts for old series vehicles.


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Im happy to see if he has another spare dash handy.