Three generations of my family worked at Rover, from the 1940s (making tank engines) through to the 1990s. They made some truly great cars, Rover P4, Land Rover, P5, P6, Range Rover, all with bulletproof reliability. Irony of Ironies, they got done over by Jaguar, the P7, P8, P9 and Project Gladys got canned. We got the SD1. After that, I owned two 600s (620Si, and 623GSi) which I loved, and I had Rover 75 (again, a brilliant car). I have a Rover P6 V8, and I am like you, if I became a multi-billionaire, I would rebuilt Rover. With that 25, I'm appalled at the lack of rust protection.
To be fair we used to replace the head gasket, replace the plastic dowel that failed where the oil feed used to come up through with a metal one, re surface the head check the liner heights, replace the stretch bolts, thermostat and either clean out the radiator or replace it, chemically flush out the cooling system and had great success with them afterwards
@@procta2343a mechanic told me if the head gasket was replaced it didn’t solve all the ill’s, apparently over time the heads became porous. Had a beautiful 414SLi which fell foul and my mate, over a number of years had two 216GTI’s and a 220GTI. They too had HG failure. Apparently the 220 was a bored out 216 and the process just made the cylinder walls even thinner, inviting further reliability issues. Shame as they were such good looking cars in their time and the interiors were quality
10 years ago my father proudly presented a Rover 25 streetwise to me on my 17th birthday after winning it in an online raffle for 7 quid. I wasn't impressed at first but after realising it had half leather seats and a spritely 110hp i was very pleased with it. It was confiscated a week later after my dad caught me and a friend bunking off college and practicing handbrake turns at the bottom of the street one afternoon. My blood ran cold when i saw his car slowly peek around the corner while i was mid burnout in my new streetwise. Never saw that car again and when i passed my driving test i was given a Cadbury purple 1.0 Yaris :) thanks dad
I bought my first motor vehicle, a 1971 Yamaha 125, with my own money (I sold all my radio control equipment) and against the wishes of my hypocritical father who lived elsewhere.
As a Middle Aged man I remember and loathed the crossover period of the noughties yet now I think they were ahead of their time. That river doesn’t look out of place on modern roads. It feels like almost every car out there is a crossover in all but name.
I had a Rover 200 series long ago. Basically the same car, but with an older interior. Bought it for 500 euro's, and it lasted me 4 years before the engine quit on me at 260000km. Man I miss that car and that interior! Really nice to see another Rover on Tasty Classics!
Im 63 years young nd ive never recognised the logo of Rover as a viking ship!! Ive always recognised the Rover sign but never realised what it was!!! Must pay more attention. Every day is a school day! Lol Love the 25 nd the vids!!
I have a lot of love for Rover. I have many happy childhood memories in the back seat of a good old Rover. My grandparents used to have a 800 series… K reg is think it was in metallic green. I can remember going with them to collect it from the dealership. I must have only been 5. Keep up the good work Ben. Love watching your videos
I bought quite a few of the earlier Rovers, usually 214's, SI, GSI etc, always bought them at salvage auctions with light panel damage, repaired them, MOT'd them and flogged them on, I loved them, rotted less than Escorts and Orions and were a nice small car, never had a problem, the only one I had an issue with was a Honda engined 416 Gti, it had that much STP in the oil it was a struggle to get the dipstick out... Still, the 3 tins of STP cured the knock and the new owner seemed happy. 🙂
Brings back memories of my 2004 25 1.4. I have to agree they are something special in design, the start of the SUV era even? The engine has a unique sound too
I think why this era of car is looking good and ageing well is because most new cars (due to NCap etc) look the same whereas cars from this era looked unique.
Nothing wrong with K-series Engines. Had five bubbles in my time two being the Rover BRM with NO head gasket problems. the streetwise is a good looking car.
I had a Y reg Rover 25 and was the newer shape. Absolutely loved it. Very nippy 1.4 and had the best alloy wheels I’ve ever had in a car - not the same as yours. The throttle body is plastic which can deform if it gets hot. A popular upgrade was to install the MG metal one - simple bolt in replacement.
My dad's last car, a Rover 25, was left parked up for 2 years before he died. The car expired as well, because there was absolutely no way around the immobiliser.... 😢.... Fully agree with your comments regarding Jaguar: RIP
Im sure you heard it all before but ........remove stat from back of engine ..... skim ,head ,Mg 6 head gasket,who have had no problems so far ..... mls ,freelander oil rail ,remote freelander thermostat ,mg alloy radiator, bomb proof ......
Ahh, Ben. So many what ifs and why's with Rover. We just threw them in the bin cause it just wasn't worth saving them. When you look at one now, they did a good job in trying to keep that poor old 200 fresh. Lots of part's for someone tho and I so love the wheels. Great channel mate, thanks. 😊
your country has made some really really nice cars. i love the 2300 motor turboed is a beast. your country took it to the next level . we got one time t-bird turbo.
Love the Rover 25. First one my mum had was written off by a deer. lets just say the deer won that one. The second one was the 2L Diesel. That thing was bullet proof. She attempted to drive through a flood under a railway bridge and hydrolocked the engine. Four hours later and myself and my stepdad had managed to drain as much water as we could, fire it up and drive me home in it all in one evening. It also had one bolt holding an idler pulley on, the other two had sheared off somehow.
I bought a K reg Rover 214SLI as a 2nd car so the wife could use. After a week, i decided to use it myself. Loved the comfort and twin cam rapid. Held onto it for 6 years. Have recently been looking for a nice one to buy again.
I would love to see a history of MG Rover from you Ben! I own and drive an MG ZT 260, one of the last models they ever produced. I absolutely love it, even though there are much better cars in the class I could have had for the same money. But I've always wanted my MG. Ever since old JC reviewed it back in 2004, when I saw it for the first time. They're fun cars! Thirsty, but I like a drink too, but fun! 😅 Keep up the great work Ben! 😊👍
Early K series were much more reliable. The problems started when they increased the bore for the 1.6 and 1.8. At they same time they were starting to value engineer things and moved from steel head dowels to plastic ones. I had one of the first 1.8 VVC's and it went back for head issues with 3 weeks of delivery.
4 วันที่ผ่านมา +2
Those plastic dowels along with the single layer elastomer gasket were the bain of the K.
This. I had a very early (G-reg) 214SLi with single-point fuel injection. I had zero head gasket issues, even after leaving it standing on my driveway for several years due to front subframe rust, then getting it running again. It was a weird spec too, electric mirrors and central locking but manual windows and unassisted steering. I went as far as buying the bits to fix it up, but I ended up part-exing it with a scrap dealer for a 1987 Audi Coupé GT off the back of his tow truck.
Yeah a Mechanic Explained the Plastic Dowel Pins to me...a costly mistake in the long run...for the sake of saving probably £2 per engine from new...lol...
@rapitupthatsarap6681 Wish I cud understand what y'all mean .........😢 I kinda get ya .........plastic inside a engine don't sound good to me Hope u see this as I'm shadow banned
Love your channel Ben, it’s my favourite on TH-cam. At 56 my patience is constantly being tried by the moronic state of the world and the entitled prats within it but Tasty Classics is just the antidote to the madness. I’ve tinkered with cars for forty plus years and your projects just take me right back there. Keep it real mate, breathing life back in to old cars is a dwindling skill which you are helping to keep going 👍👍👍
yeah i think its their down fall, The EV isn't the market to be in at all. Nissans Leaf wasn't a strong seller at all, I saw many jukes and quashis to the one leaf, come off the production line, and on to the test track, When i was checking parts at Nissan. The Battery plant that is next to Nissan, is struggling too, and they have a new plant to move into. Which was due to open in march this year, and that was put back till the October, and again put back again another year. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the start of the U turn on the EV, and Diesel models will start to make a comeback.
The problem with the K series is it was a very misunderstood engine, The head gasket technology was F1 technology and was a sandwich style all alloy construction with a steel polymer gasket which when cold was effectively loose until the Alloy block and head warmed up and expanded creating a tight seal which required getting the engine up to temperature and not going above 3000rpm in the warm up phase which nobody did they just jumped in them in the morning dash then jumped on the motorway to work which of course eventually caused blow by on the head gasket and blew it. I worked for a Rover-Jaguar-Land Rover Specialist for 12 years and worked on them all of the time.
That’s not a problem other engine manufacturers have. It was an error. After a century of engine manufacturing, it’s incomprehensible to me, a mechanically minded 64 year old.
that's a very fine bit of roverage there. I remember these new in the showroom, that and the brm with the orange mouth. they had some interesting ideas at the time. the Honda engined ones were the ones the workers there bought for obvious reasons.
My sister in law bought an R reg diesel 220 this shape brand new. She kept it for nearly a decade. I bought it off her for what the dealer had offered in px. 700 quid. I ran it for two trouble free years and sold it to my mate at work for 500. Two years ownership for 200 quid. Cheapest car i ever owned.
I had a 214 followed by a 1400cc 200 and never had any head gasket problems. The 214 did getting on for 100,000 miles and I sold it because of a tiny bit of rust behind the n/s rear door. Silly in hindsight as it was a great car. The 200 had an oil leak which dripped onto the alternator. A mate made me a shield out of sheet metal to protect the alternator from the oil leak but it was never as good a car as the 214. I once read that the gasket problems were more with the larger K series engines, particularly the 1800 I now have a 53 plate 75 cdti and am hanging onto it like grim death as it is such a brilliant car. I am also being tempted by a lovely P4. I had one until a couple of years ago and really miss it!
Cool car, i had a 1986 216 Vitesse in the early 1990s, they had sprightly engines in them. And my old man had an SD1 in the 1970s, alas not the 3500S of the day, he had the 2.6, but a comfortable car for sure. 1980s The Vitesse was a gorgeous looking thing, especially in that metallic Blue they did.
I'm such a rover fanboy and yes my mates do laugh at me 😂 had a few old rovers the one thing I will say is the vauxhall Corsa d also blows head gaskets for fun but people won't admit it because it's vauxhall not rover 🤷♀️
We've gotta say (oddly) this is one of our favourite episodes/cars you've done. Shame it needs so much work - hope someone snaps it up and does the work it needs 🤞
Plenty of good hard to find spares on this car if nobody wants to restore it. Agree with your decision not to proceed with it Ben too much work. Also your comments on the loss of Rover in 2005 and the "rebranding " of Jaguar are spot on, how can they have got it so very wrong!!?? Great channel, you have got the balance just right and your success is very well deserved. Keep them coming and you'll easily soon be past 100k subs 👏👍
And the reason why the horn is on a separate switch is because the relay in the pektron bcm has stopped working...but new relays can be obtained and re soldered in
I owned 2 Rover 200's at the same time and I had no issues with the head gaskets. both were 1997 cars with a 1.4 & 1.6 K-series engine. I must have been lucky.
I worked at Rover specialist a decade ago and yes we did lots of them but it's not as common as it's portrayed we frequently had cars with over 200k miles with orginal headgaskets.
When I was very young looking for a cheap car to get me on the road, I got one of these for the princely sum of £200 knowing it had a ruined head gasket. I replaced the head gasket myself and ran Daz laundry detergent through it about 4 times, and it did tens of thousands of miles afterwards incredibly reliably. I miss the trouble free days these little things represent for me.
Ben you need to contact jonny Smith from the late brake show, he's done a barn find xr2 and there's also a rover 75 there that's also up for grabs, needs a back window but it's got your name all over it 👍
The MGF place on A1 South Lincs, and other specialists, have a standard fix for the head gasket issue. Not all sizes and ages of K- series suffered from it but if it needs the mod, once it's done they are as good as anything of the era.
If i remember correctly back in the day these were massively pre-reg'd and offered for sale at a massive discount to move the metal. As you know this isn't anything new for manufacturers to try and manipulate figures to look how they want them to... A friend of mine (who is a hairdresser - does that speak volumes?) got one and absolutely loved it! Horses for courses.
Rover went into administration back in 2005, BMW sold the company off for £1 to four idiots who ran the company into the ground. But its always had a history of bad management since the 70s sadly, and i think it wasn't for the mini and the metro in the 80s, and honda getting in with them, i recon they would have gone back in the early 80s.
Fast becoming my favourite youtuber for cars. I'd really like nino and tasty classics to work on a project . Also for tasty to show some body work how to with rattle cans etc . Focus video was my favorite
funny enough i think the BMW 1 series that Bmw brought out, the original drafting of it, was going to be the replacement of the rover 25. But like the Mini, they couldn't afford it.
Haha, I was two when this car was produced. My dad had a 45 impression for a long while it was far more characterful than the soulless Audi he has now. Sadly I think the 45 is now deceased the last M.O.T mileage for it was 112,570 which I suppose isn't too bad.
Ford went down this rute years later with the fiesta active, it didnt sell very well whatsoever. The volvo xc70 was actually quite good pretty good off road.
Actually the wose cars for head gasket failure are BMW and Subaru which uses the BMW engine. While Ive had three Rovers with Kseries engines and never had a single head gasket failure. 👍😊
I've had 15 rovers in my time and only 2 of them had head issues. And one of them had the t series engine. Considering how cheap you could get them bk in the day spending a few bob on a new gasket and a day replacing it wasn't that off putting for me tbh.
100 quid 1 owner and I think your right it has aged well and the 4 seats I like for some reason lol keep it please do something with it please I k ow this was going to be brilliant when you lock your self out of the rover lol tha sill cam scared the life out of me lol Put it on The shelf for the future That rust was scary I kinda don't blame you lol
This is one for Furious Driving!. He loves doing the head gaskets on Rovers for fun and a bit of welding would be a bonus!!.
The “start ya bastard 9000” had me spitting out my tea. Comedy gold.
Used to be able to buy tins of start ya bustard starting fluid 👍😂
Obviously an Aussie product!
Obviously watches Vice Grip Garage on YT...but who doesn't?
Three generations of my family worked at Rover, from the 1940s (making tank engines) through to the 1990s. They made some truly great cars, Rover P4, Land Rover, P5, P6, Range Rover, all with bulletproof reliability. Irony of Ironies, they got done over by Jaguar, the P7, P8, P9 and Project Gladys got canned. We got the SD1. After that, I owned two 600s (620Si, and 623GSi) which I loved, and I had Rover 75 (again, a brilliant car). I have a Rover P6 V8, and I am like you, if I became a multi-billionaire, I would rebuilt Rover. With that 25, I'm appalled at the lack of rust protection.
sure
Sure?@@papalaz4444244
I agree totally with your Jaguar comment. I love my Jags but now they seem to have nailed their own coffin shut
At least Grace Jones turned up with Jaguar's photo shoot though.
She at least was cool
It's all part of the desecration of British culture, history and identity.......the Great Replacement.
@@chrisfrobit’s coming…
They are not even going to make any cars until 2026. Estimated price for basic one is around £100,000. It's not even British anymore.
To be fair we used to replace the head gasket, replace the plastic dowel that failed where the oil feed used to come up through with a metal one, re surface the head check the liner heights, replace the stretch bolts, thermostat and either clean out the radiator or replace it, chemically flush out the cooling system and had great success with them afterwards
The k series engine wasn't a bad engine at all, i fitted the very last gasket that was made, that sorted the problem once and for all.
@@procta2343a mechanic told me if the head gasket was replaced it didn’t solve all the ill’s, apparently over time the heads became porous. Had a beautiful 414SLi which fell foul and my mate, over a number of years had two 216GTI’s and a 220GTI. They too had HG failure. Apparently the 220 was a bored out 216 and the process just made the cylinder walls even thinner, inviting further reliability issues. Shame as they were such good looking cars in their time and the interiors were quality
@@robertwilson7498 Dave Andrews stated that heads should be checked for them been been porous too. No good having a head skimmed if its porous.
10 years ago my father proudly presented a Rover 25 streetwise to me on my 17th birthday after winning it in an online raffle for 7 quid. I wasn't impressed at first but after realising it had half leather seats and a spritely 110hp i was very pleased with it. It was confiscated a week later after my dad caught me and a friend bunking off college and practicing handbrake turns at the bottom of the street one afternoon. My blood ran cold when i saw his car slowly peek around the corner while i was mid burnout in my new streetwise.
Never saw that car again and when i passed my driving test i was given a Cadbury purple 1.0 Yaris :) thanks dad
I bought my first motor vehicle, a 1971 Yamaha 125, with my own money (I sold all my radio control equipment) and against the wishes of my hypocritical father who lived elsewhere.
@@GT380man Same here. I had the YAS1 - 125cc from 1971. Twin cylinder, twin carb - bit of a rocket
As a Middle Aged man I remember and loathed the crossover period of the noughties yet now I think they were ahead of their time. That river doesn’t look out of place on modern roads. It feels like almost every car out there is a crossover in all but name.
I had a Rover 200 series long ago. Basically the same car, but with an older interior. Bought it for 500 euro's, and it lasted me 4 years before the engine quit on me at 260000km. Man I miss that car and that interior! Really nice to see another Rover on Tasty Classics!
I had a 216 , flipped it quick time , at the time ,
But it was a very good sound car ........ran true by next owner no drama
And saying that my uncle had a 214 ...........years before it was a very good motor i remember it
Im 63 years young nd ive never recognised the logo of Rover as a viking ship!! Ive always recognised the Rover sign but never realised what it was!!! Must pay more attention.
Every day is a school day! Lol
Love the 25 nd the vids!!
Gotta love Friday evenings, especially when its dark, cold and wet outside.
Warm and ready for this
I have a lot of love for Rover. I have many happy childhood memories in the back seat of a good old Rover. My grandparents used to have a 800 series… K reg is think it was in metallic green. I can remember going with them to collect it from the dealership. I must have only been 5. Keep up the good work Ben. Love watching your videos
I bought quite a few of the earlier Rovers, usually 214's, SI, GSI etc, always bought them at salvage auctions with light panel damage, repaired them, MOT'd them and flogged them on, I loved them, rotted less than Escorts and Orions and were a nice small car, never had a problem, the only one I had an issue with was a Honda engined 416 Gti, it had that much STP in the oil it was a struggle to get the dipstick out... Still, the 3 tins of STP cured the knock and the new owner seemed happy. 🙂
Pls subscribe. I wanna to see Ben for as long as possible. Don't you? Greetings from Berlin, Germany 🎉
… yess ! Greetings aus München
Guten Arbend!
Greetings from Augsburg Germany
@@tastyclassics Good evening back Ben. Marcus says hello 😝
Grüße aus Bielefeld!
Brings back memories of my 2004 25 1.4. I have to agree they are something special in design, the start of the SUV era even? The engine has a unique sound too
I think why this era of car is looking good and ageing well is because most new cars (due to NCap etc) look the same whereas cars from this era looked unique.
Nothing wrong with K-series Engines. Had five bubbles in my time two being the Rover BRM with NO head gasket problems.
the streetwise is a good looking car.
I had a Y reg Rover 25 and was the newer shape. Absolutely loved it. Very nippy 1.4 and had the best alloy wheels I’ve ever had in a car - not the same as yours.
The throttle body is plastic which can deform if it gets hot. A popular upgrade was to install the MG metal one - simple bolt in replacement.
My dad's last car, a Rover 25, was left parked up for 2 years before he died. The car expired as well, because there was absolutely no way around the immobiliser.... 😢.... Fully agree with your comments regarding Jaguar: RIP
RIP Jaguar. 😢
And Boots
Im sure you heard it all before but ........remove stat from back of engine ..... skim ,head ,Mg 6 head gasket,who have had no problems so far ..... mls ,freelander oil rail ,remote freelander thermostat ,mg alloy radiator, bomb proof ......
Ahh, Ben. So many what ifs and why's with Rover. We just threw them in the bin cause it just wasn't worth saving them. When you look at one now, they did a good job in trying to keep that poor old 200 fresh. Lots of part's for someone tho and I so love the wheels. Great channel mate, thanks. 😊
your country has made some really really nice cars.
i love the 2300 motor turboed is a beast. your country took it to the next level . we got one time t-bird turbo.
Love the Rover 25. First one my mum had was written off by a deer. lets just say the deer won that one. The second one was the 2L Diesel. That thing was bullet proof. She attempted to drive through a flood under a railway bridge and hydrolocked the engine. Four hours later and myself and my stepdad had managed to drain as much water as we could, fire it up and drive me home in it all in one evening. It also had one bolt holding an idler pulley on, the other two had sheared off somehow.
I bought a K reg Rover 214SLI as a 2nd car so the wife could use. After a week, i decided to use it myself. Loved the comfort and twin cam rapid. Held onto it for 6 years. Have recently been looking for a nice one to buy again.
cant beat a bit of tasty
I would love to see a history of MG Rover from you Ben! I own and drive an MG ZT 260, one of the last models they ever produced. I absolutely love it, even though there are much better cars in the class I could have had for the same money. But I've always wanted my MG. Ever since old JC reviewed it back in 2004, when I saw it for the first time. They're fun cars! Thirsty, but I like a drink too, but fun! 😅
Keep up the great work Ben! 😊👍
Early K series were much more reliable. The problems started when they increased the bore for the 1.6 and 1.8. At they same time they were starting to value engineer things and moved from steel head dowels to plastic ones. I had one of the first 1.8 VVC's and it went back for head issues with 3 weeks of delivery.
Those plastic dowels along with the single layer elastomer gasket were the bain of the K.
This. I had a very early (G-reg) 214SLi with single-point fuel injection. I had zero head gasket issues, even after leaving it standing on my driveway for several years due to front subframe rust, then getting it running again. It was a weird spec too, electric mirrors and central locking but manual windows and unassisted steering.
I went as far as buying the bits to fix it up, but I ended up part-exing it with a scrap dealer for a 1987 Audi Coupé GT off the back of his tow truck.
Yeah a Mechanic Explained the Plastic Dowel Pins to me...a costly mistake in the long run...for the sake of saving probably £2 per engine from new...lol...
@rapitupthatsarap6681
Wish I cud understand what y'all mean .........😢
I kinda get ya .........plastic inside a engine don't sound good to me
Hope u see this as I'm shadow banned
Love your channel Ben, it’s my favourite on TH-cam. At 56 my patience is constantly being tried by the moronic state of the world and the entitled prats within it but Tasty Classics is just the antidote to the madness.
I’ve tinkered with cars for forty plus years and your projects just take me right back there. Keep it real mate, breathing life back in to old cars is a dwindling skill which you are helping to keep going 👍👍👍
Yup the Jaguar train has left the station and is headed for the Brookwood cemetery. RIP Jaguar
yeah i think its their down fall, The EV isn't the market to be in at all. Nissans Leaf wasn't a strong seller at all, I saw many jukes and quashis to the one leaf, come off the production line, and on to the test track, When i was checking parts at Nissan. The Battery plant that is next to Nissan, is struggling too, and they have a new plant to move into. Which was due to open in march this year, and that was put back till the October, and again put back again another year. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the start of the U turn on the EV, and Diesel models will start to make a comeback.
I sometimes forget I own a Rover. Its a 1991 classic mini and its bloody brilliant 🙂
The problem with the K series is it was a very misunderstood engine, The head gasket technology was F1 technology and was a sandwich style all alloy construction with a steel polymer gasket which when cold was effectively loose until the Alloy block and head warmed up and expanded creating a tight seal which required getting the engine up to temperature and not going above 3000rpm in the warm up phase which nobody did they just jumped in them in the morning dash then jumped on the motorway to work which of course eventually caused blow by on the head gasket and blew it. I worked for a Rover-Jaguar-Land Rover Specialist for 12 years and worked on them all of the time.
That’s not a problem other engine manufacturers have. It was an error. After a century of engine manufacturing, it’s incomprehensible to me, a mechanically minded 64 year old.
that's a very fine bit of roverage there. I remember these new in the showroom, that and the brm with the orange mouth. they had some interesting ideas at the time. the Honda engined ones were the ones the workers there bought for obvious reasons.
The start you bastard 9000 😂😂😂😂
It's a prayer to the scrapyard God's not to take another soul
My sister in law bought an R reg diesel 220 this shape brand new.
She kept it for nearly a decade.
I bought it off her for what the dealer had offered in px. 700 quid.
I ran it for two trouble free years and sold it to my mate at work for 500.
Two years ownership for 200 quid.
Cheapest car i ever owned.
The Rover 2.0...L-Series Diesel...Great Engines (unlike Rover Petrol Engines)
Please get a new number 3 for your unit, that 8 cut in half sends my ocd off the charts! 😂😂😂
I second this request, my migraines make numbers appear like this, not good.
I had a 214 followed by a 1400cc 200 and never had any head gasket problems. The 214 did getting on for 100,000 miles and I sold it because of a tiny bit of rust behind the n/s rear door. Silly in hindsight as it was a great car. The 200 had an oil leak which dripped onto the alternator. A mate made me a shield out of sheet metal to protect the alternator from the oil leak but it was never as good a car as the 214. I once read that the gasket problems were more with the larger K series engines, particularly the 1800
I now have a 53 plate 75 cdti and am hanging onto it like grim death as it is such a brilliant car. I am also being tempted by a lovely P4. I had one until a couple of years ago and really miss it!
My old man had loads of Rovers, my favourite was his 216 Vanden Plas EFI, such a nice car! Would love to see you revive a SD1 Vitesse TP, what a car 😮
Cool car, i had a 1986 216 Vitesse in the early 1990s, they had sprightly engines in them. And my old man had an SD1 in the 1970s, alas not the 3500S of the day, he had the 2.6, but a comfortable car for sure. 1980s The Vitesse was a gorgeous looking thing, especially in that metallic Blue they did.
@@duncanpatterson8730 moonraker blue
dacia did the same trick of raising the ride height, and sticking plastic on the wheel arches, called it the stepway and did very well
I'm such a rover fanboy and yes my mates do laugh at me 😂 had a few old rovers the one thing I will say is the vauxhall Corsa d also blows head gaskets for fun but people won't admit it because it's vauxhall not rover 🤷♀️
I have always liked this rover.
I think you are a very brave Santa welder in a flammable Santa outfit 🤣🤣
and no goggles. 😵💫
Couldn't click quick enough 😂 looking forward to this one, especially as I love a good rover!
Same
Rover was once a fabulous brand...loved them and I had SDI's and Sterling's....another great video Ben many thanks
I love the rover Ben
We've gotta say (oddly) this is one of our favourite episodes/cars you've done. Shame it needs so much work - hope someone snaps it up and does the work it needs 🤞
Plenty of good hard to find spares on this car if nobody wants to restore it. Agree with your decision not to proceed with it Ben too much work.
Also your comments on the loss of Rover in 2005 and the "rebranding " of Jaguar are spot on, how can they have got it so very wrong!!??
Great channel, you have got the balance just right and your success is very well deserved. Keep them coming and you'll easily soon be past 100k subs 👏👍
You talk with passion like the cars are living enteritis, what a great channel.
... would that be garage enteritis?
Father Christmas looks and sounds uncannily like you mate.
It was a ' Lucky Rover ' having you breathe life into it Ben. Agree RIP Jaguar. 🤔
Nice little rover worth sorting
Usually fixing and tinkering or project Nigel channels will be your friend with this car.
"Head linings like a wet nappy "
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🎉 comment of the week that Ben .
I've had 2 Rover 25s. Lovely to drive very comfy and smooth but both met there end due to head gasket failure.
MG Rover marketed these as the urban onroader, still have all the Streetwise brochures at home.
I actually like the look of the Streetwise.
And the reason why the horn is on a separate switch is because the relay in the pektron bcm has stopped working...but new relays can be obtained and re soldered in
I had a 2004 streetwise with the BMW diesel. Brilliant motor... Underrated in my opinion.
The only rover fitted with a bmw diesel was the 75/zt the streetwise 25 ect was fitted with rovers L series diesel
I like classic cars. They have there own personality, if you know what I mean.
Restored and slammed it'd look mint. Maybe the boot button is on the rear wiper like bmw touring
Hi Ben, worked at James Edwards Rover dealership, great cars loved working on them
I owned 2 Rover 200's at the same time and I had no issues with the head gaskets. both were 1997 cars with a 1.4 & 1.6 K-series engine. I must have been lucky.
I worked at Rover specialist a decade ago and yes we did lots of them but it's not as common as it's portrayed we frequently had cars with over 200k miles with orginal headgaskets.
I worked at rover for the last 10 years before it closed and the streetwise was my fav car that I had on the acop scheme
I had a Rover 25 1.6, yes the head gasket went at 55k miles. I loved driving that car though.
When I was very young looking for a cheap car to get me on the road, I got one of these for the princely sum of £200 knowing it had a ruined head gasket. I replaced the head gasket myself and ran Daz laundry detergent through it about 4 times, and it did tens of thousands of miles afterwards incredibly reliably. I miss the trouble free days these little things represent for me.
Ben you need to contact jonny Smith from the late brake show, he's done a barn find xr2 and there's also a rover 75 there that's also up for grabs, needs a back window but it's got your name all over it 👍
As a MK1 C5 A6 Allroad owner, I approve of how this car looks. Cool find Ben!
As much as you say it’s not sexy it sort of is… it’s like a guilty pleasure you know you shouldn’t but you just find it sexy!
5 minutes in and I'm checking the classifieds,.
Had a 1.4 25, loved it... Until the HG popped.
Think the streetwise is fabulous.
That rover is so clean inside
It's Tasty Classics time again 🍕🍗🍻😁❄️
The MGF place on A1 South Lincs, and other specialists, have a standard fix for the head gasket issue. Not all sizes and ages of K- series suffered from it but if it needs the mod, once it's done they are as good as anything of the era.
My Grandparents were a huge fan of Rovers they had a 416 SLI N Reg and the fan belt used to squek when you started it up
my self , like the look of it then again i liked the pontiac vibe. think that was the name. they had this whole tent thing for them.
I had a P reg 220 turbo diesel in that blue ..it was a great car.
Great ending to the video Ben, Father Christmas and the disappearing eyebrow had me in stitches 😂😂
If i remember correctly back in the day these were massively pre-reg'd and offered for sale at a massive discount to move the metal. As you know this isn't anything new for manufacturers to try and manipulate figures to look how they want them to... A friend of mine (who is a hairdresser - does that speak volumes?) got one and absolutely loved it! Horses for courses.
Loving the airfreshener off you
I like how you love these absolute lemons. I don't know whatever happened to Rover but definitely going to look into it.
Rover went into administration back in 2005, BMW sold the company off for £1 to four idiots who ran the company into the ground. But its always had a history of bad management since the 70s sadly, and i think it wasn't for the mini and the metro in the 80s, and honda getting in with them, i recon they would have gone back in the early 80s.
Great looking old Rover. We never saw these in Australia. Thanks for all your videos. Have a good week. Marc from Australia 🇦🇺
Fast becoming my favourite youtuber for cars. I'd really like nino and tasty classics to work on a project . Also for tasty to show some body work how to with rattle cans etc . Focus video was my favorite
I spotted them wandering around the NEC together at the classic motor show
Both great entertainers with a love of cars, perfect 👌
Dont you just love bens vids he explains every little detail which i love he is a great guy❤
It's a shame that Rover weren't able to bring out the new mini that was already in development under their own name. That would've saved them!
Maybe it would maybe it wouldn’t that’s the thing, would they have made the success of it BMW did or make an arse of it
We will never know
Yeah and then maybe the mini would of been more reliable if rover had continued with it!
funny enough i think the BMW 1 series that Bmw brought out, the original drafting of it, was going to be the replacement of the rover 25. But like the Mini, they couldn't afford it.
Haha, I was two when this car was produced. My dad had a 45 impression for a long while it was far more characterful than the soulless Audi he has now. Sadly I think the 45 is now deceased the last M.O.T mileage for it was 112,570 which I suppose isn't too bad.
My 414 kettle is sadly missed (nearly 20 years ago). I learned about head gaskets that day 😢🤭
Jesus! You are brave welding in that highly flammable suit
Bought back the old intro…Nice 👍🏼
FYI, snow is natures clay bar 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Saw a Renault Scenic RX4 last week in Trowbridge .. It was a mess but hey , made me smile .
Not far from me I live in a Town called Midsomer Norton in Somerset close to Bath
A black 2003 one by any chance? Seen a few months ago near Swindon
I do love a Rover 😊
I was working at an MG Rover dealer when these came out. I only ever sold them to people over 50 lol.
Ford went down this rute years later with the fiesta active, it didnt sell very well whatsoever. The volvo xc70 was actually quite good pretty good off road.
Interesting and different, you should offer the interior to get your money back and bin the rest.
Awesome video Ben, brilliantly entertaining as usual
Actually the wose cars for head gasket failure are BMW and Subaru which uses the BMW engine.
While Ive had three Rovers with Kseries engines and never had a single head gasket failure. 👍😊
I've had 15 rovers in my time and only 2 of them had head issues. And one of them had the t series engine. Considering how cheap you could get them bk in the day spending a few bob on a new gasket and a day replacing it wasn't that off putting for me tbh.
100 quid 1 owner and I think your right it has aged well and the 4 seats I like for some reason lol keep it please do something with it please
I k ow this was going to be brilliant when you lock your self out of the rover lol
tha sill cam scared the life out of me lol
Put it on The shelf for the future
That rust was scary I kinda don't blame you lol
Ben is one of The best coolest car guy
I went to the unveiling of the streetwise…always liked them, I found they drove better than the stock 25.
Awesome video,work and car as allways🔥😎
I bought an indirect diesel heater for my workshop, can’t recommend enough..same heat without the fumes and headaches 😂
"Cool suburban guy" is a great power ballad. 😊😊