In the year nineteen eighty something, young me accompanied my father to buy his new car. Didn’t know what he was getting, it was extraordinarily exciting. In the collection area we’re two cars, both SD1s. One was green like this, with a dark brown leather interior and V8S written in the back. It was mean and awesome and the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I was in love. My dad came back after completing the paperwork holding the keys to the gold 2600 with orange cloth seats and no body kit next to it. It was quite a roller coaster of a day.
@@ProjectNigel Very much so and especially as the SD1 turned out to be a poor choice as a family car depending on your position within the family hierarchy. If you were Father, you were quite happy driving your 5 door Daytona lookalike with it’s 6 or 8 cylinder engine, enjoying its sound and punch (who bought a 4 cyl one through choice?). If you were Mother you were less happy, sliding around in your seat with no massive steering wheel to brace against as Father launched into a bend at an alarming pace and getting wet feet because it leaked. And also having to deal with the children in the back who were having a miserable time feeling sick and bored because the seat was so low you couldn’t look out of the windows. It wasn’t remembered with much fondness, although my final memory of it was my dad saying how much he was going to miss this as he floored it through some tasty bends the day before he sold it.
At least it doesn't look too bad from this distance @10:23 to 10:30. Probably the only Opaline Green rear SD1 valance left in existence. Also, the front shock towers look solid. The body looks very original, and looks to have had no accidents. Very nice interior. All the exterior chrome parts look good. I think this car is worth saving.
Only they were not terrible cars - yes they had problems with the early cars but the later cars were very good - when I moved here in 1998 a guy in my street was running an SD1 Silver Vitesse D reg and he was running it every day right up till a few years ago just before this scam demic started (go read the 2007 book VIRUS MANIA now updated) when he had to give up driving because of heart problems - was good hearing that V8 warble all the time and certainly not a terrible car to be used daily all those decades.
I would hazard a guess of around 25k. The reason for my estimate is due to the TH-cam channel 'Cortina City'. Pete spent that restoring one mk3 Cortina, and he restored 3 of them.
She's a bit of a rough one, Mustard 🙈. It's times like these that I'm GLAD that car I live where I live. "Our" Rover's over here in the Desert simply don't rust. I was recently given a '53 Plymouth Belvedere Sedan from the grandchildren of the original Owner, who's STILL ALIVE @ age 94👀. This car had sat in a garage basically untouched since 1980, when it was last inspected. It won't take much to get the Flathead six running 🎽. Original paint & Interior too😉.
I think you can handle it, Mustard. But, you're going to need a larger undercover work area for starters..... James (NitroSilvia..) could tackle that in a reasonable timeframe.
@4:34 to 4:43 His Thriller album had just been released, and he was in the charts with 'The Girl is Mine', dueting with Paul McCartney, at the time this car first left the Austin Rover dealership, somewhere in the North West, in November 1982.
You don't go into a project like this with your head, it's heart all the way. It did look suprisingly solid underneath. All of the rust is pretty standard SD1 stuff, they were like that back in the 90s when they were worth about the same as a half eaten bag of Frazzles.
My dad had one in the early 90s, it had an electric radio aerial an i was well happy turning the ignition one click an seeing it go up 😂 must of thought we where posh 😂
That was a very cool car, I believe the 300SE's were quite a bit more rare and this is in very nice 80's guise. Not worth much $ right now in the UK at any rate, but worth saving from an integrity and historic standpoint. Plenty of body parts are available NOS and perhaps they could be chipped away at over the years by a caring soul. I have one of these here in CA and have owned it 2 years and am slowly working to get it back on the road as I can spare some money here and there. No-one else seemed to want to and I rescued it from someone's drive where it had been sitting for years. Labour of love, but boy am I still motivated to do, be it the ruin of me.
The SE wasn't made for that long. It was an S2 trim level. When released in '82, the trim levels were: S SE Vanden Plas However, in 1984, there was a range reshuffle, where the SE was dropped. S SE => Vanden Plas Vitesse Vanden Plas => Vanden Plas EFi
They say nowadays get a 2.6 and fettle with it and u can increase the power upto 170sh just with induction it was originally a more powerfull engine than the v8 and leyland detuned it to fit inline with the range theres only 20bhp diffrence bettween a regular 3500 and a 2600
Set it up its own yt channel and let it fund its own resurrection. It's not like it not going to be a while before anything needs to be purchased as disassembly will take a number of weeks on its own due to rusty/rounded seized bolts. I'm sure the SD1 community would love a channel with a nut and bolt resto. Ask for donations of parts ect.... It could be viable.
Even with more holes than Emmentaler cheese the SD1 looks much better than most Fords.....id hazard a guess at 1,800 plus welding costs...as far as i am aware if you historic vehicle tax it, you dont need to have had it MOTed in your ownership.
I was the first person to view this car at the hill farm, i agreed to buy it, when i went back to collect it & see it for a second time i thought to myself what have i done !. anyway the gods were smiling on me that day because on trying to get it out of the barn my trailer winch cable snapped & was unable to load it. so left it, really did dodge a bullet with that one thank god.(rotten as a pear)
Paul. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there wasn’t anything we couldn’t rebuild. Floor pans where common replacement on metros. Are all the panels available such as Inner sill panels and door skins? Folk are building projects with those V8s and fitting them in there classic cars, such as Vauxhall’s and fords. If the panels are available then it’s a simple job to do.
1998 when I had my own workshop. I had my XR2 mk1 and Mgb gt to put panels and skins on it’s really easy if you can see how to do them. My Toyota st165 had to be partly rebuild with welding panels on to get it though mot. Rusty is having driver train repainted or replaced, the front wings need 6in adding to them to fit over the 20in wheels, rear arches which I’ve cut from another 75 have to be reskinned to widen the body also.
The great thing about the SD1 was that, as the bodywork disintegrated, they left a ready supply of solid 3.5 litre V8 engines in the breakers’ yards. When I blew up the engine in my diesel conversion 1973 Range Rover, I picked up a V8 lump from an SD1 at the scrapper for £50 which enabled me to flog the vehicle. Pity I didn’t keep it though, the original classic 2-door RR is worth a fortune now.
My friend had a few sd1 Rovers I like them myself I do know where there is one of them but it's a straight 6. Unfortunately they where bad for rust but then it is an 1984/3. I would say for yourself it is not a car you want to repair. It's for someone who would strip it back and rebuild it. I know of one channel your probably aware of him to. He would probably he able to restore it. It's whether he wants to or not I do believe he has other one's he is doing but you never know. Price wise am going to be honest probably around £15.000 that's doing the work on it yourself. I kind of a have ruff figure what I spent on the 820 Si I have but it was a Labour of love for the car and not for over all the money I would make back. I haven't gone for s concourse finish. As some would by using second hand parts obtained from the club. Living in the Highlands of Scotland doesn't help the matter. Not having a work shop doesn't help either but where there is will there is a way.😀🤔
My god that's rotten but it could be done I have had 4 SD1's they were all badly put together rot boxes but they are lovely cars to drive. As for resto cost 10K no problem
All cars back then were rot boxes if the owners never bothered their backside rustproofing them which the vast majority never did - I never had any problems with rust on my cars. Never owned an SD1 though even though I would have loved one but it was only the first cars that had problems the later cars were built just the same as most other cars back then. I moved here in 1998 and there was a guy driving a D-reg SD1 Vitesse in silver as his every day car right up till a few years ago now when he had to give up driving because he had a heart attack. That car was getting some rust round the rear arches and probably eslewhere but that was not the fault of the car or manufacturer as the car has done well to get to this age of every day use and parked in the street - it was because he never kept up with cleaning the wheel arches out and underneath and rustproofing the car. One of his relatives that owns a garage has that car now and is restoring it. A guy along the other side of my street had a V8 Rover P6 but now has a Gold 1500 Allegro that is in mint condition.
If you asked Jeff Goldblum, he’s say that we spend too much time thinking about whether we CAN restore cars like this that we forget to ask ourselves whether we SHOULD. If it were mine, I’d save the £40k and sell it for parts but I suspect the owner is a dreamer so it’ll become a never-ending ‘project’.
Always loved these Sd1s, maybe because my dad had one in the same Opaline green?, a 2600SE. Yours will need a fair bit of cash chucked at it but would be great to see another one back on the road. I'd lose the bodykit though.
Well, anything can be restored but I doubt you'd see much change from 20k, even assuming you can do the welding. How much is a decent paint job nowadays? On the other hand, these cars seem to be fetching nice money even as total restoration projects......
Such a shame its so crusty, they're so rare these days. SD1 was always on my list of things I need in my life after seeing a red V8 being driven around in Bradford by a drug dealer back in the early 90s 🤣
With Clever planning, supply contacts you can make it work creating money from enthusiasts hits. The SD1 is actively becoming a Cult Classic, and all of us who have them need all the parts crossovers sources we can get, also in keeping our motivation prompted, instead continuing to lean on them in the driveway 💥 I , in the,USA, only had them the one year- 1980 model. So they actually don't exist per generation knowledge. The car is admiringly beautiful, but was just produced under bad quality years for Rover, it has an extreme amount of Merit, it could be very rewarding for you in many ways👌
I like the SD1 as my Folks had a dark metalic red 3500 S with a beige velour interior in the 80's when I was a young lad. I remember the front spoiler getting ripped off in snowy conditions, it did rust, especially in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. But I loved the way it looked and the V8 burble, the interior was lovely. You could salvage the rest of the glass house, the interior and exterior trim pieces as these can be hard to source now, and try and source a better body. Once you get into that body and get the carpets out, check the boot floor, front bulk head to floor area and the scuttle, battery tray area etc it may not be worth the effort. If you only need to replace the inner and outer sill and floor pan sections on that nearside and the other side is OK with just some small patching here and there in other areas it will be OK. The doors and wings bolt on and I am sure Rimmer brothers can provide front and rear valance, wings and door skins provided the door frame pressing is not totally rotted out. The boot floor will have holes, gauranteed, they always do😆🤣. The body is the money pit, those V8 engines are still plentiful, if you are going through all that effort then it would be worth getting new wiring harnesses made, all that work for the car to just go on fire would be sickening. Either way strip it down assess and cost out body repairs and panels, then make a decision to re-shell or keep.
An immaculate SD1 is a stunning car but this would be a 'Triggers Broom' sadly, it simply would cost 1000's of pounds. A few years ago Rimmer Bro or something like that had some new shells left over from the Indian Standard project which made me think you could build the ultimate SD1 with say a more modern 4.0lt Range Rover engine but again it wold cost thousands. I love the Vitesse but I've always liked the poverty spec 2.0lt in its simplest form complete with skinny steel wheels , image finding a mint well cared for version of that in an estate sale. As for your SD1 I think it's time to sacrifice itself to Oden so another Viking can live on.
Love the SD1. Even if you can get that running it would work some value into it. The 'WILL IT RUN' click baiters love stuff like this. "OMG 1 owner SD1 stood for 285 years" BARN FIND WILL IT RUN YOU WILL NOT BELEIVE THIS CLICKY CLICKY CLICK CLICK OMMMGGG. But seriously this is a proper will it run. Not a 56 reg Astra with a flat battery thats been parked on me nans front garden for 18 months since she gave up driving.
Yeah well, a lot of us guys fix up a car because we want to do it. We don’t fix up a certain car because it’s easy or worth the $. But because it’s there.
It brings to mind a film I’ve seen “A bridge to far” a mission doomed to failure and heart ache. £20k if the engine and gearbox work including a rebuild on both just to get it in reasonable condition with a paint job and driving. I’d nut and bolt strip it for parts especially the interior as it’s getting harder to source those parts.
I had a 2600 sd1 for a while in the late 80s, was a banger then when I was between jobs. Totally daft as a ‘cheap car’ but I had to have had an sd1 at least once. The pre facelift cars were just stunningly aggressive looking. Mine had the traditional 2600 coolant leaks and leccy windows that worked…occasionally.
There's a brand new Rover SD1 V8 body shell on ebay for £9500, might get it a wee bit less, also an SD1 2300 breaking on ebay for a few bits, you could be well on your way for less than £15k.
That Rover is in very sad shape. I would estimate easily £15,245 total, and that is without labour costs. The automatic would also need to be pulled and serviced as well as the rear end. I think you would have to sell every vehicle barring Nigel for £2,000 to put into restoring this Rover.
How deep are your pockets is the obvious answer . Had 2 sd1's years ago when parts were reasonably easy to get, Wouldn't like fo think about the price now or availability, rimmers may still have bits at a guess
What’s the market for these in the UK? In Europe I reckon it could easily fetch a 5 digit amount but would that be enough in terms of cost and (ideally) profit margin, i doubt it. Perhaps it’s all about priorities, getting the engine to run and focus a bit less on exterior details i.e. wearing the marks of time with pride. On the other hand, i would imagine that model specific parts such as lights, are getting rarer and more expensive by the day so it might be worth selling it in parts, although that would always be a bit cruel.
Interesting video mate, you don’t see many SD1’s. I didn’t think you had to already have a current MOT to register it as historic, I have 1979 Suzuki scooter that doesn’t have an MOT currently and doesn’t need one, I’ve taxed it so that must be the case. As you couldn’t tax a vehicle before without an MOT.
There was a brand new, complete SD1 body shell for sale on eBay recently. At £10,000 though, I doubt it would be worth the cost unless it was used to repair a high spec one, such as a Vitesse. Values are rising though, so it could be worth the investment.
Plymouth Superbirds in worse shape than that have been restored, so it can be done. The cost of the restoration plays a large part in making them million dollar cars though. I would budget $100k for the SD1, if you're lucky you'll have enough left over when it's done to cruise down to the local kebab stand for a snack....
You could get the V5 put in your name, insure it then go & tax it at the Post Office, in the process declaring it an MoT exempt historic vehicle, no current MoT needed. The PO would then keep your new V5 to have the taxation class changed. It's very easy, some might say too easy. Not worth doing financially speaking. Worth doing if you're not bothered about recovering your money when it's done. It's got to be the thick end of £20k.
Well, it's very rare for me to say this, but unfortunately, that has been a Rover SD1 for too long. If that was Hyacinth, I would simply have it scrapped! :-( I hate scrapping cars, but three decades of neglect have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.
@@Vintageaudiofan1992 Nitrosilvia has restored worst SD1s as has Pete C of Cortina City restored worst Mk3 Cortinas. As long as it is someone like them that can weld and fabricate good and wants to restore teh car then it is easy - not so much for people who cannot do these things and have to pay others to do the work for them which then becomes expensive.
Just save what you can off it for another car. It is a lovely colour though… green inside and out ! Better to fit the bodykit to something else and spend the money on a respray.
Then try to get it running and driving just to see… but it really is too far gone, there must be other SD1s with more potential. There’s always a reason these tired cars were parked in the first place, never mind why later owners have given up on them. Now the red 820 on the other hand, that has potential !
Is there a hole in the oil filter??? What in the name of all that’s holy would you ever want an absolute scrapper like that for, except for taking it to the scrap yard.mmmmmmmmmm
If it was just about any other car I’d consider getting used replacement parts and body panels from a cannibalised car, but any others that are still out there are probably rotten as well. If it was me I’d consider breaking it for spares, you could probably sell the engine at least.
In the year nineteen eighty something, young me accompanied my father to buy his new car. Didn’t know what he was getting, it was extraordinarily exciting. In the collection area we’re two cars, both SD1s. One was green like this, with a dark brown leather interior and V8S written in the back. It was mean and awesome and the coolest thing I’d ever seen. I was in love. My dad came back after completing the paperwork holding the keys to the gold 2600 with orange cloth seats and no body kit next to it. It was quite a roller coaster of a day.
What a disappointment 😆
@@ProjectNigel Very much so and especially as the SD1 turned out to be a poor choice as a family car depending on your position within the family hierarchy. If you were Father, you were quite happy driving your 5 door Daytona lookalike with it’s 6 or 8 cylinder engine, enjoying its sound and punch (who bought a 4 cyl one through choice?). If you were Mother you were less happy, sliding around in your seat with no massive steering wheel to brace against as Father launched into a bend at an alarming pace and getting wet feet because it leaked. And also having to deal with the children in the back who were having a miserable time feeling sick and bored because the seat was so low you couldn’t look out of the windows. It wasn’t remembered with much fondness, although my final memory of it was my dad saying how much he was going to miss this as he floored it through some tasty bends the day before he sold it.
The bloke at nitrosilvia would have that welded in about 67 episodes
😅
follow him too. very good at sorting the rust. yorkshire car restoration also good at cutting and making up repair parts.
Nitro silva is the sd1 man indeed
The words ‘basket’ and ‘case’ come to mind.
Yeah I guess so.
just found your channel and really liking sd1 projects over youtube the engine just makes a sweet sound like no other car
At least it doesn't look too bad from this distance @10:23 to 10:30. Probably the only Opaline Green rear SD1 valance left in existence. Also, the front shock towers look solid. The body looks very original, and looks to have had no accidents. Very nice interior. All the exterior chrome parts look good. I think this car is worth saving.
A small knock on the front and that's it I think.
They may have been terrible cars, but there is a place in my heart for them along with the Mk1 granada.
Yeah. 😊
Only they were not terrible cars - yes they had problems with the early cars but the later cars were very good - when I moved here in 1998 a guy in my street was running an SD1 Silver Vitesse D reg and he was running it every day right up till a few years ago just before this scam demic started (go read the 2007 book VIRUS MANIA now updated) when he had to give up driving because of heart problems - was good hearing that V8 warble all the time and certainly not a terrible car to be used daily all those decades.
I would hazard a guess of around 25k. The reason for my estimate is due to the TH-cam channel 'Cortina City'. Pete spent that restoring one mk3 Cortina, and he restored 3 of them.
That is a big bill indeed
She's a bit of a rough one, Mustard 🙈. It's times like these that I'm GLAD that car I live where I live. "Our" Rover's over here in the Desert simply don't rust. I was recently given a '53 Plymouth Belvedere Sedan from the grandchildren of the original Owner, who's STILL ALIVE @ age 94👀. This car had sat in a garage basically untouched since 1980, when it was last inspected. It won't take much to get the Flathead six running 🎽. Original paint & Interior too😉.
Yes they don't rot even with no paint there.
I think you can handle it, Mustard. But, you're going to need a larger undercover work area for starters..... James (NitroSilvia..) could tackle that in a reasonable timeframe.
A V8 Rover SDI we hope it can live on. A tall order.
Almost anything is possible
Brave. Jesus Paul, that's a Greek tradigy BUT I honestly think you can sort it.
Actually I wish I could, but it's definitely not something I can fix.
@4:34 to 4:43 His Thriller album had just been released, and he was in the charts with 'The Girl is Mine', dueting with Paul McCartney, at the time this car first left the Austin Rover dealership, somewhere in the North West, in November 1982.
Interesting facts.
You don't go into a project like this with your head, it's heart all the way. It did look suprisingly solid underneath. All of the rust is pretty standard SD1 stuff, they were like that back in the 90s when they were worth about the same as a half eaten bag of Frazzles.
Agreed 🙂
My dad had one in the early 90s, it had an electric radio aerial an i was well happy turning the ignition one click an seeing it go up 😂 must of thought we where posh 😂
Needs to be restored, its a big job but they are getting rare. Nothing sounds like a V8 Rover.
That was a very cool car, I believe the 300SE's were quite a bit more rare and this is in very nice 80's guise. Not worth much $ right now in the UK at any rate, but worth saving from an integrity and historic standpoint. Plenty of body parts are available NOS and perhaps they could be chipped away at over the years by a caring soul. I have one of these here in CA and have owned it 2 years and am slowly working to get it back on the road as I can spare some money here and there. No-one else seemed to want to and I rescued it from someone's drive where it had been sitting for years. Labour of love, but boy am I still motivated to do, be it the ruin of me.
The SE wasn't made for that long.
It was an S2 trim level. When released in '82, the trim levels were:
S
SE
Vanden Plas
However, in 1984, there was a range reshuffle, where the SE was dropped.
S
SE => Vanden Plas
Vitesse
Vanden Plas => Vanden Plas EFi
They say nowadays get a 2.6 and fettle with it and u can increase the power upto 170sh just with induction it was originally a more powerfull engine than the v8 and leyland detuned it to fit inline with the range theres only 20bhp diffrence bettween a regular 3500 and a 2600
Set it up its own yt channel and let it fund its own resurrection. It's not like it not going to be a while before anything needs to be purchased as disassembly will take a number of weeks on its own due to rusty/rounded seized bolts. I'm sure the SD1 community would love a channel with a nut and bolt resto. Ask for donations of parts ect....
It could be viable.
I like that idea.
Great but... I would need to extract £15 at least and I wouldn't be able to fund my own needs 😅
i wonder if nitrosilvia wants a new project?
He's got enough I think 😅
Great video capt, you got some amount of comments. The design of the sd1 is timeless, even the dash reminds me of the new ioniq 5 ev.
Even with more holes than Emmentaler cheese the SD1 looks much better than most Fords.....id hazard a guess at 1,800 plus welding costs...as far as i am aware if you historic vehicle tax it, you dont need to have had it MOTed in your ownership.
🤣
@@ProjectNigel Thought you may enjoy the laugh....There maybe a donor car available on Classic cars for less than 10K...fancy a 2.6l lol
Nice cars are the sd1s but would prefer a p4,or a ford granada.
I was the first person to view this car at the hill farm, i agreed to buy it, when i went back to collect it & see it for a second time i thought to myself what have i done !. anyway the gods were smiling on me that day because on trying to get it out of the barn my trailer winch cable snapped & was unable to load it. so left it, really did dodge a bullet with that one thank god.(rotten as a pear)
Oh wow l that's interesting 🙂
Paul. Back in the 80’s and 90’s there wasn’t anything we couldn’t rebuild. Floor pans where common replacement on metros. Are all the panels available such as Inner sill panels and door skins? Folk are building projects with those V8s and fitting them in there classic cars, such as Vauxhall’s and fords. If the panels are available then it’s a simple job to do.
1998 when I had my own workshop. I had my XR2 mk1 and Mgb gt to put panels and skins on it’s really easy if you can see how to do them. My Toyota st165 had to be partly rebuild with welding panels on to get it though mot. Rusty is having driver train repainted or replaced, the front wings need 6in adding to them to fit over the 20in wheels, rear arches which I’ve cut from another 75 have to be reskinned to widen the body also.
People were a bit more determined then I guess.
Oh so you bought the sd1 to the yard on transit face .
I’ve never seen that type of body kit on one of them before
Me neither
@@ProjectNigel worth a few pennies maybe
The great thing about the SD1 was that, as the bodywork disintegrated, they left a ready supply of solid 3.5 litre V8 engines in the breakers’ yards. When I blew up the engine in my diesel conversion 1973 Range Rover, I picked up a V8 lump from an SD1 at the scrapper for £50 which enabled me to flog the vehicle. Pity I didn’t keep it though, the original classic 2-door RR is worth a fortune now.
Yes those V8s used to end in all sorts 😄
My friend had a few sd1 Rovers I like them myself I do know where there is one of them but it's a straight 6. Unfortunately they where bad for rust but then it is an 1984/3. I would say for yourself it is not a car you want to repair. It's for someone who would strip it back and rebuild it. I know of one channel your probably aware of him to. He would probably he able to restore it. It's whether he wants to or not I do believe he has other one's he is doing but you never know. Price wise am going to be honest probably around £15.000 that's doing the work on it yourself. I kind of a have ruff figure what I spent on the 820 Si I have but it was a Labour of love for the car and not for over all the money I would make back. I haven't gone for s concourse finish. As some would by using second hand parts obtained from the club. Living in the Highlands of Scotland doesn't help the matter. Not having a work shop doesn't help either but where there is will there is a way.😀🤔
If it was my car I don't think I would hesitate to strip it for parts, especially with the rebuild costs.
@@ProjectNigel Yeah tottaly understand that one. But it had potential for someone to do something with it. 🤔😀
That drivers door handle has a good sound. I thought you would of said something.
Oh yes actually the door pull thing feels quite nice.
My god that's rotten but it could be done I have had 4 SD1's they were all badly put together rot boxes but they are lovely cars to drive. As for resto cost 10K no problem
10k is what I was thinking too.
All cars back then were rot boxes if the owners never bothered their backside rustproofing them which the vast majority never did - I never had any problems with rust on my cars. Never owned an SD1 though even though I would have loved one but it was only the first cars that had problems the later cars were built just the same as most other cars back then. I moved here in 1998 and there was a guy driving a D-reg SD1 Vitesse in silver as his every day car right up till a few years ago now when he had to give up driving because he had a heart attack. That car was getting some rust round the rear arches and probably eslewhere but that was not the fault of the car or manufacturer as the car has done well to get to this age of every day use and parked in the street - it was because he never kept up with cleaning the wheel arches out and underneath and rustproofing the car. One of his relatives that owns a garage has that car now and is restoring it. A guy along the other side of my street had a V8 Rover P6 but now has a Gold 1500 Allegro that is in mint condition.
Fantastic video I've always wondered what the air intake tubes are made of on the early V8's and my father always swore that they had been asbestos
If you asked Jeff Goldblum, he’s say that we spend too much time thinking about whether we CAN restore cars like this that we forget to ask ourselves whether we SHOULD. If it were mine, I’d save the £40k and sell it for parts but I suspect the owner is a dreamer so it’ll become a never-ending ‘project’.
Aren't all SD1s a never ending project ?
True enough.
Always loved these Sd1s, maybe because my dad had one in the same Opaline green?, a 2600SE. Yours will need a fair bit of cash chucked at it but would be great to see another one back on the road. I'd lose the bodykit though.
Well, anything can be restored but I doubt you'd see much change from 20k, even assuming you can do the welding. How much is a decent paint job nowadays? On the other hand, these cars seem to be fetching nice money even as total restoration projects......
I need to get some welding gear, although this probably wouldn't be a good place to learn.
Such a shame its so crusty, they're so rare these days. SD1 was always on my list of things I need in my life after seeing a red V8 being driven around in Bradford by a drug dealer back in the early 90s 🤣
🤣
I have one of those bodykits if you need any spare parts if you are going to keep it also have doors for sale
Hi. I’ll bear it in mind for the future if you’ve still got it. G
Can we have an update on the SD1 please Paul
With Clever planning, supply contacts you can make it work creating money from enthusiasts hits. The SD1 is actively becoming a Cult Classic, and all of us who have them need all the parts crossovers sources we can get, also in keeping our motivation prompted, instead continuing to lean on them in the driveway 💥
I , in the,USA, only had them the one year- 1980 model. So they actually don't exist per generation knowledge. The car is admiringly beautiful, but was just produced under bad quality years for Rover, it has an extreme amount of Merit, it could be very rewarding for you in many ways👌
Don't need an MOT before being MOT exempt
I like the SD1 as my Folks had a dark metalic red 3500 S with a beige velour interior in the 80's when I was a young lad. I remember the front spoiler getting ripped off in snowy conditions, it did rust, especially in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. But I loved the way it looked and the V8 burble, the interior was lovely.
You could salvage the rest of the glass house, the interior and exterior trim pieces as these can be hard to source now, and try and source a better body. Once you get into that body and get the carpets out, check the boot floor, front bulk head to floor area and the scuttle, battery tray area etc it may not be worth the effort. If you only need to replace the inner and outer sill and floor pan sections on that nearside and the other side is OK with just some small patching here and there in other areas it will be OK. The doors and wings bolt on and I am sure Rimmer brothers can provide front and rear valance, wings and door skins provided the door frame pressing is not totally rotted out. The boot floor will have holes, gauranteed, they always do😆🤣. The body is the money pit, those V8 engines are still plentiful, if you are going through all that effort then it would be worth getting new wiring harnesses made, all that work for the car to just go on fire would be sickening. Either way strip it down assess and cost out body repairs and panels, then make a decision to re-shell or keep.
An immaculate SD1 is a stunning car but this would be a 'Triggers Broom' sadly, it simply would cost 1000's of pounds. A few years ago Rimmer Bro or something like that had some new shells left over from the Indian Standard project which made me think you could build the ultimate SD1 with say a more modern 4.0lt Range Rover engine but again it wold cost thousands. I love the Vitesse but I've always liked the poverty spec 2.0lt in its simplest form complete with skinny steel wheels , image finding a mint well cared for version of that in an estate sale.
As for your SD1 I think it's time to sacrifice itself to Oden so another Viking can live on.
Love the SD1. Even if you can get that running it would work some value into it. The 'WILL IT RUN' click baiters love stuff like this. "OMG 1 owner SD1 stood for 285 years" BARN FIND WILL IT RUN YOU WILL NOT BELEIVE THIS CLICKY CLICKY CLICK CLICK OMMMGGG.
But seriously this is a proper will it run. Not a 56 reg Astra with a flat battery thats been parked on me nans front garden for 18 months since she gave up driving.
You should make my thumbnails 😄
Looking at the damage on the oil filter I won't be surprised if its seized
There's plenty of oil in the engine.
Yeah well, a lot of us guys fix up a car because we want to do it.
We don’t fix up a certain car because it’s easy or worth the $.
But because it’s there.
It brings to mind a film I’ve seen “A bridge to far” a mission doomed to failure and heart ache. £20k if the engine and gearbox work including a rebuild on both just to get it in reasonable condition with a paint job and driving. I’d nut and bolt strip it for parts especially the interior as it’s getting harder to source those parts.
Yes that's the trouble 😄
12K GBP if you can weld and are handy with the tools, double that if you are paying a 3rd party.
I had a 2600 sd1 for a while in the late 80s, was a banger then when I was between jobs. Totally daft as a ‘cheap car’ but I had to have had an sd1 at least once. The pre facelift cars were just stunningly aggressive looking. Mine had the traditional 2600 coolant leaks and leccy windows that worked…occasionally.
There's a brand new Rover SD1 V8 body shell on ebay for £9500, might get it a wee bit less, also an SD1 2300 breaking on ebay for a few bits, you could be well on your way for less than £15k.
You can buy a complete car for less than that shell. 😁
That car will never see the road again prove me wrong and if you cant id be happy to purchase some parts.
If it was my car I could answer you better 😄
@@ProjectNigel Its not a car its a garden feature Geoffrey Smith would be so proud
That Rover is in very sad shape. I would estimate easily £15,245 total, and that is without labour costs.
The automatic would also need to be pulled and serviced as well as the rear end.
I think you would have to sell every vehicle barring Nigel for £2,000 to put into restoring this Rover.
If I sold Nigel I could definitely pay to have it fixed
How deep are your pockets is the obvious answer .
Had 2 sd1's years ago when parts were reasonably easy to get,
Wouldn't like fo think about the price now or availability, rimmers may still have bits at a guess
My pockets are as deep as a teaspoon.
What’s the market for these in the UK? In Europe I reckon it could easily fetch a 5 digit amount but would that be enough in terms of cost and (ideally) profit margin, i doubt it. Perhaps it’s all about priorities, getting the engine to run and focus a bit less on exterior details i.e. wearing the marks of time with pride. On the other hand, i would imagine that model specific parts such as lights, are getting rarer and more expensive by the day so it might be worth selling it in parts, although that would always be a bit cruel.
The next time it rains on a monday you and Boaty should sit in this and eat lunch / dinner.
I think it's over for that SD1
I keep forgetting just how huge the SD1 is
Interesting video mate, you don’t see many SD1’s.
I didn’t think you had to already have a current MOT to register it as historic, I have 1979 Suzuki scooter that doesn’t have an MOT currently and doesn’t need one, I’ve taxed it so that must be the case.
As you couldn’t tax a vehicle before without an MOT.
marvel mystery oil down the plug holes leave it a few days you never know
Will that fix the bodywork ? Just checking, lol.
Rimmer's will sell you a complete body shell in kit form
There was a brand new, complete SD1 body shell for sale on eBay recently. At £10,000 though, I doubt it would be worth the cost unless it was used to repair a high spec one, such as a Vitesse.
Values are rising though, so it could be worth the investment.
Project Emmental. Holy
😄
Plymouth Superbirds in worse shape than that have been restored, so it can be done. The cost of the restoration plays a large part in making them million dollar cars though. I would budget $100k for the SD1, if you're lucky you'll have enough left over when it's done to cruise down to the local kebab stand for a snack....
It can't be worth more than it will cost to fix it though
I think you'll be lucky if you get any change out of 15000
Yes
The first episode I saw in this channel was the acquisition of this old vehicle. A pile of junk,and rotten as a pair. Lol
And you're still here 😁
Indeed I am.No disrespect to you paul,you try your best, lol....
You could get the V5 put in your name, insure it then go & tax it at the Post Office, in the process declaring it an MoT exempt historic vehicle, no current MoT needed. The PO would then keep your new V5 to have the taxation class changed. It's very easy, some might say too easy.
Not worth doing financially speaking. Worth doing if you're not bothered about recovering your money when it's done. It's got to be the thick end of £20k.
Well, it's very rare for me to say this, but unfortunately, that has been a Rover SD1 for too long. If that was Hyacinth, I would simply have it scrapped! :-( I hate scrapping cars, but three decades of neglect have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.
I think Hyacinth is worse tbh
@@ProjectNigel No, Hyacinth is a runner and not been left unused for decades! lol
@@Vintageaudiofan1992 Nitrosilvia has restored worst SD1s as has Pete C of Cortina City restored worst Mk3 Cortinas. As long as it is someone like them that can weld and fabricate good and wants to restore teh car then it is easy - not so much for people who cannot do these things and have to pay others to do the work for them which then becomes expensive.
Just save what you can off it for another car. It is a lovely colour though… green inside and out ! Better to fit the bodykit to something else and spend the money on a respray.
It's not my car though.
Then try to get it running and driving just to see… but it really is too far gone, there must be other SD1s with more potential. There’s always a reason these tired cars were parked in the first place, never mind why later owners have given up on them.
Now the red 820 on the other hand, that has potential !
Oh dear 😱
Engine/box out nige into another body - it ain’t worth the sweat trying to fix that shell nowadays . Imho.
Is there a hole in the oil filter??? What in the name of all that’s holy would you ever want an absolute scrapper like that for, except for taking it to the scrap yard.mmmmmmmmmm
You don't appear impressed
@Lexus Man Rimmerbros carry most panels in stock...
If it was just about any other car I’d consider getting used replacement parts and body panels from a cannibalised car, but any others that are still out there are probably rotten as well. If it was me I’d consider breaking it for spares, you could probably sell the engine at least.
In my opinion, the car is far past gone, not worth the huge amount of work and money spent on it. Would love to see a full restoration of it though 😁
Give it away and buy one that's already fully restored. It'll be much cheaper, less exciting maybe, but much cheaper...
Too late, I fear.
How could it ever be less than £20,000?...Honestly there are other cars you could spend your time and money better on that that beyond the pale wreck!
Pointless resto, send it round the oval
Nah 😄
10k with paint doing most of the work yourself. Scrap it and look for a better one
Did you cover it up to stop it going rusty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!. I think a trip to a doctor would be good first. Something is not working correctly.
It's not my car, it's came with a cover and a request.
I think 🤔 it’s dead sorry 😢