Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerco
They are what I like to call a "mechanics car" One of those cars you should not own if you can't work on them yourself. That said, they are simple to work on. A lot of people don't realize this but the rover 3.9/4.0 engine is a buick 215. (from the 60's) Of course it's been reworked by rover but you can still use parts from the original (like a set of the original 215 aluminum heads that buick only put out in 64)
The drive train is all but bullet proof, there are guys with 340k+ on the engines. There is always work to be done, seal go out, as do hoses etc... know that going into them. I just replaced the Valley Pan Gasket on the 186k one I bought. If you took it someplace to have that job done, your looking at 1200 bucks... did it myself and the parts came to 33 bucks. (I replaced the valve cover gaskets at the same time since your already there...) Took about 5 hours.
So in my 1000 buck truck, I have spent another 200 bucks in parts, a good 10 hours of my own labor and it's sweet. So nice in fact that I have also added custom headers, high flow cats, flowmaster mufflers, a 2 in suspension lift. That all said and done, I'll have 2k in it, but could just as easily left it alone and drove it with the $1200 total investment.
If you want to see it right after I put the new headers on (running open) and before I had done the other work check this out...
https://youtube.com/watch?v=974lvC7Jthg |
Wow! That will wake the neighborhood, what year is that?
I have no problem working on my own cars so I am some what comfortable with any normal repairs, unless it is something major.....like breaking down the engine.
The reason I asked about timing chains and major items like this was because of what I went through when I purchased our 88 420SEL and after about 3K miles of driving, we had to replace the timing chain, as they go out around 200K and then shortly after that, I had a valve job done. For the most part, the car has been a great auto and I have no plans to let it go, nor will I let go of my 72 280SE, but we would love to get into some sort of 4x4 for weekend trips.