Rover 14 Sports 4 Light - new member

[voituer]

Hello All,

My name is Nick and I am now the proud owner of a 14 sports 1946 Rover.

In the past I have owned 2 P4's , 3 p5's, 1p6 and an Sd1 so when this car popped up locally I went straight away and bought it. I love the slightly rakish line compared to the 6 light and look forward to pulling bits off, making it better and driving.

Black exterior with oxblood interior.
It was rebuilt about 10 years ago by a guy doing his best! I will be going through to redress the issues. You always know there is something wrong when the previous owner proudly announces the kingpins have been recently greased.

ongoing are sourcing and replacing core plugs, replacing front wheels bearings, investigating Luvax system.

Front seat is shot the frame has broken, I might look at stripping or try to find a replacement.

Solex is peeing petrol out of any part it can.

Just done a round trip of 80 miles and filled up on the way there with premium BP unleaded. All the outward journey the car ran badly and would only carry on running when the choke was out a 1/4 way.

for the journey home I warmed her up for 1/2 an hour and set off, same again. 1/4 choke, low power and spluttering.

I called in at a petrol station and put in £10 of premium diesel fuel. Bit smoky after 1 mile BUT I could now put in the choke fully. Power delivery was smooth and no problem.

Next day, started fine ran fine on no choke - idled like a pussycat.

£10 of diesel everytime with a full tank?

anyone any similar experience or know why the diesel ahould be a help, or is it doing damage?

thanks
Nick

[deckell]

WELCOME aboard voiter i don`t know any thing about the diesel improvement but i will be waiting with interest if any one has the magic answer. i have a 1949 p3 75 six light. regards Derrick Smith from down under.

[47p2]

Welcome voiter, sounds like you have a nice project to see you through the winter months.

Modern fuels are much more volatile than they would have been back in 1946 and can cause running problems with older engines. I am no expert in this field but it could be that the diesel added to the petrol in your car makes for better running because of the carburettor/timing settings wear and tear etc.

No doubt someone with more knowledge than myself will be along with another reason as to why.

[roverdriver]

I thought that I was the only person to ever add diesel distillate to petrol. I had a 1930 Model A Ford. It had been bored 60 thou., oversize a long time previously, but had a further 23 thou of wear in one cylinder. Piston slap was a serious noise-maker, but I found that by adding one pint of diesel for every 4 gallons of petrol, the noise abated, and the car ran particularly well. I did over 30,000 miles in that machine, then sold it on. The following owner managed another 60,000 before he parted with it. He continued to use the mix of diesel and petrol. No engine work was done on it in that time apart from regular servicing.

[voituer]

Thank you for the welcome messages and hopefully the fuel issue may help someone else. I had planned on using a millers product but may just stick to the diesel.

hopefully here is a pick of Jenny

[chris dancey]

The use of Diesel is a way of lowering the volatilty of modern fuels, if your engine runs sweet on this combination then I see no reason not to continue.

[GOY189]

Hello Nick and welcome.

Could it have been a sticky valve that the diesel lubricated a bit? Which front seat is broken? WE may have something to help you in the RSR stores, which are open on Saturday October 20th. The stores are at Table Oak Farm, Table Oak Lane close to Kenilworth (sat nav CV8 1PX).

Regards

Mike Maher
Chairman

[voituer]

Thank you for the welcome.

well the Rover has been sat in my warehouse due to me being ill for a month. All that time the fuel situation has been bothering me.

Am driving her around for the next few days and already she is running rough again - running on 5 as one plug keeps fouling up. I think there has been diesel petrol seperation and she may have been doing a stint on just diesel!

anyway really confused as to what to do - have ordered millers VSPE with octane booster ( hope its the right one ) am wondering whether I should bite the bullet and get a carburettor rebuild or this there a more modern solution - twin carbs which may perform much better.

I think Kenilworth is a long way away BUT its interesting about the stores as that was a major factor in joining.

The broken seat is the drivers in brown.

List of needs are
core plugs for right hand side of engine - both sizes
set of inner and outer wheel bearings for both front wheels
Carburettor?!?
possible steering box as I think its very worn around centre straight ahead

looking forward to getting a reliable getting a reliable car together.

Nick

[47p2]

Have you done a compression test on the cylinders?

[voituer]

Have you done a compression test on the cylinders?

good question - I have a garage near me that has been servicing these type of cars for a long time but they do not seem interested any more. Anyone know of a good garage south Manchester? I don't mind a rebuild -whatever it takes really -

will investigate getting a compression test - thanks for the advice - being younger than the car and not a mechanic I am very grateful to forum members for any direction

regards
Nick