AndyW

The Lucas 14W wiper motor was used on many British cars, so just find the cheapest you can. Parts are easy to get, and you can swap the gear wheel to change the sweep angle, or invert the wiper arm wheel boxes to change the handing.

I fitted one on my Superspec. Can’t get out to measure it atm but I think my sweep angle is either 105 or 115 deg which is fine. But the gear wheel can be changed if you don’t like the sweep. 

You could try covering it with roll bar padding or sleeve.

Ditto Richy. The paint on my roll bar was always chipping and flaking and looked a mess so I removed it all 2 years ago. Used a flapwheel in an angle grinder then finished off with satin wheels and scotchbrite pads to give a nice brushed finish. I've only had to go over it lightly once since to remove odd rust spots with a pad.

Yes I’ve read that Rover engines are particular about the type or make of lambda sensors.

I put one of these in my Superspec last year. Seems to work well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143143384642

It sounds like you need to check your lambda sensor wiring. When using Al's MEMS logger, if you're not getting any output at all on the lambda plot, and the status drops to 0 after a minute or so, then the ECU isn't seeing the sensor. The voltage should start at 0.44 and then start cycling between 0.1 - 0.9 as it warms up. Even a duff O2 sensor usually gives some sort of output.

When I first got my car the O2 sensor was wired incorrectly, and I've seen the same problem on many other Superspecs. Seems to be a common problem. This is the wiring from my car. You should check continuity to the ECU.

Also, you could check you're using the right type of O2 sensor for the Rover T-series, as I believe some types don't work.  Recommended is a NGK NTK OZA739-EE13 (96722) or the older OZA527-E9 (0498). Or a Bosch 0258003229.  I've used both those NGK and Bosch sensors successfully, but I've also got another Ford one that won't give any output.

My car came to me without any wipers so I fitted mine from scratch. Bought stainless arms and matching 9 inch blades from Car Builder Solutions. The arms have a 5.8mm strip at the end which the blades slide and lock onto.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/stainless-steel-sprung-windscreen-wiper-blade-9

My seat bolts weren’t welded into the runners either. When I replaced the carpet on my Superspec I managed to undo the bolts with a combination of ring spanners and 1/4” drive thin walled sockets, while positioning the seats forwards and backwards to get at them. 
 

When I put the seats back in I used half height nuts to lock the bolts into the runners before I put the seats back in the car. Much easier to do the nuts up underneath single handed then. 

Be good to hear if they stay shiny after you’ve driven the car again... whenever that will be!

Paint it black - the Stones

Hi Graeme,

My exhaust headers have gone exactly the same as yours, and I've got a spare set that's also the same. I thought they were just mild steel, but was told by Richard Stewart himself that they are in fact stainless steel. I've found that the brown surface isn't really loose rust but more a discolouration, so I'm assuming they are some sort of ferritic stainless steel where it's the iron in the compound that is discoloring the surface. They are also slightly magnetic which confirms that.

I don't really have any idea if it's possible to clean them up or get a shine back on them. I tried bluing remover and that didn't work, and a wire brush didn't do much other than remove some rust from the welds. I've covered my headers under the bonnet with exhaust wrap, so like you it's only the bit outside the body that's still showing. Let me know if you find a solution

As to the twin tailpipes I just covered mine with two slip-on chrome pipe finishers.

I'm in as well please Peter.

Also, don't drive the fan directly through the switch. Use a relay.

It's worth trying, but it might switch the fan at the wrong temperature. The Superspec radiator originally came from a Rover SD1 2L which was mounted horizontally, but in the Superspec it's vertical, albeit at an angle. That means in the Rover the thermostatic switch was at the top of the radiator in hot water. In the Spec it's going to be at the bottom where the cooler water exits.

Hi Daniel, you’re about an hour or so away from me in Bedford, so I’d be happy to drive over in my Superspec for you to look at. I’m free most daytimes so pm me if you want to make arrangements. The weather doesn’t look too good this coming week though.

And the cooling system diagram is here  https://www.rhocar.org/index.php?/forums/topic/47391-another-super-spec-cooling-question/&do=findComment&comment=391393

I fixed mine to the chassis tube on the right of the engine bay above the steering shaft on my Superspec. My bottle was a nice compact rectangular shape, not as large as yours though. 

I'm not sure the part that Al has quoted is correct for the T-series engine, as that link is for the RR Evoque.

I think it should be this one on the Rimmer page for the Rover 800 https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID004682

Item no 4 on the diagram and in the list, p/n JZV1085 - Mounting-multi point injection throttle body flexible.  But it's not a cheap bit of rubber!!

On my Superspec the fuel filter is a big metal canister mounted on the front of the pedal box. Not sure of its origins in the kit. And yes the pump is part of the level sensor in the Escort fuel tank

4 hours ago, geordie40 said:

Will do alan, looked at it the other day but dont know what im looking for. I still get a TPS error on the mems but its been changed. 

Do you know if disconnecting the battery has an effect on the ecu memory as my battery isolation switch is on the -ve so when i remove the key everything is dead

Try going for a short drive with MEMS logger running and make a note of the approx times into the journey when the misfire/hiccups occur. Then view the logfile in MEMSAnalyser to see if you can spot any anomalies on any sensors or graphs.  When I want to mark events while driving, I'll dip the clutch and do a high rev throttle blip so I can later find the point in time on the rpm graph.

Have you tried clearing the TPS fault code since you changed the TPS?  Or does the error keep coming back after being cleared?  If so try unplugging the TPS, spraying the terminals with contact cleaner, and replugging it a few times to clean the joints.

One other thing, when the engine is switched off, MEMS needs to hold the voltage supply open for up to 30 seconds in order to reset the stepper motor to closed position and save learned values to memory.  You say that when you turn off the key everything is dead - do you hear the stepper motor reset a few seconds after the engine stops?  If not I suspect your battery isolation switch might be interfering with normal MEMS shutdown.

Check the cable and linkage on the throttle body, especially if you've been cleaning and playing around in that area. I had a similar high rpm problem that turned out to be the throttle cable not seated properly in the groove on the underside of the quadrant. My cable had a very small brass ferrule on the end, which had got lodged in the quadrant and was holding the cable off so the butterfly wouldn't shut properly.

Also check that the butterfly is completely closed at idle and adjust the cable so there's just a touch of slack before the linkage moves.  I found you only need a tiny amount of over-adjustment of the cable to slightly open the butterfly and increase the rpm.

My Superspec has got Gaz coilovers on the rear although they were already fitted when I got the car. So not sure if the previous owner modified the mounting. The bolt on the U bracket that goes through the dish of the trailing arm does sit at a very slight angle but this doesn’t seem to cause any problem. There’s a large 30mm washer under the Nyloc nut.

And as promised, this is the instrument panel wiring on my car. The wires in the Ford connectors were spliced to the Superspec loom as follows.

White connector:

1 orange/blue to red - 12v from lights for panel illumination

2 purple/white to blue/white - main beam

3 black to black - earth for illumination

4 empty

5 black/yellow to black/yellow - brake warning

6 white/green to blue/green - temp sender

7 white to green/black - fuel sender

8 black to black - earth for fuel & temp gauges

9 empty

10 empty

11 empty

12 purple to green - 12v switched power for gauges

Black or Blue connector:

1 black/red to black - earth for indicator warning

2 blue/yellow joined to green/red & green/white - indicator warning

3 empty

4 empty

5 empty

6 empty

7 blue to brown/yellow - alternator warning

8 black/green joined to both black - coil -ve  and also white/black - ECU pin 25

9 white/green to black - earth for tacho

10 black/yellow to white/brown - oil pressure sender

11 empty

12 white/black to green - coil +ve

Your wiring colours may be entirely different of course, but hope this helps track down your issue  

One more thing - check if you have an in-line fuse somewhere around the coil. The original wiring on my car had two wires on the coil + terminal. One came out of the loom which I traced back to the white power cable from the ignition switch. The other had an in-line fuse and went to the instrument panel, joining to the white/black wire on terminal 12 of the black panel connector to feed the rev counter.

I don’t see how this would stop the ECU working though. 

There should be three relays - ECU, fuel pump and Lambda sensor heater, all fuse powered. 

No there isn’t a fuse in the ECU but the ECU is powered by a relay with a fused supply. You can check if the ECU is working as it also turns on the fuel pump via another relay. When you turn on the ignition can you hear the fuel pump prime for a couple of seconds? If not, then there must be a blown fuse somewhere.

I’ve got a wiring diagram for the two plugs into the back of the Escort instrument panel, but I’m not at home atm. Have to sort them later for you.