Once the engine went south on this car, everything else wanted to follow. First the valve cores in the tires failed. After a couple of flat tires in the morning because of leaking air, I had them all replaced. Then the outside driver's mirror fell off. Had it replaced. Then one at a time, over half of the light bulbs in the dash burned out. A real pain getting to them over and over.
The engine seemed to be missing. I discussed this with the Dealer who could not solve the problem. Discussed it with the area service manager and then I started writing letters back and forth to the factory in England. I had the spark plugs pulled and replaced with another heat range - seemed to work better, but the factory told me that unless I went back to the original specifications, they would void the warranty.
About this time I started hearing about the shoddy workmanship of many English car companies. The basic design of the cars were fine. But the parts mfg and the assembly were terrible. The basic Rover was built in England and started getting a terrible reputation, while almost the same car was built in Japan, under another name, and had an excellent reputation. Go figure.
The 4 cylinder 2000TC was European Car of the Year in 1964. I would have named it worst car of the year for 1968.
My assignment in Washington was now over, and it was time to return to Santa Monica. My Porsche was on the dealer's floor on consignment and I was going to drive the Rover south. I was president of a sports car club in Bellingham, and they gave me a parting present of an oil pressure gauge. The Rover only had a warning light. A friend of mine installed it, but since there was little room in the engine compartment he got creative. Tomorrow the rest of the story.
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If you are into Honda Accord's: Honda Accord Cold Air Intakes
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