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Mechanic's Section

Resetting the exhaust tappets on the 2.7 Honda V6 engine

Changing the radiator on a Rover 827

Changing the front lower balljoints

Fixing a broken door handle on a Rover 800

Rover 800 Brake Disc Upgrade

Rover 800 Central Locking motor replacement

Rover 800 ABS Diagnostics

Rover 800 Steering Rack Gaitor replacement

Convert between MPG and litres/100km (my first noddy Java application)
 

I've always driven Honda-derived cars. When I was a student I saw in Which? magazine that they continually were the best in the reliability stakes, if not the street cred ones. The latter is now rather different compared to when I graduated in the late '80s but all I wanted was a car to get me from A to B without breaking down... so I bought a Triumph Acclaim.

Triumph Acclaim CD 1988 - 1990, 1982 model, owned from 36,000 miles to 60,000
 

The only shot I have of the car, just after someone very kindly reversed into it in a petrol station queue!

This car was the first to be produced out of the Austin Rover/Honda partnership. It was based on a saloon version of the first-generation Honda Civic. It had an all-alloy 1.3 litre engine with twin carburettors, with a low 8.3:1 compression ratio and a long stroke engine. It had incredably good pulling power at low revs and it certainly accelerated very well with it. It had a fairly low 5th gear though which meant it only managed 35mpg on a motorway run. The low compression ratio didn't help either, but it did allow it to run on 2-star petrol. It was unusual in that it had the hardened valve seats necessary to allow it to run on unleaded petrol when that appeared in the early '90s. This was all pretty acedemic though because I recall petrol was £1.69 a gallon/37p per litre at the time. Things have changed a bit since then. The handling was rather lacking, especially in the wet. Even modest acceleration in a corner brought about some pretty startling power-on understeer. It never broke down but it could suffer from pinking a bit at times, and one of the CV joints went clickety-click on corners even though the gaiter was fully intact. The gearbox wasn't quite the knife-through-butter experience of more modern Hondas.

Specifications: All-round electric windows, headlight washers and internal headlight pitch control, stereo radio cassette, internal boot and fuel cap release, 5-speed gearbox.

Honda Accord 1.6 Hatchback 1990 - 1993, 1984 model, owned from 46,000 miles to 96,000
 

	On top of the Col De L'Iseran in the French Alps
	Spot the car. Snowy Honda in Suffolk

This car was a rather different beast to the Acclaim. Although it had a 1.6 litre engine it felt very sluggish on the road, even when revved hard. It had very high gearing (3,000rpm at 80mph) which didn't help and it was a much heavier car than the Acclaim. This was partially down to it having a cast iron engine block (mated to a 12-valve alloy head), but the single carburettor configuration didn't help either. Still, it was incredably economical on a motorway run, once completing a steady 80mph from Camberley to Carlisle with a consumption of 46mpg, and averaging 40mpg when taken over some of the highest mountain passes in the French Alps. It had to have one tank of leaded petrol for every three of unleaded or the valves could get burnt out. The gearchange was the best I had experienced in any car I had driven at that time but the clutch could be a bit juddery. It never consumed any oil at all, the level staying on the maximum mark for the 5,000 mile change intervals I gave it. It only broke down once: the battery failed. However, it certainly rusted, and the car was eventually sold on because the rust around the windscreen became too expensive to fix. The bodywork company fixed it themselves and sold it on again.

Specifications: Radio (!), internal boot and fuel filler release, 5-speed gearbox, seats, wheels, doors and engine.

Honda Accord 2.0 Aerodeck Auto 1993 - 1997, 1986 model, owned from 56,000 miles to 96,000
 

	On holiday in Clifden, Connamara, Eire
	On holiday in Schull, West Cork, Eire
	More snow

This was one of the first generation Accord Aerodeck (hatchback) models and was the first automatic car I bought. It was quite a plush interior compared to the previous cars and was the first one to have power steering too. This was Honda's superb speed-sensitive assistance system, so at parking speeds the steering was extremely light, and at speed was much heavier giving excellent steering feedback and "feel". It had electric windows too but was otherwise a fairly basic specification. The engine was a 2.0 litre single carburettor unit with a cast iron block and 12-valve alloy head. It was quite high-revving giving 3,500rpm at 80mph. Even though the gearbox had a full lock-up clutch which operated at cruising speeds, it would still only turn in 30mpg at 80mph. It also had the habit of dirtying the oil quickly and consuming it at the rate of about 1000 miles per pint on long motorway runs. It suffered from pinking at times, but this was fixed, peculiarly by advancing the ignition. The ride was much softer than the other two cars and there was more body roll in corners, but this was the first Accord generation to have Honda's new all-round double wishbone suspension, which allows better handling whilst having a softer ride (and more body roll) so it still handled very well. It only broke down once, again due to battery failure (in the Republic of Ireland of all places). The heater matrix did start leaking at one point, causing the windscreen to mist up particularly when the heater was on.

Specifications: stereo radio cassette, electric windows (driver's side single shot down and up), speed-sensitive power steering, internal boot and fuel filler release, pop-up headlights, electric wing mirrors.

Rover Sterling 2.7 V6 Auto 1997 - 1999, 1990 model, owned from 56,000 to 94,000
 

The Rover 800 series is basically a first generation Honda Legend in disguise. Both cars shared the same floorpan and suspension setup (Honda double wishbone at the front, trailing arm to the rear (the latter at Rover's request, Honda wanted double wishbone at the rear)). The 2.0 litre engines were a Rover variant of the 'O' series engines which hark back to the Morris Marina and the Austin Ambassador. The 2.7 engine was the 24 valve V6 all-alloy 90-degree vee unit Honda designed for the first generation Legend. The V6 is a superb unit, being fairly powerful, pretty economical, and very smooth. It was quite high-revving giving 3,600rpm at 80mph, but still quite economical, often turning in 32 - 33mpg at this speed on a motorway run. It incorporated quite a lot of technology, particularly including a variable inlet tract, which would be automatically shortened to give better torque at higher revs, and lengthened for the same reason at lower revs. The car had a top speed of 133mph. Even at high revs the engine was impressively quiet. The car was extremely well specified, including cruise control, air conditioning with climate control, 4-position memory electric driver's seat, all other seats (including the rears) were electrically adjustable, trip computer, electric sunroof... The 4-speed auto gearbox was electronically controlled and had a sports setting to increase the thresholds at which upshifts occurred. The lock-up clutch was used in second and third, as well as fourth gears, and was also used when coasting to provide full engine braking. It too broke down only once, again battery failure! It did however have a tendency to suffer from brake judder requiring the front disks being replaced about every 15,000 miles.

Specifications: Stereo radio cassette, cruise control, air conditioning with climate control, electric windows all round (driver's side single shot down only), electric sunroof, electric wing mirrors, electric seats all round including 4-position memory on the driver's seat, heated drivers seat, heated wing mirrors, trip computer, outside temperature display with ice warning, internal warning lights for low oil, coolant, brake pad and washer fluid levels, variable speed intermittant wipe, reading lights all round, remote control central locking, internal boot and fuel filler release, speed sensitive power steering, headlight washers, rear cigarette lighter socket, leather seats, ABS.

Rover Sterling 2.7 V6 Auto 1999 - date, 1993 model, owned from 75,000 miles to whatever
 

Photographed near Glascwm, mid Wales

This car is basically identical to the previous Sterling, but actually is less well specified. Rover dropped the trip computer, electric rear seats, heated driver's seat, oil, coolant, washer level and brake pad warnings, headlight washers, reduced the number of memory seat positions to two, removed the rear cigarette lighter... but they added all-round single shot action to the electric windows, and for the sunroof too. They also added folding rear seats for the saloon, one of the worst implementations of lazy locking I've ever seen, a full alarm/immobiliser including interior motion detectors, front driving lights, a driver's airbag, an RDS radio in the stereo radio cassette, and a 6-CD autochanger. The engine is essentially the same but is now Lambda controlled due to there being a catalytic converter. The latter means that the fuel consumption is a bit worse, usually giving 28-30mpg at a steady 80mph. It hasn't broken down yet...battery still intact. No other problems of note. The brake disks sem to last better than the other Sterling's. It has now been converted to run on LPG.

Specifications: Stereo RDS radio cassette, cruise control, air conditioning with climate control, electric windows all round (all single shot up and down), electric sunroof (single shot open and close), electric wing mirrors, electric seats in the front including 2-position memory on the driver's seat, heated wing mirrors, variable speed intermittant wipe, reading lights all round, remote control central locking, internal boot and fuel filler release, speed sensitive power steering, leather seats, folding rear seats, lazy locking, front driving lights, alarm/immobiliser, driver's airbag, 6-CD autochanger, ABS.