You can get the petrol flap open without the battery. Behind the carpet on the offside turret lurks the VDO valve and you can activate manually to release the locking pin. Oh and good luck on this car!
Its not to bad for being up here in the Highlands. Did you sell the old Rover. I had a freind over in the Black Isle that had one. The golf he was putting it back on the road i don't know if he ever got around to it. 👍
Rover has been bought and paid for but still sitting here . A garage in south of England bought it but haven’t collected it yet . If your friend still has golf and his plans have changed tell him to give me a shout 😁