Never seen a RHD diesel before! Amazing. I had a 3500s, a Vitesse & got to drive a 5.0 Vitesse conversion...awesome monster. I sold the Vitesse for £600 - more fool me!
Very, very rare. Worth the money and commitment to restore it. My father liked Rovers. Started with a P2 1948. Last one was a 827 coupe, wonderful car. Will be watching!
@@Draxindustries1 a lot of people have told me they’re very agricultural, for me it’s the spec that people knew existed but can’t really find any more, I see her in all honesty as a collector car rather than a daily driver, probably one of the harder cars to add to a collection
@thatroverguy1937 I agree re a car to add to a collection. A lot of old cars will fall into this category though. Many you just wouldn't want to use as a daily driver. I wish I'd kept the Rover 2600 but at the time wasn't really worth much. I actually swopped it for a fox body 81 Mustang 2.3 Turbo. That in itself would likely be worth a fair bit now. Looking around on the net these Rover SD1's are fetching quite serious money. Hindsight is a great thing...😉
@@Draxindustries1 they are and they aren’t, depends on how much work your willing to put into them, but yeah they have definitely appreciated a lot over the past 5 years, not had a foxbody, but I did at one point have a ‘69 fastback and a ‘71 back when they weren’t worth that much, £1500 for a fastback 😂 those were the days!
Can't be many of these left. They were always a rare sight even when Sd1s were current. Lots of love for these, another 'dad had one' a 2600SE series 2, a truly lovely car.
I’ve just been fitting an engine in one of my P38’s today so nothing on the SD1 today, I should’ve filmed the P38 engine swap, I think I will maybe do a catch up on it tomorrow, ordered a go pro so I can do longer higher quality videos of the diesel SD1 and the other 3 I have in parts at the moment, so it’s a vitesse, 2.4D, VDP EFi and a 2300 that’s getting the 2JZ treatment, but I’ll start uploading more videos regularly and longer with more content in them 😊
Yeah I remember them they had the same Italian sourced diesel in the Range Rover at that time I think the Range Rover from memory was tuned to have a higher HP output but could be wrong, memory failing me these days.
We had a 1984 new mid blue 2400 SD in Holland 5 speed and beige velours. Series 2. I think you could adjust the suspension of the rear axle. Same VM engine in Alfa Romeo Alfetta.
Subbed yah . I had a SD1 2800 back in the day. Think i payed £50 and a couple of pints of beer and i gave him my fake Rolex watch also. When you could do deals in a pub those were the days. I drove it for 2 years until the doors fall off .
I think exactly what you just said is what makes a real classic, if a car falls down to the value of being able to be traded over a pint and a packet of crisps it’s a classic, Ford Capri, Ford Escort, VW Scirocco etc etc all cars people of our age have an attachment too because everyone had access to them, and generally speaking the bigger engine models cost to much to insure or to keep in fuel, so now the years have past people are starting to go after the higher spec cars, and they’re cars a lot of people have an attachment too
I used to drive one regularly, when I worked for a taxi company, and they had one for the airport runs. It was a great long distance cruiser. I didn't see too many other UK RHD SD1 diesels.
@@thatroverguy1937 I honestly cannot remember my friend sorry, it didn't have moon mileage on it and certainly less than 100k, but this was around 30 years ago, so it would have been quite new. It was a very nice car, a bit noisy obviously, as the old diesels were not as refined, but it was a great long distance cruiser, I did 1000's of miles in it myself.
What was the reg ? I had a exact same spec one as this even same colour trim ,special order black and ESR plus 4ew pas etc. That car had signs of radio equipment fitted to the dashboard and I believe the first owner was the NCB then a chauffeur Co.
@@thatroverguy1937so ours the exact same year colour spec even interior colour and esr plus 4ew would do over 40mpg easily on a run of sorts . Would keep up with modern traffic easily and could see off vans and smaller cars ,the real bonus of a SD Turbo was it’d never break down with rover dealer spec services which makes them a million times better than modern crap
@@chiefrocka8604 I can't remember, it was over 30 years ago, sorry. It did have old style two-way radio comms fitted, like all taxi's back then. The company was in Lincoln UK, called Guymer's minicabs.
It’s all out there for the taking now mate, hopefully my channel might give you the confidence to take a gamble on one of these classics, grab the car you always promised yourself!
@@thatroverguy1937 I'm a hard core mini and metro fanatic, my last one, a turbo swapped MK2 metro gta, sold for 600 quid in 1999. These days they are 6 grand
I had green one no engine problems at all i towed a ford cargo horsebox up the motorway to west bromich back in the day a good car and didnt cost a fortune to run. Nice find and hope you do well with the old girl. Mate. 👍👍🇬🇧
Fantastic looking old gal. Black suits it really well, and the pinstripes look pretty cool. Such low kms too. I always find it amazing how big modern cars have got when next to an 80s car- that golf looks massive! None of the style of the SD1 either. I look forward to seeing how you go with the project- best wishes from Australia
Yeah that’s right, a friend of my dad’s back in the day swapped a 2.6 out for a Perkins 4 cylinder, and he ran that SD for years right upto his death in 2010, tediously slow is how he recalled it
Seeing that centre console and blocky dash is a real flashback. My granddad got one of these, around '88 - I think a 3500 SE. It had been a police car at some point, but when he got it it had been sprayed metallic gold, with pinstripe red racing stripe below the door grooves and gloss black lower quarters - looked menacing. Engine was tuned by the previous bloke who had been a petrolhead - and the car had some nice modifications to the interior and dash that were police specific (along with obligatory disconnected siren and boot full of storage). First car I ever knew fully electric windows and sunroof.
Wow 😮 I think the next SD I’m going to be actively searching for is going to be a police one, many times I’ve nearly bought one and really they’ve all been 2600’s and naturally being young and tasteless I wanted a V8 ex police car, now I wouldn’t mind any spec, saddest thing is I missed on one for £800 a year years ago, I still kick myself to this day over it
@@thatroverguy1937 Wish I remembered more about it. I just got told stories from the previous owner taking it around a private track and it handling like a rocket powered sled, and razzing past Porsche on the dual carriageway near us. Honestly, the thing shifted like you'd never thought from what was a "family saloon". What they'd call a "sleeper". Funniest bit for me is my Granddad was a chauffeur for execs, and he'd managed to get a series of exec level cars from people every decade or so. So he'd had a beautiful deep green Rover 2000 throughout the 70s, then got a Wolseley Princess in a burgundy, then the SD1 - just a lovely little fleet of cars. Then he was eligible for his motability in about '91 and sold up for a bloody bright red 5 door Vauxhall Nova. Our experience of luxury pile carpets, leather seats, and wood or metal fixtures and fittings came to an end - replaced by sterile grey plastic.
@@koncorde As I say, I used to think of Rover as an older gents car, not so much a mad man’s sleeper, but really on reflection they made some pretty powerful cars, I’ll be honest my Vitesse still takes the odd 3 series/C class by surprise 😅 I went the other direction, from cheap tartan/plastic leather, with the faint wiff of 30 years of fags and cheap plastic in Calris, into a world of wood and real leather lol
The engine is a VM it's an Italian unit with some interesting features such as a tunnel crank and those individual alloy cylinder heads , the tunnel crank made the crankcase very narrow and was very useful for marine applications where space was at a premium. Glad it fired up ok. I had many many hours with these.
I have actually got a spare engine and 1 in a Range Rover, so I’m not completely without knowledge on them, but this’ll be the first one I’ll rebuild, I have heard they were used in marine applications predominantly, just as I’ve learnt (from personal experience) the alloy heads can crack
I also meant to say regarding the seized clutch If you let the engine get well warmed up and try driving it with clutch depressed (using the starter motor to get things going) and get into as higher gear as you can and just put power on and off it can free things off. Having said that you might end up dropping the box and chiseling the clutch off the flywheel. Just something I did with a lot of old landrovers that had been sitting in fields and was very effective, just need to borrow some trade plates. Either way looking forward to seeing you progress with this.
@@geoffcrowe3018 if you can think of a way I’ve tried it before lol bought many tractors with seized clutches, generally with them I either leave them in 1st gear driving into a tree, only takes 2-3 minutes usually to come free, or chain them to a tree and leave them in gear, also on old Land Rovers I’ve used a propane torch to heat up the clutch with it running to get them free, with this particular engine though I’m just gunna pull her, it’s highly unlikely it’d damage the flywheel but I’m edging way on the side of caution with her, also I’ll probably get the pressure plate reconditioned as there’s a man local that does exactly that so it’d save potential damage to the pressure plate
Ah, I see our career paths perhaps ran in a similar direction as also did the tractor route, must admit didn't try the tree option to free clutch, lol. All the best.
I owned 6 SD1's over time, from the original round clock dash to the later square dash, loved them, owned 2 v8's, 2 se's and 2 Vanden Plas, the diesel's were rare, i unfortunately never got to own a Vitesse
There’s still time yet! Vitesse’s naturally were saved in droves, and as they have become more and more popular, it does seem that more and more are getting dragged out of garages and sheds, and though they have gone up in price, they haven’t reached a point of being unobtainable, been a few recently sold for between £1500-£2000, obviously in about the same condition as my diesel
The 2400SD was basically trimmed as per the 2600SE, hence the electric windows. As for the bonnet struts, my 1983 2000 had them, and my 1987 2300 did not. I suspect therefore that Rover switching over to the cheaper mechanical prop is an age thing, to cut costs, and stock of the strut-type bonnets was used up on the higher-end models.
My friend had windy windows in the back and a windy sunroof in his, it sticks with him as it’s the only one he’s had with windy windows, the gas struts are strange, as I say I had a TP Vitesse that had them, but my vitesse’s and VDP EFi don’t they’re all mechanical prop, they all vary in age from 1983-1986 obviously I’ve seen the struts on many SD1’s just didn’t expect the diesel to have them, I expected her to be very low in spec, I tried the windows today and unbelievably.. all 4 open and close! How rare is that!
I never knew you got a VM in a frontera, been a long time since I’ve had one, I remember there’s a rarer one in the early mk1’s is that the VM? Or is it the other diesel choice? Isn’t it a 2.8 the regular one? And I’m guessing a 2.5 is the rare one?
New subscriber seems YT is pushing this one, good old 2.4D I vaguely recall from my landy days VM or York diesel? Can’t say I’ll watch all the vehicles but this looks right up my straza 👍
Well, this is actually a tough question to answer, as this one if you do an MOT check on her comes up as a “Rover SD1” rather than a 2400SD Turbo, according to howmanyleft.com there’s 4 2400S Turbos on the road/taxed but I don’t know if that’s a fair assessment, as some of them could be sorned and scrapped and like mine there’s probably more out there that aren’t registered as a 2400SD Turbo, the only thing I can say with any certainty is that there really can’t be many left
yeah I had a 2.6 VDP that was C REG I got it when it was 18 months old from auction with 86000 on it , it had that cigar smell in it . one job I had to do twice was replce the blower motor , bit of a pain that as removing all the dashboard etc but that was about it .
VM diesel unit. I presume the same as used in the Range Rover , my dad had the same engine in his one back in 1988 . Only problem was it cracked the heads , four separate heads , one on each cylinder. The engines were originally designed as marine engines and could be configured to suit the application, Alfa used them as well .
All diesel SD1s had electric windows all round. It was only available in one trim level, which was S. Early S2 model range was: 2000 2300 2300S, 2600S 2400SD 2600SE 3500SE 3500 VdP Vitesse Later S2 model range was: 2000 2300 2300S, 2600S 2400SD 2600 VdP 3500 VdP Vitesse 3500 VdP EFi
As I say I don’t know much about the diesels, but my friend had a diesel as his first car and he remarked at it have windy windows and windy sunroof, I didn’t realise the spec was pretty complete with the diesels, as I’ve had pretty much one of each other spec (aside a 2000 I am interested in finding a 2000) interesting to know cheers
My 85 diesel has all the mod cons 😆 4 electric windows electric sunroof, had an electric ariel but now standard oh and central locking now remote central locking, engine wise it's not a dragster but keeps up with modern mobility scooters
@@MrChaza33 Tbf me 2.4 Range Rover isn’t a rapid by any means, but it’s outlived about 4 V8’s so far 😂 very interesting, I think to be fair, they were fairly modular in ordering, for example I must have the only VDP EFi that doesn’t have leather or A/C, it’s effectively a vitesse auto, equally I’ve seen SE’s fitted with cruise control, AC Leather from new, I think if you were willing to pay they’d pretty much deliver what ever you wanted to a point, or at least that’s the impression I’ve got with them
I used to buy these back in the day for buttons then pull the engine (2.4 V+M) and drop it straight into a classic Range Rover, did quite a few, would drop the RR V8 back into the shell and sell them on as a V8 project 😂😂 quite lucrative tbh
Fabulous engines though, Italian made with roller bearing mains and so easy to work on, then they brought out a 2.5 version in the RR classic, I still think the 2.4 was the better engine though, it's copper head gaskets ( 4 of them, 1 for each head) were a work of art ❤️, that one does indeed need to be back on the road though and yes it should have fog lights in those apertures 👍
Remember when I was young a bloke had one near me . Loved the shape of them but I was surprised at the time that it wasn’t a petrol v8! Thought they were all were at that point . If I remember it was a vm diesel or was it Perkins ?
Many new black diesel SD1 versions were palmed off - sorry - sold into Civil Service and MoD fleets. On departing the RMA Sandhurst onto the A30 eastbound, the Camberley Auto Factors Montego parts van, despite waiting for a geen light, habitually shut them down within the next 300m. A joy to behold. Fortune Favours the Brave...😂
That’s really interesting, and somewhat believable/makes sense, being as the diesel is some what more utilitarian than the petrols, fascinating thanks for that
@@thatroverguy1937 Personally I think that three issues coincided at that time: the 'nudge' from government to encourage businesses fleets to embrace the economies obtained from the 'new' turbo-diesels, the reluctance of traditional Rover customers to get diesel cars resulting in low sales and an overall sense that the marriage between that particular engine and that particular car seemed to have been somewhat hurried, resulting in NVH. Note that with the following model, the 820e was similarly unloved, similarly painted black and similarly hoofed off to civil servants and MoD drivers. Please send me a self adhesive gold star for my anorak lapel!
@@loopwithers it’s in the mail! Again very interesting I have 800’s as well but not of that spec, I think they’re really unsung hero’s, SD1’s are becoming more popular, but an 827 fastback is 👌 a very nice car
@@thatroverguy1937IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE ON 800 Series: Some base and lower spec 800s were fitted with the excellent automatic gearbox but did not have ABS included. It is vital to understand that on these models, this is a "widowmaker" combination. If you brake sharply and lose front traction, you can immediately stall the engine. As soon as you stall the engine, you lose the ability to restart it because your gear selector is still in 'drive' - BUT - your headlights are also extinguished (back to marker lights) and your power steering is disabled. I discovered this while hustling an 18 month old 820 auto through bends at night in the rain. I flagged this issue to RoSPA. They wrote back to say that the issue was beyond their remit. Do watch out for this combination of 'auto, non-ABS'. It should never have been released. Also ensure the ABS is working on your auto 800s. ✌️
@@loopwithers Wow never really thought about that before! That’s pretty interesting, and a situation I can imagine happening, I have a white 827SLi auto, and she’s non ABS, wow what an oversight on Rovers behalf
Did you know about the mot it had on the 28th March 2006 she had 17 failures which were all probably done as on the 26th of May she passed with only 2 advisories with 67.352 miles on the clock
The first thing I did with her was check the online MOT history, she comes up as a “ROVER SD1” rather than a 2400SD Turbo, it was shocking the amount she failed on! That is pretty much all the history I have of her, and I’d imagine it’s pretty straight I wouldn’t think she’s been clocked
The VM engine was obviously everwhere, mostly with 2.4 or 2.5l displacement: Alfa 90, Alfa 164, Chrysler Voyager, Ford Scorpio (after '92), Jeep Cherokee and probably some other cars i don't remember...
Range Rover classic, LDV van, 825 diesel there is a large list but the 2.5 is significantly different to the 2.4, it is to put it kindly a vastly more modern and less municipal variant, the 2.4’s in a way we’re kinda pioneering in having a turbo on them, not so much for power but for economy, that said it’s not a huge effort to source a 2.4 engine, I actually sourced one prior to buying this car as I was going to make a replica, the piece that is just unobtainable is the 2 piece bell housing, literally nowhere has the gearbox half, most engines have the clutch cover bolted to the engine
They also briefly put the VM in the Range Rover classic in a similar period, not bad, wet liners as I remember, once liner seals failed it was pretty much game over as didn’t lend itself to economic repair, good luck great find
I have a VM 2.4 classic and if memory serves me correctly it was ran in the classic for 18 months, making them equally rare, she’s underpowered and 50mph is about it outa her, I couldn’t tell you about the internals yet as I haven’t stripped a VM down, but I can imagine just as most older diesels it’s wet liners with the big rubber O rings at the bottom, not a fun job to do, especially if the liner is seized in
@@thatroverguy1937 I've had my land rover garage for 25 years now and I had very few VM R/rovers in back in the day which would probably confirm your thinking only an 18 month production period, to be fair when you look at what other diesel engines were available back then the VM was probably a good/ only choice for the range rover, the 200 TDI was obviously nearing development at land rover and all of a sudden they had an excellent efficient (back then) diesel engine and the VM disappeared, but...am I wrong? Probably but did it have a little spate in the next rover shape, 820 type things?
@@joeedwards9721 I’m not a LR fanatic but I do have a fair few Range Rovers, I think to my understanding they had the 2.4 in for a brief period of time then you can get the 2.5 VM in them again got a short period of time then they went 200 TDi, the 2.5 VM is the same engine as the 825 had, it had substantially more applications than the 2.4 in terms of vehicles, LDV Convoy, Rover 825, Jeep Cherokee there’s a hefty list, totally different engine, it has a solid 1 piece cylinder head on them, but I really can’t profess to me an expert on them much, well not yet anyway 😂
If those are the cars original number plates that car was supplied from a local garage to me thats now become an Aldi supermarket. Happy memories of Charles Clark Stafford.
Yes she’s a 1 owner car, and actually thanks for that mate I was contemplating at some point finding out if there dealership is still around and perhaps in the future getting a photo there, thanks for a bit of her history
I went straight onto the web to try and find any photos or history of the garage. Was quite surprised to draw a blank. I did work experience there in about 1990. It briefly became a Honda dealership after Rover went bust. Then many years as a caravan and camping dealer, before Aldi took over the site.
I had one of these. Paid £25 for it as it failed mot on excess smoke, I backed the fuel pump back and it stopped smoking, got past the mot and then wound the pump right up. Used it for about a year and someone offered me £600 and I took it. Would be around year 2000.
Thats not shabby at all .. easy resto . I have had a 3500 & 2600 .. until now I never knew there was a diesel. But back when I had mine it was just a cheap car out the free sheets I bought for the room to cart 3 kids & a dog about. I never looked for one... they kind of found me.
If that choke knob is original, it explains the high spec, in an era when diesels usually were very basically equipped. It of course suggests it was originally a petrol SD1.
No, it is a one owner car, the choke is something to do with the cold start, in fact series 2 SD1’s (1980 onwards) have auto chokes on the petrols, so they don’t have a pull choke
James on Nitrosilvia has done a excellent job with his diesel SD1. I personally think a modern 6 cylinder diesel would complement the car. The original 2.4 td is loud, smokey and gutless!
I cringe at saying it, but an M57 3.0 conversion into an SD1 would probably make a very reliable, realistic and affordable transplant, engines are cheap there’s loads of conversion companies offering parts for them now, I’d imagine it’s been done and wouldn’t be particularly hard to do, but it would be a shame in terms of rarity to do it to a genuine 2400SD
I personally wouldn't transplant another engine if my vehicle was an original 3.5 V8. I just think that 2.4 td unit doesn't do anything at all to complement the car.
Growing up, I always called these the council estate car. Riding my bike around, if you entered a neighborhood and saw one of these, there’s a freckled little nutter around the corner ready to nick your bike.
Maybe one’ll come up, there was a red diesel on eBay they were asking something like £10,000 for it but really I think in the real world it’s perhaps closer to £5,000 for one, but as with many other things it’s what someone is willing to sell it for and what someone is willing to pay I guess
Manual choke on a turbo diesel?. bit odd lol. Looks in fairly good order apart from the inner arches. Nice colour combo though, the black / Red interior does suit the car. Looks like original dealer plates and stickers, nice find!
@@thatroverguy1937I've subb'd so I'll look forward to the coming months and restoration with interest!. You're a good bloke for taking this project on, these rovers are a rare sight on the roads and you've grabbed a bit of a unicorn there. whatever you do , don't give up on the old girl mate!!
@@jammiedodger629 I semi specialise in classic Rovers’s she’ll 100% get back onto the road, I’ll await my go pro and then I’ll start the lengthy process of stripping her back and then putting her back together lol
She had it for quite a few years, I remember expecting a thump of power when the boost came on- I was slightly disappointed!😂 what was the output, around 90bhp? Will watch with interest.
So, this is something I would like to lay out along the build, she cost me £1000 and transport cost a further £200, I’ll keep a track of the spending throughout, it is hard to say with any rebuild as you can’t really cost all the repairs and there is always something unforeseen, and you always get that bargain part along the way, but from my experience with SD1’s I’d imagine this is going to cost around £4-£5000 to get back into a good workable condition for me, I mention for me as I have local contacts with interior restorers, paint shops etc
My dad was given one as a company car we were all very excited especially after the Alfa Romeo he had before that went down like a lead balloon but what a heap of shite won't start if it was hot which was a problem because you couldn't open the bonnet the windows wouldn't open unless you were doing 60 then they would fall open simultaneously it was rusty when it came and within six months fell apart on the driveway
@PuntoHowto Indeed! I’m outlaying some of the project cars we are working on at the moment, offering a bit of variety, but this is only a very small portion of the classics we have, some won’t be getting featured for a year or more
@@thatroverguy1937 there seems to be a lot of love for this car, you’ve had loads of interest in this video compared to others on the channel, for me it came up as a suggested video
@PuntoHowto very rare being a diesel, I posted a video of one of the V8’s last night to kinda see which car people prefer, I’ll feature both of them but it’s lovely to see people giving the diesel the attention it deserves 😊
Had one of these for a few months in the early 90's. It wasn't good. Not a fault of the car itself but simply because it was bought from a dodgy bloke at an even dodgier auction and I should've known better. At least it was cheap
I’m gunna investigate the choke a little later on today, I imagine it’s to pull to get the engine warm on a cold start, as the oil should get to running temp before driving for the turbo
That, apparently is for the cold start circuit and unique to the diesel. Ironically, series 2 petrol SD1s were on automatic or electronic chokes and didn't have a choke lever. I think the diesel one was a Land Rover part.
Can’t really argue with that on the reliability point, I kinda see what you mean about in appearance, but I’ve always thought they have a strong similarity to a Citroen BX at the front
Yes they crack, I’m not overly familiar with the VM I have one in a classic Range Rover but thankfully never had to put a spanner to her, it’s just always been slow and Smokey 🤣
I have a classic with the 2.4 in her, I’ll be completely honest we use her as a yard shunter and occasionally take her down the road for a cruise, but yeah very underpowered, tbf never skipped a beat and always been a great starter
