Rover Sterling Restoration

[guru]

I've got a bit of a car dilemma coming up. In March the Mercedes will be 3 years old and out of warranty so has to go and it's replacement the Jaguar I-Pace probably won't be with me until sometime in the summer of 2018 which means a bit of a gap in vehicles. I did start thinking about buying a fun car and I've even been on the hunt for an exceptional ZT however it then dawned on me that I have a perfectly good car that's been sat in a garage for the last 3 or 4 years, my Rover Sterling!

With this in mind last week I had her recovered from her long term hidey hole and she was taken on the back of a truck to my mechanics to start the road to recovery. Amazingly she started on the button and from initial reports mechanically she's not going to need much, the most expensive single part will be the exhaust which is NLA for the mk1's which means I'm probably going to have to get a complete system fabricated in stainless.......expensive
The biggest cost though by a long way will be the bodywork. Sadly pretty much every panel has car park dings and scratches plus there is some pretty bad rust on the drivers door and around the sunroof so we're pretty much looking at a complete respray and some fabrication as well.
I've got a budget of around £5k in mind and I'm desperately hoping it doesn't go over that as I'm well aware it's already a lot more then the cars actually worth and it could be an even more difficult conversation with Mrs Guru!

[SCP440]

As much as I agree with your plans and the heart will often rule the head why not just buy another one? A quick search on the bay shows there are a couple of Sterlings for sale with long MOT's and one has done less than 60k for under £2000. There is also a Coupe on there, I forgot how nice a looking car they were.

The problem with a restoration is the final cost will be more than the fag paper estimate was. I have seen some cases where it ends up being double due to unforseen costs.

Also buying another means once you dont need it any more you can probably sell it on for practically what you paid for it if kept in similar condition.

[Ravinder]

Make sure you take it to a classic restoration place where they will take their
Time fixing it up and doing it properly and making it last instead of any bodywork garage, especially ones that also do insurance jobs. The quality will show and you don't want to end up doing it all over again in 2-3 years time.

[victorgte]

Apart from the suggestion of buying another one with MOT etc, if it's going to be a keeper go for a FULL restoration and bring it out for sunny days and shows only. At this stage in its life it's all or nothing. Rarity and history for me justifies the expense as long as you intend to keep it. Maybe in 10 years you will actually get your money back if you decide to sell. History is littered with cars that were changing hands for a few hundred pounds and 20 years later a body shell would fetch thousands. As a mint example, it can only attract buyers in the future but until then just enjoy it. I've owned 2 and would love another.

[guru]

Originally Posted by SCP440

As much as I agree with your plans and the heart will often rule the head why not just buy another one? A quick search on the bay shows there are a couple of Sterlings for sale with long MOT's and one has done less than 60k for under £2000. There is also a Coupe on there, I forgot how nice a looking car they were.

The problem with a restoration is the final cost will be more than the fag paper estimate was. I have seen some cases where it ends up being double due to unforseen costs.

Also buying another means once you dont need it any more you can probably sell it on for practically what you paid for it if kept in similar condition.

There's a little more to this though, my Sterling was actually my Grandfathers car. He bought it direct from Rover when it was around 9 months old and it lived in his garage covered by blankets. He did 50k miles in it including several trips to Holland but it was always looked after very well. When he passed away I ended up with the car and we then used it as our family car for many years and it even made it as far as Barcelona! Suffice to say I'm doing this more for sentimental reasons then anything. The options are to either restore her or scrap her and I can't bring myself to even consider the latter.

Originally Posted by Ravinder

Make sure you take it to a classic restoration place where they will take their
Time fixing it up and doing it properly and making it last instead of any bodywork garage, especially ones that also do insurance jobs. The quality will show and you don't want to end up doing it all over again in 2-3 years time.

I've already found a old boy who's come very highly recommended from another member on the Rover 800 forum. He's not able to do anything until August but that's fine, as long as she's on the road by next spring.......

Originally Posted by victorgte

Apart from the suggestion of buying another one with MOT etc, if it's going to be a keeper go for a FULL restoration and bring it out for sunny days and shows only. At this stage in its life it's all or nothing. Rarity and history for me justifies the expense as long as you intend to keep it. Maybe in 10 years you will actually get your money back if you decide to sell. History is littered with cars that were changing hands for a few hundred pounds and 20 years later a body shell would fetch thousands. As a mint example, it can only attract buyers in the future but until then just enjoy it. I've owned 2 and would love another.

Yep it's going to be a full restoration and other then filling in as my daily driver for a few months she'll then live in my garage. To be honest she's too expensive to use long term as a long term daily driver, especially compared to the cost of filling the electric car ;-)

[7T5]

Love these MK1s, not seen one in years.

[Rooney]

Well I'm jealous and even without the sentimental value buying one that's already fixed is nowhere near as satisfying as restoring one.

Financial sense has no place in rover love

[Teflon]

Originally Posted by guru

.........The options are to either restore her or scrap her and I can't bring myself to even consider the latter.........

There's the answer right there.

Get her restored, keep a photographic record of the process, and keep her in the family for generations to come. She's part of your family history, money can't buy that.

Cliff

[guru]

Yep there was never really any doubt over that, simply couldn't get rid of her.

The mk1's have been rare for quite a while now, even back when mine was still on the road it was very rare to see another one.

[oxfordblue75]

Sounds like a great plan for a great car