Bye ZS 180 Hello Tomcat Build/Restore (pic heavy)

So a few weeks ago I finally decided enough was enough spending £350 - £400 in fuel a month in my ZS 180 I thought I would make a change and get a Rover 216 coupe (tomcat) in pearlescent amaranth. Which should be good for 39mpg combined better than the 26 - 27 mpg Ive been getting.



The ZS will be truly missed it had 110% mint body work and sports cat wit powerflow back box. It was 110% reliable never missed a beat and also ran 16 seconds down Santa Pod and Ive never drag raced before. So the basic 1.6 Tomcat has a lot to live up to but considering Ive always wanted one that shouldn't be an issue.



So the project is to keep the Tomcat as standard clean looking as possible but at the same time improve engine efficiency & performance. But also to reduce weight without it being noticed to be improve performance. If I could get the 0 - 60 to under 9 seconds and achieve 40mpg combined in a car that looks standard and very clean then its a success. So onwards to the start of this project.



Here is the ZS 180





Here is the Tomcat when i picked it up:





As you can see the paint work isn't great has a lot of fade in it.



Took the spoiler off the boot lid to put some elbow grease in and look at the result:





After a good clean and plenty of wax she looks gleaming would never know she is 18 years old just look at it.





So onto the engine next off with the ancient dizzy cap to see what kind of condition its in.







Im sure there is some connections in there somewhere??





A bit of cocacola treatment brings the connections up in a nice gold shine. God knows what cocacola does to your insides.

The same treatment to the rota arm.





A quick check of the fuel filter which seems like new.



Run out of time for today but the car has had the engine stripped and work done the fluids look super clean almost like its just drove out the factory so it should be a good engine. Its also had a new gear box from a 1.4 which is super smooth to change. Probably change/clean up the rest of the electrical system tomorrow so will post more then.

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