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I was going through some old photos and I found this car I previously owned with a friend. It's a Rover Sterling Coupe, also known as the 800-series. I know the 800 was sold in Japan, so this could be interesting to you.

Back in 2010, me and my friend were visiting a car mechanic. I can't remember why, I think I was having the timing belt changed on the GC 626-Capella (I can see it in the photo). But we noticed the mechanic had this car in his yard. We asked him about it, he said he got it cheap some time ago, but didn't have time to fix it. It had a few faults and no MOT (UK annual vehicle inspection). He was thinking of taking it to the scrap yard, since metal prices were high at that time, so you could make good money selling old cars for scrap metal. At the time it wasn't a very expensive car, especially with no MOT. But it was such a rare car we made an offer to buy it instead, so we could save it. He accepted and we took it away a few days later.



You probably know about the partnership between Honda and British Leyland/Rover. They worked together to make both the first generation Honda Legend (KA1-6) and Rover 800 on the same platform. There's some information here: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ローバー・800

This is the second generation model released in 1991, but ours was from 1996. The Coupe body was rare. Ours was an 825 Sterling with the Rover 2.5L V6 Quad Cam engine and 5MT gearbox. The Sterling was the top luxury grade! The interior was very nice, with big leather seats and genuine walnut wood.

Me and my friend had too many cars at the time (we still do), so we couldn't keep it. Instead, we sold it a few weeks later to a guy who wanted the Coupe. A few years later, I found out that the car was still running, probably from the same owner as it was in the same town. We were glad to have rescued this unusual car from becoming scrap metal (also, we made some money). Hopefully it's still around.

Where I can, I still try to rescue as many cars as possible.

I upgraded the front pipe on my 156 V6! I had my friend install it - he was the previous owner of my 156. He took the pipe off to sell it separately as it's an expensive part, but I later decided to keep the 156 and buy the front pipe from him. I had him install it, since he already fitted it the first time. The picture is his feet, not mine! The only thing I did was disconnect the Lambda sensor in the engine bay...

It's easy for me to translate this for once, because the product is from Japan (third product down on the list): http://www.unicorse.co.jp/unicorse-italial/products/alfaromeo156-1.html

The Unicorse products are very rare in the UK, though a lot of 156 V6 owners know them for the legendary reputation. The quality is amazing! I don't think they even sell these officially in the UK, they need to be privately imported. I'm not sure how this one came here. Some people make a replica of the Unicorse products, but I prefer the real item.



The front pipe changes from the standard type to an "equal length" system with better exhaust flow. It changes the sound a lot too. It isn't much more loud, but the sound is smoother, especially idle. But then at high revs it sounds great! But the main reason I wanted to install it is for better power and response. The standard 156 V6 lacks low-end power especially. Now it feels a lot faster at low to mid revs, with great power from about 3000rpm onwards. Before it felt quite slow until about 5000rpm, so it's a great improvement. I would recommend this to any 156 V6 owner, even if you don't want to drive fast.

While I was at my friend's house, we also went for a drive in his MGB GT. It's a Limited Edition model from 1980, which has different wheels and stripes. This is the car he got after he sold the 156 to me. He's changed the exhaust for a full stainless system and fitted a new carburettor, so it sounds great!



When I get some time, I'll do a video of the new sound of the 156.

I was driving around in the BF Familia-323 yesterday and I saw an N12 Pulsar-Cherry! I didn't get enough time to take a photo because it was going the other way (and I had hot food in the car).

I have never seen the car or the owner before, so I looked on the Internet to see if I could find it. I found it for sale on a used car website for £1500 (¥270,000), this is a photo from the place. That's too much for me and I think I'd prefer the 3-door model, but I was glad to see it.

It's the 1.3 GS "Maxima" specification. I think the Maxima version gets a sunroof, those stickers on the doors and the chrome hubcaps. It seems confusing now since there's the Nissan Maxima model, but in the UK we didn't get the Maxima until the J30 in 1989, so at the time it didn't matter.

Looking at the photo, I think it's the same guy who was selling the 5-door BF 323 a while ago, because I recognise the car shop as being very close to where I saw the 323.

It's quite common on older cars for the steering wheel to become "sticky" to touch, even if you keep it clean. This is the biggest problem on basic vinyl-type wheels from '80s cars like my BF Familia-323, but it affects plastic and leather types too. You can clean the wheel and it will be OK for a few days, but then it will feel the same. It gets dirty easily, too. It's a big problem. Usually it's because the wheel has been damaged by sunlight.



For years this has been a problem for me, because some of my cars I want to keep the original steering wheel and I can't find a replacement. Now I have a solution to this problem!

1. Clean the steering wheel with a cloth and hand cleaner. Dishwashing liquid is also OK. You could probably use anything as long as it cleans the wheel. Do this until the wheel is completely clean and there's no dirt on the cloth. Make sure the wheel is dry after.

2. Rub some Leather Balm (or leather "feed") into the steering wheel with a cloth - I'm not sure if it has the same name in Japan, but it's a type of cream you apply to dry leather. It's not the same as leather cleaner - it doesn't clean! It stops leather from going dry and breaking apart. You can get it to treat handbags, purses, house furniture. Any type of leather balm will be fine. The type I use is called Autoglym Leather Care Balm, it's designed for car seats. Be careful not to get Leather "Dressing" instead, this will make the steering wheel slippery to touch! Keep applying the leather balm into the steering wheel, rub it in, wipe it off with a cloth. I did it about 3 times on the BF.



3. It's done! You may want to apply more leather balm every month or so, or after any time you need to clean the steering wheel.

Hope this could be useful to you. Unless you have a wooden steering wheel.

With a friend, I've been helping to fix this Golf. He's going to sell it. It's just a 1.6 engine model, "Rolling Stones" edition.

He painted some areas. I did most of the polishing and cleaning. The drivers side front fender has been replaced, the new one came from Poland (about 2000km!). For some reason they didn't have any in the UK.

Originally it looked like this, the paintwork had faded somewhat (not too bad) and there was some rust. Solid red cars fade more than any other type, but if you polish it correctly and put a few coats of good wax on the panels, it will usually stay red.



The textured plastic areas were treated with cheap boiled linseed oil (like you would use on a wooden guitar or a baseball bat). I find it works better than any professional car product.