Hello everyone,Philip here, from Amersfoort in Holland – I’ve just imported a ’94 Morocco Red 4.0 Sovereign fromBelgium, with slightly more than 100.000 miles on the odometer. It’s been standing outside in therain for the last two years, so it’s a bit soggy, but I think it’s got a lot of potential!Anyway. I bought it from the son in law of an old man who passed away two years ago. At that point,he’d been the owner of the car since 1997, so it’s a two-owner car. When it was left out in the rain, itwas running, but now it isn’t. After some tinkering, me and my friends have decided that the fuelpump must have packed it in. Seems like those two years have caused it to seize. I’ve a mind to try toreanimate it by putting permanent current on it – bridging nodes 30 and 78 of the relay foot - andsetting about bashing the fuel tank with a rubber hammer and see what happens.Of course, that’s not the only thing that needs fixing. The painted bodywork on the whole is very nicewithout any apparent rust or dents or anything, but there are some rusty bits lurking underneath.The front footwells are soggy, probably caused by water ingress around the grommets of the cablelooms behind the front wings. I’ll treat the surrounding bodywork with rust-isolating stuff and try towater-proof the grommets with silicone gasket. The boot is soggy, too, and its bottom is rather flakyas well. That will need welding. As will the floor pans of said footwells, and the areas on both sideswhere the bulkhead meets the floor pan.I’ve checked the bulkhead itself as well. Have removed the wiper motor to take a gander underneathand within the plenum. The plenum is perfect, no signs of rust at all. The bulkhead shows some ruston the outside, both under the wiper motor and around the grounding point in the middle. I’ll treatthose as well, because it’s not too far gone yet and welding the bulkhead seems a very intrusiveprocedure.Next step is to remove the wings, to check the inner wings. I’ve already removed the wheel liners, inorder to check the cable loom grommet areas; looking in, it doesn’t look too bad, but of course I canonly really check the corners of the windscreen and suchlike if I remove the wings. The wingsthemselves are very nice, inside and out.Anyway, long story, and lots to do – and it isn’t even running yet!

 

Nice Car! The rot around the grommet where the harness enters the footwell is caused by water dripping from the short length of drain channel directly on to the harness, keeping the grommet permanently damp. This is a design fault that can be cured by extending the drain channel a few inches further forward. I used a short length of heater hose slit and impaled on the channel and zip tied to keep it in position.
The drips now miss the harness completely and fall harmlessly into the fender well.

I have the process illustrated somewhere in the archive if you need pics.

Larry

 

Hi, thanks - I think I saw your post somewhere! Sounds like a great solution to keep this from happening in the future.

 

Congratulations. All things considered, I think you scored there.
most of these would be well rotten if they sat outside in Northern Europe for years on end.

Fuel pump failure is pretty common now on these. More so when they sit unused too. Check for any water (plus rust) inside the fuel tank. The fuel filler drain on the rubber gaiter can block, which can allow water to get into the tank. This of course accelerates fuel pump failure. I have seen loads of them now with this issue.

 

Hi,
thanks! We've checked everything and the fuel pump has to be the culprit.

​​​​​​I've found some more rust in the footwells , around the jacking points, but other than that it seems pretty solid. The jacking points themselves are fine.

 

Hi,

thanks! Poked around some more and found some holes in the footwells Jacking point surrounds are less than tidy, but the jacking points themselves are fine.
Non-starting issue is indeed caused by failed fuel pump. Will be replacing this asap. Gave the interior a good clean, too - the trim lacquer is disintegrating, but the wood itself is fine. As is the magnolia leather all around.
Found a NOS hub cap in the boot. Rare item, so I've been told.

 

It’s to be expected there will be some rot, so overall I think that’s not bad. There’s always going to be something. You have done well to go searching for it. So many owners don’t want to go looking, until the issues are much bigger.

The wheel cap is rare yes. They were only fitted to 94 models, on two different wheels. The wheels you have are called “Duo”. The other wheels that fit the cap are Aero. I would keep it as a spare though.

 

Nice car love the colour. Bit of welding to do there. I had water in the tank, silly to leave it two years when i finally did something about it the tank had a hundred pinholes in it and had to be disposed of. The pump was full of rust. Take the tank out, inspect. Make sure you keep the rubber mount for the pump if its an "in tank" pump.

 

Hi, long overdue update: finally found time to pull the tank. Not a pretty sight, to be sure... Have tried cleaning the tank, but it's no use. Water ingress has pretty much destroyed it. Will have to source a replacement. Have fitted a new pump in the pump assembly, so that part at least is ready to go!

 

Wow, that pump is pretty epically ruined.
I assume it wasn’t running?!

I have tanks here if needed. But it’s expensive to send overseas. Message me for details if needed.

 

No, it wasn't running! 😄 And thanks for your offer. I'll first try to source a tank locally and if that doesn't work out, I'll contact you.

 

Of course yes. If you can find a good tank in NL.

 

Found a rust free tank. Quite an investment, but what can you do?

 

Good work. Good parts always hold good value.
well worth it to get reliable fueling.

 

Have fitted the replacement fuel tank. Filler neck turned out to be somewhat out of kilter, due to a dent in the tank, so needed to bend it quite a bit. Turned out well - the dent popped out nicely, the steel didn't rupture. Next up is to refit the fuel lines, put some fuel in the old thing, and see if it starts...

 

A standard issue on those tanks with the filler neck. Easy enough to move it back in line.

 

Shortly after I posted my last message, I got it running! Started right up first time, and runs fine.
Lack of time has forced me to put it aside for a while, but now I've started working on it again. Next week, I'm taking it to the welder's, to see what they make of it.

​​​​​​​​​​​

 

Well done! My first 40 had the same colour and the same rust spots. The bulkhead seems to be quiete rusty from the pics I have seen. If you want to fix that I guess it will be a bigger job with pulling the engine. At least in Germany that was never a problem during the safety inspections. Holes in the footwell however, and expectedly, were an issue that I had to attend to.
I hope your welder gives you a decent quote on the repairs. If you remove the seam sealer you may be in for some more surprises. You can check by poking with a thin screwriver, chances are it will go through.
Best
Robert

 

Thanks - bulkhead is ok for now, have filled the holes. Wasn't as bad as it looked.

Have a new issue though - my engine seems to be a 3.6. At least, if I interpret the engine code correctly. This is a bit of a bummer.

 

If its a 3.6 or a 4.0, probably the horsepower in the papers will not match what is left. If the engine runs, and does what it is supposed to without leaking you are already lucky. What helps to get performance a bit up is an additive from Liqui Molli called injection cleaner. Helps on cars that have been of the road for a couple of years.