A P6B in Tokyo... Project car

Well... not quite yet; here it is sitting in New Zealand rain; it’s shipping up to Tokyo from Auckland mid-December

44,000 mile original; I bought the car in 2008 and the alloy wheels were added a year or 2 later... so, you might ask, what’s the car been doing since 2008? Well, a workshop was commissioned to do an engine/gearbox transplant; the Rover now has a Range Rover Discovery engine and Toyota W57 5-speed
The old engine and gearbox were pulled and sold... the workshop took delivery of the engine/transmission/custom bell housing from the machine shop up the road and then took an astonishing 3 years to complete the work ( ! )
Names will not be named ‘n shamed as, eventually, all was amicably settled... Ah, well you say, that still only takes the story to 2011... and you’d be right...

Late 2011 the workshop owner sent a video of the car running and driving with apologies as to the time this had all taken; All Good

“I’ll send you an account shortly, I’ve got to sit down and work out what parts we needed to get in and a few extra hours to charge out so bear with me”

I’d intended to go and sort all this out face-to-face on my next New Zealand trip, except there hasn’t been a “next trip”

So... waited and phoned and emailed and phoned... eventually lost patience and gave up

Years go by, ( 9 years! ) and I get a snarky email from the workshop owner: “haven’t heard from you in Years, your car’s still here, if you don’t pay your Bill I’ll sell it! “

I immediately got back to him and said “You’ve never sent a Bill and selling the car would be inadvisable”

We worked it out, I’ve no idea what the disconnect was but the workshop did right by me in the end and the cars getting picked up by the Shippers in a few days

I was 48 when I bought the P6B and I’m 61 now... the Project continues...

Graham
 
Nightfire Red by any chance? Looks great!
I don‘t know the color, when I bought the Rover it had just been painted; the owner sent it off for a quality respray, the paint shop had taken the panels off to paint them ( smart move ) then damaged the wiring putting the panels back on( dumb move ) and she couldn‘t get the painters to admit liability then couldn’t find an auto electrician who’d take the repair on. If it hadn’t been for the new paint I doubt the car would have been for sale
 
How did a NZ built car come by an AA badge?
Hi Mr. Task! Did you source a decent rear bumper?

NZ has an Automobile Association and the AA badge in the grille is ( NZ and ) period correct to the car...

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Well when it arrives you will need more images of the car especially in the Japanese context.

Graeme
 
Well when it arrives you will need more images of the car especially in the Japanese context.

Graeme

Hi Graeme! Sure; the car’s sat for 10 years and not been driven so I am anticipating a fair amount of recommissioning but it’s an excellent example and I won’t be serving a welding apprenticeship at least; a midnight run to Odaiba where the “underground street race scene” happens at 3:00am will be on the cards... but first the struggle to get it through inspection Grow old disgracefully, I say ( ! )
 
Hi Mr. Task! Did you source a decent rear bumper?

Hi there. Yes, I bought a freshly re-chromed bumper from a chap who was recommended over on the fb P6 Club page, a Mr Vassie. Haven't fitted it yet, because as soon as I bought new shiny bits my gearbox went and self destructed, which entailed much unexpected expenditure to get things working again. Further beautification has had to wait. With luck I'll scratch together enough readies to pay for panel repair and fresh paint in the year to come... Pointless attaching a nice straight and gleamy bumper when both rear wings have acquired scrapes and ominous bubbly patches...
Talking of paint, you'll have to finish off the bottom of those front wings to continue the black from the sill covers!
If you do fit the induction components you posted on the fb P6 Modified page, I'm going to have to visit Japan and get a ride. That's going to be a proper weapon!
 
Mr. Task,
all the best with the repaint in 2021! Always welcome to visit Tokyo tho’ I believe the border is closed, at least until April, only citizens allowed back in at present

I will have to toughen up the diff. as I’m not convinced the standard one will be strong enough; there‘s a couple of Jag diff swaps archived on here for eg and on the Facebook P6 modified page I have exchanged messages with an owner that has a BMW diff installed in his P6B

Here are the “induction components” we’ve been talking about; 50mm downdraft throttle bodies on John Eales manifolds, styled after Weber IDFs but individual bodies I am studying the best engine management system to use, that’s quite a learning curve as there’s a ton of these out there, some are stand-alone systems, some kits, some piggy-back stock ECUs and 1,000,000 opinions as to what works best and almost as many combinations and price ranges

Much to be done before this happens

G


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Haltech in Australia have a great reputation for quality and support/ease of setting up their ECUs
Corazon,
I’ve been in touch with a couple of companies in Oz, one calls itself “injectionperfection” thanks, will check out Haltech

G
 
How do you get on for emission standards in Japan as I guess it would be classed as a new registration or are period cars exempt.

Graeme
 
Graeme,
emissions testing isn't difficult for vehicles built before April '71 but this car is slightly later; the requirements are strict but it's a new engine so... fingers crossed... it's not held to the standards of a 2020 vehicle but anything burning oil or tired isn't going to cut it

I was the first person in Japan to get a number plate on an ( imported ) MG-R V8, this was a domestic UK model and had a few differences to the Built-for-Japan cars; there was no way MG would provide any assistance to me as this was competing with their "official import" that was still available new... ( late 90's ) Everything passed except for the "cold start test" which involved the car being locked overnight in a warehouse and then tested from Cold where the engine had to heat up and be delivering a certain level of HC/particulate and CO/CO2 emissions within a certain time Unable to "hack" the computer, so I couldn't adjust the idle speed or ignition advance; out of desperation I removed the thermostat and made a spacer in its place that blanked-off the flow apart from a couple of small holes, went up a sparkplug heat, changing to NGK's and removed the air-cleaner filter from its box... filled the gas tank with the highest octane ( 117RON ) could be purchased at the pump and tried for the 3rd time... and passed ( ! ) This was the start of an avalanche of "grey import" MG-R V8's as the UK dealerships couldn't give these away and the Japanese market couldn't get enough of them... Now some hefty proportion of MG-R V8's are in the UK ( go figure )

So: emissions testing here doesn't faze me

Graham
 
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