1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued! (New Wheels)

S

street

New Member
This is to be my new project and my first P6 in 8 years! A 1972 3500 with a 'heather Mills spec' gearbox.
A big thanks to Tantus Pedis for spotting her and getting the details for me, she was exactly what I was looking for and turned out to be just 2 miles from my own doorstep! :D


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She's been sat for quite a few years, owned by a very nice bloke called Paul who had intentions of restoring her but decided to move her on as he can't find the time to start the project.


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Despite her appearance, a rudimetary prod around indicates that she isn't actually too bad in terms of rot.... Certainly more solid than my last 2000SC was! I'm expecting to find some grot to repair once I get stuck in but i'm prepared for that. Welding and panel replacement is something I don't mind spending my evenings doing :wink:


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Engine is all complete, and apparently she was driving fine before bieng parked up. Getting her running again will be the first job on the list... Can't wait to get her fired up for the first time!


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She has black leather which is nice. I really like the leather seats on P6's, and the well worn condition doesn't bother me at all! The doorcard is sitting in the back seat after having its drivers window hastily replaced.


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I get her delivered on Saturday hopefully, and I can't wait to get stuck in! I'm going to raid my stash of P6 spares if Ican find them and see what i've got for her. THe seller has a host of P6 spares which i've agreed to buy at a later date so I should be all set!
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

That actually loks quite good! Is it tax exempt? Like the wheels, what size tyres are they wearing?

Well done and happy fiddling!

Chris
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Are you keeing it auto? There is a cheap 3.9 range rover efi on ebay at the moment .... that would liven it right up :D If your engine is the 10.5:1 engine (1972 is the turn, some had them some didnt) a modern engine, that will not pink under load and can be taken to any petrol station is a good idea when undertaking a project.

If as you say, the car is solid, then it probably looks ten times worse than it is. Good luck and enjoy :D
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Thanks guys! :)

Chrisyork- Yes it's tax exempt which is a big bonus! I think from memory the tyres are 185/65/14's, which will all need replacing I should think but they're quite cheap in that size luckily.

Twinplenum3500S- Yes I think i'll keep it auto, I quite like big engined cars in automatic flavour :)
I'll have to see weather this is the low or high compression engine, i'm hoping it's the former as that would save a lot of hassle. A 3.9 would be brilliant, definately not in the budget for this phase of the project but certainly food for thought later on!
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Pretty cheap, £100 :D
I think the fella was more interested in it bieng saved than making a vast fortune on it, which is very admirable.
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Well done mate!

After talking to Dan, I'd got this spotted as a possible donor car but so much better for it have a chance of taking to the tarmac again! I'm 10 minutes away from Totland Road, so if you need any help give me a shout!

Nice one. :)
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Thanks Vaultsman! Good to know there's another P6 guy nearby, I may even have spotted you a few months back in Leicester centre?
Really looking forward to bieng back behind the wheel of a P6! :D
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Coat of paint and a tidy up and your quids in ... looking at yours makes me want to do another one .... ill content myself at moment scraping my knuckles on an old cooper at the moment.
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

street said:
Pretty cheap, £100 :D
I think the fella was more interested in it bieng saved than making a vast fortune on it, which is very admirable.
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Brilliant deal - very well done.

Look forward to seeing it cruising around.
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Well done, nice save! The interior looks tidy on that one shot, does the paint look like it can clean up? I see the bonnet etc. have algae.

I might go on a looong drive this week to inspect a LHD, CH-imported 3500S near Oslo that's for sale at an acceptable price. "Small amount of welding" needed, some interesting work done recently - new cam being one of them. Boot mount, original S in white with black roof; power steering and some service history. Giddy stuff...

Good luck with yours!
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

If I hadn't have had some bad lad to take home in the van one night then I would never have seen it either. My crew mates couldn't really understand what I was wittering on about when I first saw it about 6 months ago.

Dan
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

Well yesterday saw my Rover finally at its new destination with its new owner!


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I had struck a deal with a local scrap dealer, who had agreed to pick up the P6 and deliver it to my workshop in return for a scrap Montego shell that I needed rid of.... That's my kind of deal!


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With the car moved from its resting place for the last 7 or 8 years she was slowly winched onto the trailer. We were all qite suprised that the old girl rolled so easily!
It was at this stage that it dawned on me that the scrap guys might decide they liked the P6 better than the Montego shell I was offering in payment and could drive away with my pride and joy and weigh it in instead! I was a little nervous going inside to do the paperwork, but thankfully they were still there when I came out and we hauled the P6 over to my place.
Yes, thae truck was over-laden somewhat! :shock:


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And here it is delivered outside my workshop, which went without incident. Now I could have a proper look around the old girl and see what's needed! I was pretty excited, finally I had another P6 again!


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The first thing I did was sit in there and make engine noises. I like the dash clocks on the V8 with its rev counter and oil/water guages all lined up. I noticed the mileage was 96,000.


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The leather is split and needs a good clean and feed as it's quite dry, but I do love the interiors on these cars, real luxury!


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The first priority will be to get her running again. Everything is there though ao it shouldn't be too much of an issue.


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I was really chuffed to see that Paul, the previous owner had kindly included all the mechanical spares he'd had in stock which included a brand new dizzy cap and leads, a replacement distributor, alternator, brand new water pump and a replacement water pump! This is a massive help and i'm confident she'll be running soundly in no time! :D


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The years spent sitting on a driveway untouched has taken their toll on the outward appearance of the old girl.


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THe front wings will need replacing (the previous owner has some panels for me which i'll get off him at a later date) and the paint is far too badly oxidised to bring back, not to mention the new rear wings with their layer of surface rust.... Pretty, she aint!


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But she's solid in all the right places. BUlkhead and inner wings appear nice nad origional with no work needed, the n/s/f inner sill is perfect as is the floor on that side.
The o/s/f inner sill requires repair (but the previous owner kindly included a pair of inner wing repair panels) and there's a hole at the front of the sill, along with needing a replacement outer sill which I have somewhere in my garage.
After that there's just a small hole in the boot that need attending to, then she'll be ship shape!

All in all i'm really chuffed with this car and can't wait to get stuck in! I'll update the thread when i've made some progress :)



.
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued! (It Begins)

Nice!

It has exactly the same alloys (two gates wheels) with my TC!
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued! (It Begins)

Looks like a good project.

The panels aside the holes on the inner sill are just common P6 rot, You might get away with patching the end bits.

As long as th engine turns over you should have her running in no time.

Colin
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

street said:
Thanks guys! :)

Chrisyork- Yes it's tax exempt which is a big bonus! I think from memory the tyres are 185/65/14's, which will all need replacing I should think but they're quite cheap in that size luckily.
Click to expand...

Yep they are cheap, I need some new tyres on mine when I get around to sorting the breaks etc. They are £35 per tyre here from my little village in Derbyshire. :D
 
Re: 1972 Rover P6 3500- Rescued!

NiGhTowl said:
street said:
Thanks guys! :)

Chrisyork- Yes it's tax exempt which is a big bonus! I think from memory the tyres are 185/65/14's, which will all need replacing I should think but they're quite cheap in that size luckily.
Click to expand...

Yep they are cheap, I need some new tyres on mine when I get around to sorting the breaks etc. They are £35 per tyre here from my little village in Derbyshire. :D
Click to expand...

The tyres are 185 HR 14. They didn't separate them into profiles back then so a 65 profile would give you lower gearing, worse fuel economy and a speedo which will read about 8% further out than it was designed to do. The correct profile is somewhere around 80-82.
 
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