1975 Rover 3500 Project

F

FrazzleTC

Active Member
As mentioned on another thread, two weeks ago, I agreed to buy a slightly sorry-looking 1975 Rover 3500 auto, unseen, which was missing a few bits and pieces. The car was trailered home on Sunday, while I was on holiday in the Lake District, so I've still not had a decent chance to look around it. As mentioned, it was purchased minus bumpers, fuel tank and filler, and exhaust. The door mirrors, and bonnet badge had also been removed, but the mirrors have been sourced, meaning that all it needs is a bonnet badge, on the exterior front! Unfortunately, it has arrived without ignition leads, and a few other bits, but my sincere thanks to Spinakerr (James) for offering me a free set of leads, dizzy cap, and coil! :D
The background to the car is that it's one that I remember seeing when I was younger, doing the shows, and at the time, it was rather a flash-looking car! I'd spotted it on ebay for around the £1000 mark, described as having a few issues, but at the time, I couldn't justify it. When I saw it advertised for £400, missing a few bits, I made a cheeky offer, and to my surprise, it was accepted! :oops: :LOL: 8) It would appear that it's had a lot of money spent on it, at some point, as I'm informed that it has fully adjustable suspension all round, and has an SD1 V8 fitted in place of the original unit.
I'm still not absolutely sure what it needs done to it, but I'll be able to form a reasonable opinion of it fairly quickly, when I've had a bit more time to look around it. It's got black boxpleat leather, sundym glass, 3500S badging and steering wheel, and quite a few spares. From a very quick inspection, the front end seems very solid, but there's a bit of filler in the bottom of the D posts, and appears to be quite a bit of filler in the boot area. I'll take the carpets out, and have a look underneath the car, next time I'm home. Rather strangely, the windscreen washer is in the boot. :?
Ideally I'd like to get it running before I do anything else, and drive it along the driveway where it is stored, to get some idea as to how it's going to go.
It should give me plenty to do over the summer, and I just hope that it doesn't need too much welding. :LOL:
So, in the meantime, here's a before photo, of how it looked in its heyday, a photo of under the bonnet from the ebay ad (when it still had HT leads) , and a couple of photos from the day of collection.
If anyone knows anything about the car's background, I'd be really interested to hear!
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On the face of it Fraser it looks like a bargain, I'm sure you'll have it up and running in no time. I look forward to seeing the progress on this one :D
 
I think even for parts (whisper that) it's a bargain, considering front and rear GAZ shocks from classeparts are the best part of £400.
The car definitely has some attitude, I even quite like the wheels :shock:
Good buy I think Fraser!
Jim
 
corazon said:
I think even for parts (whisper that) it's a bargain, considering front and rear GAZ shocks from classeparts are the best part of £400.
The car definitely has some attitude, I even quite like the wheels :shock:
Good buy I think Fraser!
Jim
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I reckon it might have their lowering spring too.

That's got to be a good buy Fraser.
 
testrider said:
I reckon it might have their lowering spring too.
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Or sagged ones, mine sits about that low at the back currently :LOL:
Seriously though, I have seen they list them and had wondered if anybody had fitted them?
Incidentally, the height I want to achieve with the front of my car is how it is with nearly flat tyres
The stance and lines of the car just seem to look so much better :mrgreen:
 
I have a v8 front bumper you can have, and will have front grill and lamp surrounds. Could probably sort you out with a rear bumper which needs a little work.

Looks like you have plenty to do.

Colin
 
I've been home over the weekend, which has allowed me plenty of time to play with the 2000, and the 3500. The aim, this weekend, was to fully assess the level of rot on the 3500, and how this should be tackled, as well as trying to determine how good it is mechanically.
First of all, the structure. The car has had a huge amount of welding over the years, with patches, and sections everywhere. For the most part, the car is very solid, but not terribly pretty underneath. So far, having taken all of the interior out, and had the car on ramp, the only area which gave way to the screwdriver is under the seat on the driver's side, in the rear, so this will be welded in due course, if the car is to obtain an MOT for the summer. There are blobs of fibreglass about it, but these were chipped at, and there is solid enough metal underneath. The D posts are pretty good,with just some filler on the bottoms, as seems to be the case on many cheaper P6s!
Body. The car has a reasonable paint finish. The front valance is completely rotten. The doors are very solid, but bubbling along the bottoms, with the driver's door having a bit of scab at the front. Rear wings are decent, and front wings are solid, with some rust under the sidelights. Bonnet and boot have a little bubbling, likely due to a paint reaction. Vinyl roof is okay, but scruffy. Generally, it'll polish up, but it's been knocked about a bit. The window seals are all good, and the car is very dry inside, particularly in light of the fact that it has lived outside for quite some time. Glass is all excellent
Interior. The seats are black leather boxpleat, and are servicable, though a little untidy. Carpets are brand new. Lots of trim missing around the centre console, but all easy enough to replace.
Mechanical. The engine, gearbox, and differential all perform well, with very smooth engagement of drive and reverse, and a very willing engine, though oil pressure isn't amazing, but no worse than any other cheap Rover V8. The oil light doesn't come on once the engine is running, which is reassuring. The fluids are all clean, carbs have new gaskets, and certainly seem to have been rebuilt recently. Manifolds fitted are the standard ones, with additional rear sections, to accommodate the 2.5 inch exhaust that it had in a previous life. The tubular ones are in the boot. Once we had got a mixture of leads onto it, and got it started initially, it started on the first turn of the key on every other attempt. Today it was run using a petrol can for fuel, picking it up using the fuel pump. Brakes weren't seized, and were very responsive. Unfortunately, shortly after parking it, we noticed a leak of fluid, from a union on the nearside front brake. I'll sort that next time I'm home. Tyres and wheels are decent, but not amazing.
Electrical. Previous owners of the car have messed it about a little, electrically, but after some cleaning, and coaxing, everything functioned.

So, to conclude, it's not bad, but, it will need work, particularly in the longer term. As such, the goal is to get it to a safe, MOT-worthy standard for the summer, and I'll reassess its position at the end of August. Today allowed me to take some photos of the car, and to run it around where it is stored. Here's a video, and some photos from today!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cfV0VW2 ... redirect=1

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One thing you can do is check the actual pressure and not the guage as it can lie. Might be worth checking/replacing the oil relief valve and spring. I can weaken over the years and blows off at a lower pressure than you want. It is possible to stretch the existing spring.

Colin
 
Congratulations Fraser excellent buy, that is going to be a top motor again under your wing :wink:
 
arthuy said:
One thing you can do is check the actual pressure and not the guage as it can lie. Might be worth checking/replacing the oil relief valve and spring. I can weaken over the years and blows off at a lower pressure than you want. It is possible to stretch the existing spring.

Colin
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I'll investigate this the next time that I'm home, Colin, and report back. I did suspect that the gauge might be lying, but it did move in response to the engine being revved. The engine doesn't smoke badly or show any outward signs of problems at least.
 
Hi Fraser,

I would actually look at the oil pressure transmitter before touching the oil pressure relief spring. If that is an SD1 engine, does it still have the SD1 oil pressure transmitter fitted?

The SD1 senders will not read correctly when paired with the P6B gauge, from memory they read much lower than they should. Aftermarket replacement senders identified by their black plastic cylinderical top section are extremely unreliable and more often than not read too low. The genuine Smiths senders when they start to fail will tend to read on the low side, but they can be replaced with a near identical replacement which will restore correct functionality.

Ron.
 
Hi Ron,

I'll have a look to check the oil sender next time I'm home, and check the part number in order to determine what it's from. I suspect that it's all SD1, but I'll need to confim. The fact that it read lower than expected ties in with this, as it's certainly a pretty willing, and, once we'd set it up a bit better, smooth engine.
Fraser

The leads on it were a mixture of all sorts that we found lying about, but they seemed to work effectively! Hopefully it'll be working from its own petrol tank in the near future!
 
Maybe a previous owner had contemplated having the car painted pink at some stage... :? I have never seen a pink P6, in the right shade it might actully look quite good, especially if the driver was a nice attractive girl.

Ron.
 
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