Finally a tidy 3500S!

There does not appear to be a hose clamp on the water pipe coming from the carb tower, this may let you down if it blows off.
 
The alternator is a RH model, and it should be a LH which is why it needed all the fabrication to get it to fit. You should be able to change from RH to LH which will make it look more original.
 
Hi i seem to remember fitting a mk1 3500 SD1 alternator to my first 3500s.
It was a lucas 23ACR / fiited straight on with same push on 3 pin plug, 55 amp rating i think.
Clive.
 
Seem to remember my alternator was from a 1980 3500 sd1, that said later face lift sd1 ( 82 on) are 70/75 amps,you will have to change original p6 3 pin plug to large single bolt on terminal type and small bolt on conector for warning light.
There are prob other types around which fit / guys here will prob know.
Clive.
 
Good call harvey, i should have remembed that.
When i first put a alternator on my old mini doner alt was a 16 acr off a old v4 transit,wrong handed to what i needed,removed rear casing and turned it round/re drilled out adjuster thread and used new bolt/nut.
Clive/
 
Tor, can't you get the old one rewound for higher output or has that ability died off in Cape Town?
I had mine done when I first go my car and it made a big difference.
 
John, I could but there's a peace-of-mind factor in how the Bosch performs. It has new bearings in it, a spare regulator and the logistics also worked in its favour.

I'll look into changing the handing of the casing... Thanks Harvey!
 
Got the car inspected on Thursday - a full year late, it failed on >25% rust on front brake discs. Took it home, McGyvered it with some emery paper and a couple of emergency stops, and sought a recommended place for second opinions. Original tester was the local AA station. I have a pass, but will get new discs.

Cleaned the car up after several months of exposure to salty coastal air in a carport - don't ask why I let that happen - and after an hour of work even the chrome is starting to look up. Took the car to a paint shop and got the colour scanned to a very near match with 020 Bianco by Alfa Romeo, which was close to Arctic White by a factor of 0.43. The chap at the shop said something to the effect of "Man, that's pretty white", and said that very little went into the mix beyond an unusually few drops of black, yellow and green. I now have a rattle can as well as a tipp-ex tube of touch-up paint. First to get treatment will be the front decker and valance, which have cracks and exposed metal.

Great to be driving the Rover again. Engine is running well with the carb job done, but I'm considering a slightly richer needle again mid- to top end.
 
For the first time in going on five years, I've had the time to do some fettling and also a road trip from Stavanger to Bergen, 500 km r/t. I did a rough consumption estimate and arrived at 0.85 l/100 km (33.2 mpg) on what is essentially a B-road journey at moderate speeds.

Fitted a set of new Hankook K415s to the Vitesse rims (205/65-15) and they're turning out to be rather good, neutral and quiet.

Overhauled the wiper gear and linkage to good effect, much assisted by codekiddie's excellent write-up. I used some bits from a donor unit and now have two good spindles, i.e. the splined end caps are tightly seated on the axles. A tip which I think helped get the axles lubricated, is that I placed them on the room heater for a while and used a high-end motorbike chain lube, so that the heat helped the fluid creep in under the spindle collar and behind the cog at the rear. I used a light amount of lithium grease on the wire, and Castrol BNS in the gear housing as that was what I had to hand. Didn't remove the motor for fear of damaging the brushes on reassembly. Cut and fitted a piece of car washing sponge to the governor and wiped the diaphragm and terminal connectors with some battery terminal grease. Next, I discovered that the delay adjuster knob was defective, the parts inside it having separated. Managed to find one locally, and I now have a zero to >20 second interval to hand.

Now, one of the enduring pains with this car is an uneven spring load. And I think I've finally found out what the issue is. The car used to be RHD and was converted in the nineties. When I bought it in 2009-10, it sat low on the left rear and I replaced the rear springs with new HD ones. This helped some, but was clearly not enough. Chris York has since suggested that the LHF spring is likely fatigued, so that the RH one is pushing back hard against the left rear, or a misalignment of the body/spring platforms from the factory, to be compensated by shimming.
I've now had a closer look at the front top link brackets, and found that the RH one has approximately 6-8 mm of shims behind it, while the left has +/- 2 mm. I understand these are for camber adjustment. Swapping these should help, and I (still) have that set of NOS top link bushes and road springs waiting to go in. It hasn't helped that the car was retrofitted with PAS along the way, where all the gear save the fluid reservoir sits on the left hand side of the car. The car can buck and yaw on sweeping right-handers. I always felt that this had something to do with a bias left over from the conversion, and am hopeful the car will finally come right when I get this job done this year. I mean, whether LHD or RHD, a car spends most of its miles on the road with one person in it, and should be set up with enough driver's-side bias so that it sits flat. No?

I was also able to secure a complete heater unit with core, which isn't badly rusted at all and looks pretty good. My fan cut out this winter during the fairly intense cold snap in January, when I had to use the car daily. I'm wanting to refurbish the flaps/foam on mine anyway, so rather do a job on a unit off the car, and replace in one go.

Also sourced a good auto prop shaft to use with my LT77, which will arrive this spring freshly rebuilt by Hardy Transmissions Engineering in Esher. I won a job lot of three boxes in pieces plus a carton of new spares on eBay for £175 plus local freight, out of which Bill was able to build one(!) good box for another £530. He also had a bell housing, release arm, bearing, pushrod and remote sitting on a shelf for nominal money. Getting it here now is only a matter of overcoming Brexit factors in terms of customs clearance.

I'm thinking to get a flexible rubber coupling for the prop as well, to help take up slap and any minor vibrations when the box goes in, and make it so that the prop is not fully extended, permanently. Finding one with the right PCD and diameter will be an interesting proposition.
 
Pleased to learn you're using your P6, and that it is returning good fuel consumption. Didn't your car get walloped by an errant van driver not so long ago? If I didn't imagine that, how did the body and paint repair turn out, and did the other insurer pay the bill? You'll want a 15mm aluminium spacer to ensure that your auto prop isn't over extended behind the LT77. The Land Rover folk need them when they raise their suspension, so they can be had and aren't expensive. I didn't know such things are also available in rubber!? Wouldn't that shear in short order behind a V8?
 
I want to try out a flexible rubber coupling as is fitted to e.g. all manual BMWs (see random pic). I’ve liked the way they work, and with the production tolerances from fifty years ago I have a feeling I’ll like having one in the Rover.

Even with - oh, I’m also fitting a NOS differential I found in a cellar here in town, still in its wooden crate with sticky paper all around it. I’ve known of it for years but have decided to take it off the guy’s hands.

Yes I did get pranged last October, by a food delivery guy changing lanes into mine a bit too urgently. I’ve accepted a fair payout and will try to save up a bit more for a full respray.
 

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The nice lady in shot above is the leading actress in a series called “State of Happiness” (Lykkeland in Norwegian) which has aired on BBC4. My car will make a static appearance in season 2, airing here next January. They wanted it unwashed, with prang and all.
 
I want to try out a flexible rubber coupling as is fitted to e.g. all manual BMWs (see random pic). I’ve liked the way they work, and with the production tolerances from fifty years ago I have a feeling I’ll like having one in the Rover.

I was involved in developing/making a standalone overdrive unit to fit (in this particular case, although suitable for anything really) a P5B, and ISTR that had a rubber coupling between the output flange on the BW35 and the input flange on the overdrive, so they can be made to fit. Ask TRM if the one he has has the rubber coupling as he bought the first prototype unit for his P5B.
 
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PM sent, Tor.
Received, thanks again!

Oh, passed my “MOT” today, no advisories. The tester estimates 2.5-3 hours to replace the top link bushes and springs both sides. Rather optimistic I thought, but I’ll hold him to it! He stands by his estimates and is a dependable, generous chap.
 
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