"Gaffer"

Bjk67

Bjk67

Member
Like others on this forum I have browsed and posted questions and now find it only right to post about my project.
Meet " Gaffer" a 1964 2000sc.
Rover_zps35992220.jpg

This was how I got it on Christmas day last year, a present from my wife. The leaves are genuine, not faked up as it had lain in a works yard for a few years where the previous owner had kept it as he did some work to it. The name "Gaffer" is on a folder of history i got from the previous owner so I feel it should be kept.
Most of the body work is in great condition, but underneath there has been a lot of welding done, sills, wheel arches, floor etc. Externally it needs a n/s/f wing and the sill covers. Oh and all the door window rubbers :( The interior has been removed for the welding but will need restoring or replaced as the leather is hard and the drivers seat has a hole worn in it.
Mechanically it needs the brakes sorted and by the look of it rear springs as it is quite low.
Engine wise I struggled to get it running, only after fitting new plugs, points and leads did i get it to fire but that was short lived as repeated attempts only made the starter fail. After removing the starter and dynamo I noticed a leak at the waterpump so I stripped that off only for the radiator to fall to bits as I took that out. After all that I thought the engine and bay were very cruddy so I have now taken out the engine to clean it up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8637216760/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8636112845/

The heater box is in a bit of a state so that came out too and I ended up breaking the alloy levers at the back as I pulled it out. (Any new ones about hiding in your garages? :wink: )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8637222942/

Which revealed the bulkhead. It looks worse than it is as it is only surface rust, no holes.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8636111253/
Inner wings are just grotty
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8637213766/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93767782@N08/8637215206/
I'm planning to sandblast the engine bay and paint it up after one small hole on the front n/s inner wing top is welded.
The engine will get overhauled while it is out.
 
What a nice Christmas present to get. Hopefully with a bit of effort you will have a very nice S1 P6 :D .
I couldn't view the pictures - just got a page prompting me to log onto a Yahoo account when I clicked on the links :? .

Mind you, I reckon your car already looks tidier than the TV series Gaffer car.
 
Sorry if anyone can't see the photos, I haven't used flickr much before to post photos and there is a privacy setting that I've amended. If anyone still can't view I'll post them from photobucket.
 
Thanks - I can now see all the pictures :D . It's good to see a 4 cylinder lump removed and in all it's glory - please keep us posted on the engine rebuild with more pic's please.

When I saw the state of your heater box, I was worried about the bulkhead (common rot spot). However, I'm glad it all seems OK.

It will be really good if you can get this early S1 back on the road.
 
Now don't go getting too enthusiastic! We need to see the Gaffer at Coughton Court at the end of June! As a '64 car it will have a special place in the line up - just let Nick know you're coming and he will book you a prime spot in the "dunlop" cars section.

Chris
 
Looks like a fantastic project! The early cars are just lovely, and I look forward to reading more of your progress.
 
Not a lot done this week, power washed the engine and removed the mounts from the shell.



When I was taking the engine out there was a 3/4" bolt in the o/s mount and a 3/8" bolt n/s, is this normal? The n/s mount is a bit flatter than the o/s


The gear box bottom support needs replaced
 
I've now removed the gearbox and clutch from the engine and stripped of the mounting brackets and exhaust manifold. I took off the n/s engine plate to reveal this!
IMAG0445_zps40884199.jpg

Also no thermostat fitted
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And a home made end plate
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I thought same as Chris. The gunk level in your engine doesn't look too bad. I'm sure that I have seen pictures of worse. I suppose it is good that the panels can be removed to assist cleaning but it is an odd design that often seems to lead to minor water leaks around the side panels. Some folk even suspect that the steel side panels means the block is less rigid which leads to premature main bearing wear on the 4 cyl engines. All in all though, considering the relatively short development they had, they have lasted very well indeed. My only real gripe is the hassle involved in adjusting valve clearances.
 
The engine is now away to be overhauled, but when I first spoke to the engineer about a 2l rover engine he thought I was talking about a K-series engine till I turned up with it. I will find out on Monday what needs done after it is stripped down and pressure tested.
 
Really quite envious of you!
My 64 2000 (called Jezabel because she is an untrustworthy tart of a thing, but I still love her :wink: ) turned up on a trailer for my 16th birthday. It had the engine dismatled in a box where the back seats should have been, the gearbox was in the passenger footwell and the bonnet was strapped to the roof!!
It took me 10 months to rebuild and I had it back on the road just in time for me to get my provisional license.
The car was purchased for $50 by my Dad out of a blokes chook shed where it had mouldered for the past decade. Still smells funny to this day.
Unfortunately she is now undercover in an a (dry) hayshed waiting for me to get round to rebuilding her again after a rather spectacular engine detonation.
In response to the odd bolts on the negine mounts, Jezabel had just the bolts without nuts resting in the mounts, one was metric and the other was off some sort of tractor with a thread that to this day had defied classification!

Good luck and DO NOT be tempted to swap the Dunlop brakes for the later Girlings, they work just fine.

Cheers

GUY :D
 
Just heard from engine shop that I will need a 30thou oversize bore to take the wear lip out :(
On the plus side the crank only needs a polish and new shells. But he recommends new timing chains, gears and tensioners.
 
Now that the engine is finally getting rebuilt I thought I should probably get round to sorting the rest of the car. As I planned to sand blast the engine bay I needed to move the car outside, but the back brakes have stuck on, so I am now in the process of taking the rear axle out to get better access to the calipers. I removed the exhaust to get better access to the front mounting bracket bolts. I reckon these are not standard exhaust rubber mounts!
IMAG0521_zps506d856a.jpg


IMAG0522_zps188ab239.jpg
 
I now have the rear diff assembly out and have stripped off the callipers. All the pads were seized in to the housings and the back plates came away from the pad when I chapped them out, bit of a bummer really as the pads were hardly worn. The hand brake calliper levers were seized as well, but with some gentle persuasion the pivot bolts came out.

A pic of the assembly before strip down.
I've not checked the pistons yet to see if they are free but I'm hoping to get away with replacing the seals.

While waiting for the brake parts to come I have been stripping more out of the engine bay so I can get a good clean. I'm just left with the reserve fuel cock and throttle pedal linkage to remove.
The steering box and idler came out no bother, split pins included! I also removed the side steering rods as the drivers side one had burst boots, one end had no split pin. The n/s rod has obviously been replaced at some point as it is different looking and fitted with nyloc nuts.
 
In principle I really like the Dunlop set up. But they are notorious for the handbrake seizing. There's meant to be a mod you can do to improve them immensly, care of the Jag E type boys who share this set up.

Chris
 
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