GAN 340J 1971 series 2 V8

drabbers

Active Member
Hi all,
I have joined the forum to 'revitalise' my project which I have owned for 5 years.
My Rover is a 1971 3500 automatic - Zircon blue - Sandalwood leather - no power steering - early carbs - hooked choke & reserve knobs - square Rover lettering to the bootlid.
This was my late grandfathers car from 1976 through to 1989 and I remember many trips out in her. At the time she was immaculate - purchased from the original owner (chauffeur driven) with 25K on the clock. I recall how silent and swift it felt - slower when adjusted to run on 4 star. He sold the Rover at around 60K to buy a BMW - that never struck a cord with me - so when I inherited it I eventually sold it.
I stumbled across GAN - looking sad on eBay. It was in Wycombe only a 10 min drive from where my grand parents lived. Luckily owner Simon was a 'banger racer' with a heart....he bought the car from an elderly gent (who bought it from my grandfather) after he crashed the Rover and gave up driving. Simon repaired it and used as a daily driver until the brakes failed.It was then parked up outside for 5 years. My aunt who lives close to Wycombe saw the Rover travelling 'at speed' when owned by Simon. A deal was struck and the Rover transported to my garage.
I thought tlc and recomissioning would do the trick. Lots of 't cut' cleaning etc and it was starting to look quite good.
I serviced the engine and she runs really well - mileage is just under 74K.
Then started to prod and found rust had taken hold - so removed - outer sills - wings and found bad inner rear arch / D posts rot. The 'accident repair' was superficial and passenger (replacement) doors in poor condition.The front bumper iron had pushed the cross member inward - disguised with washers to wing and valance.
Small beer compared to some projects on this site I know.

Mark.
 
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Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Looking forward to the pictures, nice story behind it, glad it is back in the family.
Thanks for sharing 8)
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Some photos that I have just taken - apologies for quality and extremely cluttered garage at the moment :oops:
Also I am just testing the posting process as these were taken on my iPad .....if all ok I will post some more.

Mark
 

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Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J
After leaving school I worked in a body shop for 4 years and qualified in now obsolete finishing techniques.
During this period I replaced both front wings for my grandfather due to rust - he requested not to refit the 3500 badges and remove V8 badge from grill .
During his ownership no other rust repairs were required.
My original plan was to make roadworthy and improve gradually from there.
After discovering plenty of rust - I turned my attention to the front cross member which was pushed in and trying to get my head around the ever growing scope of works.

Mark
 
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Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Apologies ,
The images I think are difficult to view and have posted in wrong order :oops: not matching text as I typed.....I may have to ask my 15 year old son for help :oops:

Will review properly before next post......

Mark
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

drabbers said:
Apologies ,
The images I think are difficult to view and have posted in wrong order :oops: not matching text as I typed.....I may have to ask my 15 year old son for help :oops:

Will review properly before next post......

Mark

Hi can you try resizing them . they're too big to view ! :D
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Right click + view image will do the trick and you can view them in the size that fits best to the screen.

I think that it is priceless to be reunited with an old family member like this. You are very lucky and as it seems to have the skills to move forward this project.
You have no excuses! :)
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

O.k but still way big . If you open the pic where you have it stored , left click on it , then click open with paint , then click stretch and skew , then resize to 30% ( that works for me ) than save the file and post that on here . Sorry if you knew that already :D
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

drabbers said:
Hi Stina,
I will try again tomorrow - not much of a tech :D

Mark

I Might look cleaver but i'm only passing on what i learned on here and from my home stay students . every computer should come with a teenager ! :LOL:
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Hi,

It's posting them at ipad retina size at a guess. You need to resize them before you post down to about 1024*768. The ipad has a really high resolution so will look great on that but too big on computers....

Unfortunately the forum software doesnt have a nice facility for resizing on the fly - not much i can do on that unfortunately!

Rich
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Thanks Rich,
Maybe will try again tomorrow on my desk top instead.

Mark.
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

I always resize mine to 800 x 600 before posting as this accounts for most peoples desktops.

Graeme
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Pics - (thanks to my sons efforts when he came home from school today)
When I realised the extent of rust to inner rear arches / jacking points / inner and outer D posts I decided to progress the less disheartening bits. First priority was to straighten the front cross member as the front corner was 'drooping' by around 30mm. Next to tackle the less serious areas of rust removal. The plan for sills is - remove rusted metal to inners - most areas are below circular pressings - weld in repair sections - same to floor junction - replace complete outer sills as they are on show when cover sills removed.
Rebuild front jacking points - bottom of door pillars - replace rear jacking points.
Concerned at the extent of rot so far...


Positive pictures first.

Mark.
 

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Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

That's some nice looking repairs , looks like you'll be more than a match for anything else you come across :D
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Thanks Stina,
I had better get on patching a few more holes then !

Mark
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Best course is to take it slow,and do a section at a time!
Just remember once repairs are tacked in place,to seam weld everything!
 
Re: Restoration ?? of GAN 340J

Yes I think you are right - best course section by section to keep it manageable !

Mark
 
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