Hello

hi dave,
the white box is the high pressure cut-out for the air-con, they never had a low pressure cut-out switch in it which was bad for seizing the compressor as if the gas gets too low the pump still caries on working but as there is no or hardly any gas going round the system ( which has oil in it to lubricate the piston in the compressor ) it will seize. the wire going to the compressor is the live feed to the clucth to drive it ( when the switch is pulled on from inside the car ) and the other is basically a capillary tube which goes into the receiver drier, where it gets it's signal from to cut it out if the pressure gets too high. the compressor by the way is a york compressor.
the canister behind the ignition coil is a charcoal canister.

ian
 
Hi Lawrence.

I understand perfectly the excitement of finding your Father's old car. Both of mine are in many ways a bit of a homage to my Father's and Grandfather's Rover history! Of course I hugely enjoy the P6 as well so it is a very easy duty!

As to whether this car is one of 12 etc, I'm surprised no one has spotted the deliberate mistake. In the centre of the radio speaker grille yours has a temperature setting dial. The NADA cars with air con which predate yours have a bank of window lift switches here (or a blanking plate), as do all later non US cars with A/C. It's wildly unlikely this is an owners later addition so I would say this is definitely a factory fitting (will have required some feindishly difficult mods to make it work with the NADA type system for one thing!). With a J registration this car is one of the very first S2's (in fact it will be an S1 1/2 with many S1 features like the 4 way fuse box under the bonnet and the coachbuilt seats instead of having the hard fibre back), and would have followed on almost immediately from the end of NADA production.

If it is a factory prototype it might be interesting to do a spot the differences exercise, eg has it got polished stainless steel bodyside trim strips or brushed S/S? It might have a LHD loom if it has used redudndant NADA bits, which type of fusebox does it have and where is it?

An enquiry with Gaydon will establish the date of first registration and the build date and may reveal the first owner as the factory.

Best of luck with it and enjoy!

Chris
 
PS, I forgot to mention, It has got a working NADA air intake with the centre bonnet scoop and NADA air filter and intake system - I've not seen that on a UK car before (the centre scoop is known, but it is usually a dummy with a standard intake system beneath). It has a dipping rear view mirror and ET's as well, so it is definitely a very unusual car.

The white object in front of the coil is the air con high pressure switch.

As you stated, compressors are widely available, there's even a bespoke mod for the P6 (from the USA) to convert to later style rotary compressors which are much neater and lighter.

Chris
 
Dave,
I forgot to add that a local (to where the car had been stored) air conditioning engineer took a look at the system & pronounced that there's still gas in there :D , so all being well I'll get a new compressor next year & she'll be an even cooler car :cool: .
LAWRENCE
 
I don't know whereabout's in the country you're all from, but I'll be going to the West Lancs area meeting this Sunday if anybody wants to take a look at the car? I've been in touch with Gaydon & all that they can confirm is that the car came off the production line 27th June 1971 (mid way through P6 production) & went to a dealership in Ayrshire. Pete at JP Restorations said that it's got an early engine but is definately a series 2 car.

Chris
To answer your questions, it's polished stainless steel trim on the bodywork & the fusebox is situated on the NS wing, close to the windscreen scuttle (you can just about see it in the photo showing the whole engine bay, it's tucked up behind the charcoal cannister). As for the temperature dial, everything on the car is how I remember it when my Dad was using the car, thus it was a factory fitted item. Can you explain "NADA" to me please? Thanks.
LAWRENCE
 
The chap with the white LHD NADA spec 3500S always reckoned there was something special about his engine, ,it certainly went well
I do remember him telling me the car wasn't as good as it looked
Dave
 
hi lawrence,
NADA stands for NORTH AMERICAN DOLLAR AREA, don't ask me why ! or Federal as they were also known. 2017 of them went to the states, ( rest went in to europe, don't know how many ) fitted as standard were electric windows, wrap round bumpers, square no plate plinths, under bumper indicators, side markers and reflectors on the front and rear wings, door pockets on the front doors, leather covered metal console, ice-lert, PAS, impact beams and the optional extra believe it or not was air-con which if fitted came with sundym glass, also all rear quarter windows were fixed.

ian
 
snapper8v said:
Pete at JP Restorations said that it's got an early engine but is definately a series 2 car.
Click to expand...
'Series II' engines didn't come on line until the 1972 model year - starting in mid-September 1971. It's the same on 4 cylinder cars - early Series II cars appear to have Series I engines, although the differences are not extreme.

cheers
Nick
 
Well I've just got back after a 475 mile, trouble free, round trip down to my Mum's for a birthday celebration & so that she could see the car after all of these (16) years. She thought that I'd be a bit silly going down there in a car that hasn't turned a wheel in 8 years, but secretly hoped that I would turn up in her :D . Anyway, I've now had the car back exactly 3 weeks & in that time have covered over 1,000 miles, I'm going to have to put the limited mileage at this rate!

LAWRENCE
 
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