Hello

vaultsman said:
Well done Paul...great to see any P6 rescued from the Curse Of The Oval, especially an early Series I. If you have the time I'm sure you'll have hours and years of smiles restoring and driving her. If you do decide to sell on, I know someone who might be interested. Whereabouts are you?

Have fun...and welcome aboard! :D

Cheers,
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P6's - in particular TC's, have little value to banger racers. They are too soft, and with the TC, the front carb is too easy to knock out. Hence why there's a hell of a lot more P6's now than, say, Triumph 2000's - which are (apparently) brilliant cars to race.
 
pjb1969 said:
Thanks for the comments,the car has spent its life in kings lynn,its stored in wisbech at the moment but it should be with me in birmingham next week.

Could anyone tell me the build date? (chassis no 40002144A) as it would be nice to know how early it was and possibly find out where it comes in on the oldest surving p6 list.
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It's quite high numbered really - I'd say probably in the oldest 25 or so , but no higher. I know of several cars in the 40001---A series, and at this stage the cars were still being built in something approaching chassis number order.

It will have real wood trim and the original type exhaust, being an 'A' suffix car.
 
NickDunning said:
vaultsman said:
Well done Paul...great to see any P6 rescued from the Curse Of The Oval, especially an early Series I. If you have the time I'm sure you'll have hours and years of smiles restoring and driving her. If you do decide to sell on, I know someone who might be interested. Whereabouts are you?

Have fun...and welcome aboard! :D

Cheers,
Click to expand...

P6's - in particular TC's, have little value to banger racers.
Click to expand...

A fact we're all thankful for! And to Paul for rescuing the car from a banger racing forum.

Cheers,
 
NickDunning said:
It's quite high numbered really - I'd say probably in the oldest 25 or so , but no higher. I know of several cars in the 40001---A series, and at this stage the cars were still being built in something approaching chassis number order.

It will have real wood trim and the original type exhaust, being an 'A' suffix car.
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It has got real wood trim i spotted that straight away as ive never seen it before, what does the A suffix stand for ?
 
pjb1969 said:
NickDunning said:
It's quite high numbered really - I'd say probably in the oldest 25 or so , but no higher. I know of several cars in the 40001---A series, and at this stage the cars were still being built in something approaching chassis number order.

It will have real wood trim and the original type exhaust, being an 'A' suffix car.
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It has got real wood trim i spotted that straight away as ive never seen it before, what does the A suffix stand for ?
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It's major changes of specification. Suffix 'B' starts somewhere in the region of number 40005000 - there were a lot of wood-trimmed cars, although they are very very rare now. Changes then (I don't have the books with me but the info is out there, mid-1964) were changes to the exhaust system, and the introduction of the plastic wood trims. My September 1964 car has the plastic trims.

Cheers
Nick
 
Im collecting it next week and i must admit before i joined the forum i hadn`t realised just how rare one this early was, im getting quite excited, i hope its savable without too much greif so i can get it back to its former glory.Ive been trawling the net for p6 pics and although theres some great looking cars of all years i realy like the clean look of the series one cars.

Now i want to find out as much as i can about this and other early cars including all the details that make them different to the later cars.

Thanks for all the kind comments and information

Paul.
 
The key reference work is James Taylors book on the P6. Out of print now, but you should be able to pick up a second hand copy from Amazon or Ebay. Thre are several Rover books by him, the one you want is exclusively on the P6. He lists the majority of the important running changes and gives an excellent history of the car.

The trim and body changes are surprisingly minimal until the advent of the series 2 cars in '71, but there are some significant mechanical changes. Early cars have Dunlop brakes, positive earth with a dynamo and an old fashioned top tank radiator. But the really important changes are in the gearbox and diff. The diff change was to the breather arrangement and is likely to have been modded on yours. Do a search on here and there is detail info on that. The gearbox was a bit of a disaster from word go and has a whole series of running changes. The spec doesn't really settle down until the advent of 2200's in '74! This makes them very difficult to rebuild - it's hard to track down the right bits for the mod level you happen to have - so chances are if there's anything wrong with the box you'll finish up swopping it for a later spec one. Makes it important to be very careful re commissioning the box. Flush it well and make sure you run it drain it and refill it a few times and run it off load with the back wheels off the deck to make sure you've got oil to all its important places before you load it by driving the car.

With the exception of the box, parts availability is really pretty good through the specialists. For box problems I'd talk to someone who knows it well - Harvey Lowther on here plus a couple of the specialists. More guidance as required!

Chris
 
2Diesels said:
That looks quite a nice old thing & very saveable & Wedgewood Blue a very rare colour if I'm not mistaken cant say I ever remember seeing one that colour, seen pictures though.

Regards Colin
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Wedgwood is, I think, the most plentiful of the early colours, I know of quite a few cars left. Rarest is Willow Green (which is nearer a yellow).

Cheers
Nick
 
pjb1969 said:
Im collecting it next week and i must admit before i joined the forum i hadn`t realised just how rare one this early was, im getting quite excited, i hope its savable without too much greif so i can get it back to its former glory.Ive been trawling the net for p6 pics and although theres some great looking cars of all years i realy like the clean look of the series one cars.

Now i want to find out as much as i can about this and other early cars including all the details that make them different to the later cars.

Thanks for all the kind comments and information

Paul.
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The good news is that the earlier cars are much better put together and made of better, and thicker, steel.

As Chris says - gearboxes can be a problem. There was a major disaster at the start of production which was very much played down, but could well have threatened the whole project - the gearboxes supplied by the new Government funded plant in Pengram, South Wales, were not up to standard and hundreds of early 2000's had to have rebuilt gearboxes fitted in the Summer of '64 by the workforce at Solihull.

Very early cars (up to around number 1000) have Rover Solihull boxes, which are OK. After that there were big problems which delayed production and deliveries for several months. The whole workforce - office workers included - were drafted in to replace boxes in a lot of cars.

You can tell a car with a rebuilt/corrected box by the orange paint on the top. My September 1964 car has the paint clearly visible (although you really need to take the box out to see this).

Dunlop brakes are, contrary to what you may hear elsewhere, really good - and the parts are available as they have commonality with Mk III Zodiacs and, more helpfully, E-Type Jaguars. I have bought a lot of Dunlop bits from Past Parts at Bury St. Edmunds and they are very reasonably priced - the only scarce bits are the front discs, which are unique to Rover 2000's. With a larger servo the brakes feel fantastic. I think the best cars to drive of them all are circa 1965/1966 cars with the big servo and the original breathers etc.

The Rover 2000 is a pretty quick car, and the early ones have no complex engine breathers to sap power. My white 2000 is quite restrained, but will cruise at 90mph, as they were designed to do.

Please pipe up if you have any queries - I'm fairly knowledgable, and I have friends who are devoted to early cars and have lots of experience of them.

Cheers
Nick
 
NickDunning said:
The Rover 2000 is a pretty quick car, and the early ones have no complex engine breathers to sap power.
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Hi Nick,

can you explain this please? Why should engine breathers have such an effect?

Thanks,

Demetris
 
I thought i would give you all a little update and share my good news,

I did a little research on the previous keepers name and im happy to say that today i have just had a rather pleasing conversation with the original owners daughter. She is a charming lady and was pleased the car has found safe hands, she remembers the car well as it only left her possession last year. I don`t think that she would mind me sharing my joy with you all.

In the conversation she told me that she remembers it being one of the first of the model as her father went to the motor show in 1963, liked the look of the "new rover" and orderd one, it was supplied via murkett bros in cambridge. She said it was his pride and joy, was always garaged and used sparingly until he unfortunately passed away in 1969. The car was then driven very little by her mother until she passed away in 1987 , it then remained unused in the garage until last year, thus exlaining the very low mileage, at this point i questioned her about the mileage as it reads a little over 16,000 miles and i had assumed that it had been round the clock making it 116,000 she replied "oh no the mileage was always very low and is genuine". As you can imagine i am now more excited than ever and can`t wait to get it back for a real good look. I asked if it would be ok to stay in touch and keep her updated on the cars progress, she said that would be fine. I also asked her if she knew to any paperwork, old photos, the handbooks or anything that relates to the car, but unfortunately she said she would not know where to look for any of these things but if any crops up she will hang on to it for me.

Im hoping to collect the car tomorrow and i will keep you all posted on the days findings, fingers crossed.

Thanks to everyone for being so helpfull so far and ive a good feeling that i may now be around here for a while

Paul.
 
Hi,

For what it's worth, my April '64 (I think) 2000 has a rebuilt gearbox, but I think it's a BL silver or gold-seal type rebuild, so probably just a general wear issue. I'll have to check this; the engine & box have been out of the car for 3 years now so I can go & have a look! Incidentally, I don't know if the engine turns over yet. It certainly hasn't for 31 years so it's probably a pipedream.

What's that Nick about thicker steel......? :LOL: My car didn't know the meaning of the word 'Sill'!

Excellent history about your car Paul.

Phil.
 
Well that's good news Paul it's always nice to get a result like that, I think I'm going to write that letter I was talking about.
Regards Colin
 
Nick,

Does this plate on my 2000's box mean anything to you?

mvnbtl.jpg


Thanks,

Phil. :?
 
Todays update,

I collected the car today and had a better look at it, im happy to say its definately saveable. Its had a new outer cover sill on the passenger side that has been welded to the car underneath so that will need removing, the underneath appears to be caked in very old mud but i had a good poke around and it seems pretty good obviously when its all cleaned up there will be some sill repairs i would imagine but i dont see there being anything major, the paint is peeling a bit on both passenger doors and all four wings need replacement/work but the majority of the paint is undamaged ie roof, bonnet, bootlid, rear deck, front scuttle look like they will come up like new with a good mop and polish, i think it will require both sides and both valences painting. I was amazed firstly at how dry the carpets/soundproofing were, secondly when i lifted the carpets and boot mat as the floors are all still in the factory paint and in very good condition, its very good under the rear seats with no signs of rot anywhere, the spare wheel apears to had very little or no use, the door jams/inners are very nice just dirty/dusty, the rear D post/arches are very good and by far the best original ones ive ever seen. The interior is good, the leathers a little dry and the drivers seat is a bit creased but everything else is in very good condition and should come up really good with a clean. Under the bonnet there is a fine layer of surface rust but no holes or damage anywhere. I checked the oil and water, the oil still looked ok and was on the level, the rad is full and the water appears to have antifreeze in. After a few checks i put some leads on to see if it turned over and it did, the oil light went straight out but and it fired as if it was going to start but i think the petrol is too stail for it to actually start. The clutch works but the brake pedal goes to the floor. I understand that it definately needs a fair bit of work but i dont think it needs any major restoration, the majority of the car seems pretty good, everything seems to be readily available and i think it would be a very rewarding project when finished. I would have taken some pics but i didnt have my camera and it was freezing, as soon as it gets a bit warmer il take some more pics and post them on here.

Paul.
 
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