My '72 P6 V8 is back in use on UK roads and once again wearing its silver on black 'K' plates!

I've got a bunch of jobs queued up in the to-do list. First order is to get the brakes sorted. I get a nasty juddering sensation under braking that is very disconcerting. I have some spare discs and I hope they'll be useable. Just waiting for a pair of rear seal kits to arrive and then I'll check the car in for a service. Hopefully my Pertronix Ignitor will turn up in time to fit that along with an MSD box.
Once the ignition is set-up properly and is stable I can turn my attention to setting the carbs up. Can't afford a rolling road visit and anyway there isn't anybody near here who can do that. So how do I make sure I'm not running lean under sustained lead foot motoring?
Is there any benefit in fitting K&Ns to the elbows, pointing towards each other in place of the airbox? They wouldn't be directly above the exhaust manifolds, and would be directly beneath and behind the hole under the long bonnet scoop. Would I have to buy new K&Ns because the o/d of the elbows is larger than that of the carb elbow adaptors? Or am I imagining that sitting at my desk and not actually measuring anything?
 
Collected BRV3500H from the workshop in Berlin last week where I had left her for a spot of expensive professional spanner therapy. Rear drivers side brake had not being functioning because the weirdly shaped spring inside was cracked and a part of it had broken off it completely, then blocking the ratchet mechanism. After a great many years on this brilliant forum through all its various iterations I must say I don't recall anybody ever having mentioned the same problem. Unusual? Perhaps caused by incorrect reassembly last time they were on the bench being attended to. Photo to follow.
My mechanic has cunningly fitted an MSD Street Fire box up above the passenger glove box, next to the fuse box. Nicely tucked away there, if a tight fit, and doesn't get as hot as it would in the engine bay. In combination with the Pertronix Ignitor now fitted inside the dizzy, the car now burns every last drop of petrol. No more eye wateringly rich exhaust fumes. I must say it now idles ever so much better than it ever has in all my years of ownership. Better yet, it accelerates like a bloody rocket! Makes all the excellent noises and heads for the horizon at remarkable speeds.
The LT77 gear stick got cut'n'shut with the proper item from a 3500S, and now it looks to all the world like a factory built manual car. The reverse lifter is still there, though redundant. Only give-away is the wider tunnel, but only the most eagle eyed observer is going to notice that. Lovely 'snickety-snick' short throw, great action, most enjoyable.
I can confirm that the car will achieve the manufacturers claimed top speed, and the some, I reckon. I ran out of clear autobahn, but managed 115 mph or 185 kilometres per hour (measured by smartphone app using GPS), and it felt like there was maybe a little bit more still to come. Very noisy at those speeds, and although not twitchy in no way as stable in the lane as a modern car, but it had to be done! Perhaps I'm foolhardy pushing a car I (mostly) built myself to such speeds, but it was a bright clear sunny midweek afternoon with perfect visibility, no scared passengers to worry about, and a long long stretch of empty motorway ahead. Not to mention my last chance to enjoy the unrestricted Autobahn. Now back in the UK, where alas we all have to drive very slowly, don't we?
I dare say I might yet receive a succession of speeding tickets in the post, having basically whipped the old girl all the way from Brandenburg to Calais as if I had just stolen it. The customs guys waived me in to the Eurotunnel with a big grin and only the most cursory of vehicle checks. Can't believe the amount of thumbs ups and appreciative remarks I'm getting from so many other road users here in London. Much more than I ever got in Germany. Makes all the money and effort worthwhile.
Now I have to wait for DVLA to issue me with UK plates. Hopefully I'll get the same registration as it wore before. Fingers crossed I get dealt with by a sympathetic bureaucrat and BRV3500H can once again roll around as RWT363K. Fingers crossed...
 
Best looking brick I've ever seen! Doubt I'll ever have her moving that rapidly on these shores though.
Have you ever had your racecar replica up to the top of the clock, Cobraboy? Incidentally a lovely British Cobra with the registration C08RA or similar emerged from the Calais terminal as I arrived. It looked and sounded fabulous.
 
Sadly no, the temptation is there. I need to seek out an airfield track day next year, RAF Marham usually do one and pre Rover days I went and they had the full length runway open. The Rover will take a long time to wind up I think. Better check the speed rating on my tyres.
RAF Woodbridge held a run what you brung drag race one year, I went in my 3.9 Rover engined Cobra replica with fresh built motor.
I managed to over rev it when the red mist came down and had to creep to the end of the runway on 5 cylinders. I looked in the top and could see pushrods at jaunty angles. There was a tyre guy there so I took off the rockers, pulled the pushrods out and hammered them straight on his van step, put them in and drove it the 20 miles home, bought new pushrods and motor has been fine since. Oh I did buy a rev limiter !

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Thinking back hard I seem to recall buying a few valves too :oops:
 
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After a fairly long wait I received my V5 documents back from DVLA today, and I'm happy to report that my car is once again legal for use on British roads under the 'K' registration plates it wore when it first left the dealership, Appleyard of Harrogate. Whilst I quite liked the German BRV3500H registration number, I never liked the pressed tin plates with black letters on white, and much prefer the old school '70s silver letters and numbers on a black background. I'm delighted to be able to drive it again, as having to leave it languishing unused while the registration was sorted out was sorely trying my patience.
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Very nice!

Those 'plates are hard to beat with the pressed grooves running along the letters. I don't think it's possible to get these type made now. I once tried to get some done but they came with the grooves horizontal throughout the plate.
 
Panic! My car suddenly won't start. :(
When I turn the key the starter motor doesn't turn. I can hear a single dull 'click' but the engine isn't being turned over.
I've been out for a spin today, it had behaved flawlessly this morning.
Battery is charged, connections are clean and tight. Couldn't see any wiring connections being loose in the engine bay.
What should I be looking for? What do I do next?
 
Turn on the headlights and see if there are any volty things in the battery. If there are then see if they dim when you turn the key to crank, if they dim see if the starter is stuck by rocking the car in gear, if they don't dim check the relay on the off side inner wing.
 
Thanks for the good advice gents.
Battery fully charged, headlights don't dim when turning the key to crank. Tapped the starter relay with the handle of a screwdriver and walloped the starter motor a few times with a hammer. No joy. Admitted defeat, called the AA.
Turns out to be a faulty starter solenoid.
 
I'm wondering if I should go for a new starter rather than refurbishing the one I have, which has to be at least twenty years old.
I'm also wondering if would be worth shelling out a bit more and getting a higher torque starter. What do you chaps reckon?
 
If you have a stock motor, and it starts ok, I wouldn't bother. I have a high torque unit on mine and it does spin the engine quicker, but to be honest, I think the previous owner fitted it because there wasn't room for a standard one with the tubular headers.
 
I am looking at starter motors on the Rimmer Bros website. They list GXE4442R as Lucas, reconditioned, suitable for P6 and TR7 V8 for 190 quid, and NAD101490P as aftermarket, suitable for TR8, for 65 quid. That's a considerable difference in price! Can I use the latter, cheaper aftermarket item on my P6, does anybody here know?
 
Moss Europe do them, I have one in my P5 and have one on the shelf for my p6.

It was good value and the weight makes it easier to fit.

It is showing as not currently available but they were around £100-120 (GXE4442X ) ( check with them what the orientation of the solenoid is, if it is at the top it will not fit).
 
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Turns out my starter motor is okay but the wiring was playing up. I took my car to R W Services at the foot of Muswell Hill, who diagnosed and fixed that fault. They installed new front discs, new rear callipers and new pads, and I'm delighted to finally have a handbrake that actually works now! They also connected up my speedometer to the LT77 gearbox with a cable I had made to measure by Speedograph Ritchfield, using a cable clamp at the box sourced from Clive Wheatley MG Parts. They fixed my reverse lights, diagnosed as a sticky switch at the gearbox, and brought the second horn back to life (bad earth) so I can honk nice and loudly. Nice to have my car back in good working order.
 
I've never found them to be overly heavy. The best thing I can suggest is find other cars the same spec as yours and try those for comparison.
 
I fitted the upright master cyl to my conversion and would describe it as - not heavy for the period, but a little heavier than you would perhaps expect from a modern.
 
I fitted the upright master cyl to my conversion and would describe it as - not heavy for the period, but a little heavier than you would perhaps expect from a modern.

What do you class as a modern? (I've never owned anything newer than 1993).
 
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