mrtask
Well-Known Member
Ha! No, but I did make sure the centre caps were aligned with the valve stems when I fitted them. I've seen Bentley weighted centre caps that always align plumb when parked. A nice touch.
My '72 P6 V8 is back in use on UK roads and once again wearing its silver on black 'K' plates!
- Thread starter mrtask
- Start date
sdibbers
Well-Known Member
Rolls have them too. Always spoke of trying too hard!
That's looking proper nice!
Got to ask though: Did you move the centre badges on the wheels to make sure they were vertical before you took the photo?
T'was a few years ago now, my neighbour was changing his wheel on his classic car. He wandered over with his hub cap and asked if it should have a hole in it on the outer edge. I told him it was to let any water out to stop it rusting, then for a joke I told him to make sure it was facing downwards when he put it back on
It was quite funny to see him lining it up before tapping it back on, but a lot funnier to watch him taking the other three off just to line them up
mrtask
Well-Known Member
I don't seem to post much in this old thread anymore. Here's a quick post for the amusement of anybody who might bother reading my musings and meanderings here. All summer (and it has been a hot one) I had been wondering why my car got so damn hot inside, so goddamn quickly, especially after I have had the underside of the trans tunnel lined with hi-tech space age big dollar self adhesive backed heat reflecting foil. Today an old mate of mine found himself quickly getting a tad too sweaty in the passenger seat, when he realised my heater was stuck on full blast!!! I inspected the various levers on the passenger side of the heater box while he operated the various levers in the centre console. Lo and behold, the red and blue hot/cold lever moves up and down in the cabin, but the first splined fixture of the many and various moving parts that work the cold air flap up at the top of the heater box must be rounded out, 'cos neither it nor any of the rest of that seemingly overly complicated linkage was working. A few judiciously aimed taps with a small(ish) hammer and I was able to set it in the cold position. Not really sure how to fix this though. I guess I need to find an undamaged replacement part. Maybe Superglue would do the trick?
Mick Rae
Active Member
I recently had the heater flap control splines give up as your hot cold control splines have. Loctite 660 worked for me with box in situ. It's anaerobic curing, so no worries with a bit of excess, can be wiped off next day. I slipped the block off the splined rod, put a little loctite in the hole and end if shaft, reassembled, I let it cure 24 hours. It's been used frequently without issue since. Maybe super glue would be okay, but I suspect it would not last long.
mrtask
Well-Known Member
Took a trip out west to Faringdon today, where Colin Gould of Kingsdown Classics removed and rebuilt my front suspension. As well as being very well versed in all things P6, he has a good stash of refurbished components, blasted and then powder coated black, all shiny and ready to install. Which was damn handy, because the threaded stud on the outer bracket of the N/S swing arm snapped when the stubborn nut on it wouldn't yield! If Colin hadn't had a spare on the shelf, I'd've been up the proverbial creek. I now have original Rover bushes in the swing arms, no more noisy creaking poly, and on the return journey I was delighted that all is at last quiet, and the ride is once more like being on a flying carpet! Hooray!
We have also added a couple of washers between the inner upper link brackets and the bulkhead to move the upper ball joints further out from the body, correcting the front wheels to a more vertical angle than previously, which was a side effect of having shorter front springs. Hopefully this will reduce the tire wear which was consuming the inner edges of my front tires at an alarming rate.
While the front wings were off I could have a close inspection of the wheel arch area, and was delighted to only find one tiny spot of very minimal corrosion up behind the hockey sticks at the front, which got treated to a strategic shot of urethanised spray underseal. With the front doors off I could finally poke the errant last inch of outer door seal back into the 'c' shaped channel above the door checks on each side, quite impossible with the doors on the car. Also fitted a replacement DeDion gaitor from Coh Baines, good quality, should last longer than the last one. We diagnosed a knackered top N/S ball joint, so that was replaced. I had the O/S one swapped for new only a few months back. Having recently done the steering side rods and track rod the front ball joints are all new now, apart from the lower ones.
So one major job and a couple of little ones all struck off my long maintenance list, and all achieved in a day, starting at 10.30am and done by 5.30pm. Half the time one or two other mechanics had suggested I should budget for. I'm a very satisfied customer, and can wholeheartedly recommend Colin to all P6 owners looking for a thoroughly competent mechanic who knows these cars. Use him while you can, I dare say he'll be hanging up his overalls for the last time sometime soon.
We have also added a couple of washers between the inner upper link brackets and the bulkhead to move the upper ball joints further out from the body, correcting the front wheels to a more vertical angle than previously, which was a side effect of having shorter front springs. Hopefully this will reduce the tire wear which was consuming the inner edges of my front tires at an alarming rate.
While the front wings were off I could have a close inspection of the wheel arch area, and was delighted to only find one tiny spot of very minimal corrosion up behind the hockey sticks at the front, which got treated to a strategic shot of urethanised spray underseal. With the front doors off I could finally poke the errant last inch of outer door seal back into the 'c' shaped channel above the door checks on each side, quite impossible with the doors on the car. Also fitted a replacement DeDion gaitor from Coh Baines, good quality, should last longer than the last one. We diagnosed a knackered top N/S ball joint, so that was replaced. I had the O/S one swapped for new only a few months back. Having recently done the steering side rods and track rod the front ball joints are all new now, apart from the lower ones.
So one major job and a couple of little ones all struck off my long maintenance list, and all achieved in a day, starting at 10.30am and done by 5.30pm. Half the time one or two other mechanics had suggested I should budget for. I'm a very satisfied customer, and can wholeheartedly recommend Colin to all P6 owners looking for a thoroughly competent mechanic who knows these cars. Use him while you can, I dare say he'll be hanging up his overalls for the last time sometime soon.
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mrtask
Well-Known Member
Great feeling when something you do has that perfect result
Not quite the perfect result just yet, Richard. I had another pair of GAZ shocks made up to fit the beefed-up lower shock mounts, but it turns out I foolishly provided GAZ with the wrong size of poly bush from Superflex, so they've supplied me shocks with lower eyelets that are so big they're too wide to be able to get the nut on the threaded mount. Damn and blast. So I had to refit the old shocks, and there is still an audible clicking at slow speeds. I'll be sending the shocks back to have the correct size eyelets put on, and eventually I'll fit them and with luck banish that pesky clicking noise.
Also, the car is sitting higher than before, which has mystified me somewhat. I expected it to settle down to the same height as previously, but it hasn't today, even after a few hard stops. There's a bit too much empty arch visible above the front tyre for my taste. Pics to follow.
I swapped the unused spare for the very badly worn O/S front tyre this afternoon, and will monitor its condition much more closely now. The front wheels certainly look more upright, I would say pretty much perfectly vertical, and there's no more tendency to pull to the left.
Here's what both my front spring buffers looked like when it was all apart! Source of much of the awful noises I had been suffering. Ooof! The job was loooong overdue.
mrtask
Well-Known Member
You're probably right, Mark. It's moot anyway, as the threaded tubular pieces have long since been welded over the original mounting pins. I can't really remove them now.
mrtask
Well-Known Member
Not so long ago I wrote up how had the front suspension of my car rebuilt with standard bushes in the swing arms, and new poly buffers in the front spring cups. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fit the new shocks I had custom made, having mistakenly ordered the wrong O/D poly bushes and consequently having received shocks with lower eyelets too big to fit the beefed-up threaded lower shock mounting studs. Darn and tarnation!
After subsequently obtaining the right bushes and having the shock eyelets swapped for the correct size, the next task was finding a competent and trustworthy mechanic to fit them.
I don't own a trolley jack. It turned out I'd need three of them, plus two burly fellows pressing down on the inner wings to get the job done!
The chap I had been using was unable to take on any more work, but word of mouth sent me to a discrete row of unmarked lock-ups not at all far from where I live. I met a couple of nice 'old school' car guys, the one of whom does wrenching, the other bodywork and paint. Both Rover owners. Suffice to say fitting the shocks was the expected pain in the proverbial, but now they're on the plague of metallic 'knuckling' noises are finally banished. That took an age to rectify, but I'm so happy I got there in the end. Speed humps used to drive me to distraction, all those awful loud groans and creaks. Gone! At long last. Back to how it performed eleven years ago when I completed my rebuild, and first fitted poly bushes, stiffer shorter springs and adjustable shocks.
The noise was coming from the shocks themselves, so a hat tip to GrimV8 for the diagnosis way back at the beginning of the year, and to the guy in my 'hood who fitted the new replacement shocks and poly bushes, for a great price considering the hassle that turned out to be!
Bushes are by Powerflex, adjustable shocks from GAZ again, set to the middle setting of about twenty clicks between soft and hardest rebound.
Now to attend to the grinding noises from the rear... Diagnosis is "Diff!". Ho hum. Fortunately I have a spare in the garage. I think I'm going to try and get a second opinion, but I can see a diff refurb on the cards for spring of '23. Ergh. Crush spacers. More expense. Rolls eyes, philosophically.
Oh, yeah, I think I knew the following tip but had forgotten it. Irked by a noisy shrieking belt, making you worry your alternator pulley bearing is shot, or the recently replaced water pump? Johnsons Baby Powder liberally applied to the lower pulley – hey presto – alternator belt is quiet again. I felt like a doofus.
...and why wasn't the screen washer fluid actually reaching my windscreen, despite a brand new bottle and pump? Blocked jets on the bonnet. Doh!
Good thing I've found a chap who knows the simple fixes, and is happy to share them.
After subsequently obtaining the right bushes and having the shock eyelets swapped for the correct size, the next task was finding a competent and trustworthy mechanic to fit them.
I don't own a trolley jack. It turned out I'd need three of them, plus two burly fellows pressing down on the inner wings to get the job done!
The chap I had been using was unable to take on any more work, but word of mouth sent me to a discrete row of unmarked lock-ups not at all far from where I live. I met a couple of nice 'old school' car guys, the one of whom does wrenching, the other bodywork and paint. Both Rover owners. Suffice to say fitting the shocks was the expected pain in the proverbial, but now they're on the plague of metallic 'knuckling' noises are finally banished. That took an age to rectify, but I'm so happy I got there in the end. Speed humps used to drive me to distraction, all those awful loud groans and creaks. Gone! At long last. Back to how it performed eleven years ago when I completed my rebuild, and first fitted poly bushes, stiffer shorter springs and adjustable shocks.
The noise was coming from the shocks themselves, so a hat tip to GrimV8 for the diagnosis way back at the beginning of the year, and to the guy in my 'hood who fitted the new replacement shocks and poly bushes, for a great price considering the hassle that turned out to be!
Bushes are by Powerflex, adjustable shocks from GAZ again, set to the middle setting of about twenty clicks between soft and hardest rebound.
Now to attend to the grinding noises from the rear... Diagnosis is "Diff!". Ho hum. Fortunately I have a spare in the garage. I think I'm going to try and get a second opinion, but I can see a diff refurb on the cards for spring of '23. Ergh. Crush spacers. More expense. Rolls eyes, philosophically.
Oh, yeah, I think I knew the following tip but had forgotten it. Irked by a noisy shrieking belt, making you worry your alternator pulley bearing is shot, or the recently replaced water pump? Johnsons Baby Powder liberally applied to the lower pulley – hey presto – alternator belt is quiet again. I felt like a doofus.
...and why wasn't the screen washer fluid actually reaching my windscreen, despite a brand new bottle and pump? Blocked jets on the bonnet. Doh!
Good thing I've found a chap who knows the simple fixes, and is happy to share them.
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jp928
Well-Known Member
Re the heater controls and splines giving up... the inlet flap on my heater didnt move with the control lever because of worn splines, so out came the heater. There is a small nub of the shaft poking out of the arm on the shaft, so...I cut back the shoulder of the shaft until there was enough nub to cut a thread on (M4 IIRC). Hard part was deciding what angle the arm should be to the pick up arm on the other end, but eventually I got it all back together, arm locked by a nut. It can be adjusted in a pinch, but easiest with the valance off, which i dont enjoy.
mrtask
Well-Known Member
I haven't attended to the heater control issue, I've kicked that down the road until the weather gets warm again! The passenger compartment warms up soon enough as long as the flap is closed, which has to be done from under the bonnet. When the time comes I might well end up threading the stub of the rod protruding from the heater box, as you suggest JP.
Today my car stranded me in Wapping, where I had gone to look at the river whilst my missus enjoyed a swim at her health club nearby. The Blue Meanie wouldn't start when it was time to go and collect her. Cripes! Fortunately, only an hour later the AA man sold me a new battery (for a tidy hundred and fifty notes!) but now it starts on the first turn of the key. He actually had exactly the right size with him on the van! Nice little side earner, I'm sure. I think the last one has served for about seven years. I have to trawl back through this thread and see if I made a note of when I bought it.
I had actually planned to journey on farther south and pick up a good corrosion-free drivers side rear door, but had to abort the trip. The seller assures me it is reserved for another day. Gotta love this hobby, even though it ain't cheap, eh!?
Today my car stranded me in Wapping, where I had gone to look at the river whilst my missus enjoyed a swim at her health club nearby. The Blue Meanie wouldn't start when it was time to go and collect her. Cripes! Fortunately, only an hour later the AA man sold me a new battery (for a tidy hundred and fifty notes!) but now it starts on the first turn of the key. He actually had exactly the right size with him on the van! Nice little side earner, I'm sure. I think the last one has served for about seven years. I have to trawl back through this thread and see if I made a note of when I bought it.
I had actually planned to journey on farther south and pick up a good corrosion-free drivers side rear door, but had to abort the trip. The seller assures me it is reserved for another day. Gotta love this hobby, even though it ain't cheap, eh!?
mrtask
Well-Known Member
@quattro, I know, I was thinking to myself that the last one was about half the price the roadside repair guy could offer. But it was bloody cold, I had to get going, and just bit the bullet. I have to collect visiting family from the airport tomorrow and didn't fancy any further faffing about touring Motor Factors all afternoon without switching off the engine after just a jump start!
mrtask
Well-Known Member
Happily the Blue Meanie performed flawlessly the last few days as I ferried visiting relations around London. My uncle and aunt enjoyed being shown the sights and the Christmas illuminations from my cosy but somewhat cramped mobile time capsule.
Today I hit 33333 miles since I rolled the Odometer over. I was driving, so I trusted my missus to snap a photo. She only cropped the first digit in all her pix! Doh! "You had just one job!" Now we've got 11111 miles to practice holding the camera straight in front of the subject.
Today I hit 33333 miles since I rolled the Odometer over. I was driving, so I trusted my missus to snap a photo. She only cropped the first digit in all her pix! Doh! "You had just one job!" Now we've got 11111 miles to practice holding the camera straight in front of the subject.
