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

Re: The optimist

hi,
i have allready said somewhere before, there is no need for sealant when replacing the sender unit.

ian
 
Re: The optimist

Gentlemen, thanks for the advice, as ever much appreciated.
As it happens, the tank is sealed properly. It turns out I hadn't managed to fill it properly, and had instead just poured petrol along the outside of the tank. Doh! Klutz! :? After fitting both rather than only the one flexible 50mm hoses to the tank, and the connecting pipe, and the filler cap and spout, I was able to actually pour fuel into the tank instead of all around it, where it then remained, as hoped for. Not before I'd already removed the rubber seal and sender unit from my spare petrol tank, just in case I could re-use the seal. Yeah, well, I'm learning!
Next step was to test the electric fuel pump. It was only pumping air. :( Re-checked all the connections beneath the tank - all okay. Removed the foam protecting cover from the fuel pump - Doh! I'd only gone and mixed up IN and OUT! :oops: Muppet! Put everything back together properly, this time adding short lengths of flexible rubber fuel hose to the IN and OUT fittings on the pump, cinched over the now shortened lengths of hard plastic fuel pipe. Should make future maintenance a touch easier. Tried it again, and it now pumps petrol happily. Result.
Drained the old oil out of the Diff, and filled it up with new Castrol EPX90. Couldn't find EP90 anywhere. I've been advised that the extra X isn't anything to worry about...? Can anybody on here tell me what it actually means?
Poured 4 litres of ATF into the autobox to start with, reckon there's a couple of litres left in the torque converter. So far I've managed to get 1 litre into the PAS reservoir with a new filter. Thus far so good, no drips from beneath the car. Got 7 litres of coolant into the rad before it began to emerge from the top inner side of the water pump. Hmmm. What's that then? Aaah yes, that'd be the one hose I forgot to fit, from the top rear of the water pump to the lower front of the intake manifold! Ooops! Just when I thought I was on the way to getting it all filled back up without spilling anything.
Hopefully fate and fortune will smile on me tomorrow, if I can just figure out what wires go where (!!??!!) including the Lumenition module, fingers crossed I'll be able to start it up, at long last... :p
Only once it is ticking over nicely will I then top up all the fluids to the correct levels.
It is a nice feeling pouring lubricants and coolant in, I'm all excited now. My good mood might yet get dampened by Manchester City FC this evening though... Got to slip and slide across all the treacherous ice to the tram now to go and watch tonight's Footie...
More news and some more photos tomorrow.
 
Re: The optimist

IT LIVES!
:D :D :D
Fired up the V8 today for the first time in 5 years, only briefly, but never the less it was very very encouraging to hear it burble.
Thank goodness the chaps at Classic Wheels Berlin were able to work out what wires went where in the engine bay! The circuit diagram in my Workshop Manual is a pretty poor print, very hard to discern the letters denoting the colours of the wires. I've still got lots to do before the old girl is back on the road, but at least it is now full of fluids, isn't dripping them out anywhere, and springs straight to life at a turn of the key. Not really properly fettled yet, but a big step toward being finished. I got the steering aligned properly today too, and sorted out a host of little niggly bits'n'pieces underneath the car. Sorry, no photos, I was too busy and forgot to snap the shutter. Pics next week.
 
Re: The optimist

Well Done mrtask!! After all the years you've been going at it, this truly represents a milestone!

The trick now is not to get carried away and rush all the little fettling jobs which inevitably occour at this stage. Think of getting to drive it away from the garage as a tragedy - what will you find to do with all your spare time if you're not tinkering with a Rover?

:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Chris
 
Re: The optimist

Woohoo, that's great news. It's probably a good job that there's so much snow about otherwise you'd be rushing to finish it and drive it.
 
Re: The optimist

With the way it looks underneath, (better than new!) i would think twice before taking it out and letting the road dirt cover it up. :LOL:

Demetris
 
Re: The optimist

Received a small parcel today from Rover Classics with a few rubber grommets for in the engine bay, and a new bonnet badge. Jumping the gun a bit with the badge, as I haven't sorted the bodywork and had it repainted yet, but I wanted to treat myself to a late Xmas prezzie! It has been said before by others on here, but deserves to be said again: the new bonnet badges are really excellent, smashing job there. Can't wait to complete all the many tasks to be tackled before I can bolt it on, the finishing touch to my restoration!
 
Re: The optimist

hi mr task,
many thanks for the nice comments on the badge and yes it is that finishing touch for when the paint work is done and nice and shiny.

ian
 
Re: The optimist

Thought I'd give this thread a bump. No pictures yet, sorry to say, but the other week my rolling Base Unit was treated to a bit of new paint on the roof rail, pillars and posts, and the bits you see when you open the doors (don't know what the proper terminology is!). I've chosen Admiralty Blue, 2 pack, and have used about three quarters of a litre of ICI paint to do two nice coats. I made my mind up not to go for a metallic finish after all, and I've chosen a colour that was available in 1972 on the P5B. I wonder if anybody ever ordered a P6 in Admiralty Blue? It looks great in the sunshine, and should complement the Sundym glass and set off the brightwork.
I also drove my car around the courtyard at Classic Wheels, for the first time in years, which was of course great fun. I was honking the horns with happiness, until I noticed that the power steering unit is expelling fluid from everywhere! Annoyingly it'll have to come back out, get stripped on the bench and all new seals fitted. Got the seal kit for it, hope to have the help of a real mechanic to do that job next.
I've been fully dismantling the best of my body panels in preparation for a proper paintjob, hope to finally get them all off to the paintshop in the next few weeks. I still need to get a little bit of metalwork done to the inner mounting flange of the front valance, where I had new metal put in. And I need to drill the bootlid for individual R O V E R letters rathen than the original oblong badge. I think I'm going to fill the mounting holes for the reflectors beneath the rear lights, I prefer the look of the wings without them. I am going to fit Series 1 reflectors to the bootlid instead. I can't make my mind up whether to fill the holes and have no badges on the front wings, and also whether to delete the V8 motif on the bootlid. I am going to fit a 3.5 LITRE emblem from a P5B instead of a 3500 badge. I also have to decide whether to paint the roof panel, or re-cover it and the rear pillar covers in new black Everflex vinyl. Decisions decisions.
Does anybody have a good method for removing the upper boot lid rubber seal without tearing it?
 
Re: The optimist

Good to hear you're still making progress with your car. Deliberating these little details about badges and trim is important as it can make or break the look of your car.

You could fill all the badge holes and then stick which ever badges you want on after painting with that double sided sticky foam like on modern cars
 
Re: The optimist

After another long pause due to too many other commitments I found the time to remove the power steering box from my engine bay yesterday. A caution for anyone wanting to swap their manual steering for power steering; the seals in the power steering box dry and then crack due to disuse, so unless the power steering set-up to be installed has only just been removed from a car which was in regular use, you won't get away with re-fitting it without first replacing all said seals. Take it from me, just hoping it'll all work "because it was fine in the last P6, although hadn't been in use for over three years!" is a hiding to nothing. It was hard enough putting the PAS set-up in to a bare and freshly painted engine bay, but extricating it without scratching or scraping any of your freshly painted ancilliaries once the heater box, engine, plumbing etc. are all installed ain't no fun at all! I was elated the other month when I finally drove my bare Base Unit round the yard for a few laps of the garage building at Classic Wheels. But power steering fluid was fountaining out of every nut and bolt of the PAS box, so out it had to come. I'll report on just how easy or otherwise it is to get the seals fitted properly in the forthcoming days (or probably weeks!).
In other long-overdue news, my panels are finally going to be delivered to a very reputable paintshop shortly, as I've managed to save up enough of the valuable folding stuff to get that job done properly. If I can just locate the missing trim pieces (lurking somewhere in the least accessible storage box in my lock-up, no doubt) for the tops of the 'A' pillar and the rear of the cant rail then I'll be moving on to re-fitting the brightwork and windows next. Watch this space, should have some more progress to report and pretty pictures too in the forthcoming few weeks...
 
Re: The optimist

Are you still going the "Admiralty Blue" route? Great progress!! You Da Man! Pictures please...

GW
 
Re: The optimist

Yep, the colour hasn't just been decided on, it's already been applied to the door surrounds, roof pilars and roof support rail. Looks really nice in the sun, should set off the Sundym glass nicely. Thanks for the props GW, alas I ain't 'Da Man', truth be told I'm a slacker and I really ought to have been finished long ago, but funds have been tight. My ever-helpful if over-worked pals at Classic Wheels are 'Da Men!', 'cos without their help I'd never finish!
Photos will follow, I must remember to take my camera with me and snap lots of pics when I put the front and rear screens back in and re-fit the brightwork around the glass and the rain channel.
 
Re: The optimist

IMHO & despite being a P5 colour, Admiral suits the P6 better. The saloon at least as Admiralty/Silver Birch is a nice combo on the coupe.
 
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