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

Replaced the rear pads today. Took me three and a half hours, and a whole lot of cursing. Third time I've done the job too, and I could lift the car up on a two post lift. I just couldn't budge the pistons without hanging the half shafts and removing the discs. Would anyone care to remind me why the consensus concerning the special ratcheting brake tool is of a negative opinion? Seems to me like a good idea!? I'm too knackered to do a search on here now! :rolleyes:
 
Replaced the rear pads today. I just couldn't budge the pistons without hanging the half shafts and removing the discs.

Why would you not remove the discs anyway? Drop the discs out and it won't take you three and a half hours next time.

Would anyone care to remind me why the consensus concerning the special ratcheting brake tool is of a negative opinion?

Because with the disc out of the way, you don't need it.
 
Harvey, that was with the discs removed! :oops: ALso, the third time I've done this particular job! Don't seem to be getting any quicker. Took longer than expected 'cos I started on the four poster lift, and only after removing the handbrake did I remember I'd need to whip off the discs, so had to move the car over to the adjacent two poster lift. Which of course had a car on it, in many pieces, that first needed moving elsewhere. Also hourly coffee breaks were taken.
How long would you have been expected to get that job done in back at the Rover dealers?
 
How long would you have been expected to get that job done in back at the Rover dealers?

Book time was 1h39m, and after the car was in the bay, I used to get a bit sulky if they weren't done and finished in the 39 minutes, 45 minutes at the outside if some knob had adjusted up the handbrake cable and I had to sort that out as well.

You're unlikely to be able to find enough of them to do these days to be able to work yourself down to those sort of times, practice makes perfect...
 
Crikey, no messing about then!
Back in the day, what would it have cost to drop ones P6 off at the dealer for a new set of pads front and back? Also, what would it cost today, if someone brought their P6 in for you to do the job in 2017? I get through a set of pads every two years, so I'll start saving now. Next time, I'm going to keep my hands in my pockets and see how much the professionals at my friendly local classic specialists charge me for the pleasure!
 
Back in the day, what would it have cost to drop ones P6 off at the dealer for a new set of pads front and back?

Fronts 54 minutes, rears 1 hour 39 minutes, so 2 hours 33 minutes, say 2.5 hours at the normal labour rate ph. I can't remember what the hourly rate was in the 1970s. All the blokes could do them a lot quicker than that though, but the customer always paid for the book time at the hourly rate.



Also, what would it cost today, if someone brought their P6 in for you to do the job in 2017?

I've not given that much thought. I'd have an hourly rate, but I wouldn't be charging that rate for the full book time. It was my favourite job back in the day and I used to do a supply and fit price to fit genuine Girling pads. Back then genuine Girling pads cost £16, I got a bit of discount on that, and used to charge £45 supplied and fitted. I had plenty to do.


I get through a set of pads every two years, so I'll start saving now.

Blimey, you must be driving about with the handbrake on.....


Next time, I'm going to keep my hands in my pockets and see how much the professionals at my friendly local classic specialists charge me for the pleasure!

Just because they work on classic cars for a living, that's no guarantee that they'll be able to fit P6 rear pads properly.
 
"Driving about with the handbrake on....."

Quite possible! On my to-do list! Will inspect and report back forthwith...
 
Seems I am missing the spring that joins the one rear calliper and the handbrake. Might have something to do with the rear pads wearing so fast, methinks. Found what might be the correct spring amongst my bits'n'bobs stash. Anybody know the unsprung length of said spring? Perhaps somebody knowledgable can tell me yay or nay? See photo;
handbrake-spring-perhaps.jpg

The fusebox I swapped in last summer melted at the outer headlamp fuses this weekend. Should've fitted headlamp relays, I know! :mad: Temporarily rejigged with separate fuses pending sorting it properly...
 
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That spring won't have any effect on how quickly the pads wear if the spring is missing. The spring you show looks a bit too strong to be the original, it only needs a lightweight one to hold the crossbar and stop it rattling about.
 
Thanks for that info. I was indulging in some wishful thinking then. Next I'm going to try and take some photos of the handbrake, both engaged and released, for comparison, and perhaps if anything is amiss it will be noticeable...
I could probably recite chapter and verse having read and re-read the bit about the handbrake in the workshop manual, but I'm ashamed to admit I couldn't distinguish a 'quadrant' from my elbow. :confused:
 
"Looks we've got ourselves a Reader here! Whatcha readin' for, Boy?"
I miss Bill Hicks.
My once more defunct rev counter turns out to be beyond the abilities of my favourite mechanic/auto electrician, so it has gone back to Stourbridge for (hopefully) repair...
Meanwhile, the lightened flywheel I once got off ebay is being X-rayed to see if it has any cracks, and I've provisionally got a slot at my friends workshop to install my manual box next month. Fingers crossed! Not holding my breath, mind you, and writing this has probably jinxed things, but stay tuned...
 
Got my lightened flywheel back today from a friend of a friend who repairs and calibrates all the X-ray machines in the hospitals, universities, research institutes etc. in and around Berlin. He couldn't discern any cracks forming anywhere, and has given the flywheel a clean bill of health. Excellent! He even provided a bunch of images as proof. The guy builds very serious high performance American V8 engines in his spare time, and owns a few quite outstanding and rare muscle cars, so he knows his stuff, no question.
Now I just have to convince my mechanic mates that they've got to help me fit the manual set-up in the forthcoming weeks...
 
'Twas the propshaft that was the problem. The two UJs feel ok, so I reckon the sliding section was 'sticky', certainly a bit more resistance/'sticktion' in the sliding section than the spare prop I swapped in today. How much fore/aft play should there be in the output flange of the BW35? Sure feels like there's quite a bit of movement there!?!? Like, I don't know, a few millimetres, for sure. Or should I say fractions of an inch? Drives much nicer again now anyway! Klunk clink sounds banished.
 
I left my car parked outside overnight yesterday. Today, rather sulkily, it wouldn't start, even with a few shots of "start spray" straight in the throat of a carb. Ignition light comes on, and it sounds as if it is turning over at the usual speed, and wants to come to life, but just won't 'catch'!
So I went and bought a battery charger with a digital display, which reads 12.7 volts, and shows two out of what looks like a possible five black bars on the battery icon. I'll see how long it takes to regain a full charge. In the meantime, I thought I'd ask you guys, what charge should the battery have when completely full? 12.8 volts, or more?
 
Thanks Harvey. After a couple of hours the charger read 13.3, dropping to 12.8 when I unplugged it from the mains. The battery charge icon still only showed three of a possible five black bars though...!? Plopped the battery back in the car and the old girl came to life pretty swiftly given enough choke. Took her out into the misty drizzly gloomy evening for a brief spin, once it had warmed up the rough running soon settled. Fifteen minute jaunt out to one of the nearby lakes, parked her up for a quarter of an hour, on my return from feeding the ducks it sprang straight to life. Relief. Who'd've thunk it, eh? Just that little difference between 12.7 and 12.8 volts! I think the car was just sulking after spending a night out in the rain.
Of late I've had the filler spout on the upgraded radiator replaced with a new item, this time actually round rather than all squished and deformed like the state it was delivered in back in spring. :eek:o_O New 1 bar pressure cap, fits nice and snugly on the flanges of the new spout, and holds pressure. Properly.
No sooner had I satisfied myself that I had reinstalled the radiator and Kenlowe fan correctly and without leaks, and topped up with pink coolant, and "Wham!". The top heater hose split, disgorging hot coolant on the screen and street. Trailered to the workshop, heater bypassed whilst I waited for a pair of new heater hoses to arrive, nice and pliable new hoses installed, windscreen de-mister actually functions again! My handy-bit-of-unidentified-hose-found-lying-around short-term bodge hadn't faired well in just one week of use. It was just about to split at the hose clamp from the back of the intake manifold when I put the replacement hoses in. I don't think it would've held pressure another mile! Wasn't coolant hose, and couldn't take the heat for long! Lucky.
Next jobs include fitting an expansion tank and an MSD Street Fire ignition box, to hopefully cure the intermittent cutting out at idle followed by refusal to restart problem I suffer from time to inconvenient time! Steering idler looks like it needs replacing again too. Door weatherstrips could do with replacing. Doesn't end, eh!?:D
 
Very topical for me at the moment, the same occurred this morning having left it out side overnight, something which I haven't done for 25 years or more, a good or bad battery is not always the relevant cause in my case as in yours leaving it out over night in the damp or dew will and for me did cause the exact same symptoms.

It may well be your battery is a bit dodgy, what is a good tool in the arsenal is a battery load tester rather than just measuring the battery terminal volts, what kills a battery isnt the volts you see but rather the internal resistance of the battery and in a lead acid battery this resistance increases with age and the only way to do a real genuine meaningful test is a load meter. You can pick these up cheap from the net, I bought my one for about NZ$15.00 off aliexpress, they really are invaluable.

Graeme
 
Got my rev counter back from having been repaired by J R Wadhams today. Delighted to say it works once more, so I no longer need the 1:1 colour print of the instrument I'd stuck on the clear plastic binnacle cover whilst I waited for the part back. I needed to dull the bright light coming from the gaping hole in the instrument panel when driving at night. Order is restored to my cockpit, and I'm happy again! Here's hoping it lasts a little longer this time. I have had it repaired once already, after which it worked for just over two years, before mysteriously dying again back in the summer. Electrickery, eh!?
 
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