New P4 owner

Boffin

New Member
Hi,
My name is Andy, I live in Devon and I have just bought my first classic car (if you don't count the bangers I drove in my youth).
She is a 1961 P4 Rover 100. I am yet to take delivery, the seller (a dealer in Broadclyst, Devon) is repairing the front sills and getting a MOT on her first.
There are also a few more jobs to do once she is in my garage. The windscreen and window rubbers are all rock-hard and will be replaced - my neighbour is a windscreen fitter and has offered to do the job for me :)
The interior is a little tired but not in bad condition.
I intend to fir an electronic ignition and replace the coolant with water-free coolant. I shall probably fuel her with unleaded treated with Tetraboost.

I am sure that as I get to know here a fair few questions will arise and a lot of pictures will be taken.

For now, here is a side-shot :)

 
Nice. This was the definitive late version of the car to me anyway. Don't underestimate the cost of interior work if that goes any further than recolouring. I wouldn't bother with the waterless (cos old cars leak), but I would fit an auxiliary fan.
 
A really very nice looking motor, I had an 80 of similar age. Make sure your windscreen fitter really understands the job as the P4 has all sorts of shims and brackets holding the screens in and if mixed up/lost will inevitably mean leaks and a generally ill fitting glass. The front needs the dashboard top and inside screen finisher taking out and is removed and fitted from the inside, etc etc. One report from the Rover Sports Register explains a fitter taking the whole day to do the job.
 
P4s are lovely motors. Used to have an 80; very smooth, despite 'lacking' two cylinders, and the fact that it wasn't terribly powerful never really troubled me. P4s are more about serenity than performance and should be available from doctors as a prescription for stress and anxiety. Had a '64 110 later, vary nice but lacked some of the nice touches of the earlier cars eg aluminium doors bonnet and boot, chrome bezelled instruments. Have to say that I prefer the look of the round wing earlier models, but later ones really nice too.

Fantastic car, enjoy it!
 
Lovely cars, I've just bought a 1958 90 and am currently finding my way around it.
Reading up, it seems that these seldom suffer from overheating so it shouldn't need an auxiliary fan.
 
Doubt you'll need an auxiliary fan; our family owned and ran six p4s over about twenty years (including a 105R in Sydney, Australia), and don't remember one ever overheating! Generally very reliable cars. Faults I remember developing are kingpin wear due to owners lubricating with grease rather than oil, and the gearbox rear mount can dissolve due to oil contamination. Engines can suffer if oil not changed often enough, especially earlier, non roller tappet engines. The 'rovermatic ' on our 105R wasn't too reliable and eventually failed, manuals were reliable though. Make sure rear axle breathers are clear, or seals will blow and oil will get onto brakes. Other failures were normal wear and tear, e.g. Brake calipers and cylinders, propshaft UJs. Simple engineeering and construction mean simple (in theory) repairs, though as with any antique vehicle, fixing them will teach you many new engineering terms, mostly consisting of four letters... Oh, and they all dripped a bit from the rear main seal. One of my favourite cars.
 
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