OCC 469 - restoring & running a "sharkstooth" 2000

Something I did literally decades ago in my first TC was to go over Hard Knott & Wrynose passes in the Lake District & it's something I've wanted to do again at some point in a P6.

Now that our son has his modern classic, a Mk6 Fiesta ST500, & having seen a trip done by the Practical Classics team in the February 2023 edition, I suggested to him that we did the same. He was very keen!

All I had to do was to chose which car to take. TBH I would probably taken the Alfa, but I'm nowhere near that confident with it yet, so it had to be a P6. Whilst the longish drive over there would certainly have been a tad more relaxing in a V8, I really thought that a smaller engine would be more fun whilst there. Hence, I took OCC. It's very slightly tappety, but otherwise is in pretty good health. I did some servicing & bled new fluid through the brakes & that was it.

We drove from East Yorkshire last Wednesday, did Wrynose & Hard Knott, then did the other passes on Thursday (including Hard Knott, then Wrynose again) ;) Clearly, these two are the most challenging & I would say doing Hard Knott from west to east is probably the hairiest bit of driving you'll do in the UK on public roads. Going through the steep & very sharp hairpin bends is great fun & quite an achievement. Foot to the floor stuff, but in first gear.... :D.

Here are a few pics. It's just not possible to park up on the really good bit - you'd be blocking the road & you'd need one 'ell of a handbrake! And I was stopped for the windscreen view :cool:

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Phil Robson said:
Something I did literally decades ago in my first TC was to go over Hard Knott & Wrynose passes in the Lake District & it's something I've wanted to do again at some point in a P6.
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It really is a spectacular drive, isn't it. I also did it in my P6 about 13 years ago, and aim to do it again when the resto is complete. But I did manage to do it in my little 'Eunos' last year, and in the Range Rover a few years before that.
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OCC’s engine does have a slightly rough sound at higher revs & I did think one of the tappets may not be shimmed within tolerance.

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However, when I took the cam cover off & checked all the clearances, I was surprised to see they were all in the correct range.

In a way I’m very pleased I’ve got them right, but it doesn’t solve the noise matter….

Any ideas, please? :hmm:
 
Phil Robson said:
OCC’s engine does have a slightly rough sound at higher revs & I did think one of the tappets may not be shimmed within tolerance.

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However, when I took the cam cover off & checked all the clearances, I was surprised to see they were all in the correct range.

In a way I’m very pleased I’ve got them right, but it doesn’t solve the noise matter….

Any ideas, please? :hmm:
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How are the valve guides? I have loose one on Beryl that I’m sure is causing tappet noise.
 
Thanks guys.

I’ve just been out and n the car & it’s a very gentle ‘clicking’. It is more of a mild irritation than a concern, but I’ll investigate further.
 
Phil, check the cam wheel support plate. I had a very similar tick to yours and it was as a result of the chain just catching the support plate.
 
After putting everything back together, there were some large oil drips on the garage floor. This was due to the rubber cover gasket not sealing correctly & no matter what I did I just couldn't get it right (they are slightly too big, I think).

Anyway, back to a cork one (as with Hazel's autobox sump) & we'll see how that goes...

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I can't believe it's so long since I posted something about OCC.

I was asked to take it to the NEC to go on the P6 Club stand with the other early cars for the 60th anniversary of the P6's launch. They had a "sharkstooth" car in each launch colour, plus chassis 100, one of the 2 gold 1963 motor show cars.

I drove down to the NEC on the Thursday & returned home on the train. My daughter Amy & I then went back to Birmingham on the Saturday & to the show on Sunday. Being this time of year, we stayed overnight at Tamworth on the return, then drove back via her workplace at Huddersfield, so the car had a good run out & went really well.

I was surprised that OCC was the oldest car on the stand apart from the show car, & it was the only one without a suffix on the numberplate. I was concerned it would look out of place against some lovely cars, but it held its own pretty well, I thought.

Talking with the guys there, I learned that I'd inadvertently thrown some early parts away during the restoration, not having spotted the difference. :rolleyes: Never mind, at least it's on the road!

Bri & the all the guys on the stand were really welcoming & Amy & I truly had a lovely weekend to remember :):

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On the way down:

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& on the way back (it was wet & windy, with leaves everywhere!):

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It was great to meet you (and OCC) Phil. The car is a credit to your skill and determination to return it to the road.
 
Phil Robson said:
Likewise, Alan :) & thank you.

The car needs improvement in a few areas, but I'll enjoy doing it over the coming years.
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Great to see you and OCC there Phil.

It was really good having a car that's had an almost total restoration on the stand along with the cossetted ones like Rodger's and mine. She looked superb.

Quite an inspiration to me with the paintwork. I'm struggling to find someone to do some paint on my Wedgwood car, that you managed those sorts of results yourself is really encouraging.

Speak soon
NIck
 
NickDunning said:
Great to see you and OCC there Phil.

It was really good having a car that's had an almost total restoration on the stand along with the cossetted ones like Rodger's and mine. She looked superb.

Quite an inspiration to me with the paintwork. I'm struggling to find someone to do some paint on my Wedgwood car, that you managed those sorts of results yourself is really encouraging.

Speak soon
NIck
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Thanks Nick, & it was indeed great to see you too.

Paint's a bit of a dilemma I think on restorations. It's THE thing that everyone sees so it needs to be good to show the resto off, but if you've done everything otherwise yourself, someone else's paint takes the glory, if you see what I mean.

Another point is that, having done the paint myself, I'm not too precious about driving OCC or leaving it somewhere. I can always live with a scratch or two & of course repaint if required.

The other issue is that Cellulose paint can be used at home (with precautions) but it is ruthless in its hunt for poor repairs :confused:. Whether I ought to try 'acrylic' or similar - I don't (yet) know enough about it.
 
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