P6 at last!

[peeesix]

Having recently aquiring a p6 3500 auto after a 33 year wait, i thought i would share some photos of my 1973 Monza red example with you.
Its in a fair usable condition, seems reasonably solid(waxoiled) although in need of mild restoration work soon and i shall share my experience on here once i start.
I will wait for the MOT to run out in July and just enjoy driving it for now. Just love a V8

How a car like this last 40 years in british weather?

 

[stina]

Looking good , best of luck with it . Sound great don't they

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Hi peeesix,

I am sure that you will enjoy your Rover time :wink:

I can see that your Rover has a 65 transmission which to my understanding was factory fitted only to mid 1974 suffix E cars onwards. If your Rover is a 1973 model, maybe at some point in the past an exchange has taken place with the 35 being replaced.

Your Rover has manual steering also?

Ron.

 

[peeesix]

Hi peeesix,

I am sure that you will enjoy your Rover time :wink:

I can see that your Rover has a 65 transmission which to my understanding was factory fitted only to mid 1974 suffix E cars onwards. If your Rover is a 1973 model, maybe at some point in the past an exchange has taken place with the 35 being replaced.

Your Rover has manual steering also?

Ron.

Yes, i believe the gearbox has been changed at sometime.
Alas, no power steering ive only had it a few weeks and i have arms like Popeye already.
I will consider converting to power, not sure how complicated or expensive?

 

[harveyp6]

"M" plate cars can be 35 or 65, they're right on the changeover point.

 

[FrazzleTC]

Looks like a nice example which you will be able to improve over time! I must say that I like the P6's steering without power assistance, as when the tyres are correctly inflated, as long as you don't dry steer, it's fairly light, though I can understand, if you live in the town, power steering would be useful.
Has it got any factory history, being an 'XC' reg?

 

[rockdemon]

Looks a nice car. The power steering thing you get used to though old tyres make it overtly heavy from experience.

Rich.

 

[NickDunning]

This car is very close to Duncan's white 3500 auto (NXC682M). Duncan's was a company car taken abroad from the factory (it's shown as dispatched to Heathrow Airport). His is an export chassis number as well.

I'd be interested in what spec the car is (yours looks like a 1974 model, There's a BW65 fitted, whereas Duncan's is a 1973 one with 10:5:1 engine and flat pleat seats).

Cheers
Nick

 

[JVY]

33 years is a long wait! I hope you enjoy many happy miles motoring (and sail through that MOT).

 

[peeesix]

Looks like a nice example which you will be able to improve over time! I must say that I like the P6's steering without power assistance, as when the tyres are correctly inflated, as long as you don't dry steer, it's fairly light, though I can understand, if you live in the town, power steering would be useful.
Has it got any factory history, being an 'XC' reg?

Affraid dont have any history, all i know it it was registered in july73.
What would be the significance of "XC" i dont understand?
And again for theone of the amateurs, what does "dry steer" mean?
Many thanks

Tony

 

[peeesix]

This car is very close to Duncan's white 3500 auto (NXC682M). Duncan's was a company car taken abroad from the factory (it's shown as dispatched to Heathrow Airport). His is an export chassis number as well.

I'd be interested in what spec the car is (yours looks like a 1974 model, There's a BW65 fitted, whereas Duncan's is a 1973 one with 10:5:1 engine and flat pleat seats).

Cheers
Nick

The car was registered in july 73, and comes without powersteering, not sure whether the box has been changed as i dont have much history with the car.

 

[testrider]

Looks like a nice example which you will be able to improve over time! I must say that I like the P6's steering without power assistance, as when the tyres are correctly inflated, as long as you don't dry steer, it's fairly light, though I can understand, if you live in the town, power steering would be useful.
Has it got any factory history, being an 'XC' reg?

Affraid dont have any history, all i know it it was registered in july73.
What would be the significance of "XC" i dont understand?
And again for theone of the amateurs, what does "dry steer" mean?
Many thanks

Tony

Rover registered it's cars at the local DVLA office and they all had XC in their numberplates, so your car could have been owned by an employee or been used as a development or press demonstration car.

Dry steer I think it turning the wheel whilst the car's stationary.

Nice car by the way, I looked forward to hearing how you get on with it.

 

[Dave3066]

Congrats on the car

Looks quite tidy from the pics. Enjoy a few months driving and see what the MOT uncovers.

Dave

 

[peeesix]

Looks like a nice example which you will be able to improve over time! I must say that I like the P6's steering without power assistance, as when the tyres are correctly inflated, as long as you don't dry steer, it's fairly light, though I can understand, if you live in the town, power steering would be useful.
Has it got any factory history, being an 'XC' reg?

Affraid dont have any history, all i know it it was registered in july73.
What would be the significance of "XC" i dont understand?
And again for theone of the amateurs, what does "dry steer" mean?
Many thanks

Tony

Rover registered it's cars at the local DVLA office and they all had XC in their numberplates, so your car could have been owned by an employee or been used as a development or press demonstration car.

Dry steer I think it turning the wheel whilst the car's stationary.

Nice car by the way, I looked forward to hearing how you get on with it.

Well you do learn something new everyday!
The photos flatter the car a little and looks better than it actually is, as it does have issues.
Externally the body needs a little attention, followed with a full respray to bring her back to her best.
Carpets are shot and the seats need a refurb, i was thinking of trying "Gliptones scuff master colourwash dye" and i would be interested if anyone has tried this product and what kind off results i could expect?

Tony

 

[NickDunning]

Rover registered it's cars at the local DVLA office and they all had XC in their numberplates, so your car could have been owned by an employee or been used as a development or press demonstration car.

'XC' was Solihull VRO - 'XC' was used 1964-1974. Having an 'XC' on the number does not automatically denote a 'factory' car though - local dealerships also registered new cars there, so there are a fair amount of XC plated MG's/Triumphs etc.

Will be interesting to have a look at your car at some point.

Does she have tinted glass?

Cheers
Nick

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Hi peeesix,

A little bit more info which you'll hopefully find helpful. The 1973 models came only with the BW35 transmission and a 10.5 : 1 CR engine. When the change over to the BW65 occured during 1974, the engine also changed, dropping to 9.25 : 1. The backs of the front seats on the 73 models will be soft, there will be no vanity mirror on the passenger's sun visor and there will be a 'push for parking lights' facility on the centre light switch.

The 1974 models that saw the change over to the BW65 transmission had front seats with hard fibre glass backs, soft sun visors complete with vanity mirror whilst the 'push for parking lights' facility was deleted from the switch.

Ron.

 

[peeesix]

I am even more confused now Ron!
Because i have BW65 box, vanity mirror with soft visors and hardback seats which would indicate that it is a 74, but i have the pushbutton parking light switch, whitch may have been changed as there was various dash parts in the boot when i purchased the car.
So it begs the question how a seemingly 74 car was registered in aug 73?
What would be the best way to go about searching a cars history?

 

[suffolkpete]

The car was registered in july 73

The M suffix was only used from 1st August 1973 to 31st July 1974 so it can't have been registered then unless it has been re-registered since.

 

[peeesix]

The car was registered in july 73

The M suffix was only used from 1st August 1973 to 31st July 1974 so it can't have been registered then unless it has been re-registered since.

my mistake! it was registered in aug 73

 

[NickDunning]

I think it's possible yours may be a pilot-build 1974 model. There were a lot of changes at October 1973 for the 1974 model year.