P6B S Project Car

Test fitted one of the SD1 alloys in the spare area - not a good fit with a 195-70R14. Is there a simple spacer one can use to hold the centre off the mounting point and still have the standard bolt reach the thread? Or do I need a new longer bolt?
thanks
 
Replaced the temp sender - always seemed low, barely reaching the green in extended idling. Odd sized hex - 18mm.
Driving along easily (ambient ~20C) indicated low end of the green; idling in traffic for a bit it eased up nearer the middle, so happy with that.Extended idling before would barely get near the green.
The thread - 18tpi, but OD is 0.605".. neither 9/16 (.562) or 5/8 (.625). very strange. Next job is get the leaking overflow pipe in the filler neck fixed, and the rad cleaned.
Speedo - comparing to a GPS, it seems to vary somewhat...not unexpected. Sometimes reads high, sometimes low. When low its at least 10kph. Not flicking much at a steady speed, but as you coast down to a halt the swings get very bad - 0-40 sometimes. Cable needs some attention? Can I pull the inner out from the top safely?
 
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Pulled the radiator today. Didnt enjoy it at all. The book only covers the normal metal fan models, not the export viscous types. My radiator does not have the drain plug fitting on the left side so I had to loosen and wriggle the bottom hose nearly off to start draining it. Top hose came off easily - accessible. This model rad has 2 pieces making up the fan shroud - one bolted directly to captive nuts on the core brackets, and another lighter smaller ring shaped part thats bolted to the first part - 4 bolts each. Some of the bolts had enough crap or corrosion on them that as soon as they were loosened they tightened up again and took some effort and time to get out. The second lighter shroud had to be removed before I could get the core (with first shroud panel still in place) out of the car. The mounting brackets solder has let go in several places, and the overflow outlet (in the filler neck) is completely loose - main reason for removal. The parts book has some differences . It shows 4 bolts (and holes) holding the secondary shroud to the primary, but does not show any bolts or holes for attaching the primary shroud to the core. It also shows a complicated sequence of washers and spacers where the rad tanks are bolted to the car, where I just have plain short bolts and washers. The angle of the fan to the rad would indicate the rear gearbox mount has sagged quite a bit....Off to the radiator man tomorrow. Will get a temp switch boss fitted in case I ever go electric fan.
 
My radiator was rigidly bolted to the body brackets with no cushioning at all - certainly not the spacer tube stuff shown in the parts book. That shows a separate nut and washer on the underside, where my car has captive type nuts. Is there any reason I cant/shouldnt put some rubber washers between the body and the rad mounts to soften the mounting a bit? Probably have some 1/8" rubbers things available.
thanks
 
Cant see why not. If raising the rad just check the headroom available. I cannot recall any cushioning under the side mounts on mine.
 
Fitting a new acorn to the gearlever - narrow end up or down? Parts book looks like it narrow end down...??? I was thing narrow end up. Got some grease with it - that goes on the outside doesnt it?
thanks
 
Narrow end should be down. You can use the grease on the outside, but also to help the acorn slide over the lever end. It is a tight fit.
 
Having the acorn slightly warm will help. There is nothing else to worry about. It just slips over the level end and locks itself there.
 
Something fishy going on. Got the acorn today, went onto the shaft pretty easily. Went to insert into cup in selector shaft - wont fit. Rubber base is at least 1/2" from seating. The acorn at fat section on shaft is 0.8" dia. I can get the end of a 1/2" drive socket extension in the cup, and its 0.625" dia on the diagonal of the tang. This is a 1974 D chassis car.
????? Wrong gear lever for the selector shaft? There werent different acorns were there? The cup is all metalm so its meant to have an acorn on the lever.

Update. Looking at the size of the cup hole and the end of the lever, the extra diameter was about 1/8" or less. Found a nozzle from a silicon gun where part of the cone was a good fit, so I cut it down and tried it - very nice fit, almost no slack. Added ~ 2mm to the dia at the knob area. Stuck it on the lever with epoxy-steel stuff (bit hopeful I know, but have an LT77 nearly ready) and fitted it. Much better feel now. There is some slack in the bushes on the intermediate shaft, but I will live with that.
 
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Mixed progress. Gear gate is much nicer, narrow sideways...but 3rd requires a conscious pressure to the right, where 4th is easy and natural. Worse though is reverse is unobtainable - all I can get there is 2nd. Not looking forward to ripping up the tunnel cover again - may put it on the jacks again and see if I can see a reason for this problem. One thing that changed from previous installation is that re-arranging the sequence of parts in the remote as indicated by Harvey is that the lever pivot ball is now 1/8" higher than before...and the lever 'acorn' is now a home made thing.
Radiator seems good, although the old flat cap wont seal - will replace. New pressure cap seems to work.
 
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Revisited fix to acorn area - seems I had too much thickness above where the bulge needs to be, and it restricted movement. Removed some material and refitted, can now get all gears when stationery. Will road test again before refitting the tunnel finisher.
 
Here is my battery isolator. Some room for extra insulation to ensure no accidental grounding, but there is little exposed metalwork in the area.
6rOQ5jS.jpg
 
Regarding your gearlever issues, perhaps your car have the wrong parts mixed.
Until about 1974, if i remember correctly, all Rover manual gearboxes were using a lever that ended on the plastic acorn that you already know, which fitted in the metal socket below. The last version of the system however used a lever that had a metal end, that fitted in a socket lined with a plastic bush. Parts between the 2 systems are not interchangeable as far as i know. Perhaps your car had originally the latest system, and someone in the past fitted the early gearlever. This is why a new acorn does not fit in the socket below.
 
Demetris, Exactly my thinking. The lever end should have an acorn on it (pic somewhere above). From underneath there is a cream-ish ring visible in the selector shaft hole, which I suspect is the bottom half of the plastic liner that goes with the metal acorn type levers. Seeing as I have almost all the parts for an LT77 conversion I dont think its worthwhile to look for a metal acorn lever and the corresponding bush. Now to find a home for the unusable acorn I have.
thanks
 
Here is my battery isolator. Some room for extra insulation to ensure no accidental grounding, but there is little exposed metalwork in the area.
6rOQ5jS.jpg
Looking at how the far cable has flattened under the lid are you using a heavy enough cable ? Are we seeing both leads covered in shrink wrap here ? Are you breaking the earth or positive? It is unusual to see a flat braid earth lead used in this application.
 
I am breaking the earth lead, and both are shrink wrapped so only closing the switch can complete the circuit - dont want unexpected power while working on it. Both connections have big flat washers on them. The flat braids are the same as the earth lead on the 928 - 4.7L V8 & 10:1 CR, so they should be adequate. On the 928 the shrink wrapped lead snakes out from a closed battery compartment (hence being flat braid) up to an accessible earth point in the rear hatch area. Have never had a starting issue with the 928. One of these new leads was actually listed as a truck earth lead.
Universal Flat Braid Earth Strap(375mm) | eBay
 
Gear selection now seems sorted - all available and little wasted motion. Good road test today.
Next - no AM radio, and FM a bit patchy - aerial lead suspect. How do I get to this - its a roof mounted unit that can lie flat. Will I expose it all if I pull the driver side A pillar cover, then the sun visor mounts and interior mirror?
thanks.
 
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