Rob's long term Supercharging project

Looks very smart Rob. What year are the wheels and are they 7" wide?

It is good to know that Rover 75 seats are a direct swap for the P6 seats, should anyone else wish to do the same.

Ron.
 
the front ones are easy. The back ones are not straightforward, but not impossible!

The fronts are lovely. All electric and heated. Rears are comfy too, but the fronts are really nice. Lots more support than the original ones, which used to end half way up my back.
 
I know what you mean about the originals - they only end halfway up my back as well, but I do find them supremely comfortable. I went down to Penzance recently, about 2 1/2 hours non stop and didn't feel that I'd driven for that long - I don't think I'd have felt any less tired if I'd travelled down in my C200 everyday car.

I'll probably get my existing seats retrimmed when the time comes, although it's interesting to know that there's a workable, and far cheaper, alternative should the need arise. As you may have guessed, originality is not really my thing!
 
I'm 6' 2" which isn't anything special these days. I have to say thoughts have turned to lengthening the backs of the standard seats or at least making the stem of my ETs longer.

Are the S2 seats higher in the back?

The 75 front seats look great but I think it really shows how short the seat squab is in the back! The upright needs thinning right down to maximize this.

A little tip if you want to make really neat door panels, instead of foam or wadding, spray-glue layers of fleece blanket as padding, it stays in place and always looks even. Ikea do them for a couple quid each.
 
Thanks for the door card tip! We accidentally bought 5m of leatherette so have got enough to have another go.

I'm 6 foot 5 and the taller seats are loads better. The rears are sculpted out, and the 75 ones are only a little bit fatter, but also go back further. Not sure I'd attempt thinning the uprights though!

One other point is that there's space for an inertia reel belt with the new seats where one wouldn't fit before....
 
If you use the Securon ones, you can fit inertia belts to any P6. I did this in my S1. Demetris passed on this tip. The only issue is the upper mounting is a bit low to sit comfortably over the shoulder, which I guess will be an issue for you too. It isn't a problem with properly adjusted fixed belts but it does tend to slide off your shoulder with the inertias. I can't remember this being an issue in my 74 car, so I guess they lifted this later.

You car looks great and very usable. I don't have much time for originality snobs. Let's face it most P6s aren't mint 40k milers that have never been welded and hence don't need protecting like they were an endangered species.
 
more of a painting post this one:

Th rear driver's door was bad - evidence previously posted in the forum...

so it got cut out of the back one and a bit of dexion shelf welded in in it's place:

DSC_0002 by 1275midget, on Flickr

Skim of filler and we're away

DSC_0007 by 1275midget, on Flickr

needed all the rear of it reconstructing from nothing, so I reckon it fits pretty well!

DSC_0009 by 1275midget, on Flickr

Filling in some of the dents (how do you get a dent there anyway?!) Front passenger door re-constructive surgery also visible in this one:

DSC_0041 by 1275midget, on Flickr

the professional looking spray area:

DSC_0034 by 1275midget, on Flickr

complete with extension as the car is only about 2 inches shorter than the garage

DSC_0035 by 1275midget, on Flickr

Also stops the overspray coming out and going on the neighbours car/house/garden/cat

quick rub down over the whole lot

DSC_0037 by 1275midget, on Flickr

I did the door shuts first with cans. Still not sure if this is the right order, but never mind.

DSC_0041 by 1275midget, on Flickr


The rest of it was primered in high build in cans from halfords panel by panel - this beige stuff is the only thing that would fix reactions under the paint while still being happy for the proper celly primer to go on top. top tip - don't spray anything with colour cans as they are not cellulose and don't play nice with cellulose over the top..

DSC_0044 by 1275midget, on Flickr

This is about when Pilkie's gearbox was picked up ;)

cover the whole lot in grey. Hooray for battleship P6.

DSC_0051 by 1275midget, on Flickr

Grrrrr

DSC_0062 by 1275midget, on Flickr

giving it all a nice rub down before the blue goes on.

DSC_0065 by 1275midget, on Flickr

Then there's a bit of a gap in the pictures, as it all got a bit exciting...

Still, after spraying and only a little bit of polishing this is the finish:

DSC_0108 by 1275midget, on Flickr

So why blue?

Well:

DSC04234 by 1275midget, on Flickr

to match my sister's wedding colour of course. And I prefer it to the brown (although not everyone will!)

DSC04243 by 1275midget, on Flickr

DSC04247 by 1275midget, on Flickr

slight bit of orange peel, but nothing too alarming. It all went on pretty well. Oh, I used about 5 litres of blue paint.

DSC04250 by 1275midget, on Flickr

DSC04256 by 1275midget, on Flickr

The original chrome buffed back and waxed has gone very shiny. Hopefully the wax will keep it alive a bit longer..

DSC04259 by 1275midget, on Flickr

the actual day of the wedding was slightly damp, but the wax makes the water fall off:

P8145803 by 1275midget, on Flickr

In fact it was so slippery, that the silk ribbon kept falling off during fitting....

If anyone else wants to fit ribbons, the best tip is to make some wire clips out of 1.5mm wire, about 5 inches long, and poke them under the triangular stainless steel trim sections at the top of the screen.

Anyway, the day went off very well despite the dampness, and the car behaved very well, although seemed slightly down on power (not that that was an issue for this particular job) :D
 
Thanks chaps :)

All the paint is still on despite two trips through the most appalling rainstorms. Didn't miss a beat.
 
the next stage has begun. I'm learning (self taught) to MIG weld (I've made a welding trolley) with the long term plan of making manifolds, exhaust in steel and inlet once I get the hang of aluminium.

Another MOT coming up, a small hole to be welded and general checks to be done (and hopefully pass!) then it's onwards we go :)
 
Nice looking car :) Interesting about making the manifolds...is this just at the "hmm what if" stage or have you looked more into it?
 
I've bought (and mostly found) loads of bits of pipe.

the current exhaust might just get me through the next MOT, recent poor running with backfires seems to have burst the end off the silencer a bit...

I bought a set of longer cast manifolds (4 into 2 into 1) (I think from a Discovery V8 although they were listed from a Range Rover), and the passenger side one fits absolutely perfectly but the driver's side one is too big; won't go past the engine mount support thing on the body shell, which I don't want to cut.

I want a 4 into 2 into 1 arrangement - got one (again, DIY) on the Midget and gained around 16 bhp with no loss of torque. It's just a question of being able to cram in 4 primaries on the passenger side without catching on literally everything else there.

Again, not an issue at all on the passenger side, looks like it was designed to go there and the single outlet pipe turns up in an extremely sensible place. Not quite sure how there's so little space on the driver's side!

After a bit more reading I suspect welding a cast ally inlet manifold might be a bit of a big step at the moment, so it's exhaust first.

I'd also like a lambda sensor in the exhaust :)
 
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