|
Post by Sam Bee on Feb 25, 2021 10:11:34 GMT
I too own up to the same. Though we made it a two handed job. I could have done it alone but would have taken far longer.
|
|
|
Post by dmaxwell on Mar 17, 2021 12:51:54 GMT
Well, I've had a few problem in last few weeks. Thought I had the Rover in running order and was driving it on a regular basis until on my way home one day, I came to a stop light, pushed the clutch pedal and it went straight to the floor with no resistance! Got a tow home and after a week or so (can only work on it on the weekends, my job takes up too much of my time during the week) found I had a leaking hydraulic line. Replaced it and bleed the line to get the clutch working again. Got the aftermarket tach working this last weekend. It's amazing what following the directions for wiring will do sometimes! Same problem with the stereo, didn't get the wiring right the first time. Now the tach works, the radio works, the clutch works!!!!! Am driving the car to and from work with no problems so far. I'm starting to look for a 3.54 differential to replace the 4.30. With the V6, it has more then enough power for a higher (or is it lower) gear ratio and should get better mileage. I think I've found one in Los Angeles but the website doesn't list the gear ratio and they haven't answered my email asking for ratio. Will probably have to call them to find out. I don't want to drive the two hours there just to find it isn't the correct unit!
David California
|
|
|
Post by lagain on Mar 18, 2021 17:13:00 GMT
Woke mine from her winter slumbers, she had not been started since October last year, so with choke in gave a few churns on the starter to make sure the oil pressure was going to climb and once the needle moved, eased the choke out a little, turned the key and away she went. Warmed her up until the Kenlowe came on and tomorrow will get her off her axle stands and hopefully give her a run.
|
|
|
Post by johnwp5bcoupe on Mar 19, 2021 13:44:06 GMT
Woke mine from her winter slumbers, she had not been started since October last year, so with choke in gave a few churns on the starter to make sure the oil pressure was going to climb and once the needle moved, eased the choke out a little, turned the key and away she went. Warmed her up until the Kenlowe came on and tomorrow will get her off her axle stands and hopefully give her a run. Just done the same procedure George The Old Girl started fine on the AED only journey since 2019 was to the MOT last August I will give here a run soon bl**dy shielding but it had to be done
|
|
|
Post by barryr on Mar 19, 2021 21:08:12 GMT
Took mine out 2 weeks ago. Aed played up as usual post 3rd rebuild. car would start and stall immediately. Restarted every time but then died. Eventually coaxed into life with full throttle. A manual choke is the next logical step as aed parts are overpriced I think.
I was pleased to find new tyres (185's) tranformed the car from the 225 white walls it had - no more misfiring post replaced autospark module and good brakes. Horrendous gearbox whine is next on list!!
|
|
|
Post by Ken Nelson on Mar 19, 2021 21:54:40 GMT
Got mine out for the first time this year and all went well, except my 3-litre Coupe certainly doesn't start on the first pull after 5 months resting. It takes a fair bit of cranking to get enough fuel even after I let the fuel pump tick 'til it quits. Even then it seems to need the choke on for at least a couple of minutes when it's cold. Once warm though everything is fine, and it starts easily then. It seems tuned properly otherwise-I just assume it is a very thirsty engine.
|
|
|
Post by tarnowl on Mar 23, 2021 12:30:18 GMT
Now continuing work on the rear left side, ‘D’ Post and to the rear. It was necessary to cut out the the flitch panel around the filler cap, not only to facilitate the correct fitting of the new inner wing panels, but also to enable easy access to repair the rear windscreen sill, which resembled lace with a multitude of rust holes. (Note the use of expanded foam by a previous owner, in the vain attempt to stop water ingress from the leaking rear windscreen!😂)
|
|
|
Post by tarnowl on Mar 23, 2021 12:31:32 GMT
Rust evident beneath the flitch panel.
|
|
|
Post by MK IA Norway Viking on Mar 23, 2021 18:30:09 GMT
Believe it or not; I have revived an MK 1A LHD "chassis" #90 (christened "Senior") manual w/o overdrive but with PAS built late 1961 and registered in Norway March 1962 from the dead.
Originally acquired for parts on my #253 MK 1A auto 08/1962 (christened "Junior"), I found it to good for breaking so I have given it new life.
"Senior" has not been used since 2002 (when the MOT expired). That's a good 21 years +++ out in the barn...
I replaced the brake servo, fixed the bad voltage regulator, overhauled the dynamo (the big type Lucas C45, fitted to the cars that went for "arctic climate"), tuned the engine so it is ticking nicely over, got a lot of gunk / rust / particles / impurities out of the fuel tank and replaced one headlamp bulb. All other lamps are still working, probably the original items made 70 years ago.
Took it to a detailer for a proper clean, so now the black paint is showing all its "glorious scratches" and bad paint repairs over the years.
Chrome polished and after mending the window wiper and window washer mechanism plus replacing the flasher unit will present it for MOT. Let's see if she pass ...
The interior is in a sorry state, so the two front door cards must be made up with the period-type map pockets (unique to MK I) and all seats to have the leather + vinyl replaced - too dried out and cracked + torn for rescue UNLESS fellow club members have a brilliant idea ...
Only 399 MK IA LHD with manual gearbox were ever built, so it's important to save this specimen for posterity ! I know if 6 such cars in Norway, my two cars included. One white + one black on the Molde-area, on green that is not likely to see the road for many years to come + one gunmetal grey currently being restored in Oslo (bought new by my grandfather, now kept by its second owner - my (favourite) uncle.
Besides re-upholstering / replacing the seats, and ideally the carpets, I will need the stainless steel finishing trim (end pieces, front and rear) on the side of the car plus the stainless steel trim (moulding) on the right side front (passenger) door. I will need a new clock and ideally roof lining too.
If any fellow club members have a set of decent seats, carpets and mouldings to spare, I shall be very happy to fit them onto my car thus holding the Rover Shield up high among the Norwegian Fjords, were our Ancestral Vikings were spawned ...
I am not planning on a paint respray, for that will take away the vehicle's spirit aka "patina" however minor spot repairs are needed in addition to the said interior. The final touch will be a little panel beating / adjustments to line up the various doors and wings + adjusting the bootlid for a reasonable fit.
|
|
|
Post by MK IA Norway Viking on Mar 23, 2021 18:43:23 GMT
... if you have in-line 6 IOE engine, like I have, I should think the petrol has evaporated over the winter, and that your carburettor choked with residue from the various fuel additives that the oil companies have started to grace us with in recent years.
If the petrol has evaporated, you might have an air-lock in the carburettor which prevents fuel from entering the combustion chamber.
I have increasingly had this issue on my car - nowadays I open the cap on the fuel reservoir on the carburettor, where the flotation element is located, pour petrol "till full" push the flotation element up/down a few times and put the cap back in place.
Use a little start-gas and the engine is running.
Engine require use a few days before it runs "as before".
I have at present my carburettor for service/overhaul/cleaning - shall be interesting to see how the engine behave with a clean carburettor.
|
|
|
Post by Steed on Mar 24, 2021 10:28:40 GMT
Why on earth do people think the foam is going to stop water ingress?!
|
|
Jos
Rover Rookie
Posts: 39
|
Post by Jos on Mar 24, 2021 16:18:25 GMT
|
|
|
Post by tarnowl on Mar 24, 2021 17:10:47 GMT
I think it may have been used to give something behind the metal to fill mastic against. It’s what we call a ‘bodge’.😏.....or is it botch?
|
|
|
Post by MK IA Norway Viking on Mar 24, 2021 19:12:18 GMT
|
|
|
Post by dmaxwell on Mar 29, 2021 12:54:09 GMT
All was going well until last Monday on the way home from work, the cooling fan started to come apart and gouged the radiator a fee miles from home. Got it home ok, pulled the radiator and took it to a shop that had done other radiators in the past for me for a new core. Got it back on Friday, installed it and refilled with antifreeze/water mix. Also topped off the tranmission with fluid, adjusted the rear brakes and installed a pair of external mirrors (that I've had for 20 years just for this car). Drove it to work this morning and despite it supposed to have an high efficiency radiator, it still runs a bit on the warm side, may try another temp sensor to see if that makes a difference. If not, I may look for a P5b radiator.
David California
|
|
|
Post by dmaxwell on Mar 30, 2021 19:54:13 GMT
Problems happen in a row! On my way to work this morning, the input shaft to the differential broke! I coasted to the side of the road and called for a two truck to get me home. I didn't know what had happened until I got home, the sun was up by then (this happened at 5AM) and I got a look a the underside of the car. Drive shaft looks good so that shouldn't be a problem. I found a replacement diff (3.54/1 ratio) in Los Angeles and have talked to the shop that has it. My next weekday off is the 12th of April so will drive down there in the E-type and bring back the new(!) diff. This coming weekend, I'll pull the bad diff from the Rover so all will be ready for the replacement. I've been noticing that, going downhill, when I let up on the gas or was accelerating, all was well but if I tried to keep the engine RPMs matched to the speed of the car, I would get a rubbing noise. I've been thinking it was the transmission but NOW I think that it was the diff input shaft bearing rattling. My fault, I never checked the level of the diff fluid! As I've mentioned before, this is why I don't work on other people's cars!!! The good side is that I'll be installing the 3.54 diff sooner than I had planned.
David California
|
|
Jos
Rover Rookie
Posts: 39
|
Post by Jos on Mar 31, 2021 7:35:40 GMT
Well David, after fourty years moving around in classic cars, I conclude that if you drive boring perfect modern cars, you never have an exciting story to tell... I have lots of fond memories of old cars I owned, and a few less enjoyable too, enough to fill a book... Like that day 35 years ago when I went to the north of Holland in an SD1 3500 in freezing temperatures and snow. My friend lowered the electrical side window, and it wouldn't go back up again. We drove back to the south, 350 kms, at minus 8 degrees Celcius packed in plastic bags arriving hypothermic. The heating was put at full blast, but it didn't help much with the open window. At that time you simply accepted the faults, the SD1 wasn't perfect, but oh boy, what good memories I have of that smooth V8 and the modern design. I now drive a Tesla as a daily driver. Perfect, but dead as a dodo, nothing spectacular to talk about. Nothing goes wrong, everything works, always. I probably always will need old cars to smell and enjoy the past, though sometimes you hate these old rubbish breaking down at the most uncomfortable moments....
|
|
|
Post by enigmas on Mar 31, 2021 9:02:04 GMT
Old cars don't break down because there's anything inherently wrong with them. Most if not every time it's purely down to lack of care and maintenance. I have a friend and he's about 10 years on me. He's restored 2 vintage cars and one classic car that's almost done. From observation I've noted that he likes to spend money on the 'bling'...the shiny stuff....rechroming bumpers, over-riders etc. What he doesn't seem to spend money on, are the mechanicals umless absolutely knackered. This also appears to include petrol tanks. Consider that some vintage car barn finds may not have had any fuel within their tanks for over half century. So I'm assuming the internals aren't exactly pristine!
None of these vehicles get many road miles due to both unreliability issues and also lack of faith! One ongoing problem with one of the vintage cars was a fuel starvation issue. Eventually 2 - 3 years later after chasing unrelated electrical issues and replacing innumerable fuel pumps it was discovered that the steel fuel feed pipe plumbed from the top to the base of the tank was choked with silted debris.
The motto of the story as it reveals itself to me, appears to be, that the "chrome don't get you home!" Although it looks very impressive. Old cars don't have to be unreliable.
PS. My daily driver for over 20 years (300 kms per week) was my (hybrid) MK3 P5 coupe. It's still a reliable car and the engine remains virtually mechanically untouched, apart from service items as required.
|
|
Jos
Rover Rookie
Posts: 39
|
Post by Jos on Mar 31, 2021 10:53:52 GMT
In many cases that is true enigmas, but not always. Cars have developed in the past 50 years and are perfected in many respects. F.i. the electric window in my SD1 was not a maintenance issue but simply bad building quality. Rust is another example of how things improved in the past decades. The rust problems I had in a Citroen CX and several Alfa Romeo's are unimaginable today. There where many attempts in the past to make classic cars up to the standard of modern cars, like Jaguar Mk2's, Jensen Interceptors and even MGB GT's, but it will always remain a car from another era, which is exactly what I love in those old cars. And yes, it demands old fashioned maintenance and care. But still, although well maintained, cars can let you down.
|
|
|
Post by Mike’S-a-loon on Apr 1, 2021 6:42:20 GMT
Well, I think you're both right. I ran my P5b as a daily driver for over 20 years, until quite recently, and it only let me down once. That was a distributor problem, and the only time I had to have it towed home. Of course, there was the trip to Sydney when I had to stop at the side of the road in the dark and rain to adjust the points, but that was fine... Part of the fun. I had a Triumph GT6 which unexpectedly snapped a front suspension trunnion (bad design + bad maintenance) I had a mini that would die in the rain when the distributor got splashed (bad design combined with my own insensitivity to its "issues"). I had a Mk2 Jag which never ran at all. I had an 87 Saab 900i which was the biggest lemon I ever owned and I wasn't surprised when the company folded. I had a '62 Chrysler which you just couldn't kill. I had a brand new (company supplied) Toyota Previa (Tarago) that needed two new batteries, a new seat belt mechanism and various other niggles in the three years I had it. I had a Honda CR-V that needed a brand new gearbox at around 100,000 K's, plus the electric window mechanism was knackered, the sunroof failed, etc. (The gearbox was a known issue and subsidised by Honda, but it was still $2000.00 out of pocket to me). And so, I still have my P5b, after all the others have passed into history. It's not perfect, but you can't expect it to be. It's 50 years old, like me. But the quality inherent in its design and construction mean it is very dependable: when it's not, it's easily fixed. Unlike me...
|
|
|
Post by Eric R on Apr 1, 2021 16:00:39 GMT
If I remember correctly, Mins had a distributor error from the start - facing the grill. First mist and it fused. I think a rubber "glove" was fitted after the first few weeks. The electric fuel pump also failed being slung underneath the body as I remember keeping a spanner to hand to tap it whenever the car cut out.
|
|
benedict_h
Rover Rookie
Benedict - P5B 1972 - Amstelveen, Netherlands
Posts: 74
|
Post by benedict_h on Apr 6, 2021 10:50:33 GMT
Took the passenger's seat to a repair shop to have a loose stitch attended to. Removing the seat proved fairly straightforward. My, are these things heavy... 25 kilos at least. When I get it back refitting the LR nut will probably be a bit of a hassle. Difficult to get the bolt in place I expect. Ah well, must be possible. Someone did it successfully before me, be it half a century ago.
Currently trying to sort the heated rear window. For some reason the current doesn't get to the console switch. I know the HRW was installed as an extra, and is separately fused inline. Checked and changed the fuse (25 Amps) which didn't do the trick. Now off to check the entire circuit. Keeps me off the street, and rightfully so, as it's a real rotter outside..
|
|
|
Post by dmaxwell on Apr 6, 2021 12:46:45 GMT
I was in shock when I removed both front seats to be recovered. Very heavy but sometimes quality and long life requires some weight!
David California
|
|
|
Post by tarnowl on Apr 8, 2021 18:03:13 GMT
|
|
|
Post by tarnowl on Apr 14, 2021 6:41:54 GMT
|
|