Rear mud flaps

[Deleted]

I need some,but JRW don't do them
Can anyone point me in the direction of someone that does please?
As an aside,am I the only one who finds JRW extremely unhelpful on the phone?
(Thats my order delayed by another month then) ;D

[johnwp5bcoupe]

How's the fit on that shroud cover

[Deleted]

Haven't fitted it yet

[Phil Nottingham]

Not sure whether any available at moment some turned up on Ebay last year. They are not very good as to be effective they ground easily and can cause wing damage.

A dec'd club member made them and then Graham Rigby took over his stock

Use SEARCH for other views

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

Here's a nice durable one.
www.pickupspecialties.com/Towing_guard/towtector_towing_guard.htm

[stantondavies]

try this: roverp5.proboards31.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=interior31&thread=1158436281&page=1

[johnwp5bcoupe]

I agree with Phil I had these on my first P5b and made a mess of the wing when reversing over what I cant remember 1969 ish I will probably chip guard the wing edges etc and cover with body colour where not seen Loads of Dinitrol in the splash areas

[Phil Nottingham]

The main problem is the rear ones as to be any good they have to be quite wide to fill up the big gap between the outer and inner wing.

If your springs are past their prime or you are carrying rear passengers or boot luggage they will vert regularly bottom on the reaod and if of any stiffness which is needed so they do not get dislodged by mud/spray then the wing bottom will be bent or they will be torn off

[Deleted]

johnwp5bcoupe said:

I agree with Phil I had these on my first P5b and made a mess of the wing when reversing over what I cant remember 1969 ish I will probably chip guard the wing edges etc and cover with body colour where not seen Loads of Dinitrol in the splash areas

It's funny you should say that,because look what I've done on the Rover today:-

Masked up and sprayed a thin "lip" of stonechip on the inside edge of the wheelarch,and again on the lower section of the rear wing.
Not original,I know...but every little helps.
Plenty of stonechip gone under the arches too,and the chassis rails.
I am undecided as to whether I overpaint the stonechip on the rear wing body-colour ,or just leave it as it is.

[Phil Nottingham]

I disagree about "original" apart from the modern stone-chip material, in the 60's even though Rover did try with its asbestos based underseal called "Bittac" careful owners undersealed as well with Ziebart etc and this was finished like that. To paint it body colour would not be period although it may look just as good!


Nice underneath!! Especially the gaitors although if leather they are not "original" either. They were black vynil leather cloth

As to foregoing aftermarket underseal I once broke a late1972 local P5B saloon in 1993 that had had this treatment with bungs and holes drilled all over the place as well. The only reason I broke it was that the shell was so much more rustier than the 69 saloon I had at the time. it was really bad and less than 20 years old then

I bought it solely for the almost new back wings and rust free but dull back bumper when these were scarse and changing hands at hundred's of pounds.

It also had a good saddle tan interior with no tears stains or split seams. I tried for ages advertising in Take 5, Freewheel and CCM but with no takers and eventually fitted to a 68 Silver Birch saloon with a tatty black leather interior. THis car gave good service for over 5 years and the seats still looked almost as new, we just did not like the colour though.

[Deleted]

Hey,I'm not hung up on originality...I have a Kenlowe fan,electric fuel pump ,even had the Motorola converted to FM and a jack to accept my I-pod ;D
I'm wondering about those spring gaitors now though......

[johnwp5bcoupe]

The Stone chip is done a bit heavy for me if I do mine I would do it lighter and cut it in without a definate line before spraying with the body colour it's a matter of taste, I can certainly remember cars in the early 70's being treated this way. Dinitrol is in my opinion the best underbody/cavity treatment also used by the MOD I will stick to my Denso Tape on the springs I know it looks none standard but they wont get any water or dirt problems I could make up some Black Vinyl Gators to hide it I suppose

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

02man,
Is that a Land-Rover engine mount I see there on the spring mount? If so, any chance of an end-on photo so I can see how much chamfering was required where they would have overlapped?

John,
Denso tape! Brilliant! My gaters have long since vanished. Any chance of a photo?

[johnwp5bcoupe]

Ozcoupe I cleaned the springs first rotary wire brush soaked in WD40 covered them in grease then wrapped them in Denso as I said it don't look pritty but sorry about the wheels I have a resonable set

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

Perhaps not, but then if a replacement gaiter is used it will be for cosmetic reasons and will not need to be water-tight.
Thanks John.
Can anyone explain please, why gaiters were used? Mass-market cars never had then; at least none I know of down here. Lesser cars just had bare dry leaves, with or without nylon spacer discs.
Is it just a hang over from the coachbuilding days?
Was it to protect against corrosion from salted roads?
Were they concerned about wear?
Or does it actually contribute to ride smoothness?

[Deleted]

My rear springs are now uncovered and don't squeak, creak or anything.
I do clean them and lubricate them occasionally.
What if water was trapped in the gaiters?
The springs could certainbly rust away un-noticed.

You can certainly see lots of non-Rovers with uncovered leaf springs without (it seems) any detrimental effects.

Any thoughts?

Freddy

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

That's more or less what I was thinking Freddy.
A rusty leaf spring is not an attractive thing, especially if it is visible in the wheel arch of an expensive car. That's why I was wondering if it was a remnant of how things used to be done because it was the sort of car that showed attention to detail. Did P3s and P4s have them? The Land-Rover didn't; they wouldn't have lasted long.
So it seems to me that it would be better to leave them exposed.
OR if you have them, remove them periodically for a clean and regrease. (What does the service book say?).
OR do what John has done and make it impossible for water and dirt to get in.
Not sure what I'll do, but it's probably premature even thinking about it. They would probably need resetting first anyway.

[johnwp5bcoupe]

The Gators were I think packed with grease but after a time the grease dissapeared the gators did as well I used denso because I know it works it is cheap not difficult to apply apart from you wont drop any spanners after using it those who have used it know what I mean when I used to climb aerial towers as part of my job to inspect aerials they had been up for decades when you removed the tape it was all like new under it keeping the springs lubricated does help with the ride/handling as well as prolonging the life of the springs

[Warwick (Ozcoupe)]

johnwp5bcoupe said:

keeping the springs lubricated does help with the ride/handling as well as prolonging the life of the springs

Ah; thanks John. That's what I was wondering. I'm a bit out of touch with leaf-sprung cars. Haven't owned one for nearly 35 years and my old 1955 Holden and the Rover are chalk and cheese. The FJ wasn't known for its ride or its handling.
Rover clearly went to a lot of trouble to isolate the body from the road. The cunning eccentric bush at the front of the leaf and the rubber mount at the back, with a more or less flat spring is very different from a spring with shackles that is still curved when the weight of the car is on it that is found on all the cars I've known. It also makes sense to make it move as freely as possible, which means lubrication.
I think that the Denso tape idea is brilliant as it relegates any gaiter to a purely cosmetic role. If you do use gaiters as per the original arrangement, I reckon you'd need to remove them periodically to clean and regrease otherwise trapping dirt and moisture inside, and grease that dries out, could make things worse and you wouldn't know. I suppose it depends a lot on the roads you travel too.
For those who don't know what Denso tape is, let me describe it. It's a kind of heavy, wide cloth ribbon that is impregnated with what smells and feels like soft beeswax. It isn't just impregnated - it's also very thickly coated on both sides. They use it, among other things, to wrap steel pipes that are to be buried. It stops corrosion. A machine wraps the tape around as the pipe is laid in the trench. When you wrap something with it you overlap the turns by as much as 50% and you can squeeze it onto the shape of the surface underneath. The overlapped edges just mould into one continuous waxy coating. It's grease and oil-proof, waterproof and airtight and it never goes hard or dries out. I've got half a roll in the shed that I've had for 25 years and it hasn't changed. Put it onto a clean greasy spring and any gaiter covering it could fill with mud and it still wouldn't get to the spring.

Have you done the front as well John?

[Phil Nottingham]

I have used Denso for years - not my idea as 1930's car owners used to do teh same. Gaiters were very popular standard fittment on upmarkets cars pre-war and Rover fitted them only as standard from the P4 range.

There are arguments for and against I think they are (EITHER DENSO OR GAITORS) good idea and some Land Rover owners do also

With plastic or leather gaitors its essential to fill with good fashioned chssis grease not HMP wheeel bearing stuff. Duckhams Keenol is one its white and used in marine applications as well

As to rust/squeaks I fitted new Wadhams springs in 1992 and wrapped them in Denso. They were squeaking after 10 years /30k miles but not rusty as far as I could tell. They have sagged howeever as weight is constant in spite of use/non-use I will shortly remove said wrapping which is looking tatty anyway to see how worn/rusty they are.

I think leather is better than PVC/Leather cloth that Rover fitted. Rolls Royces of 20-50's used leather!

[Deleted]

I always use denso tape,marvelous but mucky stuff.The gaiters are then used to cover the tape and I have fastened them with cable ties.
Cable ties are a relitavely modern invention though,what was used originally I wonder?

[Phil Nottingham]

With leather - strips of leather, with vynil strips of plastic tape/ties

[theroveringmember]

philnottingham said:

As to rust/squeaks I fitted new Wadhams springs in 1992 and wrapped them in Denso. They were squeaking after 10 years /30k miles but not rusty as far as I could tell. They have sagged howeever as weight is constant in spite of use/non-use I will shortly remove said wrapping which is looking tatty anyway to see how worn/rusty they are.

I've recommended them before but Brost Forge on the Caledonian road fitted our car with a re-forged set of rears 15 years & 20k miles ago (some of that towing, once a 3 litre on a 4-wheel trailer before I discovered it was illegal due to the towing weights ) & there has been no change in the height of the car whatsoever since then. Worth considering over new springs if you are in the south. Only drawback is they don't keep a set in stock now & would have to have your springs to work on. You can leave the car with them to do the whole job & I think you may find the cost of that roughly equivalent to simply buying a new pair of springs from a specialist (supply your own front bushes & Y-mounts if yours are worn). In fact with VAT & delivery on top I would think the re-forging price would be less. I know some have discouraged against this process but Brost have been in business a VERY long time dealing with all types of road vehicle & would know if your springs were past saving.
I've no connection with the firm, just recommending good work.

[Deleted]

wrapping your springs has two advantages - service life and ride quality. Leaf springs fail due to wearing out because fine grit gets caught in between the leaves and then as the springs do their job they are polished away. If you wrap your springs with denso or use a gaiter then you keep much of the muck out. Simples. There is a picture on this thread of denso wrapped springs - great, but it would be very good to spray waxoyl or Dinotrol on the exposed faces where the bolts stop you getting the denso in place. The combination of grease and a gaiter or denso means that the spring is protected from water and so corrosion will be significantly reduces. Just make sure you ensure that the wrapping and greasing is right before each winter and you'll have reliable springs for a lot longer.

[allanthomas1]

I use white stone chip sprayed over primer flat with wet and dry then spray the whole wing as normal can't tell its been done and you've got the protection as well.