Rover Mk 11 Coupe

[lewis]

Greetings all, I am considering buying a 1963 Rover MK 11 Coupe Auto. It's high mileage, with 215,000,  but has been lovingly cared for by its first and only owner. There's just a couple of questions I have. First, where I live, in Victoria, Australia, to get a road worthy certificate ( MOT ) you have to have a driver's side mirror attached to the door. Fender mirrors on their own are not acceptable.  So if I buy the car I will have one of these fitted.  But as a consequence I would like to remove the fender mirrors. I'm sure this can be done but what happens to the hole in each fender that will occur?  Can these be plugged up in some way? Second, as the front seats do not have head restraints , unlike the option available on the Mk111, is it possible to fit the ET head rests onto the Mk 11 seats ? Its no big deal as I can still get my Roadworthy, but I was wondering just the same. Any comments would be very appreciated. 

[Phil Nottingham]

Not poss to fit head restraints as the entire seat frame is different as well as the upholstery. The seats and mounts from a Mk3 or P5B would have to be fitted or from something else

The holes in the wings can be plugged with rubber grommets or chrome plated covers.

Good luck with your P5 - you will enjoy it!

[lewis]

Thanks Phil. I've always wanted to own a Coupe. Lewis

[enigmas]

Hi Lewis...where do you live in Victoria (if you don't mind me asking?) Country or inner suburbs/city? I reside in Bentleigh.

[lewis]

Hi enigma, I live in Ballarat. Famed for its hot and tropical climate Ha ha. Although like Melbourne it's been very smoky. 

[lewis]

PS. My rover is on its way down from Queensland. Because of the Bushfires it is going to take about 2 weeks. It has 220,000 miles but has a compete Service history. I bought it from the second owner, who purchased it from a Holden dealer. The original owner traded it in for a Holden Brougham. Can you believe it!

[tonys]

Congratulations on your purchase; there is a school of thought that the MK11 P5s were the pinnacle of Rover's quality and yours certainly sounds to have an interesting history. 'Slip-over' headrests were a popular accessory back in the day, although whether they would look right or actually work, I've no idea and I can't recall ever seeing any on P5s.

[charlie]

Years ago I once read a Rover 3 litre mk11 c is the nearest car to a Rolls Royce for comfort and quietness you can get, I agree with that, I like the speed of the V8 but the mk11 c is my pick of the bunch. I was once selling a mk11 and a couple came for a test drive I was in passenger seat he was driving then his wife in back said to him it's quieter than the Bentley, they took it then few weeks later I regretted selling it so found another, you can't do that now days.

[enigmas]

Jan 14, 2020 14:48:08 GMT lewis said:

Hi enigma, I live in Ballarat. Famed for its hot and tropical climate Ha ha. Although like Melbourne it's been very smoky. 

Hi Lewis...if you live in Ballarat then you may know Mark Richmond (Scott's brother) Mark dismantles P5 Rovers and is a good source for used parts.

~ Vince

[lewis]

-1963-Rover-3-Litre-Mk2-pdf.pdf (46.27 KB)

Hello all, well I've done the dirty deed and purchased this beautiful Stone grey with red interior Mk11 coupe. Although I have had numerous P6's I've always wanted a P5 coupe.  I trust my photo will come out. I had other pics but although I have reduced the file size the site says the file size is still too large so I will work on that. It was purchased new in Sydney by the previous owner. It has spent its life variously in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. To be specific it has 217,180 miles on the clock. Full maintenance records. A engine rebuild, new OEM materials interior and repaint at 177,000, and a DG transmission rebuild at 195,000 miles. The owner has kept a log of maintenance costs and over 57 years it has cost him $105,000. $1842 pa. It has zero rust and has only two problems that I can see. First, the right hand turn indicator has to be held down to allow the turn indicator to remain on, second the central Kenziel clock no longer works. 

David Green has sourced a central unvarnished locker for me install driving lights, sympathetic to the car. Ant so I can replace the central radio panel. 

I have to make one change to get a RWC ( MOT ) that is to replace the wing mirrors. Are Tex door mirrors the way to go. ? I would like to make one change and that is to install driving lights sympathetic to the car. Any suggestions. 

I receive the car in about three weeks, as the bushfires have made interstate travelling difficult

Vince, there is a guy in Ballarat, Ash Barlow, that works on P6 and P5's only. Thanks to the P6 and P5 owners club.com.au for that information.  .

[enigmas]

Well that's good news that you've found a P5 specialist in Ballarat Lewis.

These are the driving lights on my Mk3...French Ducelliers that I found at an auto jumble by chance and restored.



PS. Post your images here postimage.org/ it's a free archive and there's no limit to how many you store. Then link the images directly to this forum.

* Take a look where my side mounted external mirrors are mounted. I had no issues with these when it was transfered onto club registration (CPS) requiring a RWC...neither should you. The mirrors have been in place for over 25 years. Quiz the RWC guy...if he baulks go somewhere else.

[tonys]

Lewis

Congratulations. When you first see the total expenditure by the previous owner it looks fairly horrendous, until you realise the length of time and then it doesn't seem quite so bad. All relative, of course

Unfortunately, I can't open the picture file but I dont know if that's a problem at my end or not - eta. ignore that, I've done it now, probably a bit slow coming up from 'down under' .

It looks lovely.

[tonys]

Looking at the photo, the mirrors appear to be fitted in a fairly standard position for those P5s that I've seen with wing mirrors, accepting that they were generally dealer fitted or diy fitment as, IIRC, they weren't available from the factory with mirrors.

If you didn't want to have 'bungs' left in the holes, do your local regns allow for the clip-on type of door mirror, ie clips on to the window frame? - assuming you an still buy them, that is. Is it a legal requirement for a door mirror to be fitted at all times, or just a requirement of that particular test?

[lewis]

Thanks gentlemen for your comments and feedback. 

[djm16]

Congratulations on buying a masterpiece.

The indicator problem is a broken nylon yoke worth 50C (obtainable from Wadhams) but very hard to fit without breaking something else (I speak from bitter personal experience ).

The Kienzle clocks typically burn out their solenoid contacts. They can be refreshed, but you might be better off buying a refreshed / restored unit from eBay. They also commonly cause a short circuit when failing, and so need to have an inline fuse (is there one hidden behind the clock?). There is grub screw underneath that will release the clock from the dash.

[lewis]

Many thanks for that advice DJM

[3litrekiwi]

The mirrors on your car look like they are mounted in the same place I have an aerial Vince. I have no external mirrors and would like to fit one to replace the aerial. What I am unsure about is how to access the inside of the guard. My inner splash guard or dash to front wing panel as it is in the parts book is well coated with underseal. Does this panel unscrew? Also, the drivers side looks like it will be effective in this position, what is the visibility like from the passenger side mirror?

[enigmas]

Feb 8, 2020 7:25:57 GMT 3litrekiwi said:

The mirrors on your car look like they are mounted in the same place I have an aerial Vince. I have no external mirrors and would like to fit one to replace the aerial. What I am unsure about is how to access the inside of the guard. My inner splash guard or dash to front wing panel as it is in the parts book is well coated with underseal. Does this panel unscrew? Also, the drivers side looks like it will be effective in this position, what is the visibility like from the passenger side mirror?

Hi Martin...both side mounted mirrors have been in place for well over 20 years and attach to the top of each guard by virtue of 2 countersunk self tapping screws (top down)...so you don't need to access under the mudguards (or wings/fenders ) They've never become loose.

As for visibility both seem to work out fine for me...I've never really needed to consider it as the coupe has good all around visibility much better than our modern SUV.

I'll check it out tomorrow (in daylight) and provide you with more detailed info and a few pix as to their precise location.

[enigmas]

Here are the side mirror pix as promised Martin.
They are fitted 10cm or 4" forward from the rear edge of the front mudguard/wing/fender.
Note the fixing screws through the top of the mount.
Both are easily viewed through the windscreen

[Ken Nelson]

Hi Lewis and Martin, here are 2 pics of my car with door mounted mirror that work OK also and avoid mirrors out on the wings. I have to bend my head slightly to get a good view out of the passenger side mirror, but all-in-all they work well. They are also attached with sheet metal screws into the door from the outside.

Attachments:

[3litrekiwi]

Thanks Vince, the position looks like it is exactly where mine would be if the drivers side one covers the current aerial hole. I've found some that screw on with a base that is large enough to cover the hole however I would like to get the aerial out without taking the guard off if possible.

Hopefully someone knows whether the inner splash panel comes off or not. 

Cheers

[3litrekiwi]

Thanks Ken, I've taken the radio out that came in the car which was incorrect and faulty. I don't plan on fitting another that needs an aerial so would like to cover the hole. If Vince has good visibility from the same position I will give it a try. If I end up having to weld one 20mm hole up and repaint the area, a couple of extra screw holes won't make much difference to the job. I realise the closer to the driver the better but this position is much better than over the centre of the wheel.

[djm16]

A couple of years back, I replaced the wing mounted aerial. From memory, I removed the bolts securing the lower rear part of the wing, and was able to ease it back enough to get an arm up to the underside of the aerial.

[3litrekiwi]

Finally got around to buying and fitting a pair of door mirrors. I tried the Tex handed stems (M16021/23) but couldn’t find a position that looked like I would be able to get useful vision. I swapped the stems for the higher straight type (M16037). I fitted the stems with countersunk rivnuts rather than the plastic spigots supplied and am pretty happy with the result.

[3litrekiwi]

And the passengers side.

I did need to machine the lock nut on the mirror to get enough travel so that I was not looking at the scenery beside the car rather than behind.