Planned refurbishment plans and ideas

[rover3l123]

Thought it might be of interest to report that I have embarked on a planned refurbishment of the my 1965 P5 Mk11c saloon. It has done a genuine 61,000 miles from new with the first 36,000 done between 1965 and 1968 as a company car for the then chairman of Slough Estates.

While the bodywork was restored in 1990-1993 time frame (complete sills, D posts, rear wing repairs, tonneau panels, front wing repairs, splash panels, subframe mounting repair and boot edge) and necessary mechanical work done, it is now time to go through the whole car in a series of priority steps.

I am just coming to the end of Priority One items which I set out as follows:

1. Replacement calipers, pads, shoes, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, servo, fluid change, replace fluid reservoir and general cleaning. The brake pipes were replaced a few years ago.

2. Replacement nylon bushings in accelerator shaft, replace throttle lever, set up throttle linkage, SU carb overhaul and tuning

3. Replace coil, leads, plugs, points, condenser, rotor arm, distributor cap

4. Replace all front suspension bushings, anti roll bar bushings, top and bottom ball joint boots, sand blast and epoxy paint all suspension components

5. Check ball joints for play, inspect and re-grease front wheel bearings

6. Adjust tappets and replace gaskets

7. Fix indicators and various bad earth connections and non functioning lights.

8. Replace old fuel pump with electronic version

9. Oil and filter change plus new air filter

10. New shocks all round

11. Replace all coolant hoses and heater valve

12. Replaced fan and power steering belts

The plan with these priority items was to get the car road worthy and as reliable as possible.

I would be interested if there are any essential items people think I have missed.

For 2021 I plan to move to a priority 2 list and what I have so far is as follows:

1. Change gear box and over drive oil

2. Change differential oil, check breather and inspect rear hubs for leaks

3. Inspect prop shaft and decide whether to replace bushings and Universal Joint

4. Inspect gear box and engine mounts and decide whether to change

5. Inspect leaf springs and bushings and decide whether to replace

6. Carefully inspect wiring harness and connections

7. Check operation of wipers and adjust self park if needed

8. Have radiator and heater pressure tested and tested for flow

9. Decide how to deal with leaking power steering box

10. Inspect voltage regulator

11. Replace dynamo brushes

Again I would be interested in anything obvious I have missed

At my mileage, do members think I should delve into the engine? For example by removing the sump to inspect the crankshaft and possibly removing the head to inspect the inlet valves and valve gear. Replacing the inlet valve seals might make sense?

Beyond Priority 2, I have various cosmetic things to eventually do in 2022/3 such as stainless steel bumpers, a small amount of bodywork and various other small items.

Sorry for the long thread, but if anyone is fed up of turkey after tomorrow and not interested in Christmas movies, then advising me on my list might be more fun!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas fellow P5 owners and let's hope we can use our cars in 2021

[Ken Nelson]

Wow David, when I saw your car in 2010 it looked pretty good and now it must be twice as good again! I see that you have also rebuilt your front suspension too. Since you completed that, perhaps you have some advice for members about that job (see "Front Suspension Assembly" and "Radius Rod Bush-Replacement" and "Radius Rod Modification"). I believe both our cars are P5 MkIIc manual shift cars (yours RHD and mine LHD), so I assume your power steering pump is driven off the rear of the generator also? If so, I have thought about replacing the coupling piece that connects them, and I have also thought about trying to have a spare idler tensioner wheel for the generator belt, or at least put a new bearing in there if possible. I did also replace my water pump which had a slight leak, as well as the thermostat, hoses, and belts as you did.

Regarding your 2021 phase I did have my rear springs reset at a shop with new front bushings. My rear Contrasonic bushings had completely torn away from the springs, so I remade them using MG Midget motor mounts and they have held up well so far, which supports your other post about the Contrasonic bushings being made with the same compound as motor mounts. I did get 2 other replacements from Wadhams, but haven't needed them yet. My voltage regulator also was intermittently cutting out so I replaced it with a NOS spare 35 amp replacement I had (I believe Phil has said that the 35 amp are unavailable now and you can only get 30 amp ones).

For your leaky PS Box, I would recommend trying to find a RHD Volvo 164 box in place of the Rover original if possible. The steering is much nicer, and the build quality appears much better, and they don't leak (at least my LHD one hasn't even after sitting for ? long in a breakers' yard). You need to make another mounting plate, but lots on search about it, and the steering arm bolts right on, the connector to steering column can be made from a modified Triump TR6 one, and hydraulic connections can be made with a metric to UNF adapter. The geometry seems to work out fine using the same mounting bolt holes, and since you are RHD there will be no interference with the exhaust pipe that I had to deal with.

If your gearshift lever works well without slop, I would leave it. If not, I would rebuild all the components completely. Mine was really shot.

Finally, if your engine oil is not terribly grungy, and has been changed fairly regularly in the past, I would just do a compression test on the engine. If that is good (I think mine was about 175 lbs after I rebuilt it) I would leave the engine alone. My engine had about 85,000 miles on it and was only rebuilt because it seized solid after mice used the engine cylinders as honeymoon suites for years in a farmer's field. My cylinders did not have to be rebored, and I don't believe I replaced the camshaft or had to grind the crankshaft or replace any valves.( I did have the valves lapped in again). Keep us updated as you go

[rover3l123]

Dec 25, 2020 19:33:15 GMT Ken Nelson said:

Wow David, when I saw your car in 2010 it looked pretty good and now it must be twice as good again! I see that you have also rebuilt your front suspension too. Since you completed that, perhaps you have some advice for members about that job (see "Front Suspension Assembly" and "Radius Rod Bush-Replacement" and "Radius Rod Modification"). I believe both our cars are P5 MkIIc manual shift cars (yours RHD and mine LHD), so I assume your power steering pump is driven off the rear of the generator also? If so, I have thought about replacing the coupling piece that connects them, and I have also thought about trying to have a spare idler tensioner wheel for the generator belt, or at least put a new bearing in there if possible. I did also replace my water pump which had a slight leak, as well as the thermostat, hoses, and belts as you did.

Regarding your 2021 phase I did have my rear springs reset at a shop with new front bushings. My rear Contrasonic bushings had completely torn away from the springs, so I remade them using MG Midget motor mounts and they have held up well so far, which supports your other post about the Contrasonic bushings being made with the same compound as motor mounts. I did get 2 other replacements from Wadhams, but haven't needed them yet. My voltage regulator also was intermittently cutting out so I replaced it with a NOS spare 35 amp replacement I had (I believe Phil has said that the 35 amp are unavailable now and you can only get 30 amp ones).

For your leaky PS Box, I would recommend trying to find a RHD Volvo 164 box in place of the Rover original if possible. The steering is much nicer, and the build quality appears much better, and they don't leak (at least my LHD one hasn't even after sitting for ? long in a breakers' yard). You need to make another mounting plate, but lots on search about it, and the steering arm bolts right on, the connector to steering column can be made from a modified Triump TR6 one, and hydraulic connections can be made with a metric to UNF adapter. The geometry seems to work out fine using the same mounting bolt holes, and since you are RHD there will be no interference with the exhaust pipe that I had to deal with.

If your gearshift lever works well without slop, I would leave it. If not, I would rebuild all the components completely. Mine was really shot.

Finally, if your engine oil is not terribly grungy, and has been changed fairly regularly in the past, I would just do a compression test on the engine. If that is good (I think mine was about 175 lbs after I rebuilt it) I would leave the engine alone. My engine had about 85,000 miles on it and was only rebuilt because it seized solid after mice used the engine cylinders as honeymoon suites for years in a farmer's field. My cylinders did not have to be rebored, and I don't believe I replaced the camshaft or had to grind the crankshaft or replace any valves.( I did have the valves lapped in again). Keep us updated as you go

Ken

Thanks for the great reply and hope you guys had a great Christmas.

Yes my Rover still looks pretty good, but work got in the way of being able to spend time on it since I last met you. I am sort of semi retired / consulting now and so have re-engaged with the Rover and enjoying it.

For the front suspension, I decided it was beyond my personally capabilities and with some arthritis in a couple of fingers, it is tough to do the more challenging jobs.

I have found a good resource Wolf Motor Sports, who work on all sorts of interesting classics and race cars for the Road America crowd at Elkhart Lake.

My gear level is very sloppy and I am sure that the nylon spherical piece has disintegrated. However, I read that you replaced some other pieces as well. Can you advise specifically what those were and are they on Wadhams list of parts?

The Volvo PS box could be a good pragmatic solution, although I would like to keep it original. The Milwaukee area has really good engineering shops (due to its history) and I was thinking of trying to see if any of them could modify our boxes with a better solution. Probably not cost effective and I will research the Volvo box in more detail.

I like the idea of re-setting the springs and probably there is somewhere in WI that does this.

I was thinking with the engine to flush the water channels after removing the core (Welch) plugs and also drop the sump to clean it out and inspect the bottom end. A compression test makes sense as a starting point. I am hoping that with some general maintenance of the engine I can avoid a rebuild, although the valve seals I am sure need doing based on the level of exhaust smoke when the accelerator is floored

[Ken Nelson]

Thanks David, yes we had a nice Christmas also. Your ideas about the engine sound wise. For my gearshift lever rebuild I bought Gearlever Lower Section (#533546) for which I had to send my original part in for Wadhams to refurbish (see Pic) and 2 Manual Gearlever Bushes (#539615). These 2 bushes are pushed into the remote shift housing and the long rod moving the selector in the trans is secured by these bushes. I also bought the Gear Selector Lever (#532996) which is bolted to the front of the long gear change shaft assembly rod and inserts into the top of the transmission to move the selectors in the transmission. I also bought reverse stop washer (#539623) and manual Gear Lever Gaiter (#381096). Amazingly I did not need to buy the Spherical Bush (#539685) as it was not worn. This all adds up to a frightful bit of money at something like about £240 even without VAT so I would take a closer look at yours to be sure everything is needed. However, it was all needed on mine due to the rubber parts having disintegrated on all those parts. I did have to file down the bottom of the teflon part of the Gearlever Lower Section to make it fit, but otherwise all the parts fit well. I think it would be difficult to find all the correct bits elsewhere than Wadhams. Good luck, and Happy New Year.

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[rover3l123]

Ken

Thank you for this which was super helpful. This gives me a clear plan to work on sourcing these.

[Ken Nelson]

Here is a picture of one of my worn suspension bushings before replacement.

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[Ken Nelson]

And here are some pictures of the gear lever shift pieces that all needed to be refurbished or replaced to get rid of all the slop in the mechanism.

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[Ken Nelson]

Three more pictures

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