Krueger
New Member
I should start off with my car is not a matching numbers 'as it left the factory' car. I once put an image of my modified Ducati on a Ducati forum and the reception was more like I had stamped on their pet kittens than a welcome.
with that out of the way, I bought a p6 a month or two back. I had tried buying the ebay 'wedding car' (I cant think of a worse car as a wedding car, imagine a woman in her big flowing dress squeezing into the back of a p6 lol), and both times it never hit reserve and didnt sell, still hasn't in fact.
So moving on I saw two black cars appear in a short space of time, the first was a true mark one without bumpers and looking a little unhappy. The second is the one I bought that looks fine from twenty feet, and a lot less fine close up. If ever a car needed a respray then this is it.
The 120 mile journey home with it was fine apart from revealing a couple of niggles, the bonnet dodnt want to stay down. Two stops to re close it, no fun on a 'smart' motorway with no hard shoulder lane. The second was a grumble and clunk from steering that didnt show til I got home though there was some vagueness in the steering. The third was a very erratic speedo.
The bonnet problem is a cable issue. i need to get another but so far I have only seen it at 50 quid and thats too painful at this stage as its eaten a good few quid already.
Jobs done so far and in a very short space of time are replacement of door seal strips (between panels), speedo cable and gearbox Speedo drive gear. Steering idler replaced to eliminate the clunk and which also eliminated the car wandering on the motorway. A quick service and replacement of plugs which brought the car into a much nicer state to drive. The leather on the steering wheel was coming away more every time I drove it as the stitching was letting go (no power steering so this was getting worse fast as you needed a fair grip) so a temporary wheel has gone on for a while. I know wheel changes trigger all sorts of vehemence but I actually grew to like it. The only real negative is how much a 15 inch wheel needs heavy input at slow speeds and stationary. 16 would have been better but (the original being a 17 I think). A quick drill and tap in the boss allowed for putting in a couple of bolts to keep the cancelling indicators. The stereo in the car was something I could have lived with despite it being modern, but no bluetooth so I have a cheap (really really cheap) head unit in there now that gave me bluetooth and is a bit less modern looking. When parked though I usually cover it with a rover blanking plate so it looks less bleurgh to passers by. The previous owner had a three port cigarette lighter/auxiliary thing that plugged into the original lighter socket and was in the cubby hole over the head unit. This then had a set of cheap tacky leds that were powered by one of the lighter sockets with both leds stuck on the switch panel for a bit of light up front inside. I hated how they looked so they are now gone. Replaced by two very subtle leds in the centre console that provide some light in the footwell when needed. I am adding a couple of switches to that centre console panel (the easily replaced bit) so I can have glovebox and maplight illumination. Ising the centre panel allows for not butchering anything that cant be undone with a ten pound panel later. The alarm/immobiliser light and a usb charger are also in that panel now.
The car itself is all over the internet. I bought it to drive, not to sit pretty and only do shows so originality wasnt a must. Its mostly a 1968 v8 series one. But seats,dash and instruments are series 2. The wheels I am told are from a p5. Personally I prefer them to the wheel trims of the original, but I am sure thats all a matter of taste. The touring kit for external spare wheel is there, but the only way I can fit the wheel is upside down and it seems a bit 'alien spaceship' with the gap between wheel and boot. Maybe the kits for a non v8? Either way I prefer the wheel in the boot.
Jobs to do:- I have water getting in from somewhere around the windscreen on the offside, I need to sort that sooner than later. The wiring in the stereo area is not great, sorting that this week, its all a bit heath robinson and my stereo switch was a speed thing that revealed the iffy wiring in there. Not unsafe, just not tidy. Rear windcreen heater isnt working, not a priority that. Some water gets in over the passenger door so I figure the seals are a bit tired there and need attantion. The heater doesn't. Not worked out why yet, the fan itself is also on its last legs with some odd noises on firing it up, it works fine, but the initial squeals are less than rover like. The ammeter doesn't work, and with no idea how to get that working it probably mever will. I have a spare set of clocks so I might try and work a voltmeter into the space at some point in the future if I can do it in a way that looks OE.
Structurally the car seems sound, my mechanic guy had a look at whats behind the bolt off panels and said shes ok. but the paintwork is rough to say the least. A bit of elbow grease made it look a bit better, but shes no beauty in that department.
So, apart from all that, the cars fun, fires up on first turn of the key and runs well enough for me with a nice deep v8 rumble from the pipe. Kickdown works well and its generally a nice drive.
with that out of the way, I bought a p6 a month or two back. I had tried buying the ebay 'wedding car' (I cant think of a worse car as a wedding car, imagine a woman in her big flowing dress squeezing into the back of a p6 lol), and both times it never hit reserve and didnt sell, still hasn't in fact.
So moving on I saw two black cars appear in a short space of time, the first was a true mark one without bumpers and looking a little unhappy. The second is the one I bought that looks fine from twenty feet, and a lot less fine close up. If ever a car needed a respray then this is it.
The 120 mile journey home with it was fine apart from revealing a couple of niggles, the bonnet dodnt want to stay down. Two stops to re close it, no fun on a 'smart' motorway with no hard shoulder lane. The second was a grumble and clunk from steering that didnt show til I got home though there was some vagueness in the steering. The third was a very erratic speedo.
The bonnet problem is a cable issue. i need to get another but so far I have only seen it at 50 quid and thats too painful at this stage as its eaten a good few quid already.
Jobs done so far and in a very short space of time are replacement of door seal strips (between panels), speedo cable and gearbox Speedo drive gear. Steering idler replaced to eliminate the clunk and which also eliminated the car wandering on the motorway. A quick service and replacement of plugs which brought the car into a much nicer state to drive. The leather on the steering wheel was coming away more every time I drove it as the stitching was letting go (no power steering so this was getting worse fast as you needed a fair grip) so a temporary wheel has gone on for a while. I know wheel changes trigger all sorts of vehemence but I actually grew to like it. The only real negative is how much a 15 inch wheel needs heavy input at slow speeds and stationary. 16 would have been better but (the original being a 17 I think). A quick drill and tap in the boss allowed for putting in a couple of bolts to keep the cancelling indicators. The stereo in the car was something I could have lived with despite it being modern, but no bluetooth so I have a cheap (really really cheap) head unit in there now that gave me bluetooth and is a bit less modern looking. When parked though I usually cover it with a rover blanking plate so it looks less bleurgh to passers by. The previous owner had a three port cigarette lighter/auxiliary thing that plugged into the original lighter socket and was in the cubby hole over the head unit. This then had a set of cheap tacky leds that were powered by one of the lighter sockets with both leds stuck on the switch panel for a bit of light up front inside. I hated how they looked so they are now gone. Replaced by two very subtle leds in the centre console that provide some light in the footwell when needed. I am adding a couple of switches to that centre console panel (the easily replaced bit) so I can have glovebox and maplight illumination. Ising the centre panel allows for not butchering anything that cant be undone with a ten pound panel later. The alarm/immobiliser light and a usb charger are also in that panel now.
The car itself is all over the internet. I bought it to drive, not to sit pretty and only do shows so originality wasnt a must. Its mostly a 1968 v8 series one. But seats,dash and instruments are series 2. The wheels I am told are from a p5. Personally I prefer them to the wheel trims of the original, but I am sure thats all a matter of taste. The touring kit for external spare wheel is there, but the only way I can fit the wheel is upside down and it seems a bit 'alien spaceship' with the gap between wheel and boot. Maybe the kits for a non v8? Either way I prefer the wheel in the boot.
Jobs to do:- I have water getting in from somewhere around the windscreen on the offside, I need to sort that sooner than later. The wiring in the stereo area is not great, sorting that this week, its all a bit heath robinson and my stereo switch was a speed thing that revealed the iffy wiring in there. Not unsafe, just not tidy. Rear windcreen heater isnt working, not a priority that. Some water gets in over the passenger door so I figure the seals are a bit tired there and need attantion. The heater doesn't. Not worked out why yet, the fan itself is also on its last legs with some odd noises on firing it up, it works fine, but the initial squeals are less than rover like. The ammeter doesn't work, and with no idea how to get that working it probably mever will. I have a spare set of clocks so I might try and work a voltmeter into the space at some point in the future if I can do it in a way that looks OE.
Structurally the car seems sound, my mechanic guy had a look at whats behind the bolt off panels and said shes ok. but the paintwork is rough to say the least. A bit of elbow grease made it look a bit better, but shes no beauty in that department.
So, apart from all that, the cars fun, fires up on first turn of the key and runs well enough for me with a nice deep v8 rumble from the pipe. Kickdown works well and its generally a nice drive.