looking for a 3500s

A

ampwhu

Active Member
Hello all. After 30 years without a P6, i asked around about buying another.

I used to own a 3500 auto in the early 1990's. I fell on hard times and had to sell it back then. Fast forward 30 years and i have decided to look for another. Only this time it must be a 3500s manual.

After speaking to someone at a car show today, they have given me details of a potential car not far from me that is available. I have contact details now and will be making contact in the week.

All i would like to know is what should i be looking for on initial inspection? I am a competent home mechanic and can take on most jobs. I have a good armoury of tools and some good mates to ask for help.

Any advice would be great.
 
Rust.

The external panels are all bolt on so can hide a lot of rust. Check sills by running your hand down them in front of the front seat, and pressing the floor/sill joint with you finger tips. Check the front of the sill behind the front wheel, as they go here and let water into the sill box section, where it sits and slowly eats it way out.

Remove the rear seat swabs and check the sill there, and peel back the carpet on the sides of the boot, and check the integrity of the metal around the bolt head, it holds the rear axle and can rust around it.

Check everywhere you can for the dreaded tin worm
 
You really need to search through the site as trying to explain all the little issues with a car up to 60 years old will take a while :hmm:

Saying that, when you go to see it, try to ensure it is started from cold, i.e. check it hasn't been warmed up prior to your arrival. You should get 30-40psi from a cold start, then sit around 30 on a run around when warm. V8s do run at a low pressure.

Apart from that check gears select easily, no noise from engine, no knocks from the rear end or front suspension. Find a nice smooth road and check it accelerates well though the rev range (within reason), and then find a bumpy road to listen for any knocks or rattles.
 
Gearbox! Possibly the wakes link in the 3500S. Listen or tappet noise, which could be a worn cam-shaft, not a 'lazy tappet,'
After over 30yrs of 3500S ownership, I still rate it as the best car I have owned and cannot think of a viable replacement for the same running costs.
When you hear of all the software problems with modern cars, you will b glad you have an older car.
 
Most suffer from inadequate oil changes. Remove the oil filler cap, insert a finger and wipe inside of rocker cover - if dry, oil feed might be suspect. If rockers have caked on gunge the shafts and rockers are probably done for. Not overly costly if you use after market parts, which will probablyoutlast you. Here is one of my shafts.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2032.JPG
    IMG_2032.JPG
    3.2 MB · Views: 25
Last edited:
But the truth is a respray is now £5k and a retrim £2.5k+ so rust aside those are what'll cost the put right. Mechanicals are easy, what people are telling you is very basic precautions any old car would need.. Even a knackered transmission can be swapped for well under a grand or taken as an opportunity for an upgrade.

P6 specific I'd watch steering and suspension, in principle you can diagnose problems and replace like any other. However in practice I've found seemingly unsolvable issues presumably short of just replacing everything. A sloppy-driving P6 can just be moderate wear in everything, the whole set-up seems to multiply this.
 
I'll add one into the mix; buy a 3500 Auto, and use the width of the transmission tunnel to fit a modern 5-speed box, rather than the tiny tunnel on a 3500S with it's 50 year old 4-speed box.
 
harveyp6 said:
A 5 speed box will fit in the 4 speed tunnel.
Click to expand...

It will indeed, but it's a tight fit, I remember doing one where I had to open the tunnel out slightly with a scissor jack.

Saying that, fitting it to an auto means you have less leg room, have to find a manual pedal box, master cylinder, slave cylinder etc to complete the conversion. The propshaft fits though :)
 
this is all good info. I remember my 3500 auto wasn't slow when it got going!

I am viewing the 3500s this saturday afternoon. I'll report back on my findings.
 
hello all. I went to view the car today and when i got there, i was disappointed. The car turned out to be a 1970 series 1 3500 auto.

The bodywork was to be fair, 9/10. the only fault i could find was some bubbling below the front indicators on both front wings. Thats it. I lifted the rear seats and found it bone dry. Underneath there was no visible corrosion and the rear suspension tube wasn't leaking either.

i chatted with the owner and got the asking price. I have said i would call back in the morning and give my answer. it wasn't a pressure sale but i've already made my mind up that i want a manual V8. The search goes on....
 
hello all, i have been searching for a car and have finally seen one i like. I have arranged to view it next week. I'll let you know how i get on!
 
so after searching and waiting for years, i now have a 3500s. I'm happy. A little amount to do and i can't wait to get started.20220910_154953.jpg20220910_155005.jpg
 
Congratulations! Hope you will be happy with it. It looks fine, and I wonder if it has a new interior? Seems to be different colour on the piping.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top