1972 P6 V8 - The Lush
- Thread starter Baron von Marlon
- Start date
Baron von Marlon
Member
Cheers 
. You won't regret buying it!
. You won't regret buying it!
Baron von Marlon
Member
It's been a while since I last updated this, purely because there hasn't been anything to report! Once back together the car performed faultlessly for the rest of the year, the only minor niggle is that the resprayed front wings don't quite match the rest of the car. Unfortunately the paint system it was painted with had been discontinued, so the painter had to match the colour by eye. It's very close, but noticeably different in some lights:
It's subtle, but it niggles me slightly at times. Still, I can live with it for the time being as a full respray is a long way off.
So to bring the story up to date, the car came out of the garage around April, a quick service and oil change at she was good to go. I haven't managed to use it as much as I'd like, other things keep getting in the way. Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago I got back from work early, the sun was shining and it seemed rude not to go out for a spin.
Some 60 miles later I passed home, my wife was back from work so we both went out for a bit more of a spin. Things were going great, then I hear a noise. What that? I think. First response - is it on the music? i turn the music down and can still hear it. It doesn't sound good. Fortunately we're just round the corner from my Mum's house, so limp round. A quick bit of investigation later and:
Bugger.
Still, fortunately it happened just round the corner from somewhere familiar and somewhere in town, as I'd not had any dinner at this point, so managed to get some fish and chips in whilst waiting for the recovery service to turn up. I'd have been really narked if it had failed in the middle of nowhere!
At this point I'm not sure what's wrong, it's definitely the gearbox and it either the input or layshaft as the horrible noise goes away when the clutch is depressed. Fortunately I happened to have a spare LT77 in adequate condition in the garage, and have managed to find someone who can put that in for me before Roverfest. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do it myself at the moment.
At least I can now pick it up on Monday and now have to give it a wash sometime next week before heading off to Warwickshire. Hope to meet some of you there!
It's subtle, but it niggles me slightly at times. Still, I can live with it for the time being as a full respray is a long way off.
So to bring the story up to date, the car came out of the garage around April, a quick service and oil change at she was good to go. I haven't managed to use it as much as I'd like, other things keep getting in the way. Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago I got back from work early, the sun was shining and it seemed rude not to go out for a spin.
Some 60 miles later I passed home, my wife was back from work so we both went out for a bit more of a spin. Things were going great, then I hear a noise. What that? I think. First response - is it on the music? i turn the music down and can still hear it. It doesn't sound good. Fortunately we're just round the corner from my Mum's house, so limp round. A quick bit of investigation later and:
Bugger.
Still, fortunately it happened just round the corner from somewhere familiar and somewhere in town, as I'd not had any dinner at this point, so managed to get some fish and chips in whilst waiting for the recovery service to turn up. I'd have been really narked if it had failed in the middle of nowhere!
At this point I'm not sure what's wrong, it's definitely the gearbox and it either the input or layshaft as the horrible noise goes away when the clutch is depressed. Fortunately I happened to have a spare LT77 in adequate condition in the garage, and have managed to find someone who can put that in for me before Roverfest. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do it myself at the moment.
At least I can now pick it up on Monday and now have to give it a wash sometime next week before heading off to Warwickshire. Hope to meet some of you there!
Last edited:
DamianZ28
Active Member
Hi Martin,
Nice to see you and the car back on the forum, I don’t use it much now but occasionally have browse. A pain in the butt with the gearbox but sounds like you’ve got it sorted.
Great to see it looking in superb condition! the paint match looks really good, I know the cellulose that I use to paint it some 5~6 years ago is real pain to prevent it from fading, I used to give a good going over with my mop using Autoglym resin polish then a once over with that colour magic in red. Seemed to work, like you it was always garaged and probably ‘over’ polished, I know I used to dread polishing the wheels as they took ages .
Will you be at the Thornfalcon show on the 20th August, I’m hoping to visit so be good to see the car and say hi quick. Unfortunately no new projects as still no garage oh and getting married September the 9th! Possibly next year I can look at another toy but need to build a garage first!
Anyway hope you have a good trip the Roverfest, cheers Damian.
Nice to see you and the car back on the forum, I don’t use it much now but occasionally have browse. A pain in the butt with the gearbox but sounds like you’ve got it sorted.
Great to see it looking in superb condition! the paint match looks really good, I know the cellulose that I use to paint it some 5~6 years ago is real pain to prevent it from fading, I used to give a good going over with my mop using Autoglym resin polish then a once over with that colour magic in red. Seemed to work, like you it was always garaged and probably ‘over’ polished, I know I used to dread polishing the wheels as they took ages .
Will you be at the Thornfalcon show on the 20th August, I’m hoping to visit so be good to see the car and say hi quick. Unfortunately no new projects as still no garage oh and getting married September the 9th! Possibly next year I can look at another toy but need to build a garage first!
Anyway hope you have a good trip the Roverfest, cheers Damian.
Baron von Marlon
Member
Hi Damian, good to hear from you! The cellulose does seem to be holding up quite well, although the car does spend its time in the garage when not being used, which does help. I do give it a good polish then a couple of waxes a year, which seems to keep things looking nice. Congratulations on the wedding - I hope you have a great day, i still have fond memories of ours, which was a few years ago now.
Unfortunately we won't be at Thornfalcon this year due to prior commitments, but hope to see you at another show at some point in the future for a chat. Hopefully you may even have a garage and something to put it by then!
Unfortunately we won't be at Thornfalcon this year due to prior commitments, but hope to see you at another show at some point in the future for a chat. Hopefully you may even have a garage and something to put it by then!
DamianZ28
Active Member
Hi Martin,
How's it going and how's the car ? have you done much more in the last year?. I now have new garage and driveway and even better have just acquired an SD1 V8 engine and LT77 5 spd box, complete with all the mountings ect. My lovely wife bowed down to my pressure (winging) about the lack of V8 in my life ;-). Plans are to put it in a 2 dr moggy minor so once funds permit I'll be on the look out for scrapper 2 dr but for now I'll just tinker with the engine, I may pop down to Thornfalcon this Sunday but still the ever DIY demands my attention :-$.
Cheers Damian, oh the wedding was a great day, our wedding car was a 1970 Plymouth Duster, my mate borrowed it, we left the church in the style of the a rolling burn out past all our guests !
How's it going and how's the car ? have you done much more in the last year?. I now have new garage and driveway and even better have just acquired an SD1 V8 engine and LT77 5 spd box, complete with all the mountings ect. My lovely wife bowed down to my pressure (winging) about the lack of V8 in my life ;-). Plans are to put it in a 2 dr moggy minor so once funds permit I'll be on the look out for scrapper 2 dr but for now I'll just tinker with the engine, I may pop down to Thornfalcon this Sunday but still the ever DIY demands my attention :-$.
Cheers Damian, oh the wedding was a great day, our wedding car was a 1970 Plymouth Duster, my mate borrowed it, we left the church in the style of the a rolling burn out past all our guests !
Baron von Marlon
Member
Hi Damian - sorry it's taken so long to reply! Nearly 5 years has to be some kind of record... I've not visited the forum for a very long time, as there's not been anything to report on the car for quite some time and there was a long-ish period of time where I didn't really use it. It spent a bit of time in storage too when I moved into a place without a garage - there was no way I was letting it go though! Fortunately I'm now living somewhere with a reasonable sized garage, that I'm planning to expand next year, so back to it.
Glad to hear that you are still keeping busy with projects and it's great to see that you've got another P6 on the go! I need to have a proper read of your thread to see what you've been up to. Your wedding car sounds awesome! The Rover will be used as our wedding car in October - i just have to figure out now if I'm going to drive it or let my mate behind the wheel
To bring things up to date, the diff mounting plate split in September 18, leading to another trip home on the back of a truck. Bizarrely the driver was the same guy who came to collect me the time that the gearbox decided to give up and he remembered the car from the last time. The rear mounts must have been softer than I thought they were, so these were replaced at the same time that the new mounting plate was fitted.
Ouch.
I've done a few bits to the car over the last few months - rebuilt the carbs as I suspected that the choke O rings and seals were going as the mixture was getting richer. I also had some intermittent running problems, that I now think was a bit of water in the bottom of the fuel tank - a couple of bottles of methylated spirits seems to have cured that one.
Mid rebuild. I found the workshop manual much more useful than the instructions supplied by Burlen, although I guess that they're more generic HIF6 instructions, as opposed to those tailored to the P6.
The petrol pump also packed in just after having the carbs set up, so have replaced that too. I'm hoping to get a bit of use from her between now and the wedding to make sure she's running well on the day!
Winter plans include a headlight and fuse box upgrade and a heater rebuild. It gets pretty warm in there with the uncontrolled flow of hot air on my legs!
Still a good looking car and the cellulose is holding up well with plenty of wax applied.
Glad to hear that you are still keeping busy with projects and it's great to see that you've got another P6 on the go! I need to have a proper read of your thread to see what you've been up to. Your wedding car sounds awesome! The Rover will be used as our wedding car in October - i just have to figure out now if I'm going to drive it or let my mate behind the wheel
To bring things up to date, the diff mounting plate split in September 18, leading to another trip home on the back of a truck. Bizarrely the driver was the same guy who came to collect me the time that the gearbox decided to give up and he remembered the car from the last time. The rear mounts must have been softer than I thought they were, so these were replaced at the same time that the new mounting plate was fitted.
Ouch.
I've done a few bits to the car over the last few months - rebuilt the carbs as I suspected that the choke O rings and seals were going as the mixture was getting richer. I also had some intermittent running problems, that I now think was a bit of water in the bottom of the fuel tank - a couple of bottles of methylated spirits seems to have cured that one.
Mid rebuild. I found the workshop manual much more useful than the instructions supplied by Burlen, although I guess that they're more generic HIF6 instructions, as opposed to those tailored to the P6.
The petrol pump also packed in just after having the carbs set up, so have replaced that too. I'm hoping to get a bit of use from her between now and the wedding to make sure she's running well on the day!
Winter plans include a headlight and fuse box upgrade and a heater rebuild. It gets pretty warm in there with the uncontrolled flow of hot air on my legs!
Still a good looking car and the cellulose is holding up well with plenty of wax applied.
GRTV8
Well-Known Member
Hi Damian - sorry it's taken so long to reply! Nearly 5 years has to be some kind of record... I've not visited the forum for a very long time, as there's not been anything to report on the car for quite some time and there was a long-ish period of time where I didn't really use it. It spent a bit of time in storage too when I moved into a place without a garage - there was no way I was letting it go though! Fortunately I'm now living somewhere with a reasonable sized garage, that I'm planning to expand next year, so back to it.
Glad to hear that you are still keeping busy with projects and it's great to see that you've got another P6 on the go! I need to have a proper read of your thread to see what you've been up to. Your wedding car sounds awesome! The Rover will be used as our wedding car in October - i just have to figure out now if I'm going to drive it or let my mate behind the wheel
To bring things up to date, the diff mounting plate split in September 18, leading to another trip home on the back of a truck. Bizarrely the driver was the same guy who came to collect me the time that the gearbox decided to give up and he remembered the car from the last time. The rear mounts must have been softer than I thought they were, so these were replaced at the same time that the new mounting plate was fitted.
View attachment 23686
Ouch.
I've done a few bits to the car over the last few months - rebuilt the carbs as I suspected that the choke O rings and seals were going as the mixture was getting richer. I also had some intermittent running problems, that I now think was a bit of water in the bottom of the fuel tank - a couple of bottles of methylated spirits seems to have cured that one.
View attachment 23687
Mid rebuild. I found the workshop manual much more useful than the instructions supplied by Burlen, although I guess that they're more generic HIF6 instructions, as opposed to those tailored to the P6.
The petrol pump also packed in just after having the carbs set up, so have replaced that too. I'm hoping to get a bit of use from her between now and the wedding to make sure she's running well on the day!
Winter plans include a headlight and fuse box upgrade and a heater rebuild. It gets pretty warm in there with the uncontrolled flow of hot air on my legs!
Still a good looking car and the cellulose is holding up well with plenty of wax applied.
View attachment 23688
Unusual to see the diff mount break like that considering the underside looks clean from rust. Have you been hitting those road speed bumps at high velocity?
I replaced my rear mounts the other day and found the left one was totalled while the right one looked fine. Go figure! Could have used some extra hands to get the job done though. Hard to be under the car as well as inside the boot space.
Your P6 looks lovely BTW
jp928
Well-Known Member
That diff mount break is not unknown - I had seen cracks there in a TC in the 70s. Re the mounts, my left side was also past its useful life, while the RH was pristine - a function of the torque reaction on acceleration. Note that there are at least 2 variants of those rubbers - Marlon's are different from mine.
GRTV8
Well-Known Member
Yes I was aware of the two different bush mounts
I didn't ask when ordering as the gossip was the smaller mount was just packed out with a thick washer.
As it turned out the mounts were the same upon arrival.
I love a bit of luck when it comes my way.
Baron von Marlon
Member
I'd be taking the sump off if I went around doing things like that
The left one of mine was the worst as well, but I elected to do all 3 just to be safe. I've replaced them with polyurethane, so they should never need doing again! It is a tricky job, I had to rope my partner at the time in to hold the spanner on the bolt from above.
Thank you. I took it out for the first proper run this year last night and I'm in love again!
DamianZ28
Active Member
Hi Martin,
Good to hear from you ! so pleased you still have the car, great to see, it looks stunning too, 9 yrs since I sold it..... It'll make a fantastic wedding car!
Yes my current P6 is coming slowly but surely, on a tighter budget these days (the wife) similar to you though as in house move, new bathroom, fitted new kitchen but yes its on the road going & running well...so far, Engine rebuild 2 years ago, uprated oil pump & timing chain/gears, SD1 5spd box fitted, 80% poly bushed, all welding complete, underside all cleaned & stoned chipped, painted etc. Just fitted a set of 7x15" American racing rims 'Torq Thrust D's, so as you can tell its going down a similar route as the red one, I'll be spraying this one possibly next year in a late 60's medium metallic B5 blue similar to the Mopar muscle cars as Dodge Chargers & Challengers, black vinyl roof, black interior & medium brown carpets. Lots to do but it'll be worth it. Lucky escape on the Diff mount breaking, I need to replace all 3 of mine, will go poly versions. Car goes well, G/box could do with upgrading to Tremac & at some point when funds permit I'll see if one those Holley sniper fuel injection kits will fit the 3.5 block, looks like a retro four barrel carb but has modern efficiency & power! I must update my thread as haven't done so for several months. Am taking it to the Haynes Motor museum car meet this Sunday morning with my son, he'll be asking to drive back, he loves it! cheers Damian.
Good to hear from you ! so pleased you still have the car, great to see, it looks stunning too, 9 yrs since I sold it..... It'll make a fantastic wedding car!
Yes my current P6 is coming slowly but surely, on a tighter budget these days (the wife) similar to you though as in house move, new bathroom, fitted new kitchen but yes its on the road going & running well...so far, Engine rebuild 2 years ago, uprated oil pump & timing chain/gears, SD1 5spd box fitted, 80% poly bushed, all welding complete, underside all cleaned & stoned chipped, painted etc. Just fitted a set of 7x15" American racing rims 'Torq Thrust D's, so as you can tell its going down a similar route as the red one, I'll be spraying this one possibly next year in a late 60's medium metallic B5 blue similar to the Mopar muscle cars as Dodge Chargers & Challengers, black vinyl roof, black interior & medium brown carpets. Lots to do but it'll be worth it. Lucky escape on the Diff mount breaking, I need to replace all 3 of mine, will go poly versions. Car goes well, G/box could do with upgrading to Tremac & at some point when funds permit I'll see if one those Holley sniper fuel injection kits will fit the 3.5 block, looks like a retro four barrel carb but has modern efficiency & power! I must update my thread as haven't done so for several months. Am taking it to the Haynes Motor museum car meet this Sunday morning with my son, he'll be asking to drive back, he loves it! cheers Damian.
Attachments
Baron von Marlon
Member
It's great to hear from you. I've looked through your new project thread - it's coming along nicely and is going to look awesome in the blue with the Torq Thrust D's!
I'd recommend just changing the rear mounts if you have any suspicions - the poly ones came from Wins, I think. I can't believe that your son's now old enough to drive!
The EFI conversion sounds great, as does the Tremec! I've got a rebuilt R380 in mine now which is just bedding on nicely. It's a van one so the ratios are a little short, but overall cruising speed isn't much different. Once my garage extension is sorted next year, I'm planning to build a 4.0 with EFI, probably megasquirt controlled.
We'll have to see if we can get to the same meet at some point, it would be great to get both the cars together at some point.
I'd recommend just changing the rear mounts if you have any suspicions - the poly ones came from Wins, I think. I can't believe that your son's now old enough to drive!
The EFI conversion sounds great, as does the Tremec! I've got a rebuilt R380 in mine now which is just bedding on nicely. It's a van one so the ratios are a little short, but overall cruising speed isn't much different. Once my garage extension is sorted next year, I'm planning to build a 4.0 with EFI, probably megasquirt controlled.
We'll have to see if we can get to the same meet at some point, it would be great to get both the cars together at some point.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Hi Martin, thank you ! yes its getting there bit by bit, swapping the tyres for slightly smaller 195/60/15's on the rear and poss 185/60/15's fronts, should cure all potential rubbing. I will defiantly get new poly diff mount bushes from Wins, did you notice any increase in noise at all being they are much more of a solid material or is there no difference? I can imagine they will be a huge improvement, long term is to swap the panhard bar to poly to really stiffen up the whole rear end. yes he's 18 now, well 19 January, he's off to Uni beginning of October, he's off Oxford to study Chemistry! Proud dad, has his mothers brains, I was crap at school, even came 2nd in the egg & spoon race
4.0EFI will certainly give some HP, a much smoother throttle & instant response, be interesting to follow the thread if yuo add it on here.
Yes be great to get together at some point with both cars, I'm off to Haynes this Sunday, are still local ish the area ?
4.0EFI will certainly give some HP, a much smoother throttle & instant response, be interesting to follow the thread if yuo add it on here.
Yes be great to get together at some point with both cars, I'm off to Haynes this Sunday, are still local ish the area ?
Baron von Marlon
Member
Chemistry at Oxford is very impressive!
I haven't noticed much in terms of extra noise with the polybushes, but the whole rear end feels tauter than it did before.
I'd be up for a meet at Haynes at some point, probably next spring the way that this year is going! I'm not so local to you anymore, moved up near Gloucester a couple of years ago.
I haven't noticed much in terms of extra noise with the polybushes, but the whole rear end feels tauter than it did before.
I'd be up for a meet at Haynes at some point, probably next spring the way that this year is going! I'm not so local to you anymore, moved up near Gloucester a couple of years ago.
Baron von Marlon
Member
Thankfully the car behaved itself for the wedding, although I've since had an intermittent problem with one of the carb floats sticking in the up position again. We took a detour so that all of our guests could arrive before us - the car was running so nicely it was probably a slightly longer detour than it needed to be
I've bitten the bullet since and bought some of the new, supposedly ethanol resistant, floats from Burlen and new float spindles. Fitting those is one of the jobs that I've set for myself over winter.
There was a car meet the morning after the wedding at the place where we held the reception, so the Rover had some pretty esteemed company next day:
The ribbons didn't survive the journey very well
Now that I've driven the car more, I'm finding that it's running a bit weak, there's a definite flat spot under 1500 rpm and overall performance isn't what it used to be. Probably because the choke O rings aren't leaking fuel anymore! I've tried driving it around with the choke out slightly and it's confirmed my suspicions - performance is way better. I'm presuming that the carbs currently have the standard BBV needles, which will be a bit lean with the larger valve 3.9 heads.
I'm planning the larger air filter upgrade over the winter too, so thinking that BBW will be the way to go. Does anyone have any experience in this area please?
The last job I'm planning for the winter is to upgrade the fuse box to a modern, blade fuse, type and fit both headlight and horn relays. If I get round to it, I may also upgrade the alternator and switch to a purely electric fan, but that's lower on the list of priorites. The current alternator is fine and I've never had any problems with overheating.
I've bitten the bullet since and bought some of the new, supposedly ethanol resistant, floats from Burlen and new float spindles. Fitting those is one of the jobs that I've set for myself over winter.
There was a car meet the morning after the wedding at the place where we held the reception, so the Rover had some pretty esteemed company next day:
The ribbons didn't survive the journey very well
Now that I've driven the car more, I'm finding that it's running a bit weak, there's a definite flat spot under 1500 rpm and overall performance isn't what it used to be. Probably because the choke O rings aren't leaking fuel anymore! I've tried driving it around with the choke out slightly and it's confirmed my suspicions - performance is way better. I'm presuming that the carbs currently have the standard BBV needles, which will be a bit lean with the larger valve 3.9 heads.
I'm planning the larger air filter upgrade over the winter too, so thinking that BBW will be the way to go. Does anyone have any experience in this area please?
The last job I'm planning for the winter is to upgrade the fuse box to a modern, blade fuse, type and fit both headlight and horn relays. If I get round to it, I may also upgrade the alternator and switch to a purely electric fan, but that's lower on the list of priorites. The current alternator is fine and I've never had any problems with overheating.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Big Congratulations Martin! Sounds like you had a superb happy day! Car looks stunning as ever & looks mighty fine nestled in-between its US counterparts & rightly so being she's running the Buick V8! Love the fact it coincided with a car meet the next day, good planning sir .
Hope you get running problems sorted, I use E5 fuel in mine & runs very well, I've covered about 3500 mile since the engine rebuild so its nicely settled, using Joe Gibbs hot rod oil with high levels of ZDDP to protect the engine.
Have now fitted smaller tyres all round 185/65/15 fronts & 195/65/15 rears, no issues so far. Will drop the front down over winter plus several other jobs that wont dent the wallet lol. I wish you a very happy married life! is your new wife a petrol head or do you have to do some training.
& looks mighty fine nestled in-between its US counterparts & rightly so being she's running the Buick V8! Love the fact it coincided with a car meet the next day, good planning sir .Hope you get running problems sorted, I use E5 fuel in mine & runs very well, I've covered about 3500 mile since the engine rebuild so its nicely settled, using Joe Gibbs hot rod oil with high levels of ZDDP to protect the engine.
Have now fitted smaller tyres all round 185/65/15 fronts & 195/65/15 rears, no issues so far. Will drop the front down over winter plus several other jobs that wont dent the wallet lol. I wish you a very happy married life! is your new wife a petrol head or do you have to do some training
.
Baron von Marlon
Member
Thanks Damian, we had such a great day. I wish I could take credit for the car meet planning, we'd booked our event months before they booked theirs Some of our guests were convinced that it couldn't have been chance though My new wife likes being driven around in the Rover, but isn't particularly into cars, so more training is definitely required!
I look forward to seeing your winter progress with your project Have the smaller tyres made much difference to the gearing?
Also, am I right in thinking that photo above was taken at the petrol station in Langport?
In the end I've done some good old internet research and have found a post on the V8 Forum where someone with a similar set-up to the one that I've got was recommended the BBW needles, so have bought a pair of those to fit.
Some of our guests were convinced that it couldn't have been chance though My new wife likes being driven around in the Rover, but isn't particularly into cars, so more training is definitely required!I look forward to seeing your winter progress with your project
Have the smaller tyres made much difference to the gearing?Also, am I right in thinking that photo above was taken at the petrol station in Langport?
Thanks for the tip - sadly I don't know anyone with one. I did look at buying one, but they are expensive!
In the end I've done some good old internet research and have found a post on the V8 Forum where someone with a similar set-up to the one that I've got was recommended the BBW needles, so have bought a pair of those to fit.
DamianZ28
Active Member
Hi Martin, great to hear the day was happy event! no harm in classic car training for the wife ;-) , good to know she likes driving in it ! my wife is similar but after a while she complains about fumes and the noise, hey ho . Yes its much better with the reduced tyre size, no more scraping so far, have been further modifying the outer D-posts & corresponding inner door skin, I need to update my thread.
Yes its the Esso garage in Langport, you cant see in the pic we are to the right of the cul-de-sac.
Hope BBW needles work out!
. Yes its much better with the reduced tyre size, no more scraping so far, have been further modifying the outer D-posts & corresponding inner door skin, I need to update my thread.Yes its the Esso garage in Langport, you cant see in the pic we are to the right of the cul-de-sac.
Hope BBW needles work out!