Finally a tidy 3500S!

I’ve been trying to think about it - if it is, shouldn’t the throw to the right be bigger than it is? It’s still limited internally and the drop arms don’t reach the stop bolts on the firewall.
 
Rather than trying to rebuild the steering gear myself, not having any special tools for pulling or pressing, or time, I've been in touch with Joseph Wilson who had a rebuilt LHD gear from his dad's stock. This will be shipped to Geoff at Wins to be added to a shipment of bits from him, and sent my way. That should sort both lock and leak issues.

With my current gear out I will have a complete PAS conversion kit that I'll sell to the chap I got the Minilites from, for a similarly nominal sum.

Oh. I went to a local (British expat) home-based restorer of Jags and fast Fords, to ask for an all-in respray quote - i.e. de-rusting of corners and scrapes and the lot. He knows the P6 well, having owned several, but still came back with some £2500 just for the paint and supplies, and around £8000 for the whole deal. "It'll have a mirror finish though." Deflated, I returned to my house and ate a Creme Egg.
 
"£8000 for the whole deal" – erm, how about "No!". That's too much. Waaaay too much. I think I'd be looking around other bodyshops for more quotes!
 
"£8000 for the whole deal" – erm, how about "No!". That's too much. Waaaay too much. I think I'd be looking around other bodyshops for more quotes!

You'll struggle anywhere to get under £5k nowadays. Mine needs bare metal. The only way to save anything worthwhile is to demount all the panels and strip the doors back to a shell yourself.
 
Eight grand? :oops:
Even two-five for the paint & sundries sounds like extortion. I don't think l'm that out of touch, am l? :hmm:

I remember the days when you could get a £500 blow-over. My dad used to do them. :LOL:
 
Keeping in mind that this is a very-high cost economy, he’s working from home and I doubt there’d ever be a receipt. A good body shop would put me well north of £10k easily. There are times I wish I lived in the U.K.

I’m glad someone caught on to Crème Eggs though, available down the road. It’s something.
 
Modern paint won't dry in a garage, it needs an oven. I had all my panels resprayed, including some major redone rust repairs and complete replacement of the clinch strips for the door seals for $5000 Australian or about 2500 pounds. The guy that screwed up the rust repairs charged $17000 with zero exterior panel work. Lesson was to shop around and get detailed and specific quotes before giving it to anyone. If they say its expensive itll be lots more than they quote...It really isn't that big a job, car will spend more time drying than being painted.

Nice wheels. Do measure the back space (wheel facing down ruler across the top and measure between it and the face which the hub presses against. Do it with both a steel rim and your new ones. The steel ones are 14 x 5.5" the minilites are 14 x 6" so wider and you'll need to know which side is wider....and check the nuts aren't metric....
M
 
Last edited:
Nice wheels. Do measure the back space (wheel facing down ruler across the top and measure between it and the face which the hub presses against. Do it with both a steel rim and your new ones. The steel ones are 14 x 5.5" the minilites are 14 x 6" so wider and you'll need to know which side is wider....and check the nuts aren't metric....
M

P6 wheels are 40mm offset, same as SD1 alloys, but the 14" minilites are 30mm. When I bought my car, it came fitted with minilites, and they did look very nice but the offset meant they would sit 10mm out of alignment. The wheels are also 2.5mm wider per side should sit 7.5mm further out on the inside and 12.5mm on the outside - i.e. they may rub the tyres on the outside.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tor
Last week I replaced the steering gear with the unit Joseph sent me, and I now have full throw both ways. My friend took the old unit home and cracked it open. He reports finding two bits of metal in the "hydraulic cylinder" that inhibited the piston from full operation. Removing them he achieved a full 3 1/4 turns. He says it looked like swarf from the machining of the housing. No internal damage found. So it looks like success for both of us, and he will be able to convert his V8 to PAS with the kit I had.

Also, the system takes well over two litres of fluid, not the 1.85l (?) I seem to recall reading.
 
I haven't touched the car since January last year, which gives me a sinking feeling. But that's how it's been, and I hope to spend a few days with it this spring, get it MOT-ed and such.

The fragments in the old steering box that came out were from a failed input bearing cage. The chap that took it over transferred the bearing from a RHD box I had, so now another Norwegian gent has a good working OEM PAS system fitted to his V8.

One question about my NOS differential, which I've secured new seals for that I want to fit before replacing the unit: Will I need to replace bearing spacers on the output shafts as well?
 
Yes
To change the seals new spacers are needed.
Just to be clear are you referring to the collars on the diff output shafts? JRW sell them new. Or you can get a local machine shop to make them from these drawings.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tor
Thanks guys. I'm assuming I'm calling it a spacer but that what I need to replace is the thrust collar on each output shaft. Correct me someone if I'm wrong! :)
 
Back
Top