Hello from a new P6 V8 owner

R

Rob M

Member
Hello!
Im Rob and Ive just bought ( today) a March 1977 P6 V8 :D
I wasnt looking for one, I only sold my 77 Scimitar GTE last wednesday, but having a look on all the usual places, as you do, this one jumped out at me and was only a shortish drive away.
Seller seemed 100% genuine and so did the car with a couple of eye watering bills for a partial engine rebuild. The mileage of 110,000 seems like it could well be true, the interior just needs a clean and it will be spot on, she fires up without any tappety taps and idles lovely and smoothly and, and, and.....
Ok, whats the catch you ask? Well the paintwork is very poor in places, a spray job done by an elephant, and there are a few scabs and dings aswell as the possibility that there may be ( although the seller reckons its pretty good) a bit of frilliness on the inner sills which ive bargained for, infact ive bargained for getting the welder out anyway at some stage, its no issue. Naturally, she has had some structural welding done ( back in 2007 according to the DVLA MOT database) but id be pretty shocked if a 35 year old car had managed to escape the tin worm for so long anyway!
She is MOT'd till next May and has cost me WELL under £1000 to buy, a bargain methinks.....
My Dad had a Series one V8 back in 1979 which he adored and let me drive when i turned 17 back in 1982. I loved that car!!! It got stolen onthe day of my 18th and was never seen again. Since that day, ive always promised myself a P6 V8 and its only now, by chance and after owning 3 6A Scimitar GTEs and a Crapri 2.8 injection that i finally own a car Ive always wanted to reaquaint myself with. Am I happy? Damn right I am!
I shall be picking it up on Monday and, yes, pics will follow ASAP.
Naturally, i may need to pick the collective brains here, infact, while im here, can anybody tell me whether all SD1 wheels are interchangeable with P6s?
Just some ideas ive got..... :D
Thanks
Rob
 
Hi Rob,
Welcome to the forum, you have made the right choice in getting a P6 :wink: you need to get some photos up so we can have a look, we all love photos on here :)
 
Hi welcome . Had an se5a Scimitar back in the day , monster of a car when it would start , That would of been an earth problem then :D , but always wanted the P6 , this is the forum , Banter , knowledge , all the help you'll ever need :D
Stina
 
Hello Rob, welcome to the fold..... Sd1 alloys will go on the p6 ..... There may be some slight alteration required dependent on what size tyres , rim and j used....some people change the studs to sd1 to use the sd1 nuts both available from Dinner Brothers, or you can have the correct nuts for p6 made with sleaves and collers by nut specialists there are a few mainly in the midlands( I used speed shack).... Other alteration may be to tweek out the d posts with a scissor jack to aid clearance...as you already have grasped pics are required :LOL:
 
i Rob

Welcome aboard! It's a really exciting moment when you first get that V8 feeling, isn't it!

Best of luck picking it up and we want to see first pics with the happy owner!

14" SD1 alloys are a very easy fit, although I don't know much about the wheelnuts on these. They do look very natuaral on the car and I especially like the early series 1 wheels. The SD1 Vitesse wheels have the major advantage of allowing 15" tyres - there's a decent choice of quality tyres in this size where the 14" are extremely difficult to source decent tyres for. The down side is that they are very heavy and the quality is a bit variable - you might well have to buy two sets to make up one set with decent run out. Plus you are almost certain to need to make minor "adjustments" to the clearance to athe D post on the off side - it's pretty marginal and a strategically placed scissor jack and a bit of bravery are all that is required. Other than the SD1 wheels, the choice is extremely thin because of the huge positive offset required. Cragar's in the US do some, but you will need to import them specially and you need to be prepared to go for a noticeably more "modified" look.

Chris
 
Thanks for all the replies!
Stina, I really dont know what you mean about bad earthing problems.......... :wink:
Everybody else, thanks for the input regarding wheels. Im quite au fait with offsets insets and all sets issues with finding wheels, Scimitars have ridiculous perameters and precious few wheels, aftermarket or other wise will bolt on. Im a bit suprised that P6s have the same issues, however, its making me feel right at home now!! :D
Yes, that V8 burble, nothing like it really. Ive waited approximately 29 years to drive one again, way, way too long.
I can honestly say that the old series one my Dad had drove like nothing ive ever driven or owned since, it was almost like, everytime i got into her, it was the very first time i was taking her out, you know, that feeling you get when you drive a really good car for the very first time.
Ok, Ive owned some good and great cars over the years but, considering, the age of the design, it wasnt that new and fresh back in 1979, its one of the truly great British cars, a design at leat a decade ahead of its time.
I cant wait to get it tomorrow, I feel like Im 18 again.. :D
Pics to follow ASAP, ok? 8)
 
Hello and welcome Rob. Hope things go well tomorrow. Looking forward to full report and any pictures. Hope she goes as well as your Dad's old P6 :).
 
JVY said:
Hello and welcome Rob. Hope things go well tomorrow. Looking forward to full report and any pictures. Hope she goes as well as your Dad's old P6 :).
Click to expand...
Thanks fella.
Im hoping so too. When my dads got stolen he didnt even attempt to replace it with another one till a few years later when he went to have a look at a 3500S that was up for £120 with an MOT ( they were the days!) but didnt go for it because he didnt think it felt as quick?! :?
Gotta say the Series one he did have was VERY quick, infact not far off of the kind of performance of my MGZT 190 I used to own around 10 years ago. Kick down in the Rover used to physically pin you back in your seat :D
Needless to say, aged 18, I used kickdown alot. Fank gawd petrol was cheap then....
Maybe it had been breathed on, I know the first registered keeper was the factory ( Rover Solihul IIRC) so you never know.
The owners handbook quoted BHP as 184, subsequent discussions elsewhere on the WWW have speculated that it was a big fat lie.
The jury is still out with me, mind you if the truth is out there it will be told on here, right? 8)
 
between 140bhp and 160 is about right...

Obviously an auto uses less of that than a manual and you're going to be losing a fat chunk of that in transmission! 90-100 bhp at the wheels is what you get on an auto if it's all set right i believe. Manual at a guess around 120-130 bhp at the wheels.

Early cars have a 10.5:1 engine later cars are 9.25:1 i think - but they have the advantage of being ok on standard unleaded rather than needing super.

The car is only 1.25 tonnes - much less than a modern car. Our old focus was 1.46 tonnes!

Rich
 
Properly fettled carbs and correct timing can make a world of difference to the performance but if you really want to get the pushed back into the seat feeling a Weber 500 upgrade will really spin your wheels :LOL:

Graeme
 
chrisyork said:
But putting different needles in, to suit modern fuels, gives just as much oomph!

Chris
Click to expand...

Its an interesting debate, what would Rover have done were the Weber carb available at the time? reading James Taylors fine book the rational seems to be the reason for reverting to the SU's was a performance issue with going around round'a'bouts rather than the SU being a better carb, it just didn't stutter or starve.....I am pleased to say the Weber has no such problem though I can see how the Holley has this problem :LOL:
The squirt of raw fuel into the motor when you depress the pedal with vigour is some thing that the SU won't do.

Graeme
 
The "what would Rover have done if" sort of discussion I really enjoy! I still think the SU is a better carb because of its simplicity, there are just too many jets and drillings and orifices in fixed jet carbs like the Weber to be comfortable for long term predictability.

Of course we do know what Rover did! They went full tilt developing electronic fuel injection! Now there's a good answer! Pity BL cancelled it.

Chris
 
Sorry for slight deviation but I am with Chris. The SU carb was a brilliant concept - so simple & so effective. There is pretty good history of SU carbs on the Burlen site:- http://www.sucarb.co.uk/SUhistory.aspx plus lots of tech info, drawings etc.

Back on track - how is the car Rob?
 
Sorry, sorry, slightly off track again for a second. :)
Its an interesting debate, what would Rover have done were the Weber carb available at the time?
Click to expand...
It was available at the time Graeme. The Weber/Edelbrock carb was once known as a Carter AFB which first saw the light of day in 1957. (yes, it's that old!) It was used mostly on Mopar vehicles and some Fords. I think the Buick 215 was originally equipped with a Rochester Quadrajet though.
Don't know how seriously Rover looked into 4 barrel carbs but part of the issue must have been not wanting to source such a major component from overseas and the average UK mechanic's unfamiliarity with such a complex item.
Ironically that very issue would have saved them a lot of grief on the NADA models if they'd gone for a Carter/Quadrajet/Holley.
 
Yes the Carter carb was about but is it the same as the current itteration? I suspect a bit more tech/ fettling has gone in since those earlier versions however that maybe wishful thinking on my part :roll:
As much as the SU is a simple first principles arrangement (and thats always good) I am sure the set up proceedures would have had many US Garage workers scratching there heads and guessing .....something not conducive to good SU behaviour. For my part the Weber really is a simple carb to install and maintenance so far has been nil since its install, just many many miles of superb throttle response.

Graeme
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top