Thanks for the comments. Everyone whos seen it so far can't wait for it to be on the road.
chrisyork said:
I'm intrigued by your having put V8 inner wings onto a 4 cyl shell - doesn't this give problems with the chassis rails being too close together (the V8 ones are wider than the 4 cylinder)? If you have managed to retain the 4 cyl chassis rail spacing this has significant advantages - the bottom arms are readily available (unlike the V8) and the wider bottom wishbone reduces the camber change in compression compared to the V8. That would certainly improve things for a track day car.
As far as I can tell the differences are only minor. This all started because I was having trouble getting the clutch to work with the lt77 and the brake servo was in the way, solution, fit the reccesses from the 3500 and relocate the servo. This gave plenty of clearance along with cutting the entire slam panel section out which now allows me to hook the crane up to the engine and just roll the car backwards. The clutch pedal only required minimal welding work to fit, and I plan on making custom headers for the v8 anyway.
chrisyork said:
If you go for the track day option you may find you are somewhat under tyred. Getting truly wide wheels under a P6 involves some fairly large compromises, notably losing the shut faces for the back doors in the area of the lower D post. But for track day use this ought not to be too big a problem. See if you can get to have a close look at the red racer to be seen in the photos of the Crich meet.
I'm ahead of you there. To fit the vented discs on the front and keep the 14" wheels I had to fit some wheel spacers. The front is already wider than the rear, so I put the same spacers in the back and set to work with the angle grinder. Having rust free d-posts was a bonus to start with and aided the modifications. First of all I cut the outer part of the d-post around the wheelarch and peeled it out with a screwdriver and tacked it in place:
Bit of weld:
Then I cut the excess out of the inside and pushed the inner arch to meet the outer arch and welded in place:
The rear tyres are now just rubbing on the outer wings in places so I will pull hard and extend the little stay on the rear lower edge to hold the wing clear of the tyre. When I get round to fitting the cranked 3500 rear top arms I'll have enough room to fit 8" wide wheels on the back, but that is mostly dependant on what size tyres I can get for 14" rims.
chrisyork said:
Another trick for a track day car is to play with the camber front and rear. This allows you to compensate for tyre roll and keep the tyre treads flat on the road. Front is easy either by using spacers under one side of the pivot arm brackets on the front bulkhead or by shimming the pivot arm further into the car within the brackets. At the rear you can either machine the hubs directly or add wedge spacers.
At its current ride height its got some healthy negative camber on the front, but I'll bear in mind your suggestion for the rear. I have a spare set of rear elbows which may get some attention if need be.
chrisyork said:
The racer also gives another clue. It is well worth seeing if you can extend the ends of your front spoiler around the edges of the front wings. All P6's with any pretence at high speed use do this and it was a factory option first used on police spec cars. Without spilling air to the sides straight line stability, particularely in crosswinds, is compromised.
I haven't decided on how to finish the ends of the air dam and how it will be attached to the front wings yet but it is mainly there because of the usual frilly edge at the bottom of the front valance:
chrisyork said:
It looks as if you have already omitted the radiator crossmember (bolted in under the rad. That's a good idea - it adds nothing to front end strength, weighs a lot, and blocks up space you can use for an oil cooler. I've used a Jag V12 E Type cooler (wide and shallow and available off the shelf) layed at 45 degrees in this area. But be careful using a standard rad - they tend to sag in the middle. An aluminium rad is a better solution.
I keep on forgetting to put it back on lol. I'm going to be looking at getting the largest possible radiator in the front now that I've removed all the excess parts that were there before. The plan is to get it on the road with the 2000 engine in there to start with, then switch to v8 when I'm happy with the rest of the car. There are many more changes and modifications to come. I personally don't think the standard rover rear diff will last long in this but I'm determined to keep the de dion setup and inboard rear brakes as they're hallmarks of the p6, so big changes are planned under the back end now.
