Hello!

[DayleW]

Hello Everyone,

Yesterday I became the new owner of a 1973 Rover 2000 SC with 71,000 on the clock. This is my first classic Rover and I bought it on a bit of a whim, but I have always loved the look of them and I think I’m going to love this car. The condition seems fair for the price I paid for it, but it has an MOT coming up and i suspect that a few bits will need looking at before then. Starting from cold the engine sounds a bit tappety, and there were a few flakes of something in the fuel filter and the remaining fuel that was in it when I bought it I think may have been a bit stale as it didn't run smoothly until I filled it up with fresh fuel, I suspect I'll need to drain and wrinse out the tank at some point. I drove it home around 200 miles and it seems happy enough cruising on the motorways. It has a good set of tires, including spare in the boot. The body work looks in good order, there is a few patches where it has been repaired in the past but they seem to have been repaired well and are not obvious. Underneath has had a few plates welded on but again these seem solid and there is not much evidence of rust (although admittedly I am no expert and have been surprised by a classic car I had before). Most of the electrics seem to work, the exception being the intermittent wiper, and the door courtesy lights, although they do come on if you use the switch on the panel. The lights on the switches don’t seem to work either, the fuse is fine so it may be the bulbs. I've not taken a picture of it myself yet, and the weather is lousy today but I’ll get a photo put up soon.

Anyway, this will be a second car and I have the time to tinker about with the bits that need looking at. As I say, I'm no expert so I'll probably be back here often asking for advice and sharing news. One question though, the bloke I brought it off says it has not been converted to unleaded and has been running it off the ultimate unleaded (98?) as that is fine for this engine. It's not something I've heard before, does anyone know if this is the case? For the time being I think I will use some of the reddex additive stuff with normal unleaded until I hear otherwise.

All the Best,
Dayle

 

[redrover]

Hello Dayle,

Welcome to the forum! It's great to have another P6 convert in our midst! Pics soon please, we'd all love to see the car!

One question though, the bloke I brought it off says it has not been converted to unleaded and has been running it off the ultimate unleaded (98?) as that is fine for this engine.

My '72 TC isn't converted to unleaded either (and I don't think most people's 4 pots are- could be wrong though). The redex additive is fine, and if you're feeling really cheap you can reasonably run it on standard unleaded as long as you retard the ignition by a degree or so to avoid pinking.
The wiper delay is a bit of a hit and miss thing. Some people's work really well, and some really well-looked-after cars don't work at all. If the vacuum pipe that runs between the white knob on the steering column to the vacuum unit on the bulk head is split or leaking then you'll never be able to fully control the delay frequency. Remove the vacuum unit by the wiper motor and check it's all airtight, then put a little bit of sponge in the end underneath the steel retaining bracket- that should help to limit the reentry speed of the air and generate a delay between wipes. Clean the contacts while you're in there- it really should have a relay on it as the high current draw tends to burn out the contacts a bit (at least in my experience), but you may be able to get it working after a fashion for now- it's all fettlable!
Your interior lights are probably out because the dimmer switch is turned off. Assuming you have the strip speedo, one of the knobs on the instrument panel (the one that doesn't control the tripmeter) allows the dash backlighting to be dimmed or switched off altogether. Have a twist with the lights on and see what happens!

Looking forward to seeing the car.
Hope the MOT doesn't throw up any nasties for you, but if you do run into trouble, everyone on the forum is really helpful and full of great advice. They've really helped me out in the past

Welcome again!
Michael

 

[chrisyork]

Welcome aboard Dayle!

Michael's spot on. Your wiper delay isn't electrical, it's pneumatic. The usual cause of lack of function is the little bit of sponge having expired after 40 years! It's a very simple fix. Learn to use the advanced search function in the header and see if you can find some pictures. If you can't we will direct you to the right thread.

The major hazard for MoT's with a P6 (assuming there's no obvious rust underneath :roll: ) is the back brakes. It is an extremely weird system, with the handbrake operating the same pads as the hydraulic brake via some watchmaker precision self adjusting cogs. To get a feel for if you are in trouble, jack the back wheels clear of the ground and operate the handbrake until you just can't turn one wheel. Go round the other side and check that one is at the same stage. If both are the same then you shouldn't have an MoT problem with either the hydraulic or hand brakes. The P6 handbrake always feels quite different to modern cars, much springier. It should hold the car securely at between 3 and 4 clicks, but you may well get a lot more clicks after that. Some MoT stations may give you an advisory on that because they aren't familiar with the car.

Your first purchase for the car ought to be a copy of the factory workshop manual and the factory spares manual. The former is several cuts above the average and you will be astonished at the level of detail provided. The spares manual is needed because it has explaoded diagrams of the entire car down to the smallest component - invaluable when trying to figure out how something obscure goes together. Ebay will throw up loads of exmples, you should even be able to buy new.

Now we need to see some pictures!

Chris

 

[DayleW]

Thank you both for your informative replies. I'll be sure to have a look at the vacuum unit for the wiper, that sounds like something I can do without too much fuss. I have just purchased the Haynes manual for the car on a well known auction site and that should be with me in a week or so. I suspect that what Chris was saying about the brakes being the main issue with the MoT may well be the case as they do feel a bit spongy. The brake fluid was a bit low when I got it, so there may be a leak there somewhere. I’ve topped it up to the maximum level line exactly and will keep a close eye on it. If the brakes do need some work I have a friend who has had a P6 in the past and has needed to repair the back brakes and perhaps he can be bribed into helping me. Just to clarify what I meant about the lights on the panel switches not working, the speedometer panel lights up with the dimmer switch, however there are no lights on the switch for the headlights. This is made of a green translucent plastic so I assume it should light up, at night on an unlit road there are no lights for any of the headlight, wiper, or hazard control switches and so they cant be seen. :?

Well, I'll take a closer look at the car and get to know it a bit better over the weekend. Pictures soon to come when the weather improves!

Thanks,
Dayle

 

[chrisyork]

Hi Dayle

The 2000SC (and Auto) didn't have the switch panel you describe as built - it was fitted only to TC and V8 models. The SC had a solid, vinyl covered, panel to the same design and the switch knobs for the interior lights and wipers were different. But the perspex switch panel is a straight swap, you can release it and pull it forward by easing the rubbers at each end of the panel forward to reveal four securing screws. It's likely a previous owner has fitted it without bothering to connect the lights up. Simply break into the sidelight feed from the main lighting switch on the same panel and you should have illumination in 5 minutes flat!

Chris

 

[DayleW]

Hi,

As promised, a few pictures of the new motor.

Dayle

 

[redrover]

Wow! I like... I like a lot!

I must admit, I was never overly keen on Cameron Green as I'd seen too many shabby ones, but that looks the business!
My car was originally that colour, but the paintwork was knackered so it was resprayed about 10 years ago in Ford Spanish/Radiant Red. It's looks okay from a distance but wasn't a professional job, so I'm saving up my pennies for a bare metal going over. I'd 95% made my mind up on Admiral Blue (a very rare navy colour that was only available on special order from the factory), but having seen yours I may have to think a little harder! After all, it would be nice to have the car in its original factory colour.... I need to get out and see a few more in the flesh. Oooo, decisions, decisions.

Liking the bumper over-riders too. I have a sneaking suspicion that may be a 3500 bumper, as over-riders on the 4-cyl cars were mounted a little closer to the reg plate, but that look is good- it makes the car look broader and more 'powerful' somehow.

While you're inside the dash wiring up the backlight, why not wire in a 12v buzzer between the sidelight feed and the courtesy switch on the drivers' door? It'll remind you to switch your lights off, which even now I always forget about when the nights are light and I've only had my sidelights on! Find myself running out 10 mins later cursing myself!!

Michael

 

[DayleW]

Hi All,

Well, after a bit more tinkering I have got the wiper delay working. That was the easiest job in the world. All it was was the wire on the back of the switch had come loose, pushed it back in and all is well. I've also figured out where the brake fluid leak is coming from - it's the back driver side calliper. So it looks like I am going to have a fun filled weekend fixing that in the next few weeks :roll: . Am I able to get all the parts for a back calliper rebuild in a kit form and if so how much should I expect to pay for the kit? The only other minor problem I’ve found is the window rubber seals have perished. Are these easy to replace?

Thanks,
Dayle

 

[vaultsman]

Hi Dayle, and welcome to the forum and P6 ownership! That Cameron Green looks really good!

Hi All,

Well, after a bit more tinkering I have got the wiper delay working. That was the easiest job in the world. All it was was the wire on the back of the switch had come loose, pushed it back in and all is well. I've also figured out where the brake fluid leak is coming from - it's the back driver side calliper. So it looks like I am going to have a fun filled weekend fixing that in the next few weeks :roll: . Am I able to get all the parts for a back calliper rebuild in a kit form and if so how much should I expect to pay for the kit? The only other minor problem I’ve found is the window rubber seals have perished. Are these easy to replace?

Thanks,
Dayle

Well done done getting the infamous wiper delay working. Mine didn't work on the V8 when I got the car, but I found a NOS delay unit that cured it.

As far as the door glass scraper rubbers are concerned, the best I've seen are from Scott's in Australia (yep...Australia! ) >Click here< and scroll about 2/3 down the page. The Part Numbers are 364179/364180 for the fronts and 364183/364184 for the rears.

Simple enough to replace once you've got the door trim and capping off - which can be a bit of a mystery...until you know about the spring clips retaining the handles and winders. Chris's advice re the Workshop Manual & Parts Manual is spot on - loads of useful stuff in them.

For instance...door trim removal...

Cheers, and good luck!

 

[The Rovering Member]

Just to clarify what I meant about the lights on the panel switches not working, the speedometer panel lights up with the dimmer switch, however there are no lights on the switch for the headlights. This is made of a green translucent plastic so I assume it should light up, at night on an unlit road there are no lights for any of the headlight, wiper, or hazard control switches and so they cant be seen. :?

If it's just the headlight switch that is green then that's the original switch panel. The illuminated version has the wiper & interior light switches made of the same material to a slightly different design. Although I have always thought that they look as though they should, the switches themselves don't light up. Just the wording & small position marks for the hazard switch & accessory interface socket (cigarette lighter to us) on the panel itself.

 

[DayleW]

Hello All,

It has been a few weeks since I last visited this thread and in that time I have spent some of my free time sorting out the rear brakes. They were a bit tricky for me as I am not that experienced when it comes to such things but the excellent thread by Richard in the P6 brakes section of the site helped no end. The rear near side calliper was full of fluid which seems to be a common problem with them so I went to see Alan in Leighton Buzzard and picked up a new calliper seal kit and new pads. I stripped down the calliper and cleaned all the parts in petrol before drying it and replacing the rubber seals. After a bit of messing around trying to get the thing back together I managed it and fitted it to the car with the new pads and pipes and all seemed well, so it was taken down for its MOT this morning and it PASSED! - no other work needed doing .

I have also replaced the door window seals as the old ones were badly perished and now the car is looking good and hopefully wont get water in to rot out the insides of the doors. The only thing I really need to look at now is the water pump. A friend of mine noticed a slight grinding noise when I rev up and he thinks it's the water pump bearings on their way out. I just need to figure out which type of pump I have, long or short nose. I have seen the thread 'Which water pump' in the engine section and will go out and have a look and figure it out later.

Dayle

 

[rockdemon]

Congratulations