I make no secret about it, I hate riveting. I don’t know why because it isn’t difficult, I just hate it.
Now there are 4 splash seals to fit and it’s not just a case of hold them in place and attack them with a rivet gun. I’ve spent many months ensuring a rust free future for Sparky, and I need to open up painted over holes for the rivets, so care is the order of the day.
First job is to peel the old rubbers off the steel strips and remove old bits of rivet, then onto the bench wire brush and get all the rust and old underseal before treating with rust converter and spraying them up with black enamel.
Prior to fitting the new rubbers, I coated the mating area with a generous coat of Dinitrol, painted Dinitrol into the new rubbers before fitted the metal strips, then riveted them all into place. I then coated the whole area with more Dinitrol, working it well into any gaps and joints.
Then there are the vertical seals which fit onto the rear wings and all four doors. They all rivet on as well. I managed to get new ones for the front and rear fittings but will need to refit the centre ones as and when I get to them.
Unlike me I know, but I haven’t taken that many photos this time. The O/S rear wing didn’t fit correctly and whatever I did it sat around 4-5mm too far back. This meant it hit the rear decker panel and the front fixings wouldn’t fit securely. I had used some new fittings at the rear and on close inspection (after taking the wing off three times!) I notice the little tags on it were wider than the original, which stopped them moving around in their slots. Using the bench grinder, I sorted that bit. Also, this was not Sparky’s original wing so I had to open the hole (in the wing, not the body) which the rear fixing went through, into a slot. I did the bottom one as well, and then back on the car. Perfect fit, well perfect for a P6 anyway.
A little while ago, I espied a complete set, all four, side and rear lights complete with lenses, bulbs, gaskets etc, for £50.00 – never been fitted to a car! They were on ebay under ‘Rover 2000 lights’ so I watched them for a while and managed to get them for the £50.00 starting bid
Here are the rear ones, fitted. They have been covered with a generous coat of the ever relied upon Dinitrol, both before fitting and afterwards to ensure a good corrosion resistance.
Now I was going to completely rebuild the heater, but there will be other winters and I want to drive my car, so I decided just to replace the lower panel which had rotted away. I cut out a new one from stainless sheet.
Beat it into shape and trial fitted it – got it right first time :shock:
And sprayed it up, then back onto the car.
I am not quite sure why it rotted out like that but the possible culprits could be the lower windscreen rubber which has been replaced now, or these pesky drain tubes which have nearly gone altogether.
The old ones are in the middle, or rather what ‘s left of them. Now for some reason, I was convinced that these drain tubes were unobtainable, so I was off to B&Q and got a couple of PVC right angle bends with a view to making something fit. I warmed one end up with as hot air gun then opened up the end with a socket bar. Then slid the eye shape fitting over it, warmed it up again and opened it up even more by easing it over a 19mm socket. Quick lick of PVC paint, found a bit of hose to slot into the other end and the job is a good’un. OK the hose isn’t long enough but I can soon get some of that.
Then I found the new hoses so went to fit them, only to find that the N/S one came out from the heater too far and fouled badly against the windscreen wiper motor. So I cut the angle off and slid it over my concoction – fitted just right.
I have done a few other little things, like bolting the coil back into place, as well as the power amp. Cleaning, de-rusting and painting the engine stay bar and its brackets (that was more work than it seems), and a bit of plumbing, including that pesky small hose at the front and the fuel line from tank, to regulator, to carb.
That’s about it for now – I must update more often
Richard
