The Aussie Flying Banana

StefanVXR8

Member
So I recently bought this 1975 P6B. Australian registered (CKD built in NZ) and in pretty decent condition structurally from first glance, thankfully no salt on our roads here! My first classic car since emigrating to Australia 8 years ago, we used to have a 1971 Fiat 500 in the UK that we had just started to restore. No stranger to BL/Rover though having owned a 75, two ZT's, a Defender, 4 Discovery's, a Freelander, a Rover 827 Sterling and an MG Montego Turbo!!

I saw a picture of the P6 from around 9 years ago and it looked really tidy but since then it looks like it has spent time outside and slowly deteriorated cosmetically.

Apart from the dull paintwork it has some corrosion in the rear valance and some patina rust breakthrough in some areas.

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Interior isn't too bad, the Ambla is starting to let go on the front seats and the tops of the rear seats are dry and cracked, but carpets are excellent. In this photo you can see the 'wood' trim, it was warped and peeling and I discovered it was thin veneers stuck over the original formica. The clock wasn't working due to the internal fuse link melting which I have fixed (though it runs a little slow), rev counter is intermittent and the fuel gauge is now working (I think!). Only one bulb was out in the cluster :)

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Mechanically, the gear selector was like a wooden spoon in a bowl of noodles, the bottom nylon bush had completely disintegrated! New one on order.

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Wipers weren't working, I could see a draw on the amps when switched on, so I took the motor out and found this...

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So, 'new' wiper motor on the way.

The handbrake doesn't currently work, first issue was that the button appeared to have gotten stuck in so it was almost impossible to release, however, upon looking closer, I noticed the hand collar had moved forwards thus covering the button more, so with a socket big enough to go over the button and fit the diameter of the lever, a few taps with a hammer has fixed that problem! Next thing is that it actually doesn't do anything, so I'll need to get underneath and check the rear brakes, the pedal is very spongy too so I think it's in need of addressing the brake mechanism issue and a full flush of the fluid, it looks rather dark!

Once I sort the brakes and wipers, it should be ready for it's blue slip (like an MOT for expired registrations).

The rest of the work will be as a rolling restoration but for now, the paintwork has come up like this (machine cut, but not yet polished)...

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I'm only one week in and this is as much as I've done so far, got struck down with Covid after a business trip to India, and also had a cold on top of that!

Stefan
 
I forgot to add, the fuel pump is noisy, makes a drumming sound when the ignition is on but the car does start and run, though a little lumpy...
 
Rear mounted electric pump? Do lots of reading before ripping into the rear calipers. Check simple stuff like the handbrake cables and linkage before going into the calipers. Last time I did them I recall improving access by - car on stands, jack under diff, remove the 3 bolts holding the diff onto the carrier plate, lower diff slowly, watching for the brake hose not to get stretched. Undo the 4 bolts holding the halfshafts onto the discs, slide the discs out, then its much easier to get at the the caliper mounts. if it has stood a long time (as evident from the wiper motor) you will probably need rebuilt units. Good time to do all the rubber bushes etc involved in the diff mounting. almost certainly the left side mount will be cactus.
 
I have a rear mounted fuel pump,-always been a noisy blighter on ignition , but can't be heard when the V8 starts to burble away.
 
now Im going to have to crawl under mine to see if it is sitting on rubber bushes
Yes -mines sitting on rubber bushes. Crazy -Ive been under there to clean out the fuel filter many times and never noticed it was insulated on rubber bobbins. Still a noisy pump without the engine running.
Not worth replacing though.
 
Yes! Whatever you can get that will provide some vibration isolation. Only one of my wiper motor rubbers was intact when I got in there, so they are functional - watch what happens at turn on!
 
Not much in the way of updates lately, work has got in the way as I've been travelling to NZ and Texas over the last few weekends and week days.

Fixed the gear selector with a new bush, got the clock working and keeping time (combination of a little light oil and adjustment), replaced the filters and cleaned out the flame traps etc.

Managed to get underneath yesterday for a quick check and noticed the handbrake assembly seems jammed but didn't have time to drop the diff and look further. Everything underneath looks solid, looks like it has had new bushes, brake hoses etc all round.

The only rust I found was where the passenger side rear tie down loop has been ripped out leaving a hole in the boot, hopefully straightforward to get welded up with a new patch panel.

Apart from that, need to look at the engine as it's running a little rich and a light bit of smoke, also brakes are very spongy so once I can get to the rear callipers and check those, I'll also flush the fluid through with new, it's looking a 'little' brown :)

The tyres, although they look new, are date stamped 2007 and starting to crack on the tread so will also look at replacing them, any recommendations on brands here in Australia?

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Progress update:

I finally got the wipers working again including the variable speed.

Replaced a missing section of Bailey channel on the drivers door and replaced a broken door check.

I found a replacement rear valance and cleaned it up and sprayed it, not perfect but the intention is a bare metal respray in the future so it's good enough for the 'Ten footer' look the car currently has, also replaced some badly cracked and faded lamp lenses, I also repaired the hole in the boot floor and some very superficial surface rust in the boot floor.

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I managed to pick up a set of wheel trims from the 3500S model, gave those a clean up and sprayed the appropriate areas in satin.

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Replaced the bonnet badge with a new one.

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I removed the handbrake linkage and cleaned it up, the car has previously been given an underbody treatment, but, they didn't mask off any areas other than the discs and callipers, so the whole mechanism was pretty gummed up. Just waiting for new fibre washers and split pins before reassembling.

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However, before refitting I need to free up the cams on the calipers. The nearside one will turn and engage the pads but not yet return on its own spring, the offside one is stuck fast! I noticed the bias spring is missing from the bracket in the photo above also, not sure how important it is to have this in place?

The final piece of the rear brake puzzle is to replace the leaking hose between the callipers, then hopefully once the rear brakes are more effective and the handbrake working, I can get it inspected and put on historic rego!

The rest will be a rolling restoration.
 
Love the colour, fairly rare in NZ and by default OZ as well.

Keep up the great work

Graeme
 
Love the colour, fairly rare in NZ and by default OZ as well.

Keep up the great work

Graeme

Thanks.

I got a spray can made up at Supercheap Auto for the colour and to be fair, it's actually pretty close, they just used the original paint code listed under Rover (interestingly it didn't show under Triumph).

Stefan
 
She's roadworthy!

I managed to free up the handbrake mechanism a little more, still not perfect but enough that the handbrake functions and with 5 new tyres she gained her safety inspection and I was able to register the car today on Historic plates!

Next job is to get the exhaust quietened down a bit, the previous owner had it changed to two pipes with very small mufflers, now whilst I like a V8 burble, it's just too loud!

Still looks great from a distance, just don't zoom in on the picture!!

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Looking very nice, good work.
There isnt a lot of room for mufflers in a P6. Mine had 2 foreign cans welded into the old pipes, both wrong sizes. One needed some beating on the floor to fit, and even then it rubbed all the time. While I was thinking about the solution somebody broke up an auto V8 with good mufflers, so I grabbed them. Required a little work underneath as there is a difference in some pipes between man and auto, but its all sorted now.
 
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