I had a peek under the cover today and the car is still there……
So went into the garage and continued the work overhauling the engine. The old cam was well worn so will be replaced with a better example of what a bump on a cam should look like….
This will then make these
push the valve caps onto the valve seals, so machine the valve guides to move the valve seal down by 2.1mm.
Look what’s just arrived….
Rover P6 Minilite 7×15
Yesterday I spent the whole day working at the car. A few minor mechanical tweaks, a lot of Dinitrol anti-rust spraying and fitting body work including a the little trim bits.
After putting all the badges on the car I found another badge in the bottom of a box. During the respray some of the badge holes in the boot lid have disappeared. I can’t remember where they all go!
Rover P6 Boot Badges in wrong places
Hitting the pins into the trim clips on the wings and doors was causing heart in the mouth moments, thinking I’d dent the panels, until we broke the pins out in a visce before inserting them with plenty of Dinitrol anti-rust pasted around the hole.
Painted Rover P6 trim clips
Once completed the car is starting to look good. Just the valences left to fit.
Painted Rover P6
O, the wheels are in the delivery van on the way here now!!
A quick post with a few picture showing where we are now.
After collecting the doors and wings from the painter I built the doors.
Rover P6 doors
Bare Rover P6
And at Tims the bare car was still being welded. We had intended to spend the day painting and hanging panels but we just kept finding more and more rust as we were preparing to paint. Both front sils were replaced, the two jacking points strengthened and finally both the driver and passenger side floors had repair patches welded in.
welding Rover P6
As Tim welded I painted the D posts,
Rover P6 painting D post
and after short break.
Rover P6 Hanging Doors
We hung the doors and rear wings.
Rover P6 Hanging panels
So now we wait again for the painter to catch up, by finishing the remaining panels.
Still no new wheels.
With the Jag IRS out of the car, I could strip the 4HU LSD and shim the springs to tighten the diff. The diff has never been measured for the breakout torque, but now it was 25ft.lb, I want to aim for around 75ft.lbs.
The breakout torque is measured across the two output shafts, here one output shaft is held by a bar pressing on the workbench and a torque wrench is used to measure the torque on the other driveshaft. The torque wrench is slowly turned up until the diff starts slipping rather than the wrench clicking at the requested torque.
Jag Diff 4HU
Removing the diff cover, shows the LSD.
Diff 4HU LSD
The LSD is removed and dismantled, revealing the clutch plates and the spring plate.
Diff 4HU LSD assy
Diff 4HU LSD plates spring
Two of the clutch plate splined to the output shaft are back t back so as they have no movement relative to each other, this is where I added the shim on both sides, cut from an old oil can.
Diff 4HU LSD plates shim
Adding the first shim the breakout torque was raised to 45ft.lb, so I doubled the shim thickness but the LSD was locked solid. I got out my engineers shim plate and trying a shim at 1.5 times the thickness of my first resulted in 65ft.lb
Diff 4HU LSD plates
We reached our deadline for sending the panels to the painter. We didn’t get them completely finished, the door skins were only just held on and the lower skin repairs were given to the painter in a state that he needs to do some panel beating before he’ll start the painting preparation. Are need to keep to a schedule is greater than the want to do everything ourselves.
So the panels were put into a van and taken to the painter
Rover P6 Panels in van
And the car put into the garage naked; there I’ve finally posted the bare P6 picture
Bare Rover P6 in garage
A few days later we started into the mechanics and removed the rear suspension to tighten the preload on the 4HA Jag diff. The preload had never been set and for motorsport usage the preload should be much greater than a road going Jag. I’ll aim for 75 ft.lbs. Here you can see the amount of muck around the diff and in the brakes, big clumps of cow stuff.
Good to see all the fabricated parts are holding up well, the only thing we can see not up to the job is some welding around the damper mounts. The lower arms will be cleaned and the weld repaired. Boy is this thing heavy.
Narrowed Jag IRS Rover P6
And here’s more detail of all that mud.
Jag Diff 4HA in subframe
We also found a lot more rust in the sills so it was a rather frantic day.
I can’t help look at this gap between the diff and the boot well and think of an anti-roll bar; ‘Watch this space’.
This weekend was the last for repair and modifications to the Rover P6 panels, before they are removed and left with a painter. We have done a fair amount of work to the chassis itself, removing the lower D pillars which wrap around the front edge of the rear wheels, to provide space for wider 15″ wheels and corresponding wider tyres.
Waiting for paint in the drive
The rear door frames have also been modified to continue this extra space for the larger wheels. Here you can see the extra triangle formed on the inside of the door.
Waiting for paint side view
The two good (un-hit) spare wings we had, have modifications limited to the moving the forward mounting tabs. Removing the lower D pillars also removes the lower wings mount. These were relocated higher up both on the D pillars and the wing.
Rear wheel arch cut detail
The rear valance has been made more suitable for the car, by removing forward pointing corners which enjoy grabbing the grass and rocks as they pass under the car this continually bent the valence corners back.
Rear valance mods detail
Most of the work was in repairing the door frames, one was in terrible state with the aid of a welding chair and a lot of Mig gas the frame was made good and the door skin replaced.
Welding door skin
The other panels still required work, but not as much. The other big area of repair was the rear jacking point and the sill, D pillar interface. Here on both sides the rot was getting bad, we think due to the bodging of a repair years ago, this was more moisture trapping fiberglass than sound metal.
In garage
So tomorrow will finish off the jobs which I listed:
Front door lower frames tweaked; corners cut and bent to be inline with the rear doors.
Front door lower skins attach.
Rear door skins need trim holes drilled.
Prep Rear deck.
Driver Sill cover; Shorten and move jacking point hole.
Bonnet, remove Rover badge.
Then pack it up and send it off to the painters. We are leaving the panels there while we apply protection to the rest of the car and spray can paint the Brown parts on the shell.
With only four weekend left to work on the car until the Irish Classic Retro, we still have a lot to do, but it will work out OK one way or another.
So we are to do the Irish Classic Retro and we are cutting away at the body. We currently have two doors apart and Tim is attacking the rear jacking point. If you remember the car failed the MOT in 2013 for this hole at the bottom of the D-post:
Rover P6 sill rot
This was repaired with a quick patch to pass the MOT.
We knew this was only covering the problem which was a large weak area around the jacking point. Now was the time to do the repair which was really needed at the last MOT. Here is what the jacking point looked like before Tim started, which is normally covered by the outer sill, covering unseen sins. It shows that an MOT’d car is not a measure of a solid car. We had stopped using this jacking point as it was just too soft to lift the car.
And once Tim was happy he had got to the solid stuff and added the first repair patch, this is how the car looked:
And few hours later, we had a solid jacking point:
And still to attach the last panel .
Were now confused to how this panel goes on as the original repair, done by a previous owner, was so rotted we have pictures of what this corner should look like!!
We are also attacking the doors and have cut away the rear wheels arched to fit fatter wheels. More to post in the next few days.
I’ve not posted since Boxing Day 2013, you’ll be happy to know the car is still with us. In the last year it’s done a few miles but not much competition driving. This post is due to the fact that we’re about to start preparing it for the Trials Drivers’ Club Irish Classic Retro in April. Today the entry fee was paid, so it should all steam ahead, but just after paying the entry Tim heard that he was to travel for work over the same weekend in April as the rally. One way or another the car will do this event and hopefully with Tim driving.
We have a short list of things to do, however they are big jobs:
Maybe
So here’s to the first of a few posts this year.
Yesterday we did the great UAC Not the Boxing Day Rally. I’m so chuffed at the result of 27th overall, from one hundred cars entered. There were 25 Mazda Mx5s and 8 MG Midgets entered with at least a dozen Toyota Starlets so to nearly to get into the top quarter is just amazing and unexpected. Our running order put us in a lovely little varied group of cars;
Andy Johnson Vauxhall Chevette HS
Dermot Johnson Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite
Clifford Auld Triumph 2000
Gavin Millington Rover P6
Conn Williamson BMW 2002tii
Johnny Kennedy Austin A40 Farina
Ted Gaffney VW Golf
Drexel Gillespie Sunbeam Tiger
Three V8s; wonderful.
With all the other competitors we completed two loops totalling 32 tests, some clean car park tests some muddy farm yards, one in front of the main stands of Down Royal racecourse.
The car ran well other than the interior heating fan stopping; and our LSD needs tightened, but this is just an indication of the fun we have had.
No results yet on the web and I can’t find any photos. I think all the marshalls and photographers are taking a well-earned rest after standing out all day in the day long driving rain. Well done to them; they all should be given the Spirit of the Event prize.
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