Rover P6

[Graham]

not your usual TS project, and defiantly a long way from a fire breathing BDA escort, but to be honest if i want a civilized trip out with the wife a hotted up escort isnt the thing, and you wouldnt dare park it anywhere for fear of it being gone when you got back to it, Cortina and Granadas are no better in terms of low lifes stealing them, and they all cost a bucket load of money compared to this P6.

i bought it blind to break for spares about 2 years ago, it had been in a lock up since 2002. i paid about £800 for it, and its got a genuine 38,000 miles on the clock! can you imagine picking up an old ford at that mileage for that money?

it looks rough, a 1980s respray in cellulose means the paint is dead flat, but mechanically its in good order to get it up and running it only needed the points filing some fuel and a battery. all i had to do to mot it was overhaul the brake calipers and change the brake flex hoses

[Graham]

i love the service history written on the inner wings, for the moment im just going to use it as is, its silky smooth and just wafts along nicely, its far from fast by modern standards, in fact performance wise its on par with my startrek mileage diesel passat, it just makes a nicer noise and uses 3 times the fuel. teh manual s models were quite a bit brisker, i do have a manual box for it, and a 4.6v8 from a range rover so it will get a bit of get up and go at some point.

[chrisis]

whats your plans Graham? Keep in it as it is and drive it around with the wife?

[Graham]

whats your plans Graham? Keep in it as it is and drive it around with the wife?

for the moment mostly due to lack of time and other commitments drive it as it is, although i dont overly like the rat look so probably at the end of the summer it will get fresh paint, and then some subtle mods, subtle mods including a bigger v8 to give it an extra 100bhp/100ft and a manual box! in its day it was a fast car, but these days your average diesel shopping trolley would leave it for dead, another 100 horse power and manual box will make it fairly handy even by todays standards

[chrisis]

Whats the hp output from the factory? What engine will use?

[katana]

Isn't 'flat paint' a fashion thing these days? Give it a wash, and satin clear coat it and you'll be a 'style guru' LOL!
The old Buick lump is a good reliable lump and can be massaged to good outputs - favourite engine with trike and custom builders.
Any one remember seeing the plod driving them - couldn't have been all bad!

[Graham]

Whats the hp output from the factory? What engine will use?

155bhp and 218lbft torque as standard from 3.5 litres last of the rover powered Range Rover had a 4.6litre version that gave 225bhp And about 300lbft torque, so with a bit of tuning 250-275 bhp should be easily in reach on a mild road cam


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[wildo105e]

Isn't 'flat paint' a fashion thing these days? Give it a wash, and satin clear coat it and you'll be a 'style guru' LOL!

That's got my vote. My anglia's paint is like that and i love it it's earned it's age along with a few rust patches

Looks a great car. Get that 4.6 in and rumble away

[bondy]

Good cars I've had a few that one must be a rare beast looks like to me it's got air con.

[e321]

unusual front suspension

[Graham]

unusual front suspension

yes, horizontal coil spring acted on by a bell crank, it left a big square empty engine bay to suit a gas turbine engine which never made it into production

[Zakspak]

Nice ! The P6 has a presence about it without the need for tampering, except maybe new wheels. Mate had one years ago in that "Garter Blue" they did. That was factory paint, and I think it went flat as well.

[beeRS]

Love these. My dad used to have a 2000TC back in the 70s. I always fancied getting a 3500 and putting a TVR lump in.

[Graham]

talking of unusual front suspension i have fitted an uprated anti roll bar, a piece of cake to fit, i didnt even need to take the wheels of, just jacked itr up, unbolted the clamps which hold it on and slid it out, and new one in,

its certainly made a difference, its made the steering more positive and it feels much less like a boat, or like a mk3/4/5 cortina with shagged suspension through the twisties, the ride is unaffected, its far from a sports car but much nicer to live with driving at modern car speeds.

[turbo m]

Not tempted to drop a bmw engine in it???
Is that an aftermarket air con????

[e321]

Where ever do you find an uprated roll bar for one of these, but watching old episodes of the sweeney the body roll / understeer they have shows a need for one..

[Graham]

Not tempted to drop a bmw engine in it???
Is that an aftermarket air con????

not really the engine bay is a bit short for a straight six and i think a bmw v8 is a bit wide, in either case it would seem a lot of hassle when its so easy to upgrade the rover lump, for sure if i was looking for over 300bhp it would be worth considering something else, but as i could get to 200 bhp with just a few tweeks to the 3.5, or 220 and wall of torque by simply dropping a stock 4.6 in it, the 4.6 with a cam should give me about 250bhp which is going to be plenty enough for the road.

yes aftermarket air con, the compressor and drive pulleys etc all look to be factory rover, but the evaporator unit in the car certainly isnt

[Graham]

Where ever do you find an uprated roll bar for one of these, but watching old episodes of the sweeney the body roll / understeer they have shows a need for one..

these guys in NZ https://www.autoyas.com/NZ/Auckland/...6/Bygone-Autos

although i believe there are people in the uk machining down ones from a Peugeot van to fit

[Graham]

the rover P6 is unusual in that every single exterior panel unbolts, roof included! ive been taking advantage of this by painting replacement panels one at a time, along the way reskinning a couple of doors. you may ask why one panel at a time, thats because we dont have a paint booth at work, so the workshop isnt suitable for painting meaning i can only do the odd panel here and then when no one is around

[4parajon]

Looking good mate, needs lowering tho

[Graham]

Looking good mate, needs lowering tho

i did think of that, but its not easy, the front suspension is bizarre, although soft, the springs are very long and under a massive preload, you are literally risking limbs changing them.
there is a huge leverage effect, so much so that rover used to shim the cars up, a 1mm shim changes front ride height by about 10mm. so you have to fit springs then take it apart again to add or subtract shims, sometime several times. to lower it i either need to have springs made or modify it with adjustable platforms




for the moment the plan is just to get it looking bright and shiny all over, and not modify it any further, just in case i need to sell it. Even though its no longer original, as a manual V8 (fitted with SD1 5 speed) with power steering and a good leather interior its very desirable