(Another) barge with a mission - Rover P6 3500 V8
Discussion
Earlier this year, we decided to buy a big old barge (Jag XJ6) and take it on a 5,000 mile road trip around Europe, for the most arbitrary of reasons (to drive the ice roads which form on the frozen Baltic ocean - thread here).
The resulting road trip was so much fun, we've decided to do another similar trip - a decision which generated several questions.
Where? Why? And what barge?
These questions proved difficult, but eventually succumbed to the depth of problem-solving expertise which tends to congregate in the local pub every Saturday evening. Hence 'where?' is North Africa - Morocco and maybe Mauritania to be exact, 'why?' is to explore the North-West fringes of the Sahara, and the answer to 'what barge?' is the following:
It's a 1975 Rover P6 3500 V8 auto, it's done 91,000 miles, has MOT until August, and I came to own it by placing an £800 ebay bid on it while in the pub last Saturday evening. This £800 turned out to be the only bid placed, and so, rather trepidaciously, I headed to London yesterday, to drive it back to Devon. Following a rather memorable 7 hour journey through frankly biblical weather (described here), the car made it to it's new home on Dartmoor. It's now awaiting some TLC, as the engine seems to be down on power to the tune of about 100hp (and hence is probably the most unstressed V8 on the planet) and there are a few little rust spots which should be nipped in the bud before they get any worse.
Overall though, I'm rather impressed with the big Rover so far. It cruises smoothly while exuding an old-world charm, is reasonably comfortable, and it looks pretty good from most angles - particularly the menacing front view, and the Silver Shadow-esque rear. It's certainly not without it's flaws though - for instance, it generates so much body roll it goes beyond frustrating and actually becomes funny, and in faster corners it acquires a fore-aft pitching motion which, once you notice it, suddenly makes the scenery seem very close...
However, at the end of the day, it's a quirky old barge with a carb-fed V8, and it only cost £800. Can't go wrong with that sort of logic!
Now I've just got to get it ready for it's trip to Africa in June...
The resulting road trip was so much fun, we've decided to do another similar trip - a decision which generated several questions.
Where? Why? And what barge?
These questions proved difficult, but eventually succumbed to the depth of problem-solving expertise which tends to congregate in the local pub every Saturday evening. Hence 'where?' is North Africa - Morocco and maybe Mauritania to be exact, 'why?' is to explore the North-West fringes of the Sahara, and the answer to 'what barge?' is the following:
It's a 1975 Rover P6 3500 V8 auto, it's done 91,000 miles, has MOT until August, and I came to own it by placing an £800 ebay bid on it while in the pub last Saturday evening. This £800 turned out to be the only bid placed, and so, rather trepidaciously, I headed to London yesterday, to drive it back to Devon. Following a rather memorable 7 hour journey through frankly biblical weather (described here), the car made it to it's new home on Dartmoor. It's now awaiting some TLC, as the engine seems to be down on power to the tune of about 100hp (and hence is probably the most unstressed V8 on the planet) and there are a few little rust spots which should be nipped in the bud before they get any worse.
Overall though, I'm rather impressed with the big Rover so far. It cruises smoothly while exuding an old-world charm, is reasonably comfortable, and it looks pretty good from most angles - particularly the menacing front view, and the Silver Shadow-esque rear. It's certainly not without it's flaws though - for instance, it generates so much body roll it goes beyond frustrating and actually becomes funny, and in faster corners it acquires a fore-aft pitching motion which, once you notice it, suddenly makes the scenery seem very close...
However, at the end of the day, it's a quirky old barge with a carb-fed V8, and it only cost £800. Can't go wrong with that sort of logic!
Now I've just got to get it ready for it's trip to Africa in June...
mybrainhurts said:
Be prepared for huge fuel bills...
For sure. On our last trip, the Jag averaged 22mpg (due to a dodgy thermostat) - so at least we've got a pretty low target to try to beat... As for the colour - it wouldn't be my first choice either (I think these look much better in brighter colours like red or white), but if you're going to get a '70s car, you may as well get a '70s colour to go with it...
SVX said:
That's simply awesome! Any plans for longer range tanks? Improved cooling?
Don't think we'll be fitting longer range tanks, as the capacity isn't too bad to start with (about 15 gallons I think), and the boot is surprisingly small, even before you cut into it by adding further tankage. Hence we'll probably go with the easy option - a couple of jerrycans on the roof. Better cooling is definitely a consideration however. Once we've got the engine running properly, flushing out the cooling system and maybe adding another fan or two is pretty high on the list of priorities, depending on how useless the current cooling system is.
As for other modifications, the vague list (which will probably change) is as follows:
See how easy it is to raise the suspension (it's a pretty odd set up on these - pushrod front suspension and de dion rear, with inboard brakes - so I've no idea how viable it is at this stage.)
Bodge together a sump guard.
Drop in a 4.6 V8 out of a P38 Rangie, and supercharge it.
Fit the roof rack off my classic mini, and modify it to take a roof tent for desert camping.
Install some cool stickers, a dashboard rug, some blinding spotlights, and find a way of converting from MP3 to 8-track.
Think that just about covers it...
(PS - I was joking about the supercharged 4.6... sorry.
)wackojacko said:
That on standard suspnension the lack of bolster support and braking efficiency would be exciting with a supercharger added 
You're telling me! It had crossed our minds as a potentially lethal, post-trip course of action. Given it only weighs 1300kg, another tempting option is to strip it out, bump up the power, install some suspension that actually works, and make it into a rather amusing left-field drift/track day/autotest car... we shall see - one silly idea at a time...And Mr Foxbat - Why thank you; however if your username implies you've had a flight in a MIG-25, then I am rather jealous, and it is you that is the hero...
It's now a week since the big old Rover dragged itself the 230 miles home from London, unable to exceed 60mph and being forced to crawl up some of Devon's modest hills locked in 1st gear at less than 30mph.
Clearly, something was very amiss with the engine, so when the wind, rain, hail and flooding eased off sufficiently, I investigated further, paranoid that I'd accidently bought a dud unseen off Ebay.
I began with a highly scientific test to see how many of the eight cylinders were firing (starting the engine from cold and squirting WD40 onto each exhaust manifold in turn, to see if it boiled off.) The grand total came to five - three on the right bank and two on the left; however while this was obviously an issue, it failed to explain why the engine could barely muster 40hp. Next guess was something amiss inside the Carbs, so I took the air box off to investigate further, and in doing so, noticed that the throttle linkage between the two carburetors was broken, meaning when the accelerator was pressed, only the two functioning cylinders of the V8's left bank were accelerating, while the right side's throttle remained closed.
This explained why the car was so sluggish and thirsty - I'd driven it home from London with only 2 of the 8 cylinders pulling their weight, while three pottered along with the throttle closed, and the remaining three refused to fire.
Fast-forward to today, and I've just replaced the broken throttle linkage, changed the spark plugs, rotor arm, Distributor cap, and air filters - and the car is finally running like it should, idling smoothly and rocking the whole car with every blip of the throttle.
I'm currently taking a break from fitting the roof rack and spotlights, and have some rather cool period stickers on order to give the old beast an authentic rally look. Pics to follow in a day or two... Until then, here's some photos of the progress so far:
The new throttle linkage in place - one of the balljoints on the end of the previous linkage had broken.
Experimenting with the roof rack setup.
Clearly, something was very amiss with the engine, so when the wind, rain, hail and flooding eased off sufficiently, I investigated further, paranoid that I'd accidently bought a dud unseen off Ebay.
I began with a highly scientific test to see how many of the eight cylinders were firing (starting the engine from cold and squirting WD40 onto each exhaust manifold in turn, to see if it boiled off.) The grand total came to five - three on the right bank and two on the left; however while this was obviously an issue, it failed to explain why the engine could barely muster 40hp. Next guess was something amiss inside the Carbs, so I took the air box off to investigate further, and in doing so, noticed that the throttle linkage between the two carburetors was broken, meaning when the accelerator was pressed, only the two functioning cylinders of the V8's left bank were accelerating, while the right side's throttle remained closed.
This explained why the car was so sluggish and thirsty - I'd driven it home from London with only 2 of the 8 cylinders pulling their weight, while three pottered along with the throttle closed, and the remaining three refused to fire.
Fast-forward to today, and I've just replaced the broken throttle linkage, changed the spark plugs, rotor arm, Distributor cap, and air filters - and the car is finally running like it should, idling smoothly and rocking the whole car with every blip of the throttle.
I'm currently taking a break from fitting the roof rack and spotlights, and have some rather cool period stickers on order to give the old beast an authentic rally look. Pics to follow in a day or two... Until then, here's some photos of the progress so far:
The new throttle linkage in place - one of the balljoints on the end of the previous linkage had broken.
Experimenting with the roof rack setup.
fivetenben said:
<snip> that the throttle linkage between the two carburetors was broken, meaning when the accelerator was pressed, only the two functioning cylinders of the V8's left bank were accelerating, while the right side's throttle remained closed.
This explained why the car was so sluggish and thirsty - I'd driven it home from London with only 2 of the 8 cylinders pulling their weight, while three pottered along with the throttle closed, and the remaining three refused to fire.
This almost brings a tear to my eye - the old girl dragged herself home even on a quarter power! She obviously wants to keep going, which is a good quality for an adventure car to have (anyone who dismisses this as sentimental tittle-tattle obviously hasn't experienced the way machines develop anthropomorphic personalities over long road trips - some are like pit ponies and drag themselves unexpectedly home despite three gammy legs and a headcold, while some are divas, throwing strops at each and every opportunity)This explained why the car was so sluggish and thirsty - I'd driven it home from London with only 2 of the 8 cylinders pulling their weight, while three pottered along with the throttle closed, and the remaining three refused to fire.
absolutely love P6's , farm I used to work on in the highlands had an old (well it seemed old then!) p6 3500 that we used to use, to get to some of the farther flung parts of the farm. it had no back seats and we used to chuck everything from hay to feed to sheep in it! loved the sound
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