Decent Rover P5b for £5k or £6k?
Discussion
Any P5 experts/owners on here?
Always fancied a 3.5 litre P5, not fussed about show cars but wondered if it's possible to get a decent driver that won't break down every other day for this sort of money?
This one caught my eye;
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1012435
Would hope to use it for weekends and my almost 100 mile round trip commute 3 or 4 times a month.
Always fancied a 3.5 litre P5, not fussed about show cars but wondered if it's possible to get a decent driver that won't break down every other day for this sort of money?
This one caught my eye;
https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1012435
Would hope to use it for weekends and my almost 100 mile round trip commute 3 or 4 times a month.
Certainly not an expert but have owned two, the first one, despite being a real looker enlightened me enough to buy a better one the second time around! Floors, sills, A, B and D posts, inner wings and boot floor are the things to check for rot, and then check again just to make sure. The areas around the front scuttle and bottom of the rear screen need checking thoroughly, rot can easily hide here under all the chrome / stainless steel trim. One of the worst jobs on a P5 is replacing the rear screen, it can take two people a couple of days to do properly (ask me how I know!).
You can find solid usable saloons and the odd Coupe for that money but at some point they will need attention to the bodywork. Although built like tanks they hide corrosion very well. The doors are very heavy and the hinges sometimes wear making the doors drop when opening them.
Interior trim - expensive to replace but the most common problem is split stitching on the front seats. The front carpets can become very damp and musty if the screen rubbers have perished, letting rain water in, this can also affect the African Cherry wooden cappings at the corners of the dashboard.
Running gear - mostly bulletproof although the steering boxes often leak due to bad seals and porous castings. I think newer and better quality steering boxes are available now though.
Whichever P5 you buy make sure it is complete, some of the interior and exterior trim is very hard to come by, although some owners do have a large stash of these items taken from contacts in the banger racing world. The owner's club forum is a great place to find these if you do need them.
Evidence of a full or partial respray is easy to spot as so many of them don't have the 'correct' coachlines on the bodyside any more (and on the roof on the P5B Coupes). These coachlines are often missing or done in the wrong place, easy to spot when you look at the old brochure and factory press photos in period. Both of my Coupes were resprayed and had coachlines reapplied using vinyl tape, although the first one still had its original roof colour and handpainted coachline.
Best of British, hope you find a good one!
You can find solid usable saloons and the odd Coupe for that money but at some point they will need attention to the bodywork. Although built like tanks they hide corrosion very well. The doors are very heavy and the hinges sometimes wear making the doors drop when opening them.
Interior trim - expensive to replace but the most common problem is split stitching on the front seats. The front carpets can become very damp and musty if the screen rubbers have perished, letting rain water in, this can also affect the African Cherry wooden cappings at the corners of the dashboard.
Running gear - mostly bulletproof although the steering boxes often leak due to bad seals and porous castings. I think newer and better quality steering boxes are available now though.
Whichever P5 you buy make sure it is complete, some of the interior and exterior trim is very hard to come by, although some owners do have a large stash of these items taken from contacts in the banger racing world. The owner's club forum is a great place to find these if you do need them.
Evidence of a full or partial respray is easy to spot as so many of them don't have the 'correct' coachlines on the bodyside any more (and on the roof on the P5B Coupes). These coachlines are often missing or done in the wrong place, easy to spot when you look at the old brochure and factory press photos in period. Both of my Coupes were resprayed and had coachlines reapplied using vinyl tape, although the first one still had its original roof colour and handpainted coachline.
Best of British, hope you find a good one!
Edited by P5BNij on Thursday 6th September 15:57
P5BNij said:
Certainly not an expert but have owned two, the first one, despite being a real looker enlightened me enough to buy a better one the second time around! Floors, sills, A, B and D posts, inner wings and boot floor are the things to check for rot, and then check again just to make sure. The areas around the front scuttle and bottom of the rear screen need checking thoroughly, rot can easily hide here under all the chrome / stainless steel trim. One of the worst jobs on a P5 is replacing the rear screen, it can take two people a couple of days to do properly (ask me how I know!).
You can find solid usable saloons and the odd Coupe for that money but at some point they will need attention to the bodywork. Although built like tanks they hide corrosion very well. The doors are very heavy and the hinges sometimes wear making the doors drop when opening them.
Interior trim - expensive to replace but the most common problem is split stitching on the front seats. The front carpets can become very damp and musty if the screen rubbers have perished, letting rain water in, this can also affect the African Cherry wooden cappings at the corners of the dashboard.
Running gear - mostly bulletproof although the steering boxes often leak due to bad seals and porous castings. I think newer and better quality steering boxes are available now though.
Whichever P5 you buy make sure it is complete, some of the interior and exterior trim is very hard to come by, although some owners do have a large stash of these items taken from contacts in the banger racing world. The owner's club forum is a great place to find these if you do need them.
Evidence of a full or partial respray is easy to spot as so many of them don't have the 'correct' coachlines on the bodyside any more (and on the roof on the P5B Coupes). These coachlines are often missing or done in the wrong place, easy to spot when you look at the old brochure and factory press photos in period. Both of my Coupes were resprayed and had coachlines reapplied using vinyl tape, although the first one still had its original roof colour and handpainted coachline.
Best of British, hope you find a good one!
Wow, thanks very much for your detailed and informative reply. Much appreciated!You can find solid usable saloons and the odd Coupe for that money but at some point they will need attention to the bodywork. Although built like tanks they hide corrosion very well. The doors are very heavy and the hinges sometimes wear making the doors drop when opening them.
Interior trim - expensive to replace but the most common problem is split stitching on the front seats. The front carpets can become very damp and musty if the screen rubbers have perished, letting rain water in, this can also affect the African Cherry wooden cappings at the corners of the dashboard.
Running gear - mostly bulletproof although the steering boxes often leak due to bad seals and porous castings. I think newer and better quality steering boxes are available now though.
Whichever P5 you buy make sure it is complete, some of the interior and exterior trim is very hard to come by, although some owners do have a large stash of these items taken from contacts in the banger racing world. The owner's club forum is a great place to find these if you do need them.
Evidence of a full or partial respray is easy to spot as so many of them don't have the 'correct' coachlines on the bodyside any more (and on the roof on the P5B Coupes). These coachlines are often missing or done in the wrong place, easy to spot when you look at the old brochure and factory press photos in period. Both of my Coupes were resprayed and had coachlines reapplied using vinyl tape, although the first one still had its original roof colour and handpainted coachline.
Best of British, hope you find a good one!
Edited by P5BNij on Thursday 6th September 15:57
I need to sell my Clio cup first but might come back to you with more questions when I start looking proper.
I think P5BNij has given the most comprehensive write up I've seen froma "non-expert" 
A friend of mine has one of these that is our Le Mans Classic reserve. It's been called into service a couple of times, which pretty much means driving it out of the barn and putting it through an MOT. Never had any major issues on the trip and given that he lives nr Aberdeen that's no mean feat. It has enough grunt to live with modern traffic and is a pleasure to drive. Cracking value classic IMHO.
A friend of mine has one of these that is our Le Mans Classic reserve. It's been called into service a couple of times, which pretty much means driving it out of the barn and putting it through an MOT. Never had any major issues on the trip and given that he lives nr Aberdeen that's no mean feat. It has enough grunt to live with modern traffic and is a pleasure to drive. Cracking value classic IMHO.
Dinoboy][footnote]Edited by P5BNij on Thursday 6th September 15:57[/footnote said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rover-P5-P5B-Crowood-Auto...
This one also turns up on Amazon occasionally...
A good start, to be commended! You'll be looking at that for hours trying to decide what your favourite colour combo is and wondering if the bourdueax or saddletan interior is the right way to go... these cars really do get under your skin, I miss mine a lot.
The view down the bonnet from my 1970 Coupe crossing Hammersmith Bridge a few years ago...
The aroma of the interior was fantastic...
The previous owner restored it doing most of the work himself in his garage but he rushed it towards the end when it came to putting it all back together - the Rostyles needed a thorough polishing and I repainted the black segments on each one by hand (very therapeutic!) and some of the door seals, chrome and stainless steel trim needed refitting but it was easy enough to do. The chap he bought it from found it in a garage next to a sawmill where it had been sat for about twenty years...
I had the chance to buy it back fairly recently but wasn't quick enough off the mark, oh well!
The view down the bonnet from my 1970 Coupe crossing Hammersmith Bridge a few years ago...
The aroma of the interior was fantastic...
The previous owner restored it doing most of the work himself in his garage but he rushed it towards the end when it came to putting it all back together - the Rostyles needed a thorough polishing and I repainted the black segments on each one by hand (very therapeutic!) and some of the door seals, chrome and stainless steel trim needed refitting but it was easy enough to do. The chap he bought it from found it in a garage next to a sawmill where it had been sat for about twenty years...
I had the chance to buy it back fairly recently but wasn't quick enough off the mark, oh well!
Thanks - I really shouldn't have sold it when I did but we all make mistakes. It drove much better than my first one and only let me down once in heavy traffic in Holland Park one Sunday lunch time, the dreaded fuel vapourisation occurred at a set of lights but I had just enough oomph to pull in round the corner and park it. We duly went to the pub for an hour, came back and it had cooled down enough to proceed on our merry way.
Hope you find what you're looking for - the search is half the fun sometimes. Does it have to be a V8...? The odd decent 3 litre saloon or coupe do turn up occasionally.
Hope you find what you're looking for - the search is half the fun sometimes. Does it have to be a V8...? The odd decent 3 litre saloon or coupe do turn up occasionally.
Excellent write up by P5Nij. Covers the main areas. Rust is the main bugbear, D-posts give good indication of what's underneath. Jacking points can be a weakness.
No significant mechanical changes throughout the P5B's production run (some changes to distributor early in production IIRC).
BW35 auto box is fairly near its torque limit, worth checking functionality on test drive.
Books suggested are the main reference sources, the Crowood one is quite detailed.
Brooklands Gold Portfolio provides good overview - not sure if available new anymore.
Rear bumpers virtually impossible to source in UK, although some have purchased stainless ones from the abroad.
P5Bs should have black sills, under the chrome strip; often missed by restorers and can be a pointer to originality. P5 3-litres were body colour.
They're lovely cars but you need to check the body carefully as there are a lot of tarted up rusty ones around
Club forum is a good place to seek views.
http://roverp5.proboards.com/#
No significant mechanical changes throughout the P5B's production run (some changes to distributor early in production IIRC).
BW35 auto box is fairly near its torque limit, worth checking functionality on test drive.
Books suggested are the main reference sources, the Crowood one is quite detailed.
Brooklands Gold Portfolio provides good overview - not sure if available new anymore.
Rear bumpers virtually impossible to source in UK, although some have purchased stainless ones from the abroad.
P5Bs should have black sills, under the chrome strip; often missed by restorers and can be a pointer to originality. P5 3-litres were body colour.
They're lovely cars but you need to check the body carefully as there are a lot of tarted up rusty ones around
Club forum is a good place to seek views.
http://roverp5.proboards.com/#
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff