1974 Rover P6 V8 resto mod project
Discussion
Hi there,
Bought this 1974 Rover P6 V8 just over 2 yrs ago, love these cars,, this is my 5th one in 10yrs! I think I may have posted my last build on here, cannot remember, it was also a 1973 V8 P6, fully rebuilt with suitable mods, lowered, Cragar wheels, 5spd box, I sold it back in 2014. last pic shows how it looked.
Ok so with this current build first job was to remove the old BW35 broken auto box & have now fitted an SD1 5spd manual. Next was too completely go through the underneath & inner wings, all rot cut our, new panels made & let in. Everything painted in red oxide & stone chipped with UPOL using a gun. All painted in chassis black, All suspension refurbed & polybushed, all new brake pipes, new front caliper's, fully rebuilt the rear ones. Fuel tank overhauled, sender ect. Managed to snap exhaust head stud and cylinder head bolt flush with the top of the O/S block, so engine stripped to a short block, removed & off it went to the engineers along with both heads. it was a bit 'knackered' so rebored,, new pistons, rings, all bearings, polished crank & cam bearings, fixed both broken studs (phew) refurb heads, recut valve seats, new exhaust valves and skimmed both & also the block. So now am reassembling it all ready for refit once the engine bay is finished. Fingers crossed I can get it running soon for initial test drive. Sadly but in a funny way the car will look almost the same as when first bought it as all the work so far has been literally underneath & under the bonnet :-).
Next phase is unbolting all the body panels for refurb & repaint, all will be bare metalled, prepped ready for paint, I'm going for a late 60's Mopar metallic blue very similar to B5 Blue as on the Dodge charger, Plymouths models ect, the pic of the 68 Pontiac is similar ish to what I want. Black vinal roof and wheels will be America n Racing rims, 7x15" Torque Thrust D as in the last pic. So a few pics to look at for now ;-)
Cheers Damian.
Bought this 1974 Rover P6 V8 just over 2 yrs ago, love these cars,, this is my 5th one in 10yrs! I think I may have posted my last build on here, cannot remember, it was also a 1973 V8 P6, fully rebuilt with suitable mods, lowered, Cragar wheels, 5spd box, I sold it back in 2014. last pic shows how it looked.
Ok so with this current build first job was to remove the old BW35 broken auto box & have now fitted an SD1 5spd manual. Next was too completely go through the underneath & inner wings, all rot cut our, new panels made & let in. Everything painted in red oxide & stone chipped with UPOL using a gun. All painted in chassis black, All suspension refurbed & polybushed, all new brake pipes, new front caliper's, fully rebuilt the rear ones. Fuel tank overhauled, sender ect. Managed to snap exhaust head stud and cylinder head bolt flush with the top of the O/S block, so engine stripped to a short block, removed & off it went to the engineers along with both heads. it was a bit 'knackered' so rebored,, new pistons, rings, all bearings, polished crank & cam bearings, fixed both broken studs (phew) refurb heads, recut valve seats, new exhaust valves and skimmed both & also the block. So now am reassembling it all ready for refit once the engine bay is finished. Fingers crossed I can get it running soon for initial test drive. Sadly but in a funny way the car will look almost the same as when first bought it as all the work so far has been literally underneath & under the bonnet :-).
Next phase is unbolting all the body panels for refurb & repaint, all will be bare metalled, prepped ready for paint, I'm going for a late 60's Mopar metallic blue very similar to B5 Blue as on the Dodge charger, Plymouths models ect, the pic of the 68 Pontiac is similar ish to what I want. Black vinal roof and wheels will be America n Racing rims, 7x15" Torque Thrust D as in the last pic. So a few pics to look at for now ;-)
Cheers Damian.
Edited by damoP6B on Friday 20th August 12:05
Edited by damoP6B on Friday 20th August 12:05
Edited by damoP6B on Friday 20th August 12:35
Thanks guys , When I sold the red one (OPB 108L) back in 2014 I really missed not having a V8 to play with, I winged so much to my wife that finally she gave in & let me buy the current one 'OTT 202M' in March 2019. Of course not with it's conditions....New bathroom was fitted in April 2019 oh and now fitting a new kitchen as well as still working from home :-$ . I do appreciate her letting me have this 'not so cheap anymore' hobby so the kitchen will be awesome ;-) then I can work on her letting me buy the America racing rims next year :-) .
Yeah I can appreciate that and the whole period thing but for me personally British Leyland colour choice's of the 1970's are not to my liking, Almond, Tobacco brown, dark brown, ect are awful, the Lunar grey was nice as was the Red.
So it will be the Metallic blue with black vinal roof and the american racing rims :-) the below pic gives a better idea of the colour I want , I think it'll really suit the car. Defiantly no hideous boot mounted spare wheel, fog lamps, mud flaps, AA badges or tow bar lol.
So it will be the Metallic blue with black vinal roof and the american racing rims :-) the below pic gives a better idea of the colour I want , I think it'll really suit the car. Defiantly no hideous boot mounted spare wheel, fog lamps, mud flaps, AA badges or tow bar lol.
Bookmarked. I do love the P6’s design, and subtly modified they look so damned cool 
(your last one looks great BTW).
I’ve got a soft spot for the RV8 engine too. OK, so it doesn’t produce significant power without spending really big bucks, but it does have a decent torque band and sounds lovely when you stab the throttle
I had one in my Mk ll Escort. It had a lumpy Real Steel cam, Rhoads lifters, heavy duty valve springs and pushrods, a Mallory dual point distributor and an MSD coil. But the biggest improvement was an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold and Thunder 500cfm carb which were much better than the SUs, though at a cost
Looking forward to your progress and updates
(your last one looks great BTW). I’ve got a soft spot for the RV8 engine too. OK, so it doesn’t produce significant power without spending really big bucks, but it does have a decent torque band and sounds lovely when you stab the throttle
I had one in my Mk ll Escort. It had a lumpy Real Steel cam, Rhoads lifters, heavy duty valve springs and pushrods, a Mallory dual point distributor and an MSD coil. But the biggest improvement was an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold and Thunder 500cfm carb which were much better than the SUs, though at a cost
Looking forward to your progress and updates
You really are a glutton for punishment OP!
My 1973 P6B 3500S had more rust in 1979 than the 9 year old Fiat it replaced.
Within a year the top mount for the rear suspension on the driver's side pulled through the inner wing. When I investigated the passenger side had already been repaired.
But I still have such great memories of owning a manual V8 when I was only 20!
With your history I'm sure it will turn out well, and it's great to see another one will get saved. I'm looking forward to the updates.
From what I recall the only good colours were Monza Red and Cameron Green.
Mine was Mexico Brown, but Tobacco Leaf, Avocado, Turmeric, Sage Green and Almond were all available. Did they come up with that colour chart after looking at soiled nappies?
My 1973 P6B 3500S had more rust in 1979 than the 9 year old Fiat it replaced.
Within a year the top mount for the rear suspension on the driver's side pulled through the inner wing. When I investigated the passenger side had already been repaired. But I still have such great memories of owning a manual V8 when I was only 20!
With your history I'm sure it will turn out well, and it's great to see another one will get saved. I'm looking forward to the updates.
lockhart flawse said:
Great work so far but in period these cars came in some great colours - why have you chosen something that IMHO is a bit ordinary?
But I nearly choked on my coffee when I read this! From what I recall the only good colours were Monza Red and Cameron Green.
Mine was Mexico Brown, but Tobacco Leaf, Avocado, Turmeric, Sage Green and Almond were all available. Did they come up with that colour chart after looking at soiled nappies?
damoP6B said:
Defiantly no hideous boot mounted spare wheel, fog lamps, mud flaps, AA badges or tow bar lol.
When I was about 8, another kid had a toy one of these - I was extremely jealous and played with it at every opportunity.Two things I remember -
The boot mounted spare wheel - I loved that feature - I thought it was the best thing about the car.
The wheels were removable - there was a small lever beside each wheel, which could be moved and then the wheel removed - I THINK you could swap any of them with the boot mounted spare - but I can't remember for certain.
Put the boot mounted spare on - I think it looks ace.
Thanks for all the great feedback everybody, much appreciated! Not much else other than a bit more build progress on the engine block.
Possibly in the next 4 weeks i can get it back in the car once the engine bay bit are finished, new kitchen work getting in the way by she who must be obeyed though ;-)
Possibly in the next 4 weeks i can get it back in the car once the engine bay bit are finished, new kitchen work getting in the way by she who must be obeyed though ;-)
Been a while but finally have the engine back in the car, the battery is totally shot so new one on its way, need to check its timed all okay as wouldn't even 'pop' before the old battery died. Will stick £20 of fuel to be sure there is enough. Seemed to have sprung a small coolant leak under the inlet manifold whilst cranking it over, hopefully its an easy fix. Once it fires up & all is well I can then put the rest of it back together & take a for small test drive, so looking forward to it as haven't driven it more than about 2 miles in nearly 3 yrs lol!. Wheels will now be the grey/silver AMR Torque thrusts as the fully polished versions are not available anymore, possible I can get them polished ?
Finger crossed all will go well & not end tears
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Finger crossed all will go well & not end tears
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Hi P5BNji,
Thanks for nice comments ! no I'll be changing the colour to the nearest shade I can get to the old Mopar B5 Metallic blue which was of several choices available back in the late 60's, early 70's when ordering your new Dodge Charger/ Challenger, Plymouth Road runner etc.
This 1969 Dodge Charger is B5 Metallica Blue which is part of the Haynes Motor museum collection not far from me, if I can get a modern equivalent to this then I'll be more than happy. The roof will be black vinyl, hopefully polished AMR rims to set it off. Possible I can get it painted this year or at least started, I have great auto paint & materials supplier local to me which helps. Sorry but not staying Almond although it does grow on me sometimes :-)
Oh the 68 Chevy Chevelle is another nice shade I like and you can see my inspiration with the ARM alloys, not as wide but 7x15" for the P6, kinda like the redline tyres though!
Thanks for nice comments ! no I'll be changing the colour to the nearest shade I can get to the old Mopar B5 Metallic blue which was of several choices available back in the late 60's, early 70's when ordering your new Dodge Charger/ Challenger, Plymouth Road runner etc.
This 1969 Dodge Charger is B5 Metallica Blue which is part of the Haynes Motor museum collection not far from me, if I can get a modern equivalent to this then I'll be more than happy. The roof will be black vinyl, hopefully polished AMR rims to set it off. Possible I can get it painted this year or at least started, I have great auto paint & materials supplier local to me which helps. Sorry but not staying Almond although it does grow on me sometimes :-)
Oh the 68 Chevy Chevelle is another nice shade I like and you can see my inspiration with the ARM alloys, not as wide but 7x15" for the P6, kinda like the redline tyres though!
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