1972 Rover P6 2300TC - Saab B234 Turbo

[sowen]

May 2, 2010 23:31:35 GMT 10mpg said:

I'm liking the progress!

The new front valance is really growing on me...

This is how I wanted it, just it took a little while to get it right in my eyes. There's still some tweaking to do, but the basic shape is there. The previous style may make an appearance on my brother's mini clubman at some point

May 3, 2010 9:26:11 GMT tonybmw said:

Great work

Thanks

I'm finding I spend more time re-doing stuff I've already done now that I've tooled myself up better and have a decent garage to work in, it may take longer, but the end result will be better

May 5, 2010 8:12:28 GMT montythemole said:

Loving that nose! This is looking so right now, bet you can't wait to turn wheels in anger?

Can't wait ;D

There's a little work to do to re-connect the fuel lines and rear brakes, sounds easy but it sits low, and the tunnel has been filled up with the propshaft and twin exhausts, so they need to run under the floor, which means I need to make something to protect them first.

May 5, 2010 8:12:28 GMT montythemole said:

You keeping any Rover badges on? Think without it you may well get mistaken for a yank tank by the general public (good or bad?!).

Must get off my and fuel up my P6 and charge the battery!

No badges but I noticed I could slightly re-arrange the stock 3500S badge to read 350CI

Possibly the final body mod (for now at least ) was tidying up the recesses for the twin tailpipes on the rear valance. The edges were a little thin, and I'd already had a go at beating out a symmetrical recess on the drivers side, but it didn't quite look right, so I cut them out larger and welded a bit of fresh steel in place:





Then it was given a few coats of primer and a couple of coats of blue









It's not been refitted yet as I've still got to finish the exhaust system in the middle where I've added my small baffled muffler, but when it goes on the cherrybomb hangers will be tweaked to put the tailpipes centred in the new recesses. I'm hoping the new muffler will drop the exhaust noise level to something a lot more bearable, but it is a temporary fix to get it on the road until the v8 goes in permanent

[Chris™]

Loving the attention to detail, what a superb car ;D That front valance goes so very nicely with everything - definitely worth all the effort to get it right!

[luckygti]

Great fabrication work there and I think the front valance really works.

[sowen]

Thanks for the comments

As I say, the front end is almost how I want it now. I think I need to do something around the edges of the air dam just to finish it off, but the basic profile is spot on. The engine is running again, and sounds much better with a small centre silencer fitted. It's not horrifically loud like it was, just appropriately loud ;D . I still need to reconnect the brakes and clutch to roll it outside though.

Anyway, I scored a new old stock strengthener panel off ebay for the rear of the boot floor behind the valance. There were some rust spots showing through the black storage paint so I paint stripped it to see how bad it was:



Not too bad, so I drilled off the old bent panel to see what it was like underneath:



Almost completely rust free . There were still a few small spots of pitted rust so I used some hammerite rust remover gel to clean it all up:



I then straightened out the boot floor. It was pushed in almost 1/2 inch, no wonder the valance never fitted right . I cut some small slits in the flange and used some clamps and blocks of wood to pull it back out:





Once straight I welded the slits back up:



Then put some primer over it all:





As I don't have a spot welder, I drilled loads of holes in the new valance panel, clamped it onto the boot floor and welded it on:









Once it had all cooled down, I gave some of the welds a quick clean up then primed the area and re-painted it:



That's one big job ticked off the list now

Here's the rear valance back in place with better fitting tailpipes

[10mpg]

Trick trick trick...

I love this car it all looks basically P6 but so little of it is actually stock!

it's all the little subtle changesthat one it is back together creates such a great looking thing, nothing is to 'out there' so when it's all done it's just going to look hard as nails and really 'serious'....

[Lewis]

Jesus, you make it look all so easy and professional! Love this thread

[montythemole]

Awesome work again. If you need some practice at spraying though, I'll let you have my MGB to practice on ;-)

Looks so mean as it is. Would be great once done to get a photo next to a standard P6 to show the differences.

[sowen]

Progress has been slow recently, though I have been able to get a few more big jobs completed. Some small spots of rust had appeared in the rear inner arches, so I stripped them back to bare metal and de-rusted both sides and re-painted them:









The rear outer arches have been pushed out 1" at the rear edge to clear the tyres so I made some brackets from stainless steel and welded them onto the wings:







With the area outside the garage clear for once, I drove the p6 out and turned it round for a change of scenery in the garage . While it was outside, I thought it rude not to take some more pictures







I think I'll add a lip to the front valance that will continue down from the wheelarch lip, and across the bottom to the other side. The rear is sitting quite high with the standard height springs but my 2" lowering springs make it sit too low, so I'll probably get a set of 1" lowering springs for the rear at some point soon. A bit more work is needed on the paintwork, but it's definately getting somewhere close now

[stealthstylz]

Christ that looks like it'd follow you down a back alley and rob you at knife point. Best looking custom P6 i've ever seen.

Matt

[Deleted]

That's one interesting project, with a lot of unseen work. One thing it does prove beyond doubt is that it's the tiny details that make the big difference, like the cut outs in the rear valance and the profile of the front valance, which will look perfect when you get that finishing kick on the edge. Might I suggest that you continue the satin black on the sill forwards to match the behind the front wheel on the wing? I'd definitely consider adding a black pinstripe at that low bodyline crease along the side too, especially if your fin lights are getting black surrounds instead of chrome.

Even though you plan to drop the back end an inch, I think it looks pretty mean just the way it stands now, especially with the popped bonnet. Definitely a very nice car, earned yourself a Bookmark I think.

[PhoenixCapri]

Jul 1, 2010 21:39:32 GMT stealthstylz said:

Christ that looks like it'd follow you down a back alley and rob you at knife point. Best looking custom P6 i've ever seen.

Matt

I totally agree, its getting better with every post. Thank god its not black as it'd give children nightmares for the rest of their lives! ;D

[sowen]

Jul 2, 2010 1:27:02 GMT @volksangyl said:

That's one interesting project, with a lot of unseen work. One thing it does prove beyond doubt is that it's the tiny details that make the big difference, like the cut outs in the rear valance and the profile of the front valance, which will look perfect when you get that finishing kick on the edge. Might I suggest that you continue the satin black on the sill forwards to match the behind the front wheel on the wing? I'd definitely consider adding a black pinstripe at that low bodyline crease along the side too, especially if your fin lights are getting black surrounds instead of chrome.

That's pretty much the plan, possibly continuing the black around the front.

Jul 2, 2010 1:27:02 GMT @volksangyl said:

Even though you plan to drop the back end an inch, I think it looks pretty mean just the way it stands now, especially with the popped bonnet. Definitely a very nice car, earned yourself a Bookmark I think.

Thanks

The rear is just below standard ride height, by about 1/2" - 1", while the front is just over 3" lower. It's difficult the see in the pictures, but it looks a bit odd sitting that high on the rear. Also, the rear looks 'empty' compared to the front. I'm thinking it also needs something like a small ducktail along the boot to finish it off.

[Lacy]

Without doubt the 'ardest motor I've seen in a long time.....It just looks soooooooo right.

[tonybmw]

I've said it before and I'll say it again

AWESOME !!!!

[ewokracing]

updates?

[sowen]

Aug 7, 2010 8:13:13 GMT ewokracing said:

updates?

Not a huge amount to update really. Most of the interior is back in place, with a nice new black carpet from Coverdale, the halogen headlights have now got relays powering them so I don't melt the wiring loom, and most of the wiring etc is now tied up nicely. I've got a few electrical gremlins appearing now, like the intermittant oil pressure guage, which is most likely going to be gummy old engine oil, and a dodgy battery that doesn't hold charge which is to be expected as it came off my daily when that refused to start some time ago .

There are also some small ripples in the front wings and doors along the crease line where I welded the trim holes up, now clearly visible with a coat of shiny blue paint on so that needs sorting, and I decided to take the heater apart because the foam seals inside were falling apart and there was some light creaping rust under the paint:





Some of the parts have been further disassembled from that photo. I'm using hammerite rust remover dip to clean them up, just need to find a bigger bucket for the larger parts now as the smaller bits are almost done, then I will need to find some suitable foam to seal the heater unit back up when it gets reassembled.

There are a few more niggly little jobs that need doing before it's ready for an mot, like sorting out a new battery clamp, setting the front tracking, fitting bigger 1/2" wheel studs, fitting a new rear propshaft, panel guarding the wheel arches, making the radiator grilles and many more, but it's definately getting somewhere close now

[cyd]

I gotta ask.... and I think you might guess why..... how did you get the lowness?

Jim

[apbellamy]

Looks great, but the big mouth in the front valance needs a nice big intercooler in it. Mmmm Rover V8 twin turbo ;D

[sowen]

Aug 7, 2010 19:42:32 GMT cyd said:

I gotta ask.... and I think you might guess why..... how did you get the lowness?

Jim

The front has uprated 2" lowered springs fitted, with the strut shortened and sleeved in the centre by 1.25". The rear is on standard springs at the moment, but with the extra weight of the Jaguar powerlock, it sits down about 1". This gives about 5" clearance beneath the sump at the front and the differential at the back. I may fit uprated 1" lowering springs all round, which should raise the front 1", and hopefully leave the back where it is. This does however give the front wheels about 2-3⁰ negative camber, which I'm hoping won't be a problem as it looks , but if it is a problem, it's an easy fix to adjust the camber on p6's.

Aug 7, 2010 19:43:19 GMT apbellamy said:

Looks great, but the big mouth in the front valance needs a nice big intercooler in it. Mmmm Rover V8 twin turbo ;D

Never say never

[sowen]

The heater unit is almost completed now. I really didn't expect re-building it to take quite so long

Here's most of the smaller parts in the first coats of primer:





And here are some of the parts in the first coat of satin black:









The heater was spot welded from the factory, and as I'd painstakingly drilled out every weld with a 1/8" drillbit, I could slowly assemble the parts one at a time like a 3D jigsaw, squeezing a layer of Tiger Seal sealant between every join and holding it together with my panel pins then putting in small pop rivets to hold it permanantly









I had to keep on mocking it up to almost fully assembled so I knew I would assemble it in the correct order with every join fully sealed:





I used 4 meters of foam sealing tape to seal up the heater matrix and the four flaps:













I need to double check that all seams are fully sealed, then I will give the outside a final coat of satin black then start refitting the control linkage, fan motor, wiring and drain tubes, then the heater can finally be refitted and plumbed in. Another big job will then be ticked off the list