Rover P6 languishing in a hedge for a decade..........want level reached!

[ShiteRider]

Don't know if anyone remembers, but last week i put a post on the grin thread about a previously forgotten rover p6 from my childhood reappearing after a hedge got trimmed.

Anyhoo, i have yet to put a note on the windscreen because i need to get storage for it sorted before i offer/coerce/threaten at knife point to buy it.

Thing is i've run the plate through DVLA and it's coming up as unlicensed since 01 08 2004, shouldn't it be coming up as sorned? i thought unlicensed usually meant scrapped without a C.O.D issued. If not would i get tiger bummed for back tax if it's just untaxed not sorned? (that said it's also coming up as being brown when it's blue, so who knows)

Anyway the reason this is in it's own thread and not an update on the antidote thread is due to the fact the car has been off the road for nine years means it's far more likely to be in my potential price range..............So what would be

A) The important things to look out for. I'm aware the outer panels are all just bolt on and it's the substructure that's the important part, rust wise but i'm a panel beater by trade with a easy going boss so rot isn't a big issue for me however i'm more concerned about what parts are made of unobtainium/ would be a right bastard to fix ie trim, mechanical etc.

A reasonable, but not insulting offer. The car is an blue 3500 V8 auto which from ten yards looks quite decent (it's up a longish drive, right outside the front door so hard to get close to) keeping in mind it's a desirable car, to me anyway, but has been sat for ten years.

Cheers' fellow shiters, i await virtual pats on the back/kicks in the bollocks with eager anticipation.

 

[ShiteRider]

Just double checked, the Rover was first registered on 18/10/1972 so stupid question time.....is it coming up as unlicensed because it's tax exempt, in other words does it not need to have a sorn declared as there wouldn't be any tax due anyway?

[Lankytim]

The person who sells it to you will get raped for the SORN fines, if they get fined at all.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Just double checked, the Rover was first registered on 18/10/1972 so stupid question time.....is it coming up as unlicensed because it's tax exempt, in other words does it not need to have a sorn declared as there wouldn't be any tax due anyway?

 

Tax exempt stuff still has to be taxed and SORN'd the same as everything else, the only difference is the cost of the disc. 

[Pillock]

Was SORN out in 2004?

As long as it's not passed from owner to owner, the DVLA will normally cast a blind eye for a car that left the road before SORN was invented, I mean "introduced to keep the roads safer". They only normally get shirty if it's passed between owners after SORN came into being, and still nobody bothered. Get it, sort the paperwork out fairly sharpish and you won't have issues. If anyone does get snotty letters from the DVLA, it won't be you anyway, you only become responsible once they've processed the change of owner.

 

Even though it's pre-73, it still needs a tax disc (cost zero pounds and no pence) so it can still have all the relevant stuff on the website - licence not due, licence due, licence expired, sorn not due and all that. To the system it will still read as a normal car, you still have to tax it every 12 months, it just has nil cost. Strange there's no 6 month option But yes, even on a tax exempt car, you need to SORN or tax, one or the other.

[trigger]

The SORN laws didn't come in until a few years later and I think anything unsorned before that date is ok.

[ShiteRider]

Thanks for the info guys, i'll draft a "sell me your shite"  letter using my best crayons and try to sneak some pictures while i'm there.

[catsinthewelder]

If I was the owner and wanted it gone,  the first thing I'd do upon reading your letter would be to check ebay to try and figure out what it's worth.  The cheapest two on there at the moment are a classified ad @£1500 and another that is bidding strongly @£700ish.  To me that seems like a lot for projects so it might be worth either waiting or turning up with some evidence that they are usually cheaper.

 

Best of luck with it

[Tetleysmooth]

I've got four P6 doors in my shed if you need them. In Mexico brown though.

[Junkman]

1. You will not be bummed for SORN or tax if you buy the car now.

 

2. It is impossible to tell what it's worth without seeing it. But no MoTable P6 V8 will change hands for under a bag, add another half for an 'S'.

 

3. The P6 V8 is one of the most complex cars ever built. It's the total antidote to a 'starter classic'. I wouldn't know where to start looking on a car that sat in a hedge for a decade, but be prepared for bolloxed brakes, dodgy electrics and be very, very careful when waking up the engine. Do not let the oil bleed for a long time when you drain it, or you risk the oil pump running empty and it doesn't self-prime. If the engine doesn't oil properly, your camshaft will run out within minutes. Don't be afraid if you hear valve rattle the first few minutes, this means everything is OK. It'll go away once the oil is warm. Don't be 'religious' when it comes to the reading on the oil pressure gauge. Rover V8s have a volume oiling sytem, not a pressure one, so even if there is no reading at all at tickover, that's fine when the engine is warm.

The front brakes are pretty straightforward and the same as Jag E-type, so spares are very easy to come by aned cheap. The same cannot be said for the rear ones, which are inboard discs, the calipers are complex enough to enjoy Rube Goldberg, and just one brake disc will set you back 110£. Rear brake pads with the wear indicators (correct for the V8) are hard to find and if you manage cost in the region of 60£. New rear calipers are made from unobtainium, but rebuilt ones are available, so are overhaul kits. If the brake fluid is low, more than likely this is due to an internal leakage of the rear caliper(s). Also, the handbrake mechanism works by means of shafts entering the calipers and actuating the actual brake pads. The seal where they enter the caliper often wears and you will see brake fluid escaping.

If there is rot in the actual bodyshell, better avoid the car, or use it as a parts donor, unless you are a MIG Michelangelo. You can only examine the shell properly once you take the panels off, first and foremost the sill covers, rear wings and front wings, which can be done within one hour.

 

4. First things to check:

 

- Lift out the rear seat cusions and examine the cavity towards the rear arches.

- The entire boot area. Take out carpets and rubber liners.

- Underneath the front wings/inner wings. Bring a torch. Examine especially where the wings meet the inner wings on top and everything you can see of the bulkhead. The bulkhead is the must important structural component, since it carries the front suspension and steering ( isnay kidding). If there is rot anywhere, just run.

- Check the rain gutters, where the roof lays on. You have to peep into the gap. Also check the undersides, when the doors are open.

- Extremely important is to check the condition of the rear trailing arms that contain the hubs. They rust circular around where the hub is attached and if they fail, the rear suspension collapses instantly and the car has to be lifted away. This needs to be checked even if you want to tow the car over a short distance at low speeds.

 

5. The demand for P6es has risen dramatically over the past few years. This has led to cheap used parts drying up and new parts prices rising steadily. Be aware that despite being a BL product in its later years, the P6 shares virtually no components with the rest of the BL range. Apart from a few pieces of the switchgear, everything is P6 specific and P6 only. It doesn't share anything with other cars either, apart from the Jag front brakes and the rear brake calipers were only used as well on the Zephyr/Zodiac MK4. No bush, no ball joint, no steering link, no shock absorber, no control arm, no spring is compatible with anything else. No interior trim or brightwork is available new, except the vinyl for the roof, which has lately been reissued. Another big issue are tyres, which are not always available, but if they are, cost in the neighborhood of 200 quid a corner.

 

6. P6es respond extremely malicious to bodge repair jobs. Everything is engineered cutting edge and does not allow for much 'improvisation'. Botched P6es handle like bin lorries and sound like a drawer full of cutlery when going over a bump.

 

However, if the car is sound, you will be rewarded with one of the most refined rides in automotive history. Their compact appearance totally belies that they are among the best highway cruisers evah.

 

Questions?

[Jim Bell]

^found this helpfull and interesting.

[overrun]

All Mike Brewer told us to do was left up the rear seat cushions.

Rich Sutton was even less helpful, iirc.

[worldofceri]

... it might be worth either waiting or turning up with some evidence that they are usually cheaper.

On the other hand, they might sell to the first scrap man waving fifty notes.  So don't wait too long!

[Wilko220]

This thread is useless without pictures 

[CortinaDave]

SORN is applicable to ALL untaxed cars that have been on the road since January 1998, but as has been said, as new owner you won't be bummed for the back tax

 

SORN came into force on jan 31st 98. Doesn't seem nearly that long ago!

[Junkman]

What? It's not 1998 anymore?

[dollywobbler]

Open the doors and give the inner sills a good squeeze as well. The outer sills are hidden by a bolt-on cover panel. They are truly majestic vehicles (if a bit cramped in the back, not a problem for me) but quite horrendous money pits potentially. I've been bitten very hard. Twice. I still want another though.

[Bobthebeard]

I had a manual 3500 P6 back in the early '80s. It ran and drove fine. Couldn't afford the petrol or insurance to run it, so sold it to a garage. Less than a week later, they dumped it back on my parents drive and cancelled the cheque. A note on the drivers seat said " Not viable for resale. Excessive rust under body panels"

It was only eight years old!

[Junkman]

Yep. The newer they are, the worse they rot, courtesy of BL quality* control*.

Any tax free example should be better built though.