project Rover P4 110 - Gone

[Saabnut]

When I last ran a 110 as a daily I returned about 24-26 mpg as an average. After that rotted away in spectacular fashion I ran a 100 for a few years after that (which you will be surprised to know I still have) and that returned 25-27mpg on the same sort of running. No surprise as the 110 has a bit more power and a bit more weight, having steel doors etc instead of the alloy ones on the 100

[SiC]

Oh man. There is a Spitfire that is winking at me so bad. Right spec, right year, right condition and pretty much right price. I really like this and I'm really not finished with it yet in my mind, but I have cars coming out of my ears. 

[Matty]

5 minutes ago, SiC said:

Oh man. There is a Spitfire that is winking at me so bad. Right spec, right year, right condition and pretty much right price. I really like this and I'm really not finished with it yet in my mind, but I have cars coming out of my ears. 

Just sell the civic. No one really needs a modern car. Think how much more she'll love you when doing a winter commute in a P4

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, Matty said:

Just sell the civic. No one really needs a modern car. Think how much more she'll love you when doing a winter commute in a P4

🤣

Divorce is expensive I've been told ...

[SiC]

After getting back from the gym, I partake in a bit of evening tinkering. The primary job was to fix the sender.

This was always on minimum. As the needle moved to Empty with the ignition on, I knew the circuit, gauge and sender actually worked.


Easy enough to get to. I opted to remove the wheel for more access.



I found a spare sender gasket from my spares stash that fitted perfectly - I think I bought it for when I had a Morris Minor.


The sender was completely seized up and missing its float. The float was probably in the tank but I couldn't find it. I was impressed with the tank design to have a separate baffle for the sender presumably to dampen the level.



I cleaned out the sender and worked the arm back and forth while putting spray lube in till it moved again.


Then recalibrated the max end point as it was going too far and off the rheostat. So a full tank would show empty until enough was gone to start showing full!



I put a replacement float on. I think it was from a completely rusted out Dolomite tank. Sometimes being a hoarder has its advantages!


I now have a working (but not necessarily accurate) gauge!


The next port of call was the handbrake switch. This was completely solid. Again the same trick with lubing and moving until it moved again. Took a fair bit but it's now spring back to its end stop.




I refitted but it appears the light on the dash still doesn't work. The bulb is fine but no power is getting to the switch. Likewise no power to the brake reservoir switch either. Looking at the wiring diagram it goes straight to a Lucas butt connector and then to the ignition switch. Not entirely sure where the butt connector is but presumably behind the dash. I did have a look but it's not the easiest to get in there and I couldn't see anything disconnected.

Once I get that power sorted, it should work again but the switch off point will probably need resetting for the handbrake switch.

[N Dentressangle]

High quality fettling, right there

[2flags]

Looking good. Fettling one of these old barges is a really satisfying thing. They are such a quality vehicle, just right for the bank manager, solicitor or vet. 

[Three Speed]

5 hours ago, 2flags said:

just right for the bank manager, solicitor or vet.

or percussionist. Back in the 60's, we lived round the corner from James Blades who was famous for recording the gong at the beginning of the J Arthur Rank films. His day job was playing the kettle drums for major orchestras and he used to carry them around on the roof of his P4, which I think was a 110. 

[Surface Rust]

Nice to see it out on the road again. 

That bluff front and the nose up stance do give them a commanding road presence, and does give SUV drivers  reason to think again before pulling out!

Regarding your idle stumble, mine used to drop to 5 at idle sometimes, I eventually tracked it down to the Bakelite spark plug covers which seemed to give a path to ground, especially if a little damp. Being too tight for 6 replacements I fitted rubber boots and it fixed the problem. 

[High Jetter]

Bakelite caps with rubber boots! Was all the rage

[SiC]

Fixed the front wing this afternoon. It was not fixed to the car and stopped the passenger door from opening properly.
I've repaired the damage on the bottom from where the door scraped against it and fixed the wing to the car. It had been previously repaired but not the best job. Lots of filler covering poor welds. One of those jobs that escalated as paint/filler was removed.
Under the wing looks solid which is a big plus point.
I've done the best I can do with what I've got. Certainly not my best work. However the door is now functional which is a very useful thing!



















Also patched the rusty hole by the filler cap. The metal was pretty thin around here and I didn't want to get a spark in the tank!
Rain, irritatingly, has stopped play.

[HMC]

Brilliant!

[2flags]

Looking good. Better than it was. Just keeping on top of these problems will ensure it lasts a long time. 

[somewhatfoolish]

What is this? did the P4 have an optional entrance for cats/Jerry Mouse?

[SiC]

I really am quite rubbish with filler and paint. Even these pictures flatter it. I'd spent longer on it but I needed to get it done tonight as it's just about warm enough to dry and it's due to rain again tomorrow. Better done than perfect.

I also need to find where to buy a cellulose spray can of Juniper Green paint.




You can see the repair at the bottom of the wing is too wide for the chrome piece to fit nicely. That was the previous person's attempt at a repair. I'll see how bad it looks with the green paint and chrome piece on. It may just have to do and at least it's solid.

[BeEP]

The last time I tried, Brighton Autopaints would do cellulose in an aerosol (and post it).

[2flags]

At least it is better than rust. It has new metal in there now, so that at least is an improvement. You can always go back and tidy it up later. 

[lesapandre]

You can brush paint these things and then flat the paint back with very fine glass paper and cutter. This may be a way forward here. Myself I'd try that on the rear panel and see how the match comes up. 

[SiC]

 

 

[2flags]

Stop it. I can't afford it, have nowhere to put it and the wife would kill me. I have too many cars already. By the way, where are you exactly?

[SiC]

1 minute ago, 2flags said:

Stop it. I can't afford it, have nowhere to put it and the wife would kill me. I have too many cars already. By the way, where are you exactly?

Near Clevedon, North Somerset

[SiC]

Fixed the blower fan on my P4. Actually was just the rheostat needed cleaning up. Quite easy to diagnose by touching the motor terminal on the power side.
Opened it up and cleaned it with some 400grit sandpaper.

[SiC]

Went to Clevedon sea front today in the P4. First proper journey my wife has been in it (she isn't a big fan of my older cars) and she quite liked it! Probably because I love sports cars and I drive them as such. But this car makes me slow right down and I'm quite happy just pootle along slowly, which she prefers than me revving the nuts off my others.

Also stopped by the local Bluebell woods to have a wander and a photo. Not quite enough out to be the best picture, but it still hasn't come out too bad.

It did make me wonder why I was selling this car. But I desperately need the room with another car on the way and I'm still piecing my Dolomite together with the intention of selling that instead (whichever sells first). But this is last in, so first out.

[vulgalour]

That may even be the same rheostat as used in the Lanchester.  Satisfying little thing to open up, clean, and put back together.  Given your wife's tolerance for car shenanigans, now you've found one she enjoys being in with you I'd be much more hesitant about selling it in your shoes.  Life in the slow lane is not so bad, especially if you've got someone to enjoy your time there with.

[Zelandeth]

You need to hold on to this precisely as long as it takes me to come up with a valid excuse to buy it.  

If the R25 hadn't surfaced back in December it absolutely would be in my driveway already I reckon!  Unfortunately I'm already one car over capacity as it is!  

[SiC]

14 hours ago, vulgalour said:

That may even be the same rheostat as used in the Lanchester.  Satisfying little thing to open up, clean, and put back together.  Given your wife's tolerance for car shenanigans, now you've found one she enjoys being in with you I'd be much more hesitant about selling it in your shoes.  Life in the slow lane is not so bad, especially if you've got someone to enjoy your time there with.

Probably the same Lucas part they used for years! I wouldn't even be surprised if it's the panel dimmer rheostat in my BGT. 

Even though she likes it, I was having this conversation with her earlier that she reckons I'll get bored quickly. I think she's right as I'm already pondering if I'm a bit bored of it. Usually changes when I've gone for a drive but I think that's because it's still novel to me. Pottering around is fine but there is only so much you can do. It'll happily do long distances (it's quite refined at speed) but if I'm doing that then generally I just take a modern for the lack of hassle. 

Local journeys (i.e. upto an hour or so each way non motorway) is where I get the most enjoyment out of classics. Something like the Spitfire I'm getting is just me. Driving the hell out of it while being tailgated by a grandmother in a Skoda Fabia 1.2 because I'm not actually going that quickly. Admittedly Mrs SiC doesn't like that as it usually involves her getting thrown around the car and why she probably likes the Rover more. 

Pondering today I do think I'm getting close to having all the fun I will get out of it. Some more evening pottering to the seaside and sorting that paint out is probably all I need left. 

 

13 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

You need to hold on to this precisely as long as it takes me to come up with a valid excuse to buy it.  

If the R25 hadn't surfaced back in December it absolutely would be in my driveway already I reckon!  Unfortunately I'm already one car over capacity as it is!  

Strictly speaking I bought this as a N+1 and now over capacity. I can get away with it as I have driveway for two cars and the Boxster is small enough that I can go against the garage and fit a third (i.e. visitor) car. But N+2 is definitely too much. Even just down to the fact that maintenance for this many cars starts to get time consuming and expensive! There's a point where I start fearing something will break and I have yet another (potentially big) expense. More cars means more probability of that and I'm just about at that level. 

[SiC]

Practical Classics

Had to put another £20 of petrol in again today! I put that amount in yesterday (super unleaded) and it was back down to a quarter. I think I've done nearly 175 miles since I've had it already. All just by pootling around.

Certainly gains the most attention out of all my cars. If you're a single woman in your 50s to 70s, this is a perfect car to attract a similar aged man 🤣

Was chatting to some old guys in the pub about it. They went outside to have a look and asked one of the servers if it was staff. My wife perked up and said it was mine. I think the first time she's ever done that with one of my cars...

Anyway they were into pre-war cars and one of them was going to bring their Riley but had a bad back. He said he was thinking of selling some of his older cars to make room for modern classics as easier to drive as he ages. I didn't like to say I was starting to get interested in pre war cars and was waiting for his generation to thin out so they got my more affordable 🙃

[Zelandeth]

I'm kind of in the exact same N+1 situation.  That's manageable, N+2 is bearable short term, but isn't sustainable long term.  Means we have zero visitor parking aside from anything else!

I am actively looking at if we can figure something out here though.  I'd really like to be able to make this work...

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, SiC said:

Practical Classics

Had to put another £20 of petrol in again today! I put that amount in yesterday (super unleaded) and it was back down to a quarter. I think I've done nearly 175 miles since I've had it already. All just by pootling around.

Certainly gains the most attention out of all my cars. If you're a single woman in your 50s to 70s, this is a perfect car to attract a similar aged man 🤣

Was chatting to some old guys in the pub about it. They went outside to have a look and asked one of the servers if it was staff. My wife perked up and said it was mine. I think the first time she's ever done that with one of my cars...

Anyway they were into pre-war cars and one of them was going to bring their Riley but had a bad back. He said he was thinking of selling some of his older cars to make room for modern classics as easier to drive as he ages. I didn't like to say I was starting to get interested in pre war cars and was waiting for his generation to thin out so they got my more affordable 🙃

Looks like a keeper!

[SiC]

Tomorrow will be a week since I listed it here and on the P4 Facebook group. I've had (all from the FB group):
- One person came to view for 1.5hrs and said he'd get back to me. He hasn't got back to me.
- Someone else wanted my phone number and phoned me. He asked to pass my mobile number to his mate as he was interested to view. Didn't hear any more.
- Message to say interested and sort a viewing for tomorrow. He has changed his mind and decided he doesn't want it as he has too many cars and doesn't want another project.

So not a huge amount of success in selling this.

I've gone down to my local paint place with the petrol flap to get some paint mixed up. Should be here by the end of the week. I'll paint that near side front and rear wing to make it more presentable than bright red oxide. Also I will have another go with the front bumper. This time lacquer it and see if that lasts more than a rainy evening.

Once those bits are sorted I'll put up for sale on eBay and Car & Classic to see how much interest I get. It's been a long while since I put a car on the open market. Possibly I think it'll be my first pre-80s classic put on the main selling sites?

Hopefully I'll have a bit more luck and I'm hoping for (generally) no hassle.