1973 Rover P5 Coupe

A Familiar Face

After a brief trip to our friends at Auto-Transmissions, our 1973 Rover P5 is now back in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.

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P5 On The Move

After being transported to our friends at Auto Transmissions, our 1973 Rover P5 had some mobile work completed by Jonn and John. Here are Jonn’s

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Rover P5 Gearbox

Jonn has been working on the gearbox of our 1973 Rover P5. Here are his notes: Take car outside and warm up. Test gearbox. Car

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Rover P5 Repairs

Here are Jonn’s notes relating to the repairs completed on our 1973 Rover P5: Continue replacing coolant hoses. Cut top rad hose and fit fan

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Rover P5 Hoses

Classic car technician Jonn has been working on our 1973 Rover P5. Here are his notes: Checklist of work to be carried out. Work towards

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P5 Work Continues

Workshop manager John has been continuing to work on our 1973 Rover P5B Coupe. Here are his notes: Looking into fuel and temperature gauge not

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Inspection Of Our P5

Since being transported from its owner to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, our 1973 Rover P5 has been in the hands of classic car technician

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Busy few days for the P5

Monday morning we saw the Rover P5 leave us to head off for some gearbox work to be done. Prior to the car leaving our workshops we had a replacement door to prepare and fit.

Rather than spending many hours perfecting the existing door and replacing all of the corrosion with new metal, we were supplied with new/old stock replacement doors.

These still needed to be prepared, painted and fitted. But of-course, it is never as easy as it sounds. The door didn’t fit properly so more work was required than we expected but we got there in time for collection on Monday.

Here is Mauro flattening and polishing the paintwork.

And away she goes…

The driver arrived on time, bright and early so the car leaves us now for a little while.

P5 On The Move

After being transported to our friends at Auto Transmissions, our 1973 Rover P5 had some mobile work completed by Jonn and John.

Here are Jonn’s notes about the repair:

Travel to Mersea island to attend to car. Poor running reported. Strip carbs and remove float bowl tops. Clean out. Remove suction Chambers and blow through jets and float bowls. Reassemble both carbs. John remove and clean spark plugs and refit. Remove fuel filter and clean out. Refit and fill with 10ltrs fuel. Turn ignition on to fill filter and carbs and check for leaks, ok. Road test but engine pinking under acceleration. Adjust timing and raise idle speed and retest, ok. Return to workshop.

Rover P5 Number Plates

Jonn has removed the old number plates from our 1973 Rover P5 and removed the tape holding it on. He then marked and drilled the new plate and secured it on the car. The new bolts were then painted black.

Rover P5 Gearbox

Jonn has been working on the gearbox of our 1973 Rover P5. Here are his notes:

Take car outside and warm up. Test gearbox. Car pulls itself forwards and backwards at idle in forward and reverse gears respectively. Tighten connection to rev counter. Wire fans direct to ignition fuse. Refit dash trim. Check levels and top up coolant.

Diagnose knock when reversing. Warm car up and drive forward and backwards. Knock from? Only in reverse and only when applying throttle first time. Unless you lift off and accelerate again then it will knock again. Sounds and feels like gearbox. Get Rob in car and demonstrate what is happening and he agrees, it does sound and feel like a gearbox issue.

Drive around yard and align steering wheel. Remove and straighten and resecure. Refit centre horn push and secure.wheel. Remove and straighten and resecure. Refit centre horn push and secure.

Rover P5 Running Issue

Here are Jonns notes relating to his recent work on our 1973 Rover P5 Coupe:

Rebuild carb and refit. Remove fuse for fuel pump and king ht lead. Remove spark plugs and carry out compression test.

Weld holes on wings and paint

Finish compression test all within spec. Clean, regap and refit spark plugs. Check static timing. Remove nearside rocker cover and check valve position to confirm timing. Clean and refit rocker cover. Drop off front exhaust joint to see if it will rev with exhaust disconnected. Still stuggles to start and rev. Check power supply to coil.11.5v crank over and check. Voltage drops at coil to 10v which maybe why it struggles to fire a nd why spark is inconsistent. Reconnect exhaust. Remove distributor and turn through 1 tooth and refit. Now Has scope for adjustment. Run wire from fuse box to coil inside car and back out nearside.

Tape wire into loom and neaten up. Test. Car eventually started but all fuses lose power when cranking so voltage to coil drops. Connect t to main fuse which is permanent live. Start car and adjust timing. Car revs ok. Nearside carb now leaking. Need to look at wiring diagram.

Remove offside carb. Remove jet tube and connection and refit rubber seal. Refit carb and check for leaks, ok. Remove steering wheel and ignition barrel and access wiring. Remove instrument cluster to trace wiring. View diagram with John’s help work out issue. Reconnect wiring to coil. Check ignition feeds. Wiring to rev counter ter ok. Small wire to coil for rev counter and carvwill run wired this way. Crimp on terminal and shrink wrap wires. Tape up old wires. Refit dash and secure ignition light. Start and test, runs ok and rev counter working. Take outside to warm up. Still not running right or on all cylinders. Suspect offside ca4b again as no fuel flowing from jet when piston raised. Remove carb again. Found small piece of rubber seal blocking tube. Remove and replace seal and retry. No leaks and fule now flows ok. Reconnect pipes and cables. Test. Starts and revs well. Fit new float bowl gaskets.

Investigate throttle linkage hitting air filter assembly. Fit air filter and pipes. Throttle now clear but choke hitting when activated. Remove and reposition cables andrefit air filter. Check for clearance, ok. Run up and take outside. Drive around yard ok. Noise and knock when in reverse. Wipers turn3d on by themselves whilst driving and now park function not working. Bring into workshop onto 4 post ramp.

Raise on ramp. Look for noise/ knock. Degrease prop shaft centre bearing. Jack up rear axle. Put into neutral and rotate both rear wheels in a forward direction, ok no noise. Rotate wheels in a rearward direction and noise from gearbox like bearing noise. Also found a hole in chassis at nearside rear within 30cm of spring hanger.

Rover P5 Repairs

Here are Jonn’s notes relating to the repairs completed on our 1973 Rover P5:

Continue replacing coolant hoses. Cut top rad hose and fit fan control in hose. Waiting for thermostat. Raise and replace propshaft centre bearing mounts. Resecure. Lube prop slider joint. Remove offside front wheel. Strip and replace track rod end rubbers and bottom ball joint rubber. Free off track rod ends and paint track rods. Strip and fit new brake pads. Reassemble.

Secure all offside joints. Tighten steering box drop arm nut and lock tab. Remove nearside front wheel and repeat process from offside. Replace both track rod and top and bottom ball joint rubbers. Strip and fit new front pads.

Finish fitting nearside front brake pads. Refit wheels and torque up. Lower onto wood and strip and replace both rear spring rear mounts. Make gasket and fit thermostat. Fit rad hoses and leave to set. Carry out oil and filter change.

Check power steering oil and transmission oil. Both look nice cherry red and perfectly acceptable to leave as is. Vacuum fill cooling system. Trace wiring in armour under bonnet into car and to rev counter. Wire originates inside column. Strip and remove steering wheel and cowling. Trace wire to ignition switch. Cut off armouring and pull wire through into car. Solder back together under dash. Start car an check rev counter working ok. Refit ignition switch and cowling. Check horn issue. Bend contact inside cowling so to make better Co tact with column connector. Refit steering wheel and test with screwdriver. Horn works ok. Refit centre push and test but horn not working. Pull out contact inside steering column and retry. Centre push works fine now. Secure Centre.

Attend to lights issue. Fit terminal and connect earth wire from offside headlight. And for nearside sidelight. Solder longer wire onto earth so able to reach earth point on inner wing. Connect new main beam foot switch and test, ok. Secure footswitch into mount and refit carpet. Testable lights, ok. Test wipers and washers, ok. Found small,patch of oil on floor from engine sump bung. Drain oil into clean drainer and save. Fit new sump bung washer and refit. Refill oil. Remove servo pipe. Found seal to servo split. Clean and paint pipe and restick seal into servo. Tidy wiring.

Look at carbs prior to running. Found chokes unevenly matched. Adjust choke on nearside carb. Remove pistons and check jet depths with and without choke. Remove float bowl tops and found brown muck at the bottom of each float bowl. Clean and blow out. Remove and clean out fuel filter. Reassemble and check for leaks with ignition in and fuel pump running. Float bowl gaskets wet now. Start car. Started but no power and won’t rev as was when car first arrived. Investigate. Check fuel supply. Offside float bowl full but carb appears dry inside. Check that engine is making vacuum ok. Remove offside carb and check/clean. No obvious fault found.

Rover P5 Hoses

Classic car technician Jonn has been working on our 1973 Rover P5. Here are his notes:

Checklist of work to be carried out. Work towards running engine as next stage. Remove all old coolant hoses. Clean all old jubilee clips to reuse where possible. Clean pipe outlets and start fitting new hoses.

Continue to clean and fit new coolant hoses. Thoroughly clean up metal pipes on bulkhead.

P5 Work Continues

Workshop manager John has been continuing to work on our 1973 Rover P5B Coupe.

Here are his notes:

Looking into fuel and temperature gauge not working. Wires not connected to voltage stabiliser trace wires and refit. Check gauges working. Working okay. Also check lights not working. Check operation. Side lights not working correctly. Remove switch.

Work Continues on our 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Jon has been working hard on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe, this time he’s been working inside and underneath the classic 70’s coupe.

”Adjust nearside chassis seam to avoid exhaust flange hitting floor. Flange is fixed in position so unable to turn.investigate headlights not working. Eventually trace to faulty switch and also main beam dip switch faulty. Continue to wire in new fans. Route wiring and tape into loom. Find ignition live feed and fit connector so able to make connections when ready. Remove air filter assemble and inspect throttle linkage etc.”

”Finish wiring fans. Mount brake fluid reservoir with bracket supplied. Investigate horn not working. Check horns for power supply, ok. Remove steering wheel centre push. Short out wiring and horns worked once or twice and now they don’t. Check continuity from horns to steering wheel, none. Start looking at tracing horn wires.”

Upgrades to the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Jon has also been working on a few upgrades to the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe whilst its in our workshops.

This time, he’s been fitting electric pull through fans to the radiator of the car to help with cooling that glorious 3.5-litre V8. Jon built up the new fans onto the cage to make sure that they fit correctly and there was no obstructions for wiring or the fans themselves. Then, he carefully removed the radiator which had previously been drained, with the hoses already being on the job sheet to be replaced he still took his time to make sure that everything was checked and inspected at every stage.

Whilst the radiator was out of the car, it also gave Jon access to look into why the horn on the car wasn’t working. Power to the unit was correct so Jon traced it back to an earthing issue on the steering wheel, which he fixed. Then, he mounted the new fan cage to the radiator before carefully putting the whole assembly back into the nose of the classic Rover. He soldered and secured the connectors for the fans in place before mounting the relay into the inner wing for easy access.

Repairs on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Our technician Jon has been working his way through the list of jobs on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which is in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop at our Pettistree site.

Here’s what Jon has been up to, ”Start repairs. Customer reported one rear door doesn’t lock. I found NSR door button doesn’t go down very far when locked but door is actually locked. Lift button and door opens, so leave for now. Lube all locks and handles. Adjust drivers door striker but door pins worn and door dropped slightly. Lights: Strip rear number plate and test bulbs. Replace 1 bulb. Check power supply ok and earth good. Clean contacts and test, ok, reassemble. Our indicator not working. Strip light and test bulb, ok. Trace wiring inside boot and found loom taped up and wires pulled out of connection. Strip loom. Reconnect indicator wire and swap side repeater wire from side light to indicator power and test both, ok. Reassemble. Repeat same process for NSR repeater. Swap wire from stop light feed and swap to indicator feed and test. Tape up looms. Investigate fuel gauge and temp gauges not working. Check fuel sender, short wiring and gauge still doesn’t work. Remove gauge and test, ok. Both gauges run through voltage stabiliser. Drain coolant and remove radiator.”

Compression Test on the 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

The 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which recently arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop has been under the careful hands of Jon and John in our Pettistree workshops.

At this stage, Jon has performed a compression test on the car as part of the checks he’s been asked to do. For this, Jon removed all spark plugs from the legendary 3.5-litre V8 to check and gap them, whilst also removing the relay for the new electronic fuel pump. Then, he began to perform the compression test which was reported as ‘all ok’ meaning everything was within specification.

Inspection Of Our P5

Since being transported from its owner to the Bridge Classic Cars workshop, our 1973 Rover P5 has been in the hands of classic car technician Jonn.

He has been giving the car a thorough inspection and assessment and a report of his findings is currently being put together.

New Arrivals – 1963 Fiat 500 & 1973 Rover P5 Coupe

Our Pettistree workshops have welcomed 2 new additions this afternoon. The first, is this beautiful 1963 Fiat 500 which belongs to a long time client of ours. It’s come in for the team to get to the bottom of a few unwelcome noises with the car which the team will begin to get to the bottom of when the workshops open tomorrow morning.

Next up, is our 1973 Rover P5 Coupe which has come into the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ to be checked over by the workshop team to see what condition this fabulous 3.5-litre V8 classic saloon. We love these classic Rover’s here at our workshops so its always pleasure when another one comes through our workshop doors.