OUT AND ABOUT

[IDear]

I have 3 P6's, one being the P6B (V8). The red 4 Cyl that John drove yesterday, with a rebuilt engine is like a sports car to drive. The conversation on the thread regarding the De-Dion suspension prompts me to put the Rover on my ramp and lower the diff and attempt to fix the handbrake so it will work. Then I can do the same to the other two. The advice of undoing the drive shafts might be an advantage as well. With John's OUT and ABOUT, it makes me realize how good I've got it here in central Victoria with such good quiet roads to drive my vintage cars and to have such "good pickings" of the choice of car events. Enjoy it while we can ............ Michael

 

[Greenpeace]

The two stage chain drive went from crankshaft to the almost external oil pump which had external piping .. and then to the cylinder head and the camshaft/valve gear. I had forgotten about the details of the combustion chamber design... all of which sounds like it makes the DS "tractor engine" a bit old hat .... I recall a friend at the time had a Triumph 2000 ( OZ assembled ) with 4 speed and electric overdrive on 3 and 4 .. it proved a much simpler machine and much better suited to our bush road travel. The doors didn't have the Rover clunk though.
I think the performance of a much larger engine statement is a bit of journalese overstatement. A 2000, especially with a 3 speed ( BorgWarner 35 ??? ) couldn't pull the skin off a custard. The bucket tappets were a pain to "adjust" as shims of varying thickness ( which assumed you had some, or had access to a range of thicknesses ) had to be installed and camshaft lobe clearance maintained. Hours of work compared with old fashioned adjustable pushrods.
I still have the genuine Rover workshop manual, and it even details the variations in the several exhaust systems. The flexible downpipe to muffler of a D being something of a fatigue trap as well as a road debris and mud collector that limited its life. It is interesting to revisit and read of the differing solutions brought to the same problem.

The 2000 auto is one of those models everyone loves to bash (even the Rover guys) because they are "slow".
Most '50s and early '60s automatic cars are slow compared to their manual brethren.
Compare a '63 Rover 2000 auto's road test figures with a '63 Hydramatic 138 CID EJ Holden, or a 144 CID Fordomatic equipped '63 XL Falcon?
The Aussie cars are both lighter and have bigger engines yet their performance figures are slightly worse. The performance of any car is only relative to what you are comparing it to.

The bucket and shim design is a pain to adjust, yet it became de rigueur for most DOHC engine designs.
Adjusting the valve clearances on the previous model Rover's IOE engine was hardly a 5 minute job either. The P4 workshop manual states, "adjust when hot", good luck with that one.

 

[fritzelhund]

I have 3 P6's, one being the P6B (V8). The red 4 Cyl that John drove yesterday, with a rebuilt engine is like a sports car to drive. The conversation on the thread regarding the De-Dion suspension prompts me to put the Rover on my ramp and lower the diff and attempt to fix the handbrake so it will work. Then I can do the same to the other two. The advice of undoing the drive shafts might be an advantage as well. With John's OUT and ABOUT, it makes me realize how good I've got it here in central Victoria with such good quiet roads to drive my vintage cars and to have such "good pickings" of the choice of car events. Enjoy it while we can ............ Michael

There were two different suppliers of disc brakes. Girling and Dunlop, so I assume the handbrake mechanisms will be different between the two manufacturers. IIRC the Girling ones used an unusual chamfered disc pad that was supposed to wear parallel over time.
I have just checked the Rover 2000 workshop book. "Final Drive Unit remove and replace-Operation K-5 ... Time 3.8 hours.
It requires ( in typical Rover style ) AF and Whitworth spanners.
Rear pads remove and refit ( Girling type ) requires a "piston setting tool Part # 601962" ... Just checked. The Girling system uses the chamfered pads.
Here's another beauty ... Rear hydraulic brake calipers remove and refit Operation L-8 Dunlop type allow 2.8 hours for one side only.
Thankfully I never had to deal with any de Dion tube dramas, even the oil retaining bellows remained undamaged by country roads.
The De Dion tube is the lowest part of the car and therefore at risk on gravel roads with a middle gravel ridge.
There will be no electronics or black magic in it, enjoy the tinkering.

 

[seasink]

I must be a better mechanic than I thought - I could beat those rear suspension/diff times. I never had de Dion trouble either despite driving on rough surfaces. What did give trouble was the rubber mount of the diff.

For fun, this is the horizontal front spring of the P6.

For IDear, here is the rear brake (from the 3500 manual). The nasty part is the complex handbrake wind back/adjustment. You need to make some room to get at it.

 

[Greenpeace]

I have just checked the Rover 2000 workshop book. "Final Drive Unit remove and replace-Operation K-5 ... Time 3.8 hours.
It requires ( in typical Rover style ) AF and Whitworth spanners.

I swapped the 3.08 to 1 final drive unit out in my supercharged V8 P6 for a welded up 3.54 to 1 assembly out of a 2000 TC.
Took just over an hour.
I reckon the guys who wrote up the workshop manuals, never did much work on the cars.

 

[Greenpeace]

I have 3 P6's, one being the P6B (V8). The red 4 Cyl that John drove yesterday, with a rebuilt engine is like a sports car to drive. The conversation on the thread regarding the De-Dion suspension prompts me to put the Rover on my ramp and lower the diff and attempt to fix the handbrake so it will work. Then I can do the same to the other two. The advice of undoing the drive shafts might be an advantage as well. With John's OUT and ABOUT, it makes me realize how good I've got it here in central Victoria with such good quiet roads to drive my vintage cars and to have such "good pickings" of the choice of car events. Enjoy it while we can ............ Michael

If you are ever chasing rear pads, I have a new set of Bendix DB539 pads sitting in the shed, still in the original plastic wrap and box.
My understanding is, the only difference between the early and late rear pads (DB555) is that the later ones had low pad warning wires embedded in them.

 

[seasink]

Also for IDear. The rear suspension.

If you zoom in you'll see why the handbrake wind back is unreasonably hard. It faces the disc from that steel housing, but the caliper does not swing up.

Arms locate the hubs, but fixed length driveshafts cause the track to change at the de Dion tube. In practice it is reliable. Drive torque is taken up at the diff extension mount rubber. Don't let it get oily.

on the

 

[gilberthenry]

TRENTHAM TRACTOR PULL 28th Apr 2024

The Trentham Tractor Pull came around once more so we were off in our French 1913 T.H.Schneider and brother Michael in his 1950 Cyclops Rover.
It’s nice when children show an interest in something old and want to hop into an old car - - - a world away from what they are used to.
Although there were no Citroens there it was a good mix of cars from different parts of the globe. There was much interest in the tractors pulling the sled with the weights coming forward as they went along - - slowly digging deeper into the sand.

A few days earlier we had some family around so we gave some of them a ride in the ’23 B2 Tourer and Michael’s 1923 Hupmobile - - - - seat belts ??? - - who needs them !!!

John

 

[gilberthenry]

C35 & SAFARI TRANSPORTING VW PANELS

A friend had some VW panels painted and we helped to transport them in the 1978 Citroen C35 van and the ’68 DS Safari.
The van helped us move from Qld to Victoria and again on this little trip I was reminded of how truly wonderful these vehicles are. Jim Reddiex at Maxim Motors in Brisbane imported a Van and a Pickup as a trial with the view of importing them. Because of regulations and red tape this never happened to our loss. So this is the only van in Australia and the pickup is currently off the road.
So here I was following brother Michael, marvelling at this great vehicle.
Because Janet and I didn’t need the van anymore we put it on Ebay some time ago. Michael and my other brother bought it so to my surprise it stayed in the family. He has tried to sell it the odd time but I think it is dear to his heart so will stay around for some time yet.

Oh yes, as the DS panels haven’t sold Michael made them into a wall with the help of some canvas.

John