1934 Rover 12 gear change

Like a good wine, vintage Rovers need appreciating
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digcot65
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:34 pm

1934 Rover 12 gear change

Post by digcot65 » Sun Dec 06, 2020 9:12 am

Good morning,I bought the car during lockdown and didn`t have a chance of driving it.However the garage I bought it from was 100% accurate in their description Reading the workshop manual it describes the gear change as different to modern synchromesh boxes.Does this mean ,that you have to double declutch every gear change,it says the revs must be matched in neutral to the car speed ,before changing.I can see how the revs .can be increased in neutral ,but not decreased.or do you have to wait a short while for revs to drop,I`m sure there are many out there,who can put me straight,I`vw driven cars which have to be double de-clutched but it would be nice to know before,I finally get the chance to drive it .The steering box ans shft is due to be returned to me today,after having being rebuilt.The restorers said that the rocker arm in the pinion shaft was loose,this along with a lot of wear in the box would have made driving terrible.The garage I bought the car from ,said the previous owner who had died,was worried about taking the car out due to the awful steering.So fter months or restoring,when its finally ready to go on the raod it should be a better car Len

TonyG
Posts: 288
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:38 pm

Re: 1934 Rover 12 gear change

Post by TonyG » Mon Dec 07, 2020 2:51 pm

Hi Len,

Re gear changing; you are correct that on all changes, up and down, you must double-de-clutch. However, it is only necessary to rev the engine in neutral when changing down. Having revved the engine in neutral you wait until the revs start dying away and then slip it into the lower gear. The key to it is not to rush the changes and you will soon get the feel of the box. It lets you know when you get it wrong!

If you use the freewheel facility that Rovers had back then, I’m told that all changes are clutchless although I’ve yet to try it in earnest on my cars as I’ve hardly driven them this year. That said, I did use it once on the Tourer back in 1976 and the absence of engine braking scared the life out of me. Mind you, I was 18 and, no doubt, driving the old girl too fast plus the brakes, suspension and steering were all badly worn making the whole experience very hit and miss! MOTs were not very thorough in those days. The car is in better shape now I’m pleased to say, especially given that it no longer requires an MOT. Good to hear that you have resolved similar dodgy steering on your car.

I was very interested to see how well your re-spray came out. Well done on that. As I know, it’s never easy to paint a car in a regular domestic garage and the challenges are considerable. I sprayed my cars with cellulose which, I gather from your recent posts, is what you did. However, you then gave it a clear lacquer coat in two pack to achieve that excellent finish. My question is do you use a particular two pack suited to go over fresh cellulose or doesn’t it matter? I’d have expected some paint reaction, having read that professional paint shops often apply a stabilising coat of some sort. I have no experience of two pack so any information would be useful. Also, do you use an air fed mask?

On a different subject entirely, I drained and refilled both my cars with anti- freeze this weekend. These old Rover engines are very susceptible to freezing and the block cracking under the manifold, so I’d urge all owners not to overlook this now that we are getting into some cold weather.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

P1 12 Tourer
P2 12 6 Light Saloon
Discovery 3
Discovery Sport

digcot65
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:34 pm

Re: 1934 Rover 12 gear change

Post by digcot65 » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:03 pm

Thanks for the information, I use the two pack as shown,which is 2 parts lacquer 1 part hardener and 10% cellulose thinners .Give a light spray coat of the mixed lacquer leave it 30 to 40 mind depending on temp .Then another wet coat of spray followed an hour later by another wet coat and see if that is enough Then leave as long as possible to harden,flatten with 2000 wet and dry with plenty of water and polish with Farecla. I have a two handed mop for polishing the car with cutting past ,its not for polishing with a lams wool mop,its made for polishing after cutting with Farecla The base coat is the normal solvent based not water based.In theory an oxygen mask should be used I use a good 3m mask and only spray a section at a time then go out of the garage for a while,but it isnt nice paint Just lacquering the two front wings and half the bonnet,which was really dented ,it took me over 40 hours to get it near to good ,Never going to be as good as I would like but some things are impossible Also the car is 87 years old.Photo of the bonnet tomorrow just finished lacquering it Just the other half of the bonnet to do ,but that is also in a very poor condition ,solid no ruts but dents and creases ,found to e worse once Id stripped it to bare metal.At least its something to do during lockdown.Len
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digcot65
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:34 pm

Re: 1934 Rover 12 gear change

Post by digcot65 » Tue Dec 08, 2020 2:50 pm

Finally sprayed one half of the bonnet after 50+ hours work on it ,spraying not being happy stripping .This happened more than once.I1m quite pleased ,there is some dust on the paint ,evn with the TENT but no where near as without one.Also the overspray doesnt go all over the garage and my tools.The thing is now to leave it as long as possible ,then flat it with 2000 wet and dry and then polish it wit my large polisher using Farecla on a damp mop.lEN
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digcot65
Posts: 360
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2020 1:34 pm

Re: 1934 Rover 12 gear change

Post by digcot65 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 9:46 am

Iwas asked in an earlier post if I sprayed on ordinary cellulose.You can`t do this since the cell.finish is gloss.You have to use the correct base coat in the colour you need and when it dries,it gives a matt to dull finish .You don`t sand this daow as it would show the scratches when lacquered There is a pas like a kitchen scourer you go over the paint with,to remove any minute high spots ,but never sand the base coat down

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