Hello all!
I am another new member to join this forum. Thanks to all of those who have posted so far; I've read some very interesting details and I've only just arrived here...
If I may introduce myself, and more importantly my vehicle, I am Matthew, based in Warwickshire and have as mentioned, a 1948 Rover P3 and a 1981 Land Rover 109 V8. The P3 will be back on the road again this year after having been stored unused for eight years or so.
It is a RHD export model that started it's life out in Calcutta, India before being re-imported back in the late 50's. It is completely standard and has never been restored. I am just in the middle of an engine rebuild and general recommission / service that included new tyres, replacement wiring harness, rewound dynamo etc.
If anyone has any advice as to where I might find replacement components for the vehicle I would be very much obliged; I'm currently looking for a clutch assemble and eventually gearbox components e.g layshaft / main bearings. If anyone has any ideas then please do let me know.
Any how, may I just say thanks for the fab forum and I look forward to taking part as and when I can.
Very Best Regards
Matthew
How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Hi Matthew and welcome to the forum.
Some pictures of the P3 and Land Rover would be good in the appropriate pages.
I'm sure some of the P3 boys will be able to assist you with your quest for parts
Some pictures of the P3 and Land Rover would be good in the appropriate pages.
I'm sure some of the P3 boys will be able to assist you with your quest for parts
-
lakesrally
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Hi Matthew,
Welcome, it's always good to hear from another P3 owner, especially if the car is almost roadworthy. I attended the National Rally last weekend; there were six or seven P3s there, the largest gathering I have seen in the UK for quite a few years. I tried for years to promote the Lakes Rally as an annual gathering for P3 cars but Paul Gregory and I got fed up awarding the trophy to each other every year as nobody else had been coming so I stopped calling it a P3 Gathering and last year I didn’t even award the trophy.
I know the colour you need for the block and I might even have more details at home but I will not be back there for two weeks, hopefully someone else will be able to help you out with this. Patrick Hiron is most likely, although he has parted with his P3 now he knows more about restoring a P3 than most of us. I think his car was also an ex-Indian export car.
I put a modified early series one Land Rover clutch withdrawal mechanism and clutch into my 1949 P3 75 about 12 years ago, at the time it was easier than trying to get the right parts. I expect to be looking for gearbox bearings too before long; it is starting to rumble a bit, so if you get any replies I shall be taking note!
Regards
Welcome, it's always good to hear from another P3 owner, especially if the car is almost roadworthy. I attended the National Rally last weekend; there were six or seven P3s there, the largest gathering I have seen in the UK for quite a few years. I tried for years to promote the Lakes Rally as an annual gathering for P3 cars but Paul Gregory and I got fed up awarding the trophy to each other every year as nobody else had been coming so I stopped calling it a P3 Gathering and last year I didn’t even award the trophy.
I know the colour you need for the block and I might even have more details at home but I will not be back there for two weeks, hopefully someone else will be able to help you out with this. Patrick Hiron is most likely, although he has parted with his P3 now he knows more about restoring a P3 than most of us. I think his car was also an ex-Indian export car.
I put a modified early series one Land Rover clutch withdrawal mechanism and clutch into my 1949 P3 75 about 12 years ago, at the time it was easier than trying to get the right parts. I expect to be looking for gearbox bearings too before long; it is starting to rumble a bit, so if you get any replies I shall be taking note!
Regards
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Surely your best bet for P3 spares is Meteor Spares or Viking Developments. Both listed in the RSR Yearbook and in the classifieds of Freewheel.
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Hello again all, and thanks for the welcome and further replies.
I tended to have been dealing with Meteor spares who do seem to have a wonderful variety of parts and support. I am consistantly on the look out for further sources like everyone else I imagine, particularly for second hand spares.
Thanks also Stewart for the heads up on the engine colour. I will try and obtain Patrick's contact details; I think that I may have tracked him down before with regards to them both being Indian export models. I will get my engine back at the beginning of August so will start the engine detailing then. If you come across the paint type / mix in the meantime I would very much appreciate a further nod.
I am intrigued by the clutch modification that you describe; the clutch seems to be something of a weak point within the transmission on the P3 and it would be a great improvment to exchange it with a more readily available, stronger item. Does it have any bearing of pedal pressure? Which parts require modification? Sorry to ask so many questions...
I haven't managed to get along to a single RSR show so far although the Lakes rally does sound fab. I did go to the Hollowell festival of steam recently and there was a P3 75 sports saloon there actually which was good to see.
Thanks again for your input and I look forward to catching up in person at some stage.
Regards
Matthew
I tended to have been dealing with Meteor spares who do seem to have a wonderful variety of parts and support. I am consistantly on the look out for further sources like everyone else I imagine, particularly for second hand spares.
Thanks also Stewart for the heads up on the engine colour. I will try and obtain Patrick's contact details; I think that I may have tracked him down before with regards to them both being Indian export models. I will get my engine back at the beginning of August so will start the engine detailing then. If you come across the paint type / mix in the meantime I would very much appreciate a further nod.
I am intrigued by the clutch modification that you describe; the clutch seems to be something of a weak point within the transmission on the P3 and it would be a great improvment to exchange it with a more readily available, stronger item. Does it have any bearing of pedal pressure? Which parts require modification? Sorry to ask so many questions...
I haven't managed to get along to a single RSR show so far although the Lakes rally does sound fab. I did go to the Hollowell festival of steam recently and there was a P3 75 sports saloon there actually which was good to see.
Thanks again for your input and I look forward to catching up in person at some stage.
Regards
Matthew
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Hello Mathew,
The P3s seem to be coming out of the woodwork this year. I can attest that Patrick is a wonderful source for assistance. As far as parts are concerned you will also find quite a few on eBay UK. I am in the USA and have just fininshed a complete restoration of my 49 P3 I have made a number of small improvments to the car but with the goal of remaining close to orginal as possible. However you may want to consider a few upgrades.
A number of friends in the UK have upgraded the head to a early P4 75 head with twin carbs. While I have not done this YET I can tell you it will transform your car. If you are having the engine rebuilt then this is the time to do it. The head is aluminum and is a direct bolt on to the block however you will need to modify the accelerator linkage. The modification I did do to the car that also is transforming was to swap the diff for a P5B one ( an early range rover diff will work as well) This changes the ratio and makes firts gear and second very useable. This is hugh improvment to the car and will allow you in combination with the head upgrade to cruise easily on the motorway at 75 MPH and the engine will not break a sweat. Guy Worral has done both diff and head change on his P3 and I followed him down to the RSR rally a few weeks back and in a modern rental car I had trouble keeping up. I had consdiered leaving the orginal Solex carb set up on the engine as it ran reasonably well but after my visit and seeing the improvment it made I will be changing the head in August. I know will say this is to far from orginal but I enjoy driving the car so much that I want it to be a bit more useable.
Mind you that these improvements require notpermanat modifications to the car so it can easily be converted back
If your interested in details and pictures I can ask Dave Dudley Toole to forward some to you also Guy is often on the forum as well.
I know we would all love to see pictures of your car and especialy in progress ones.
Cheers,
Dirk in the States
The P3s seem to be coming out of the woodwork this year. I can attest that Patrick is a wonderful source for assistance. As far as parts are concerned you will also find quite a few on eBay UK. I am in the USA and have just fininshed a complete restoration of my 49 P3 I have made a number of small improvments to the car but with the goal of remaining close to orginal as possible. However you may want to consider a few upgrades.
A number of friends in the UK have upgraded the head to a early P4 75 head with twin carbs. While I have not done this YET I can tell you it will transform your car. If you are having the engine rebuilt then this is the time to do it. The head is aluminum and is a direct bolt on to the block however you will need to modify the accelerator linkage. The modification I did do to the car that also is transforming was to swap the diff for a P5B one ( an early range rover diff will work as well) This changes the ratio and makes firts gear and second very useable. This is hugh improvment to the car and will allow you in combination with the head upgrade to cruise easily on the motorway at 75 MPH and the engine will not break a sweat. Guy Worral has done both diff and head change on his P3 and I followed him down to the RSR rally a few weeks back and in a modern rental car I had trouble keeping up. I had consdiered leaving the orginal Solex carb set up on the engine as it ran reasonably well but after my visit and seeing the improvment it made I will be changing the head in August. I know will say this is to far from orginal but I enjoy driving the car so much that I want it to be a bit more useable.
Mind you that these improvements require notpermanat modifications to the car so it can easily be converted back
If your interested in details and pictures I can ask Dave Dudley Toole to forward some to you also Guy is often on the forum as well.
I know we would all love to see pictures of your car and especialy in progress ones.
Cheers,
Dirk in the States
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Thanks for your detailed reply Dirk. I am pleased to hear that there are a number of P3 survivors that keep appearing. In fact, my father has another of the same vintage as mine; although it is rather more heavily modified than that of what you describe.
I do like the idea of the P4 cylinder head and carb set up; I didn't realise that it was a direct replacement for the existing unit. I think that I have a Land Rover head somewhere from a 2.6 derivative which is aluminium and this also has an SU carb but singular.
My engine should be back within the next week or too. I've had the crank polished and checked, honed / cylinders measured and replacement pistons and rings. Unfortunately my engine is not the original so I saw no harm in having my additional 'rover recon' unit re-reconditioned.
Actually, talking of sympathetic upgrades, I would like to do away with the existing oil filtration unit and replace it with a remote cartridge type. Has anybody done this already and can you make any recommendations as to which pipe fittings / kit / manufacturers you would recommend? Any help would be very much appreciated.
As you may have guessed, here in the U.K it is raining consistently; a shame since it is the evening of a rather larger classic gathering in Harpenden this evening. However it is for this reason that I have not had an opportunity to take any pics yet of the vehicles current state however I will endeavour to do so when things brighten up.
If it is possible I would appreciate any photos of the conversion that you describe.
Thanks again for taking an interest and I will catch up again soon.
Matthew
I do like the idea of the P4 cylinder head and carb set up; I didn't realise that it was a direct replacement for the existing unit. I think that I have a Land Rover head somewhere from a 2.6 derivative which is aluminium and this also has an SU carb but singular.
My engine should be back within the next week or too. I've had the crank polished and checked, honed / cylinders measured and replacement pistons and rings. Unfortunately my engine is not the original so I saw no harm in having my additional 'rover recon' unit re-reconditioned.
Actually, talking of sympathetic upgrades, I would like to do away with the existing oil filtration unit and replace it with a remote cartridge type. Has anybody done this already and can you make any recommendations as to which pipe fittings / kit / manufacturers you would recommend? Any help would be very much appreciated.
As you may have guessed, here in the U.K it is raining consistently; a shame since it is the evening of a rather larger classic gathering in Harpenden this evening. However it is for this reason that I have not had an opportunity to take any pics yet of the vehicles current state however I will endeavour to do so when things brighten up.
If it is possible I would appreciate any photos of the conversion that you describe.
Thanks again for taking an interest and I will catch up again soon.
Matthew
Re: How do you do? 1948 Rover P3
Hello Matthew, welcome to the forum, its good to know that another P3 will be on the road soon.
I have the 1948 P3-75 Graber DHC, and over the years ive made some improvements that you might be interested in.
I`ve fitted the head and carbs from an early P4, twin spin on oil filters, Range Rover differential (3.54 to 1 ratio) and vacuum brake servo ( especially useful when using freewheel ) I see that you live in Warwickshire, I`m only in Birmingham, so if you want to come over and have a look, you are more than welcome, cheers, Dave Dudley-Toole. mob 07966 136 890.
I have the 1948 P3-75 Graber DHC, and over the years ive made some improvements that you might be interested in.
I`ve fitted the head and carbs from an early P4, twin spin on oil filters, Range Rover differential (3.54 to 1 ratio) and vacuum brake servo ( especially useful when using freewheel ) I see that you live in Warwickshire, I`m only in Birmingham, so if you want to come over and have a look, you are more than welcome, cheers, Dave Dudley-Toole. mob 07966 136 890.