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blackhallr
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:21 pm

new member

Post by blackhallr » Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:47 pm

hi all,i am a new member having bought my first vintage rover a 1947 p2 12 i will post pictures when i find out how to down load from my phone im sure i will have lots of questions first one will be do i respray or leave as is some of the paint has been polished over time exposing the undercoat and there are quite a few small 1" size what i think are rust blemishes under the paint on the wings.

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

Re: new member

Post by TonyG » Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:39 pm

Hi and welcome aboard. I’m sure that club members will try to help answer your questions where possible.

I have a 12 Saloon that is in the final quartile of restoration. Great old cars and certainly worth the effort! To answer your question ‘to paint or not to paint’, that is really a matter of personal choice. Some owners prefer the look of their cars when they have a genuine patina reflecting the age and history of the vehicle. Others strive to make their cars as good as new, or better! Either way the key thing, in my opinion, is to get the car into a condition where is can be used safely and reliably on the road. If you are new to Rovers and perhaps old cars it might be best to get to know your vehicle by undertaking a review of the mechanics, braking system and steering etc. When you are confident your car is in good shape it might be time to tackle the bodywork; always the toughest bit to do! However, you might be made of braver stuff, have a wealth of experience or the funds to get a professional restorer involved and decide to dive headlong into a complete restoration.

If you search through the posts on this forum you will find accounts from members about improving their cars. Some do a bit and some do a lot. No judgement is made on what people do, we all just appreciate that care and attention is being focussed on these old Rovers.

Keep us updated of progress.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

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

blackhallr
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:21 pm

Re: new member

Post by blackhallr » Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:27 pm

hi tony,the car is i think roadworthy the gentleman who owned it before me used it to visit vintage car shows and assured me every think was good i know rhe brakes work as he demonstrated them on a test run didnt think rod brakes could be that good,new tyres converted indicators only thing im not sure about is rears indicate on red rears,i will try it out when weather allows,regards john.

RobHomewood
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:04 pm

Re: new member

Post by RobHomewood » Wed Oct 07, 2020 4:48 pm

Hi John
You are perhaps right to have concerns about the rear indicator being a red lamp in the rear cluster. I really didnt want to change the appearance of my car by adding new indicator fittings. I changed all my bulbs to LED's so that I now have dual LED's in the front sidelight fitting giving a white sidelight and flashing amber indicator from the same bulb. I have changed the semaphore to LED festoon bulbs and the rear indicator to a flashing red LED in the original cluster. Initially this was because the 80 year old wiring was in a desperate state and I wasnt ready to re wire. These LED's take a small fraction of the current that the filament bulbs do but make no visible change. The other advantage is that they are brighter. However the issue with the rear indicator remains and I think this is mainly becasue of the position of the light- it is low down and toward the centre of the car, very close to the brake light and people dont expect that. Nevertheless I feel relatively happy that I am visible but may change again if I find even brighter bulbs.
What I do miss, especially when crawling slowly up hills is hazard flashers but I haven't worked out how to do that yet- and still keep the semaphores
Rob

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

Re: new member

Post by TonyG » Wed Oct 07, 2020 8:34 pm

Rob,

You would need to be going very slow to justify using hazard lights. I guess there are a lot of steep hills in your part of the West Country? I took my Tourer up the Brooklands test hill last year, which must be at best 1:4 but maybe steeper. I kept it in first as I didn’t want to crunch into second in front of the spectators! I think we could have demonstrated a reasonable turn of speed if I had although it is a bit disconcerting not being able to see the road because the bonnet is at such an angle. Maybe next time?

Back in the 50s as cars moved from semaphore trafficators to flashing indicators it was quite common for cars to be manufactured with flashing red lights at the rear and flashing white lights at the front. I had a ‘58 Austin Healey 100/6 with flashing brake lights at the rear and flashing side lights at the front. This was the correct set up not just my dodgy electrical skills! Rolls Royce fitted spot lights on their 50s models which flashed with dazzling effect. They didn’t want to spoil the look of the car with integrated direction indicators. With all that in mind I seem to recall modifications made to Morris Minors with semaphores that resulted in flashing brake lights so this Rover probably had the same modification. I bought hugely expensive front side and rear ‘D’ lamps for my Tourer with integrated orange bulbs in order to keep it looking original. However, for my Saloon I found some nice Art Deco styled indicators on chrome storks which, I hope, will work more effectively. I think this is probably the best solution as it’s the safest.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

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

RobHomewood
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:04 pm

Re: new member

Post by RobHomewood » Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:09 pm

Yes there are some long steep hills on the A30 for instance where modern cars are almost all at 70mph plus over 3 lanes of traffic. I agree I probably wouldnt use the hazards unless I thought I was going to actually stop and that I suppose is when I would need them most. To date despite the engine still not giving full power I feel, I have managed to get up that hill without dropping much below 20mph as I can get a run at it but some of the country lanes (often called A roads down here) can be pretty demanding.
Having just rewired the front end of the car the semaphores are the only kit which is still operating on the original wiring and that is because to replace it I would have to dismantle the rear armrests and side panels which looks likely to cause collateral damage. Maybe next year!
Out of interest I was going to add a video of the lamps working but it was too large so here is a still

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

Re: new member

Post by TonyG » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:32 am

Rob,

They look bright. Where did you get the LEDs from? I need new bulbs for the semaphores on my Tourer so may as well get some for those. Were they a direct replacement? Re the wiring to your semaphores; if you can find the end under the rear seat or wherever it heads off behind the side trim and at the trafficator end, if it’s not fixed, you may find it’s possible to ‘cut and draw’ a new wire through by joining the old to the new and making either a tight taped joint or using heat shrink wrap, thereby avoiding taking the trim off. Just a thought.

20mph is a decent speed but I can imagine it’s a worry when cars are blasting by at 70! I’m reminded of the initial episode of All Creatures Great and Small, shown a few weeks ago, when Herriot was instructed to blast flat out downhill and at great speed around corners in order that they had sufficient momentum to get up the Yorkshire hill on the other side! I suspect you have greater regard for safety and your car to deploy that tactic.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

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

blackhallr
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:21 pm

Re: new member

Post by blackhallr » Thu Oct 22, 2020 2:25 pm

hi everyone,thanks for the imput from you regarding electrics, do you need to change or add anything to wiring to use LED bulbs? im afraid the black art of electrics is lossed on me.my front side lights have a double filament bulb one to act as indicator but white. my semaphores one has been plated over and the other one doesnt work so i suspect disconected i will check under the plated one when i build up courage.

RobHomewood
Posts: 320
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:04 pm

Re: new member

Post by RobHomewood » Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:25 pm

Hi Tony and blackhallr
I got all my LED bulbs from the Classic Dynamo & Regulator Conversions co (http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.c ... s-shop.php) who design and produce their own LED fittings for classic cars for various standard holders so if your sidelights already have a double filament holder then all you do is swap the bulbs. I have also changed my headlamps which were already dual filament dipping types and I certainly get a bright white light from them The downside is that I have refitted the original larger lenses which are not set up for dipping bulbs and so the resulting light pattern is not that well focussed especially when dipped. (I do next to no driving at night.) My original intention was to reduce the current in the decrepit 80 year old wiring which it does so well you barely see the ammeter flicker when you turn on the headlights. But I am really glad I did even though I have now rewired almost 100% because the lamps are much brighter and safer and the battery is less stressed of course. And to all intents and purposes the car looks from the outside to be entirely original
Good luck
Rob

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