Restorations / rover p4

Here is the 1959 Rover p4 we are restoring for a gentleman from the borders .Twenty years ago he was commuting to edinburgh in this car, about 80 miles per day.She would of stood apart from the crowd of escorts and the like in 1988.One evening after parking the car with the front wheels turned, he noticed a bald tyre and it has not driven on a public road since.Seventeen years later after seeing our advertisment in the Scotsman, he called and asked if it was possible to restore the car.Seventeen years is a long time to lie in the open in the scottish borders and the sunny climate had taken its toll on the bodywork .The owner had been having the underside oiled every year prior to it being parked and without this protection i dont think we could of saved this car .There was a kind of tar made from engine oil ,dust and sand coating the underside, inches thick in places this had kept the chassis good although a lot of the external bodywork was badly corroded. He had also turned the engine occasionally with the starting handle to prevent it from siezing.It was a rather large undertaking looking back but it has been very rewarding to see it taking shape .She is now completly solid ,new panels fitted ,engine running sweet after getting the siezed spark plugs out(we have soaked them in penetrating oil for three years and had the cylinder head hot one broke and had to be drilled)AAARRGGHH its all fine now .The brake system is all rebuilt and working ,she runs and drives in and out of the worshop and is now sitting in the boooth awaiting a new coat of paint while we are getting on with the day to day resto and repair work.I hope to get some time on it soon and get her prepped and painted I will add another picture and some blurb as soon as we progress .Ps if you can think of a fitting two tone colour combination for this car (I fancy light grey over white ),feel free to email them to me from the contact page , deliberations are ongoing over the final coat . regards jonathan.

rover p4

in the worshop after 17 years outdoors

  rover p4