37 P2 Restoration Progress

[BillMcCreath]

Hi Tony,

Re your points on the 37 12 saloon.
The side lights should be fitted onto the centre line crease on top of the wings with front of light just behind line looking at right angles to the back of headlamp shell. John Burnett and I have discovered that on his 1939 14 dhc, restorer had fitted them on outside of crease , thus leaning over ( of full restored and painted wings )and good 3 inches behind line of head lamp shell! However this gives enough space to move side lights forward to correct position and fit wing mirrors in existing holes!

The chrome radiator bung can be purchased from Meteor Spares. Note, as you will know, this item for the 4 cyl cars 10 and 12 hp are round whereas the bung for 6 cyl models is an oval shape in rad shell.

Regards

Bill McCreath

[TonyG]

Thanks Bill,

I suspect the restorer of the DHC was faced with the same dilemma I had regarding the side light position. They just look a bit awkward on top of the crease, as if the wrong lights have been fitted! Perhaps some clever creating with a rubber mounting for the side light will solve the issue for me.

I will, no doubt, be in touch with Mike before long for some parts so I will get a rad bung from him then. It’s the finishing touches that make the difference.

By the way, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the DHC restoration. Such a lovely car and great to see it returning to excellent condition. Well done to you guys for bringing another old Rover back to life!

Tony

[deni]

Hi Tony,

Your car looks really good and it is great to see before and after photos. Good luck with the re wiring.

Deni

[Frost015]

Hi Tony,

It really does look splendid .. Once we get out of this lock-down I would love to meet up and talk through ‘wiring’ (which I have put on hold until correct routing is clearer in my head).

I love the colour (and have also gone .. slightly .. ‘non-standard’ Black over Grey .. mainly as the car came with a full re-leathered interior in Blue, and I just couldn’t get near the correct period blue body colours whatever I did ..)

Finally, here’s another take on ‘two horns’ ... I also had two ‘non-period’ Lucas horns. Prefer your layout, and I may fabricate the necessary support bars for central light. Sadly I am missing the original horn as well as it’s support bracket.

https://www.rover-forum.thersr.co.uk/do ... iew&id=207


Ian

[TonyG]

Hi Ian,

Great to see some pictures of your car. It certainly is looking very ship shape as, I must say, is your garage. Makes me feel inclined to have a tidy up! The present task with my P2 is sorting the wiring and putting the dashboard back in, although I’ve got a bit side tracked sorting out the under dash parcel shelf and the felt sound proofing on the bulkhead. My car had been fitted with a new loom before I bought it, which saves a little cost but not much effort as I need to modify it a bit to accommodate the Dynamator and flashing indicators. Autosparks had factored those changes in when they made the loom for my Tourer. I’d removed all the new wiring to spray the Saloon so pretty much a complete re wire I suppose. So far I’ve laid out all the sections of loom, compared it to the diagram in the manual and labelled each wire with masking tape so I know what each conductor is for before putting it into the car and connecting it together. Before doing that I will ‘tin’ all the wires where they connect behind the dash then do the same with all the other wires once fitted and cut to length. Extra effort but worth it not to have frayed wires around the place. Similarly, I prefer to solder any end connectors rather than rely on crimp connections.
I’m pretty sure the wires for rear lights, tank sender and brake light switch run inside the chassis section with just the interior light and trafficators going across the roof. I suspect your car will be the same, given that my Tourer was much the same. I seem to recall some rusted sections of flexible tube was used to protect various bits underneath so I may search out some shower hoses to utilise in their place. The main feed from the battery to the solenoid definitely goes through one on the passenger side.
Regarding the original horn; I’ve got an old and rusted one from a 1940 Saloon that you a welcome to but it will need some restoration! I think it’s the same as those fitted to earlier cars like yours.

Good luck with your car, it’s looking really good. With luck there should be some recently restored cars on show once we are able to get together again.

Tony.

[Frost015]

Hi Tony, Great news on the Pfizer vaccine (hopefully not too ‘fake’) .. so with luck we should have a few car shows in 2021.
I agree with all you say re the wiring .. except the bit about shower hose ! (Although it would be more waterproof than the original spiral wound metal conduit). I ordered off the internet a few different sizes of galvanised (or stainless .. I forget) spiral wound conduit, and have used this so far for the main run from the battery to the front. Am rather stuck about the rest of the runs (although ‘what wires connect where’ is relatively straightforward), mainly physically where they should be run.
Thanks for the horn offer .. much appreciated , we will have to find something I have to swap for it ... do keep it for me ..

That’s it for now ..

Ian

[TonyG]

Hi all,

It’s been a long time since my last update regarding DMB 750, my ‘37 P2. However, she is all back in one piece now and this summer has included some enjoyable and, so far, reliable motoring in the old girl. The last few weeks have included local classic car shows in Fordham and Castle Hedingham, where my Rover 12 attracted favourable attention. Not least, I’m sure, because there seems to be fewer pre-War cars on show at these general events.

Progress on DMB has been interrupted since my last post in 2020, not just because of ‘lockdown’, but because I took time out to strip down my Tourer and re-assemble again after a re-paint. With that all sorted, I returned to DMB and tackled the wiring, followed by the interior trim. The seats were re-upholstered a while back but the biggest challenge was the headlining and miscellaneous leather trim. When I bought the car this had all been removed so there was nothing to go on or to use as patterns. I took various pictures of cars at shows to get an idea of what the finished article was like but I didn’t find anyone who had tackled the headlining to get useful tips on how to proceed. Probably a straightforward job for a trimmer but not so for a telephone engineer, albeit retired! Fortunately, my car has a fair bit of wood framing in the roof and doors. I don’t know if this practice continued with later post-War P2s, but it certainly made it easier to attach the trim.

With the headlining completed and door panels on, it was onto the puzzle of the wood trim, door handles, window winders etc. Then, finally, the carpet. It has been an uphill struggle at times and I’ve lost count of the hours taken to get the car looking ok, but the end result is a comfortable and, surprisingly, quiet car. On our first trip out with the sunroof, side windows and screen opened, my wife commented “ this is a really nice place to be”. Not a quick car, compared to the Tourer and a bit slow on the hills, but she pulls a lot better than I’d expected.

Attached are some pictures, which include some of my Tourer. Both registered in 1937, this provides a good comparison between, probably, the last P1 12 and an early P 2 12.

Tony.