New Rover 12 owner
Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2020 12:50 pm
Hello,
I'm John from London. I have just become the new owner of a 1946 Rover 12, with an interesting (although as-yet unverified) history. I bought the car from the widow of the previous owner and she told me that it's believed the car (possibly just the chassis and engine) was on the assembly line in Coventry when the factory was bombed and that it was subsequently put into storage and completed in 1946 when production restarted.
Before I bought it, the car had been standing in the street unused for about a year. It seems to be structurally quite solid although the bodywork is a little bit rough around the edges. The engine starts and runs well, though it is a bit smoky. There seems seems to be a problem with the clutch (nasty metallic clanking when letting it out, which persists when the car is in motion) and there is also a coolant leak, which seems to be from somewhere around the water pump. There is also a bit of free play in the fan (maybe about an eighth of an inch), which someone suggested means it's time to replace the water pump bearing.
I'd like to get the car roadworthy again and drive it rather than doing a major restoration for the time being. I've done simple bolt-off, bolt-on repairs on a classic car before but never undertaken anything very complex. If anyone can offer any advice on the clutch and water-pump issues I'd be very grateful. Also, I read that asbestos was used in sound-proofing in doors and notice that there are the remains of some sort of fibre-containing coasting in the boot, so I wanted to ask whether anyone knows whether material containing asbestos was still being used in post-war cars (I think one account said it was only used on pre-war cars).
I hope this isn't too much information for a first post but of course I'm very excited to have the car and keen to learn as much as I can.
I'm John from London. I have just become the new owner of a 1946 Rover 12, with an interesting (although as-yet unverified) history. I bought the car from the widow of the previous owner and she told me that it's believed the car (possibly just the chassis and engine) was on the assembly line in Coventry when the factory was bombed and that it was subsequently put into storage and completed in 1946 when production restarted.
Before I bought it, the car had been standing in the street unused for about a year. It seems to be structurally quite solid although the bodywork is a little bit rough around the edges. The engine starts and runs well, though it is a bit smoky. There seems seems to be a problem with the clutch (nasty metallic clanking when letting it out, which persists when the car is in motion) and there is also a coolant leak, which seems to be from somewhere around the water pump. There is also a bit of free play in the fan (maybe about an eighth of an inch), which someone suggested means it's time to replace the water pump bearing.
I'd like to get the car roadworthy again and drive it rather than doing a major restoration for the time being. I've done simple bolt-off, bolt-on repairs on a classic car before but never undertaken anything very complex. If anyone can offer any advice on the clutch and water-pump issues I'd be very grateful. Also, I read that asbestos was used in sound-proofing in doors and notice that there are the remains of some sort of fibre-containing coasting in the boot, so I wanted to ask whether anyone knows whether material containing asbestos was still being used in post-war cars (I think one account said it was only used on pre-war cars).
I hope this isn't too much information for a first post but of course I'm very excited to have the car and keen to learn as much as I can.