New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

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Blackpowder
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:42 pm

New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by Blackpowder » Wed Feb 09, 2022 12:05 pm

Hello Everybody,

It was one of my grandfathers dying wishes last year that I took on his Beloved Rover 14 Sports Saloon restoration project.

The car was first registered (A.V.6351) on 20th March 1934 by Lt. Col. Charles Foster Alleyene who owned the car until 1983, Lt. Col. Alleyene kept a detailed history of the Rover including its purchase receipt, service history, stacks of receipts and invoices and insurance cover note for almost every single year he owned the car. He also kept the original sales brochure, maintenance posters and other booklets etc issued by the AA and other motoring organisations / suppliers. (see images of a very small selection of the documents below).

Lt. Col. Alleyene moved from Scottish High Command to Peebles after the war in 1948 and then in 1959 to Woodstock in Oxfordshire. At this point the car after little use ended up in storage in Alleyenes garage.

In 1983 my Grandfather Lionel Mitchell swapped the Rover for his Steam Roller and he began immediately restoring the now fairly neglected Rover to it's former glory (see pictures below from '83) sadly he lost momentum as his health declined and over the course of nearly three decades the rats moved in and the dust and junk began to gather around the main car kept in his garage. Fortunately the restored panels, seats and doors were kept wrapped in blankets in the loft.

Fast forward to 2022 (almost 90 years since the Rover was made!) and everything is seeing the light of day as the car and all of it components are being moved to their new home in one of my commercial units where I plan to clean, assess and hopefully begin it's restoration with a view to completing my grandfathers work.

I understand the car is quite rare since it features 'knock off' wheels?

Amongst the paperwork I also discovered my grandfathers RSR membership info!

I must admit, I truly am a complete novice, I have some very clever and skilled people around me who are willing to help and I have the money that I fear needs to be committed to the project, what I am lacking however, is the knowledge and support of the Rover community and so... hello and help!
Vehicle Registration Book
Vehicle Registration Book
272251762_1400016233784970_5302682818095181250_n.jpg (72.57 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
Some of the service history and provenance
Some of the service history and provenance
248711185_905151486832860_5653239470055841052_n (1).jpg (33.47 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
Old maintenance poster (1of2)
Old maintenance poster (1of2)
261508740_969197947049401_1573652081376109305_n.jpg (42.96 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
1983 Rover arrives in Benson, restoration begins!
1983 Rover arrives in Benson, restoration begins!
273231684_1411407492644098_8410213809762635565_n.jpg (53.92 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
2022 Car in garage
2022 Car in garage
273224803_336687471687286_8108115211507931359_n.jpg (55.04 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
2022 Dashboard
2022 Dashboard
273170216_246691627642782_6600541192251326028_n.jpg (67.46 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
2022 Engine Current Condition
2022 Engine Current Condition
272717661_621775635591679_6843535417342546566_n.jpg (106.77 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
2022 - Toolkit
2022 - Toolkit
259761438_519125422814819_868881348500445544_n.jpg (52.91 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
2022 Interior and panels taken down from loft
2022 Interior and panels taken down from loft
273522726_837396803792161_7238768310455475096_n.jpg (51.58 KiB) Viewed 10274 times
My Grandfather was an RSR member!
My Grandfather was an RSR member!
272934867_1270158603865492_843757320714637523_n.jpg (39.43 KiB) Viewed 10274 times

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

Re: New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by RobHomewood » Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:01 pm

Hi and welcome to RSR if no one has said that yet. Lovely to see your car even if it is in bits. What an amazing tool kit it was provided with! I have never seen one as comprehensive. You can have fun locating replacements for the missing kit if nothing else!
I am afraid I know no details of this model (my car is '39) but there are some really helpful experts on this forum as I am sure you will soon find out
Good Luck!
Rob

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47p2
Posts: 754
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:51 pm
Location: Scotland
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Re: New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by 47p2 » Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:52 pm

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you have an interesting project and I look forward to hearing more as you progress

GOY189
Posts: 557
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2008 5:08 pm

Re: New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by GOY189 » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:26 pm

Hello, Welcome to the Forum. That looks an interesting project. I can see hydraulic brakes, a number of what appear to be control boxes and a startix. The startix was fitted to up market cars and was designed to restart the engine if it stalled, sensing the lack of output from the dynamo.

If the dynamo failed when the engine was running, the startix energised the starter motor with expensive consequences!
It is worth while joining the RSR and purchasing the P2 workshop manual and the 1934-38 illustrated parts list. Visit www.thersr.co.uk

Best regards
Mike Maher
RSR Chairman

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

Re: New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by TonyG » Mon Feb 14, 2022 10:36 pm

Hi,

Always wonderful to see a previously unknown and unrestored Rover, albeit requiring considerable attention. That said, your car appears to be complete and there is nothing to suggest it has major mechanical failings. The bodywork appears in good condition and the interior parts look usable with only minor attention. There is seems to be evidence of woodworm in the dashboard, but that is cheap to replace. Check the seats as they are also made of plywood; the front seat backs are almost impossible to replace but yours look ok. What we cannot see is the condition of the timber frame in the body. It’s made from ash so pretty hard timber and, if you are lucky, it won’t be too far gone, making repairs and worm killing an option. If the engine isn’t seized you could try to get it running but, since it probably needs to come out of the car anyway, you may as well get it stripped down and checked before trying. Most likely it will require a new clutch and all the ancillaries will need refurbishing. Likewise, the brakes, axle oil seals and any rubber bushes will need attention/replacement. I didn’t see a steering box in the pictures but that will also need looking at along with track rod ends, king pins etc. A lot depends on how much work the car has done and a close look through all the receipts you have may reveal that some things have already been done. These cars are pretty tough and it takes a lot to wear out the metal bits.

All this makes your Rover an excellent restoration prospect. The first thing to do is collect together and document all the parts you have. Take pictures of everything and keep every part, no matter how small, rusty or insignificant they seem to be. Then you need to decide whether you want to undertake/project manage the restoration yourself or hand it over to a professional restorer. It’s fair to say that whichever route you decide upon will be expensive and time consuming. As such, you need to be realistic regarding the time and money you have to devote to this. Failure to do this explains why so many restorations falter along the way as they can become a money pit. With that in mind, I’d suggest that you take some time to visit a few Rover Cub events and get a feel for the scale of the work needed to get your Grandfather’s car back on the road. It’s up to you to decide what level of restoration is acceptable to you, it’s your car now. Then decide how best to approach your own project vehicle.

I have a car which is almost as old as yours that I inherited from my Father. As such it has huge sentimental value, which is just as well because the restoration cost probably exceeds what the car is worth and that was doing most of it myself. Mine is a different model to yours but the basic construction is probably similar and, based on your pictures, I suspect your car requires a similar amount of work. Interestingly, my car was also stripped for restoration in 1983 and remained in boxes until 2015. The body is presently in a dismantled state once again as I took it apart some months ago for a re-paint, but I am determined it won’t take me another 30 years to reassemble it! If you would like to come and view it, you are most welcome. I don’t know where you are in the country but I’m close to the Essex/Suffolk border.

Good luck with your project and keep us posted.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

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

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

Re: New Member - Inherited Rover 14 Sports Saloon 1934 Restoration Project!

Post by TonyG » Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:38 am

Hi again,

Just been looking through your posted pictures again. It looks like your Grandad had the engine and axle out so you may find the mechanicals have already been looked at. If that is so it would certainly be worth seeing if you can turn the engine by hand and, if appears ok, on the starter. Any oil in the engine will have long since drained to the sump so you will want to crank it with the plugs out (some oil in the bores) until the oil pressure comes up before thinking about trying to start it.

You mention the knock on wire wheels; these utilised type 52 Rudge hubs, the same size as Jaguar SS models of the era. I believe the 52 relates to the bearing size in millimetres. The wheels should, therefore, be the same as Jaguar parts should you require replacements. Mine are the same but I haven’t needed to replace the wheels. I’d be surprised if your wheels needed much attention but do look for excessive rusting of the spokes as this will result in them breaking under load. If they appear ok and spin true, you should get away with blast cleaning then painting or powder coating, as I did with mine. I did have to get the rear hubs re-made and they used the Jaguar pattern for the outer splined section but the hub inside and oil seal are unique to Rover. The hub spinners do wear but replacements are easy to get and it saves re-chroming the old ones. The Rover ones are pretty hefty devices, not particularly attractive but worth keeping for originality.

Finally, the chap who wrote to your Grandfather back in 1982 was Adrian Mitchell by the looks of it. He is our Club President and will be hosting the forthcoming ‘Icebreaker’ event on 27th February.

Hope some of that is of help.

Tony.
Tony Gilbert

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

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