To recap there are three Rover P5s under restoration.   A 1964 P5 Coupe MKIIA in manual/overdrive; a 1965 MKIIC in manual/overdrive (converted from auto) and a 1966 MKIII in manual/overdrive (also converted from auto).   The two MKII cars are both admiralty blue, but the 1964 car is two tone with a light blue roof.   All three cars are fitted with Webasto sunroofs.   There is a surprising amount of difference given the cars are all a model year apart.   The photo below shows the 1964 car.

There were quite a few jobs underway that will not be seen when the cars are finished but are still important.   The first was the front seat mechanism.   These needed to be dissasembled as they were not moving freely.   The control cables were not really designed to be disassembled so a lot of car was required to remove them and make sure the mechanisms were working properly.    The picture below shows the mechanisms for the MKIIC.

Another component along the same lines were the door check straps.  Each one had to be disassembled, cleaned and lubricated.   Interestingly the front ones are slightly different to the rear ones.   Rover helpfully stamped a little picture of a front door or a rear door on the straps to identify them.

Another job like this is checking the alignment of the starting handle.   While the starting handle is not going to be used frequently (if at all), everything still needs to line up properly.   I did actually use the handle on my old P5 when the ignition switch stopped working.  It allowed me to start the car up at a Petrol station and continue on my way.

A particularly tedious job is aligning the bonnet on a P5.  This is why so many of them at car shows have misaligned bonnets.   It involves a lot of trial fitting to get it just right as there are two bolts that go into oval shaped holes to make sure the bonnet sits just right.

Finally the 1964 car is starting to have the interior fitted.  The photo below shows the rear seat, upholstered in grey leather. It should look great with the navy blue carpet.   It can’t really be see in the picture, but the 1964 car will also get the drivers window regulator from my old car.  That regulator is in much better condition.

It will be great to see these cars lined up in the sun after they are completed.   What a good display it would be at a cars and coffee event.    It is rare to see a P5 coupe at an event like this, let alone three of them.

For more information on previous updates, please see:

• May 2020
• December 2019
• April 2019

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The last couple of months he has been moving workshops, so the progress is based on work done earlier in the year.    My old P5 has been completely dismantled.   The new workshop does not have room for parts cars.   The parts will all go to good use and the engine is available if necessary if any of the three cars need it.

The engine was probably the best thing about my old car.    The body was quite rusty and the interior was very worn.    The picture above shows the cover for the valve adjustment in the block – a feature of this IOE engine.

The 1964 P5 MKIIA has the fuel tank fitted, the rear seat and parcel shelf fitted and the electrics complete.    The picture below shows one of the seats off the 1964 MKIIA (in grey) and two of the seats from the MKIIC (in cream).

These seats are of a very different design to the seats used in the 1966 Rover P5 MKIII.    Those seats were modified again for the P5B, but are quite similar.  The MKIII seats look more like an ‘overstuffed’ armchair.

A fair amount of progress has been made on the MKIII interior.   It was a bit dark to photograph inside the car, but the car is looking very impressive from the outside.   The Webasto sunroof can be seen at the top of the photo.   This Rover P5 MKIII Coupe is going to be quite impressive when finished.

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Firstly, all the electrical work is completed and tested.   This is an important milestone and something that needs to be right before the interiors can be installed.   The electrical work includes sensible upgrades such as relays for the headlights.   The blue coupe in the picture below has also been pre-wired for driving lights.   It is hard to see from the photo but the blue coupe pictured has been upgraded to Halogen lights.

Hard to see because they are covered for protection, but the bumpers have all been re-chromed.      Next, the engines are being readied for their first start – hoses, belts, fluids and the like.

The picture above shows the somewhat unusual arrangement of the combined generator and power steering pump used in the P5 3 litre.     Finally, some of the interior is starting to take shape – starting with the boot.   The P5 came with a nice arrangement of tools on the passengers side of the boot which can be seen below.

The other two cars also have more of their interiors installed.    The Yellow MKIII has the dashboard more completed and the other blue car has the doors trimmed.

It was good to see the progress on the Rover P5 restoration.   I am looking forward to visiting again in the new year to see further progress.    The three cars should be magnificent when finished.

Update:  Restoration Progress – May 2020.

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The first car under restoration is a 1964 MKIIA model.    It was originally delivered 26/6/1964.  Unusually for a car delivered in Australia, it is equipped with a manual transmission and overdrive.   Most cars sold here came with the Borg Warner DG automatic gearbox.   The current owner purchased the car in 1971.

The manual/overdrive ‘export’ P5 MKII Coupe is relatively rare, with only 67 RHD models being produced at the factory, this car being #23.   Overall, including home market (1956) and LHD export (312) there were 2335 manual cars in total.

I don’t know the full details of the difference between home market and export cars, but one obvious difference is the engine compression.   The original engine for this car was an 8:1 compression model vs the 8:75 compression for the home market cars.

The car was originally white, but is now painted Admiralty Blue on the lower half and Slate Grey for the roof.   It is equipped with a Webasto sunroof and will have a grey leather interior with dark blue carpets.

I really like the colour combination of this car.   In the image above, the fuel tank for the car can also be seen.    Eagle eyed viewers will see that while the car is a MKII, it has P5B side trim.   This is because the owner prefers it.   The intention of this car was to build his vision of the ideal Rover P5.  Another change is the colour matched hubcaps.   Originally the Rover P5 (MKII) was to have painted hubcaps like a Mercedes-Benz, but that was cancelled at the last minute.  The reason was probably cost.

As part of the restoration, the engine has been swapped for one from the same year.   This presumably came from the P5 MKIIA Saloon that provided parts for the restoration (77600154A).

While there were running changes throughout P5 MKII production, the biggest changes came with the introduction of the MKIIC cars.

MKIIC cars included engine improvements (larger crankshaft mains, oil drain at the rear of the head and more), speedometer/tachometer with a larger font, two speed wipers, a better fuse box, improvements to suspension, exhaust, fuel tank and many more.    This car has the improved gauge faces as part of the restoration:

In addition, the tachometer has been rebuilt by a qualified electrical engineer to be far more accurate than original.    The main work to be done on the car now is the assembly.

Accompanying the MKIIA is a 1965 MKIIC.  The C suffix model have all the improvements listed above.    This car started out life with a Borg Warner DG gearbox but has been converted to manual/overdrive.

The MKIIC car is Admiralty blue on the body and the roof and is not equipped with a webasto sunroof.   It has a cream leather interior and has air conditioning.   To fit the massive York compressor, part of the inner wing needed to be cut out!

As with the MKIIA, this car also has v8 side trim.

Of the three cars, this car is the furthest along with the final assembly.

The final car is the MKIII model.   As with the car above, it started its life as an automatic.   In this case, being a MKIII a Borg Warner 35.  It now has a manual/overdrive transmission.  The owner of these cars is not a fan of the BW35 in the P5.   The MKIII had a taller rear end ratio, so combined with the BW35 was a more relaxed performer.

Where the MKIIA is the owners idea of the ideal Rover P5 in a more traditional way, the MKIII has been built in a more brash style.   It is sporting the Rostyle wheels from a V8 and a custom Cream/Almond colour combination.   It is a very striking car.    This car also has a Webasto sunroof.    It has been in the current owner’s care since the 80s.

The MKIII will have a tan leather interior.   The interior is the biggest difference between the MKII cars, with something more like the P5B.   The front seats are more like armchairs and there is a rear heater control.

I really enjoyed going to look at the Rover P5 Coupe restoration.  It is amazing to see the marked differences between three cars of consecutive years.

My favorite is the earlier car, then the MKIII, then the all blue car.   But all of them are lovely and I am looking forward to dropping by in a couple more months to see the progress of the Rover P5 coupe restoration project.

Update:  Restoration Progress – December 2019.

Update:  Restoration Progress – May 2020.

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