Best 'starter' Rover V8 mods for a daily driver

[Lewis]

Have taken the rather brave leap of taking a totally unknown P6, and adopting it as my daily driver.

After battling all day today clearing crud out the carbs and the fuel lines I've now got it idling nicely, with just some tweaking to get it running OK.

What I'd like to do is add the following, to make it more reliable and potentially more economical on a daily basis:

- Electronic fuel pump (Facet silver top and regulator?)
- Electronic ignition (Pertronix?)
- Uprated non-ballasted coil (Flamethrower?)
- Magnecor leads or similar
- Decent NGK plugs
- Twin K&Ns on standard elbows as suggested in the Tuning Rover V8 book

......and I think that's it, for now - any other suggestions much appreciated. I'd love to get a 4 barrel on it at some point but I think that'll be a little in the future.

Anyway - I was just wondering, with regards to the list above, if anyone has any specific recommendations as which parts to go for, or sensible alternatives. Just want the ignition and fuel system to be working at their maximum potential

If anyone has anything suitable for sale then let me know too - cash waiting....

Thanks!







Staying for a bit, this one, too.....so got to do this

[katanaman]

you can save yourself money and not buy Magnecor leads, they arent really needed for what your planing and a decent set of silicon leads will work just fine. If you go the Facet then you wont need a regulator on the SU's. Wont do any harm but again somewhere to same some cash. If you go the K&N route remember you will have to change jets and or needles to get it to run right. You should be able to buy a full kit but if not I am sure some of the guys can tell you what sizes you need. Four barrels and stuff like that, there is only any point if you go further with the engine like a cam and in your engines case newer heads. All for the future though, get it reliable and enjoy for now

[Coops]

i have to agree with Marki here mate

[Lewis]

Nice one! That's just what I'm looking for at the moment - reliability and enjoyable as you say.

Any recommendations for ignition systems - want to ditch this points, condensor and coil if possible as they're unknown anyway

[JSF55]

I've run a pertronix ignition along with the matching coil 100% reliable

[RoverP6B]

Hello Lewis,

I too own a Rover P6B, having been driving mine since 1986, and once you have those areas sorted it will be (in theory) a very reliable car.

Fuel System.....As Marki indicated, you don't need a regulator with the SU system as it stands on the P6B. The system employs a spill return, so once the float bowls are full, excess fuel is sent back to the tank. You can see the line on your R/H carb curving around and disappearing down behind the engine. The Facet pump that you speak of will need to be of the continual pumping type as opposed to those which switch on and off.

Ignition System....I have not used Pertronix, so I cannot comment from personal experience. I chose the Lumenition route which allows retention of the original 6 Lucas 16C6 coil. Installed in 1990, it remains there to this day with over 130,000 miles of daily use.

I do use Magnecor leads, the first set I installed in 1988, and they functioned perfectly until being replaced by another set in 2007. I chose to replace them as I was having a new 4.6 litre engine installed, so I wanted new leads too. When replaced, the 1988 Magnecor leads showed no signs of heat damage or degredation of any kind that I could see. I dare say that they would no doubt have continued working for another 19 years without fault.
They may well be more expensive initially, but I have no hesitation at all in totally recommending them. You will certainly get what you pay for.

Vacuum Advance.....make sure that this item is working. If not buy a new module. Fuel consumption will be quite a bit more if it is not working.

I have always used Champion plugs, and have never had any problems with them in any regard. The original engine in my P6B had the 10.5 : 1 CR. I tried NGK plugs ( the recommended ones) on one occassion and the engine had nothing but problems, so I went back to Champion. There was never anything wrong with the Champions in the first place, just having a trial.
NGK plugs do however seem to make an improvement over the Champion plugs when fitted into the 9.25:1 CR engines.

Air Cleaners....You will certainly need new needles if you remove the air cannister and the standard air cleaners within. The existing SU needles will be either BBV or BBG depending on the CR, as a change was made when this occured. I can give you a guide if you wish once you know the size of the K & N filters, and of course the amount of ignition timing that you run will also be an influence.

Others...If your engine is running an 82 or higher degree thermostat, then installing a larger radiator (3 core) as opposed to the original 2 core will provide a substantial improvment in coolant temperature, especially in traffic on a hot day. The engine will still get hot,..90 degree C plus, but nothing like what it would do with the standard radiator, which is totally marginal at best.

I see that you have the Borg Warner 35 transmission. Servicing each 12 months is recommended, as is using Type F transmission fluid,..not Dexron types which can depending on the types of bands and clutches used lead to premature failure.

That should be enough to start with,..do let me know how you go.

Ron.

[Richard P6]

Very nice.

I had a P6 with the original 10.5CR engine and found that the easiest way to unleash some extra power was simply to fit some SD1 heads. From memory, the early type SD1 heads were 12% more efficient than the P6 ones - This was a long time ago so my memory may be slightly out here.

I also fitted a pair of tubular headers (4:2:1) K&Ns and an SD1 electronic Dizzy static timed at TDC. I had to use AAA needles.

Then a header tank, and an LT77 5 speed box.

Totally transformed the car.

[ian.stewart]

The leads you are running at the moment should be OK for what you are doing, thats if my eyes do not deceive me, They look like NGK Blues, just check them for damage, a good squirt of WD 40 to waterproof them,

[Lewis]

Thanks - what distributor will this be? Was looking at Aldon's website for the Ignition II kits and coil and there's many options......It's a 71, on HIF6s?

[RoverP6B]

Hello Lewis,

Your distributor is a 35D8, but the actual specification,..rate of advance, total advance, variation etc is dependent not on the year but on your engine number.

What is your engine number? From that I can tell you the type of 35D8 you have, which you can then use to obtain the correct kit.

Ron.

[Robrover]

My suggestions are:

SD1 heads; high torque auto friendly cam (Torquemax or Viper Cyclone or Aussie Dynotec PC216); Lumenition or Aussie Scorcher distributor (from Performance Ignitions in Melbourne, uses all Bosche parts); NGK BP5ES plugs with Bosche leads; Pierburg fuel pump (smaller, quieter than Facet); freeflow exhaust; change needles in SUs.

Nice car, worth doing some subtle mods to improve its performance.