1959 Rover P4 75

[oldpom]

That’s a great looking tyre David.
Got to be happy with that, the H rating is a bonus.

You mention a chap advised you of the tyre size.
What does the owners manual or workshop manual say?

Hi Patrick

Please see attached from workshop manual

 

[Patrick_R]

Yes,
That’s tough, as one always needs to find a good cross reference which I noted earlier.
I had the same issue with 3 of my projects.
59 FC
61 FB
69 RT40 Corona

I was just very lucky that all 3 of these cars had the original spare tyres with the correct model numbers that matched the owners/service manuals. All I needed to do was take the spare tyre to a tyre shop and match up a new tyre to the old in rolling height, diameter and circumference.

If your car has the original tyres or a spare that corresponds with the manuals, you just need to do these easy checks alongside a new tyre.

If someone has done all that hard work for you, and the 195/80 R15 is a perfect match, fantastic.
Some people just like to say close enough is good enough when they advise someone else, because that’s what they may have been told third hand etc

 

[oldpom]

Hi Patrick

Yes so many tyres so many sizes lol. Doing a check on the classic car tyre conversion site it appears that 6.00 - 15 corresponds with

6.00-15​

​

B​

165R15​

P165/80R15​

185/70R15​

195/65R15​

205/60R15​

225/50R15​

So a bit of a choice. The people I have spoken with on the P4 Rover Guild are of the opinion that the way to go is the 185/80R15 if the 195 is not available so I will be getting those tyres I posted here earlier I think.

Some members have actually got these on their cars they say and they look great. I also like the small whitewall option lol.

 

[Patrick_R]

Great choice, if there is good reference, go with it.
The whitewall will look great.

The last thing would be to get a GPS app for your phone.
This way, when she is all up and running you can see exactly how fast you are going compared to your speedo.
Police don’t care if you’re in an old car unfortunately if you make the mistake of speeding.

 

[BenzBoy]

Hello Mr OP, what was the comparison site you used? I have used Carbibles in the past for such comparisons but that site has now closed.
I recently put Vitour on the Silver Shadow (now that will have Patrick prick up his ears!) and they seem OK so far.
Regards,
Brian

 

[oldpom]

Hello Mr OP, what was the comparison site you used? I have used Carbibles in the past for such comparisons but that site has now closed.
I recently put Vitour on the Silver Shadow (now that will have Patrick prick up his ears!) and they seem OK so far.
Regards,
Brian

Hi

There are a few out there but they all came back with same or similar results on my query. This is the one i went with the most. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/45_conversionchart.jsp

 

[oldpom]

Great choice, if there is good reference, go with it.
The whitewall will look great.

The last thing would be to get a GPS app for your phone.
This way, when she is all up and running you can see exactly how fast you are going compared to your speedo.
Police don’t care if you’re in an old car unfortunately if you make the mistake of speeding.

Thanks Patrick. Yes i have the app on my phone and use it to check the speedo on my daily drive.

 

[oldpom]

I have decided to splash out a little and have bought an original radio that has been converted and has DAB, Bluetooth and hands free. Funny enough the one I am getting has the same fascia colour as my interior, creepy lol

 

[Patrick_R]

That looks awesome.
Does it have a seperate antenna for DAB?
I recently fitted one to my Mini, and it has a window mounted antenna as a normal antenna won’t pick up DAB.
Just interested in how this one is done.

 

[Patrick_R]

Hello Mr OP, what was the comparison site you used? I have used Carbibles in the past for such comparisons but that site has now closed.
I recently put Vitour on the Silver Shadow (now that will have Patrick prick up his ears!) and they seem OK so far.
Regards,
Brian

Do you need to start a new thread???

 

[oldpom]

That looks awesome.
Does it have a seperate antenna for DAB?
I recently fitted one to my Mini, and it has a window mounted antenna as a normal antenna won’t pick up DAB.
Just interested in how this one is done.

Hi Patrick

I just asked the guy who builds these and his response

Not necessary David. It has a state of the art inbuilt receiver making an external aerial unnecessary

 

[Patrick_R]

Hi Patrick

I just asked the guy who builds these and his response

Not necessary David. It has a state of the art inbuilt receiver making an external aerial unnecessary

Perfect.
Great result
Do you have contact details for him?
I need to do something with my XW Fairmont.

 

[oldpom]

Perfect.
Great result
Do you have contact details for him?
I need to do something with my XW Fairmont.

Sure, his name is Michael. In the UK. https://www.facebook.com/mikeoldsworth?mibextid=ZbWKwL

 

[Patrick_R]

Thank you.

 

[oldpom]

Just another update folks, We have today completed the change over from Positive earth to Negative earth. A relatively straightforward job for my auto electrician who also put on the correct fan belt for me and tested to ensure everything is charging correctly. I feel happier it being neg earth for no other reason than it is what I am used to and does make adding those little extra luxuries easier. New fuel pump installed and wired up as old SU pump was leaking so, that will now have a rebuild kit put through it. The car started first time on the button and the smile on my face just gets bigger each time I get into the seat. Needs a good run to see what else we need but going to have to wait for that as I have a few more bits to do such as wing mirrors, fog lamps and roof aerial and some minor interior stuff like changing the wires over on the ammeter now it is neg earth so, dash out for that. Nothing is a chore with this old lady, it is a pleasure to work on so far and just sitting there gives me a lot of pride. More to come.

 

[c107]

Just another update folks, We have today completed the change over from Positive earth to Negative earth. A relatively straightforward job for my auto electrician who also put on the correct fan belt for me and tested to ensure everything is charging correctly. I feel happier it being neg earth for no other reason than it is what I am used to and does make adding those little extra luxuries easier. New fuel pump installed and wired up as old SU pump was leaking so, that will now have a rebuild kit put through it. The car started first time on the button and the smile on my face just gets bigger each time I get into the seat. Needs a good run to see what else we need but going to have to wait for that as I have a few more bits to do such as wing mirrors, fog lamps and roof aerial and some minor interior stuff like changing the wires over on the ammeter now it is neg earth so, dash out for that. Nothing is a chore with this old lady, it is a pleasure to work on so far and just sitting there gives me a lot of pride. More to come.

Good update!

 

[oldpom]

Dash is out and ready for auto electrician to check the ammeter out when he comes to fit the radio, fog lamps and roof aerial lol. Talking of roof aerials there is a bit of a "Marmite" thing going on with them, some love some dont. Me personally I love the "Rakish" look of a nice chrome roof aerial but what put me off for a while was having to mess around with what is a near perfect roof lining. Well this morning I took the plunge as it appears that the front section of the headlining, just above the mirror is separate from the main headlining. Sunvisors off, mirror off, screen surround off and there we have it, an easy to remove valance with access to the roof, oh happy day.

remove headlining for aerial Rover P4 75

Remove front headlining to install roof aerial on 1959 Rover P4 75

youtube.com

 

[oldpom]

Well here we are again. Auntie was in dire need of a roof paint so I thought I would give the Coopers stripper a go as I have had it for over 12 Months and the reviews were good. I decided to only do half the roof today as a test for both effectiveness and time factor. The pic shows the result after approx 90 Minutes. It was first sprayed with Coopers and a scraper took off the top layer. A second spray and a bit more scraping to remove some stubborn bits and then, a light spray as I went over the surface with steel wool. Once done it was wiped down with their "flush" to remove any crap and the final result speaks for itself. Very happy with the product and the end result. The other half I will do over the weekend and it will be painted next week all being well.

 

[oldpom]

Another few hours well spent this morning. t took a bit of fiddling around but the new old radio is now in place. I still have to remove those hinges which is not a job I am looking forward to but all in all a good result. Had to take the inner lining out of the glove box to get a nice fit but, it came out easy with no damage.

 

[c107]

Another few hours well spent this morning. t took a bit of fiddling around but the new old radio is now in place. I still have to remove those hinges which is not a job I am looking forward to but all in all a good result. Had to take the inner lining out of the glove box to get a nice fit but, it came out easy with no damage.

That radio looks so good in the dash of your P4