New Project VA485 - RPJ 7L

[Awaiting Repair]

Great stuff! Will look forward to your updates. Looks a good candidate for restoration!

Keith

[Tony Burd]

Yep not keen on those spoilers, but each to their own, I hope someone can make use of it.

Dont expect too much update wise until I get it in the garage I am a bit limited

[Tony Burd]

I persuaded my father in law to let me build some garages at his place so the Rover is now safely in storage.


So this means my garage is free to start properly on RPJ.

First job will be emptying all the bits that came with it inside

[Tony Burd]

I cleared the inside & boot of all the spares & junk this afternoon, then set about stripping the car, I started with the boot, being an early car it has the dimming relay & resistors for the rear lights, I was glad to see they were still in place.


This car has been modified in the past & there is wiring for the battery in the boot, there is also an extra switch in the boot, presumably a security device?


From the top the petrol tank looked OK I took the sender out & the tank looked clean inside, unfortunately when I remove it there were holes underneath:

The boot floor has a few holes but not too bad considering it has been outside under a cover for 14 years:

[Matt Cotton]

Great pics Tony. Looking forward to following your progress - looks a nice solid car though.

Your first picture of the garages... is that a Citroen hiding in the corner?

MC

[Carledo]

Great pics Tony. Looking forward to following your progress - looks a nice solid car though.

Your first picture of the garages... is that a Citroen hiding in the corner?

MC

Looks more like a series III E-type to me!

Steve

[Tony Burd]

Wish it was an E type!
It is a 1972 Citroen DS Pallas, not been on the road for at least 20 years.

Uncovered some major rust in the roof today which is worrying, looks as if I need to change the roof panel as well as some work to the gutters, pretty scary stuff. I have sourced a replacement roof but this might be beyond my skills, is the roof skin spot welded to the gutters? The folding roof will be going now anyway.
Front Edge of the roof, never seen rot here before:

Rear Edge

Offside rear gutter

Funny thing is the bottom corners of the screen surround are solid


Haven't seen this type of folding roof before, are you familiar with it Steve?


Are there any restos on here where the roof was changed, I seem to remember someone doing it, some pictures would be good.

[James467]

Nice one Tony!!!

Yes, water gets under the vinyl and can sit there, looks like it may have not been stuck properly when it was put back on after the sunshine roof was installed.

It's not difficult to repair, just need to watch the heat on the rear, there's a lot of tension and the panel tends to bow. I'd be inclined to repair rather than replace.

That said, it's spot welded around the gutters and window edges then there's a join about an inch down the a pillars, this is normally lead loaded on early cars so you can't see it. So it wouldn't be too difficult to replace a skin if you could get one.

[Tony Burd]

Thanks James, I'm picking up a roof next weekend so have the option of replacing the whole roof which I'm quite keen on as it gets rid of the sunroof as I'm not a fan of the sliding roof.

Also there are areas of the gutters that are rotten, I guess I just need to clean it all up and see what's left!

[Carledo]

Probably easier to replace the entire roof with gutters than just the skin panel, especially as you seem to have a bit of moth in the inner screen frame and the top of the rear window opening too.

I've not done one on a Dolomite, but I did it's baby brother, a GT6 MkIII that way a few years back. It is quite intense work and definitely best to brace the door openings before cutting the roof off! But I reckon rejoining at 6 points is better than trying to weld a skin panel all round and get it straight, flat and waterproof.

I have a NOS N/S gutter/cantrail panel 808356 which you can have for sensible money if you think it will help.

Steve

[Tony Burd]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your advice, how would I join the A, B & C posts back together just butt weld them, would that be strong enough? I guess I could add some strengthening pieces of metal inside each post & add some plug welds as well.

I think for now I will start at the back & drill out the plug welds on the back seam & about 6 inches along the gutters then cut the roof panel & remove it to see what the gutters look like underneath.

Thanks for the offer of the gutter rail, but I should be OK as I am picking up a complete roof with pillars cut off another car.

[James467]

I think you'll be fine butt welding, as long as the weld has fully penetrated.

The weld is harder than the steel, try butt welding two sheets together then try to break the weld, the sheet will fatigue before the weld breaks.

[Carledo]

Pretty sure from examining them, that the top of the B post and most of the C post top is butt welded on anyway and if you are clever you can engineer a staggered joint on the A post (which is 2 pieces) for increased strength.

Loking at your C pillars, the joint could do with being at least halfway down the post!

Steve

[Tony Burd]

Food for thought, thanks guys, will need some careful planning.

[new to this]

Tony

Would you not be better to spot weld it along the gutter rail, its the strongest point of the roof,you mite get away with a patch in the C piller

Dave