PART THREE Of The 1962 Rover P4 100 Resurrection, She's Back On The Road And Fighting Fit! 

You should keep that Rover, it really suits you.

The ballast resistor should be wired so that it's bypassed by the starter solenoid when the engine is cranking. It's there so that when the battery voltage is puled down whilst cranking the coil gets the full battery voltage for starting, but when the engine is running the coil gets the reduced voltage through the resistor. If you don't have the correct type of solenoid with the extra connection use a relay that's switched by the wire that activates the solenoid to bypass the resistor.

Man this guy is criminally undersubbed! Bags of charisma, charm, character and makes even the epic length videos a pleasure to watch!

Nice job, I think I would remove all those gauges and bodgy centre panel and put the original wood panel back in the middle of the dash, seeing as you have it there.

Watching people such as yourself bringing old cars back to life is a joy for me. Good luck with your channel.

The outside seal on the brake cylinder is not an oil seal..it’s a dirt cover. The leak is from the inside, surely? Rubber grommets for the cable holes? Don’t put it down into 1st gear when still moving. Look up double de clutching perhaps, if you don’t know about that? Change the diode pack in the alternator. It will save bastardising another one? Chrome headlight bezels? Great video…thanks. 👍🏻

I've binge watched nearly all of these. Great humour, classic cars, educational problem solving, tools, track racing, driving views around the English,Welsh and European countryside, a record shop!! Keep Britain Tidy, N-i-i-ce 😁😄😂

I owned a 1964 P4 110 Rover with the straight 6 2625cc engine. As a newly Wed' I couldn't afford to keep it... always regretted selling it. Now I'm retired I hope to own another someday soon. Just love the engine note!

Looking forward to the next P4 episode.

The Rover has become my new favourite so far.

Ben i would put battery back under the rear seat where it is now next to the manifold it just gets cooked all the time hence the state of all the wires u replaced

My Uncle is an ex-Rover draughtsman, we have connections to Rover going back years, and I own a '69 P6 V8 Auto. This Rover has gotcha big time, you get it. You have poured so much love into what it was - a walk-on-by car, and the Viking is saved. I loved these three films (choosing that word carefully), congratulations on getting him running, he ain't the prettiest, he has so much potential, and the Viking is all heart.

I’ve used contact breaker points on my motorbikes for 47 years. They need a capacitor wire from the non live side of the points to earth. This prevents the high voltage jumping across the points faces, when they open, instead of jumping the spark plug gap. This helps preserve the life of the points, which others would form a pip and a divot, as metal is transferred, high tension spark, one after another. It also aids the quality of the spark at the spark plug, making easier starting and better idling & acceleration. They very rarely fail. I’ve a dozen used spares and at 64 years of age, I’m never going to run out. I’ve good sets of points in all my bikes. They virtually never fail & crucially they cannot fail catastrophically. Best of all, they are so analogue that fault finding is very easy. High tension coils almost never fail. I’ve bought a dozen sets for Suzuki triples labelled “spares or repair”. I’ve easily fixed every set & sold them on, with new HT leads & plug caps, warranting that they work, having tested them on my bikes. It’s almost always the HT leads & caps that fail. Once or twice a low tension wire was broken. Never have I experienced an actual coil failure. They’re solid state. I don’t think they can fail, if they ever worked properly. Not unless you’d left them in water for years. That might cause corrosion of a coil inside the casing. I don’t know because I’ve never seen this in 47 years. Ignition faults are almost always 1. Low battery voltage or wiring faults. 2. Dirty, badly set or incorrectly installed / wired points. 3. Bad HT leads or connections to coil or cap. 4. Plug cap failure (esp if they’re suppressor type) 5. Badly soiled, or badly set plugs, or cracked insulation. A very rare variant of 2 is engine starts easily when cold, but as it heats up, it misfires then stops and won’t restart until properly cold. Many possibilities but this one is binding of moving point on the pivot on the fixed point. It’s just ok cold, but expansion causes binding, friction and eventually the spring is insufficient to close the points after opening & engine stops. Solution is to dress the pivot lightly with 400 or 600 wet & dry, clean off any bits, grease and reassemble. If the problem disappears, bingo. I’ve seen this 3-4 times in my life.

The external dust seals on the top and bottom of the slave cylinder are simply to stop ingress of dirt. They are nothing to do with keeping the fluid in and you can remove them entirely if you wish. The only reason for a fluid leak is that the inner piston seal or the cylinder bore itself are not in good enough condition. Richard

Ben your awesome . ABSOLUTELY AWESOME VIDEO. Please keep the viking he needs you.

My parents had the 60, and 75 moving on to the 2000 then 2200, watched my retired parents remove and refurbish the cylinder head and valves in their 70’s, one either side of the car lifting it off.

One of the best chanels on you tube .Thanks for sharing. Regards Bjorn in Sweden..

The light that's blinking on and off on the dash is for the park brake (hand brake) just needs a bit of adjustment on the switch. Enjoyed the whole process of you bringing it back to service.

I think “Tales of the Viking” is a series in the making!!! Get that big older bruiser tweaked & then take him on trips up & down dale explaining how the latest improvements have worked! Another fabulously enjoyable watch!

The way you do these videos is great and very entertaining. The concept of showing the whole saga rather than edited clips is the reality of just how involved and difficult these jobs can be. In this day and age it is really refreshing to see someone who is so comfortable in their own skin that they don't need to shout about their knowledge and skills and can even poke fun at themselves. This is a unique approach and is informative, entertaining and all with good humour. Great job.

What a lovely old car 🎉

Really enjoying your videos. I bought a p4 around 4 years ago from Mathewson's auction, drove it back home to Leeds well as far as Boston Spa, the RAC got me the rest of the way.

I think it’s amazing how you put these vehicles back on the road, especially as the Rover’s engine was seized. I hope you will be able to take it on a road trip once you’ve fixed the charging problem.

My folks had one in the late fifties in Montreal Canada. Its the first family car in my memories and I have always had a soft spot for them. Cheers!

Alright, I caved in and hit the subscribe button. The five vids I have seen so far were good. Funny and informative about British cars as I live in Las Vegas. Keep having fun! ❤

You really need to do the run to Solihull 😂. Get that alternator sorted, let's have another entertaining episode. You should consider keeping this, it's what the minds eye projects as 20th century classic. Work on your circuit diagrams....a linear form is far more straightforward...😂😂. Nice one man, let's see this in Solihull, I'm about 2 miles from the Rover Works.😂👍👍

Love seeing an old car that was in sight of the crusher getting tender loving care, and hitting the road again. The P4 was a very high quality car, as shown here. Well done, Ben, very enjoyable. Didn't fast forward once. From a one time P6 owner. Love them old Rovers!

For wheel cylinders there are some small honing devices which you can drive with an electric drill to give a perfect cylinder bore when they are pitted. Its just a case of getting one that gives the right diameter range. On ebay they are just under 8 pounds (handy tool) which is much cheaper than buying new wheel cylinders on old cars. Just thought I would mention it.

Lovely old girl, keep her wonderful machine..

I think your find that the lorry was over to avoid the tree with his mirror, great shows keep um coming 😊

30min 32 seconds is when you cracked it, Ben. A series of erratic connections was enough to thwart you end Episode 2. Should be all roses now.

Good afternoon Ben,just love your show,every car I've seen you repair you have done with exiting enthusiasm,cannot wait for episode 3 on Friday with the very wonderful rover 100,take care my friend,sending best wishes from Coventry. Alan from Coventry warwickshire.

The activation coil on your new Contactor is not grounded to the metalwork, like the old Contactor. So you have to earth one of the spade connectors to ground, and the other spade connector goes to your key switch. You need to make a small wire with a spade on one end and a eyelet on the other to make the earth connection.

Takeaway on speed Dial beer in fridge ✅ ready

The inner bore of the rear wheel cylinder is where it seals, the outer rim is only for the dust cover. The dust cover won't stop fluid if the main seal has failed, its purpose is to keep brake dust away from the piston.

Setting points I found it best to set the adjusting/fixing screw quite tight so the points are not flopping about. Then you can push them against the spring to separate the contact surfaces by the right distance and they stay put. In the old days Lucas points had teeth (serrations) on the inside edge that matched with teeth on the baseplate, so that you could set the gap by inserting and turning a flathead screwdriver, and tighten the fixing screw with another screwdriver when you got it right. Simples.

Thanks Ben. Love the content

Ben, what a lovely revival story of the old girl. Sorry, Viking, boy! Brings back memories of being taken to school in one, circa 1968. It was grey, red leather interior and looked immaculate. Majestic infact. Rather like being driven around in a stately home on wheels. After the P4, dad went for a P6 2000, then a 2000TC, a 2200 and then a bright red 3500. He loved playing around under the bonnet, so I well remember helping him sort out broken solenoids, blocked carbs, corroded points, blown cylinder head gaskets, replacing timing chains etc. I just held his tools for him, and always seemed to get oil, grease and, er, smear stuff like red hermatite sealant over my school uniform. He hated the look of the SD1, so he then switched to ugly lumbering Volvos - the ones with the protruding black lower lips. His last car was a new Rover 25, which outlasted him.... but ended up as a rally car. RIP to all of them! These old Vikings were thick skinned, robust, built to endure many battles and fight on to conquer! Ben, thanks again for bringing the Viking back to life. It would be great to see a full restoration - maybe you could keep tabs on the next owner and check up on progress if amenable? Meanwhile, good luck with the rest of the tinkering, and enjoy her whilst you have her. Him! Sorry Viking, respect!!

I has a series 3 landy with that engine, it was sweet, but thirsty!

Some bad news for you Ben - PC Plod is one of your fans and watches all your shows 😮

Such a great channel. No grating music, nobody trying to be a comedian , just a fun guy, who mostly knows what he is doing. Great fun!! Many thanks

Another epic brilliant video its so exciting to see them on the open road after looking so grim loved this rover 👍🏼👍🏼

Great video bud. Glad to see the old girl on the road

What better way to spend a Friday night, pint of Guinness, Pringles and a new Tasty classics episode. Brilliant again Ben 😎👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

I don’t understand how I am so hooked on watching the Rover P4 I don’t know anything about cars although when I was a teenager back in 60/70s my 1st car was a1955 Ford Anglia I could clean the bushes in the starter motor and cover the exhaust in Gum Gum Bandages 😂😂 and I took out the front seat to make room for our baby’s carry cot hopefully one day you may find one. Thank you a new subscriber 👏👏👏

The Rover looks amazing Ben well done

Really good job Ben you should be proud, take care, Gareth

Wow, that battery is very close to the manifold Ben 😮

just loving the journey. its flippen freezing and you are still mending a broken old piece of our past. love it. todays world is not quite as good as the world was.( slight understatement) but all power to you, and to resurrect a piece of British design and Engineering is fabulous to watch. dont forget, when we were building these, as englishmen, some people had goats and carts.

The Viking, great car but with real character ..........Love all the episodes about this Rover !!!

Another restore classic from the internet s master craftsman keep them coming Ben loving your work

Good fun. I was intrigued by the diamond plate sills ...

In a land not very far away, only as long ago as the 1970's, late 1970's, this is exactly how we did bodywork. It's effective (for a bit), it looks....passable (for a bit) but crucially, it rescues a car that deserves rescuing. At the moment, leukaemia is slowing me down somewhat, but that is how I plan to progress my Morris 1100 (it's been hanging around for a decade...). I have to sat I love your work, well done that man!!!

Would love to see the finished car when you sell it on after all the hard work you have done to get it running

Solenoid is the old style Lucas 2ST type , bombproof until they get mega old like yours, new ones a 4ST no manual button now , original ones had a red button between the main terminals which was manual - cant get these now

Good night ben and everyone i watched all of your videos of you and your adventures of you fixing up all of your vehicles old and getting most of them back on the road again please keep up the good work up on your videos on your you tube channel please say hi

With all your patience and skills, it would probably be safer to put the battery in its holder under the rear seat, as it was put there for a reason. I also have a 61 p4 100. I had also had to put loads of bodges right . The battery is a fire risk where it is now my old mucker. All the best. Clive.

What an interesting and entertaining journey its been for this Rover. Loving the channel, your delivery and explanation of the work is nice and clear, the no nonsense approach with a sense of humour really makes your videos more watchable than some. Inspirational, Thanks.

I really wish you would complete the restoration, sort the body work do out the interior, I think it would be a great car for you. I seem to always find the channels that resurrect, get working but don't polish up stuff as it were.

As far as I know the Rover Viking badge represents the Vikings roving across the seas, that why it includes the image of a Viking Longship in full sail.

That button on the starter solenoid used to be on all cars. And, with the solenoid mounted under the floor and the button and protruding through into the passenger compartment, it was what you pressed to start the engine on the earliest Minis.

That car would originally have had a Lucas dynamo. The usual upgrade is a Lucas ACR alternator, which is mega cheap and easy to mount on the dynamo mounts, with a small amount of McGyvering. The wiring is ultra straightforward, with just a big spade for the output and a quarter inch one for the bulb. Slightly dearer, with a higher output, is an A127. Same mounting and wiring as the smaller ACR, but you do need to be careful, as the output can be over 90 amps, with a discharged battery, which could well melt the positive output cable. The older ACRs came in different strengths, but the biggest was around 50 amps, so much safer with old wiring. The one you currently have looks far too modern for that car. Anything with an internal fan just looks wrong. However, it might be worth having a peek at the brushes, before writing it off, if you plan on driving it yourself. Congratulations on getting it this far. I love the sound of those old British cars. Brings me right back to my childhood, when those were the bangers my father and his friends were smoking around in, before they went to landfill. No scrapyards to speak of, back then.

already am subscribed to this channel which i love watching

Hi Ben just watching the clip of the rover great work keep it going

6am in Auckland,better be a good 'un

1:21:48 you’ll probably find the lorry was avoiding the fallen tree on his side of the road.

Awesome video ben thanks for all your different videos any chance u could find and save a marina big respect for you my m8 gonna get 1of your baseball hats keep your videos coming bro best channel ever 👍👍👍👍

I was the proud owner of a Rover 75 to get them into first when moving you have to double the clutch hope this helps !

Well done bën this is ranjya

Great video Ben, thanks! Funny story - I was at the girlfriend's flat and we watched the premiere together. I nipped out to make a cuppa while you were adding the ballast resister to the coil. When I came back in the room I asked what I'd missed and she told me that you'd shown a wiring diagram on the blackboard. She said the wiring diagram had reminded her of the local electrician and how she should get him round to sort out her downstairs pipework - again! I had to smile to myself; not only did she not realise you need a plumber for that sort of work, but her flat's on the first floor anyway! I can't help but wonder what happened the last time when she called him round. I bet he wasn't amused!

Really enjoyed this one I took was beginning to think he didn't want to go on the road again great job

A great video. Shame alternator let you down but these things happen. You’ve done a fantastic job reviving the Viking. Loved the whole Viking series. Can’t wait to see what you get up to next. 👍

Those of us with access to the notification bell need to hit that too, or YT won’t tell us when you upload. Sadly, people using phones don’t have the bell, so we still have to seek you out manually.

Spat my tea over the TV when you showed the diagram

Really enjoyed this, as I knew I would. Personally I've not seen too much of it, but I hear you. Looking forward to the 800 video(s)

Loving this one especially the test drive, you are covering all the lanes I chased around as a lad first on my push iron and then Honda ss50, before moving onto my first cars Austin minis and triumph 1300☠️ rover p5b etc Thanks for the trip to oulton mill😊

Thanks Ben . Another solid video

i love your videos! I have the same passion for old projects lol and torture myself the same way you do.... Cheers mate!

Great episode. Looking forward to another one on the Panhard. Better do something about that roof though and until then leave that door open to let the floor dry.

Love it! I own a Rover p6 2000, and like restoration videos. I watch your channel (now I've found it) Coldwarmotors and Adventures made from scratch. My three favourite channels

I really enjoy your presentations, and my observation on your disclaimer is that you are quite clever and you are well trained as a classic autodidactic.

Many cars of this era had no synchromesh on first gear, so as said previously don't select it whilst moving without using a double de-clutch action on the clutch/acelerator pedals, which racing drivers used to have to do. Great video.

Loved the journey and I love Rovers 😁

Brilliant Ben, loved every minute.

The lorry driver was keeping away from the low branches on the trees to stop him ripping his wing mirror off.

I have loved your videos on the Rover P4 100. Great to see him running again. My Brother in law had a Rover 105S in the 70's it was a great car. I now live in Australia and really enjoy the different cars you work on, brings back memories. Thanks again and keep up the great work.

No. It is not enough, want more on the old girl. Great car. Alan

Just stumbled across your channel and have subscribed as you are local to me, so it's good to hear where you source parts etc. The replacement solenoid may not work due to the body mounting bracket not linked to the ground of the switching circuit. The 2 smaller terminals on the solenoid may be the positive and negative connections. So if you had connected a new wire from the other small terminal and connected it to the car body, it may have worked fine. Not tinkered with old cars for years (used to fix my own cars and also built a few kitcars) but im feeling inspired to start playing with old cars again. Keep the videos coming, they are brilliant. All the best, Paul

Brings back so many memories these beautiful old cars were an everyday drive when I was kid everything about them was quality you’ve done an amazing job bringing the old Viking back from an almost certain grave

Great video, LOVE the Panhard

Great video, I had a couple of these p4s years ago. First gear is a bit different on these old cars, very low and with no synchro. It’s used for standing or difficult starts but if the car is rolling, even slightly, you don’t need it it will pull away fine in second. It needs a double declutch to engage first smoothly if not stationary but that’s not really necessary.

Well done Ben you’re hard work and perseverance has paid off and the P4 has a second chance hopefully someone will take it to the next level it certainly deserves it 👍

I've loved this series. Would still love you to fix that alternator and take your trip. Inserdentely I know you were joking when you asked why the drill gets hot my old engineering teacher used to tell me ' you'd be hot if you were spinning that fast too' Have a great week. Marc from Australia 🇦🇺

Please keep this one, even if you have to get someone else to help you rebuild the front end to the standard you'd like. Seats and carpets are a must, and that instrument panel would be nice finished in veneer matching (as closely as reasonable possible) the other woody bits. What an awesome series though. Well done. I have enjoyed every second of it

The red dash light glimmers when idling in drive mode. it should go out when you move away from a static position and accelerate. if it stays on it could be that no charge is getting to the battery (simplistically speaking)

Maybe dismantling the sockets and feeding the wire through the existing holes would have saved some time and originality? Anyways: Nice to see this "Auntie Rover" back on the road.

Another great video Ben 👍 Shame you are moving this one on but I’m sure ‘he’ will find another person to love him. I was watching through 🫣 when you were drilling for the lighting wires waiting for the headlights to fall off the wings!

My favourite Tasty Classic resurrection so far. Love that car!

With the alternator problem, the Viking is testing you. To see if your a worthy owner, a worthy owner will go that extra bit to get him fixed right. After all those years abandoned and unloved, along comes someone who shows it a little attention. It just wants to make sure you are a worthy owner, fix the alternator and keep it yourself. Even if just a wee while, let him get some trust in you (might sound mad, but you'll know what I mean). This is just the second car I have watched you do, the first being the Allegro Vanden Plas. Great channel, love seeing someone giving these old cars the love they deserve. I am a classic car fan, got enough of them lol (really need to thin the fleet down). I would happily watch more on the Rover.

More P4 videos please,would quite happily come on Rover road trips, what an achievement with that car,very well done you,a throughly enjoyable series of videos.