[ROVERNET - UK] "Restoring" Rovers, Market Value, et cetera
Stephen JC Beer
stephen at beerinc.com
Sat Jul 29 14:16:13 BST 2006
Well done, James.
This story needs to be presented with the car -- and is part of its
history.
Cheers
S>
On Jul 28, 2006, at 11:45 PM, James Dean wrote:
> I would like to fill in the details and background on this
> Rover P4 ;as it seems there is some undue criticism here, based on a
> lack of information. This LHD Rover 100, decades ago, belonged to a
> University Professor, I believe from Utah. It had survived, but was in
> bad condition, when it was purchased by a Universityof Miami student,
> and brought to Florida. He had no money or ability to restore it , so
> came to my Ft. Lauderdale shop, and asked me to find him a buyer.The
> car had been in an accident decades ago, and had the earlier Rover 90
> front fitted; probably from the only available Rover in that part of
> America. I did nothing to the front fenders; if they were misaligned;
> it was due to the old accident and repair. Hugh came to me; He had
> just received a "golden parachute" bonus of about a hundred thousand
> dollars, when his employer was bought out by another
> company.Fortunately he diidn't spend it on fast women; but spent
> part on a slow Rover.He admired the restoration we were doing on my 69
> 2000TC, and bought the P4, I think for $700. The car was a piece of
> junk, and we began making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
> There was extensive rust, especially in the rear. I allowed
> Hugh to order parts directly fromWadham's, at no profit to myself..I
> lowered my labor rate, I think to $40 an hour, and a helper at
> $20/hour. In this long, long project; my profit was probably not
> five dollars an hour. This was not rural British Columbia, but
> downtown Ft. Lauderdale; with a high overhead .There were many things
> Hugh chose to do himself. Welding and rust removal was done in my
> shop,but not the paint or finish bodywork. Hugh chose to oversee that
> himself; and spent a lot of money with a different shop for paint. I
> suggested that Hugh order his interior from Wadham's. No, he wanted it
> done by Dennis, a talented local American car upholsterer he knew.Hugh
> and Dennis chose colors and materials, and after we finished
> mechanical work , it went first to the body shop, then to the
> upholstery shop Sadly,Dennis developed a brain tumor. He vowed to
> finish Hugh's car before he died, and did; though it was a struggle
> for him. If upholstery seemed unfinished, it was probably because
> Dennis was dying, as he finished it. Like the paint; I had nothing to
> do with the upholstery.
> The windshield was installed by a glass shop, that the paint
> shop used. Not done by my shop..Hugh wanted state of the art sound and
> alarm system. I advised against that, but he chose to spend money
> having that done by someone else.Every classic car alarm system I have
> ever seen caused problems; this was no exception.Hugh wanted air
> conditioning in this car. I told him initially he should buy my
> 2000TC, which had AC ; he'd save $5,000.No, he chose to spend $5,000
> and have air conditioning. The oversize tires? Hugh bought them,as he
> liked the way it looked. When the paint, upholstery, and stereo shop
> finished their work, we did final details, then Hugh drove it. it
> came back a few times to work out small bugs, but he finally drove it
> quite a bit, and it was reliable..He basicly eventually sold the car,
> because it was slow. He bought a 67 Camaro, with a Supercharger.
> He relocated to Connecticut. While there,Hemmings Motor News
> came to him, and used the car on the 2000 HMN Calendar. Also, in 1999,
> Landrover North America/BMW shipped this Rover, as well as my 69
> 2000TC to Couer D'Alene, Idaho, and put it in the Ballroom at the
> National Landrover Dealer's convention. With its' Rover 75 badge, it
> was really the star of the show; as the new Rover 75 , the new Mini,
> and an MGF were there as well.
> ... The point of all this; People are quick to blame a
> restoration shop; who have never owned one. When this car left my
> shop, the things done in my shop worked well,The metalwork was sound,
> and the car was reliable. The customer pays the bills; so if he wants
> an alarm system, or his own choice of paint, upholstery or tires,he
> gets them.Hugh chose to spend that amount of money; He had a car that
> received national acclaim of the highest sort. I have no idea what
> maintenance was done after it left; but probably several years had
> elapsed by the time the reports of the oil leak and alarm malfunction
> were made.. If he had bought a new car; he would have not had the
> enjoyment and accolodes this car briefly bought him. In a few years,
> that new car would have sold for $8,000. In the end; the Classic car
> community benefited greatly because Hugh saved an old Rover, instead
> of buying a Harley or a trip to the Bahamas. I just hope the present
> owner realizes it is his role to preserve the heritage he has
> inherited with this car.
>
> James Dean, Ft.Lauderdale.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Rodgers"
> <irishrover at netscape.ca>
> To: <rovercar at comcast.net>; <rovernet at lyris.ccdata.com>
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:47 PM
> Subject: Re: [ROVERNET - UK] "Restoring" Rovers, Market Value, et
> cetera
>
>
>> Hi Glen
>> The $40.000 P4 you refer to, was purchased by James Supler
>> for
>> approx $8.000 . He later sold it for approx $4000. Now this
>> restoration to
>> say the least was mediocre and it actually cost in the region of
>> $34.000.
>> The shop fitted the front end of a 1954 P4 to a 1960 P4, from the
>> front it
>> looked like a P4 circa 1952-57 and the rear circa 1960- 64. It also
>> left the
>> shop with a long crack on pass side of windshield, the crack started
>> at the
>> roof line, obviously who ever installed the glass caused the crack.
>> The
>> tires were much too large and one front tire touched edge of fender
>> when
>> turn hard right, didn't do it hard left, indicating fenders out of
>> line,
>> which they were. The upholstery trim was shoddy and hung down at the
>> rear.
>> When jim drove it home the gear shift lever fell apart. I drove it
>> from
>> Boston to PEI and a few miles into the trip I spotted the oil light
>> coming
>> on every time I slowed. Oil was pumping out at the rear of the valve
>> cover
>> where the gasket had been incorrectly installed. This car featured in
>> the
>> Hemmings Calendar around 2000?
>> It was originally owned by a gentlman name Hugh, can't remember his
>> last
>> name, but he surely wasted alot of money. The car looked great in a
>> photograph and up close to an untrained eye. It drove well once the
>> tires
>> were changed but it soon developed other problems, hard to start, poor
>> brakes, wipers stopped working. alarm system shut down the car every
>> time
>> the battery was disconnected which took a lot of fiddling to get it
>> running
>> again.. All in all it was a poor job done by people that knew little
>> or
>> nothing about Rovers. Its still in the area, New Brunswick, and still
>> on the
>> road but I haven't seen it for a couple of years.
>> Regards Ben.
>>
>> FREDERICK RODGERS.CD
>> born in Belfast, Northern Ireland,
>> Author of "lily and me" a great book and a great read .
>> Order on line at amazon.com. Book # ISBN1-55430-019-3
>>
>>
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>
>
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