1953 Rover P4 75
March 2018 - Frame clean up
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P4 frame with nearly all the components stripped off. No rust issues whatsoever were found. Not even surface rust! All the fluid leaks, grime and ridiculous number of layers of paint applied to the frame over its lifetime provided decent protection from the elements.
I'm guessing the frame weights about 300 pounds. A little difficult for 2 men to lift but easy for an engine hoist. I hoisted the frame on its side so it's easy to use an angle grinder with a wire wheel to clean up the frame.
The hand stamped serial number 34330942 can be seen at the top of the left coil spring support just like the service manual states. It is normally hard to see because it is obscured by a brake line and buried under a coat of grime.
I did not like the low quality appearance of the motor mounts that were fabricated for the 22R so I cut them off. New ones were mocked up using paper and transferred to a 2" square steel tube to attach the new mount plates to the frame.
Verifying the fitment of the engine on the new motor mounts. Looks good and ready for final welding!
Finished welding on the new motor mounts.
Cleaned up the notch that was cut out of the rear crossmember just ahead of the axle for the non-original driveshaft.
A view of the transmission mount on the first inner crossmember from the front. The center hole was enlargened to accept the correct transmission mount and 4 new holes were drilled around it for bolts to fasten the mount to the crossmember. Notice the tear to the right of the large hole in the picture? I suspect it was caused by the transmission mount having been loose and rattling around.
To further reinforce the transmission mount to the frame crossmember, two steel angle bars were welded inside the crossmember and drilled with holes for the mount bolts. A bit overkill? Maybe but better than a loose transmission!
Finished new transmission mount modifications to the frame. Now it's much more sturdy.