Into Production (Solihull)

A brand new purpose built factory was built at Solihull to produce the SD1 and was at the time the most modern in Europe.
To get the SD1 into production over £100 million of tax payers money was donated by the British Government £95 million was spent on development, tooling and the construction of the factory alone. The new plant was necessary because existing Rover production facilities were already crammed full to overflowing with the successful Land-Rover and Range Rover and with luxury car production. The formal decision to build was taken in November 1972, and the town planning approval was awarded in February 1973.

SD1 Bodyshells arrived six at a time to the new plant on specially built double-deck transporters and are automatically drawn into the plant on one of six parallel two-tier lines. The body shells are degreased and prepared for painting and then move on to the first floor processing lines.

PAINTING THE SHELLS
Bodyshell protection was applied with a phosphate coating applied and five separate hot and cold rinses. As bodies emerge from the phosphating tunnel they are hot air dried and then cooled just enough to bring them to exactly the right temperature for an electro-dip primer painting bath. This heating and cooling procedure was one that was repeated throughout the several stages of the painting process. They are baked in an 420 ft oven for 15 minutes at 360°F. Then they go down on to a raised work deck for crack sealing. Transferred to an overhead conveyor, they are coated with a mastic underbody protection. Once this is done the bodyshells are smoothed for their top coats and inspected.

Development began and the new car rapidly took shape. As with the P6, David Bache the stylist did not want a contemporary design. He wanted something that was ahead of the game, and with the P10, he decided very early in the development phase that he wanted a five door hatchback configuration, and that he wanted the Rover to look exclusive.

ASSEMBLY
From the paint shop the bodyshells were taken across a covered bridge to the assembly hall on an automatic flat-bed roller conveyor. The lines being elevated eight feet above the floor to give room for under-car work to be carried on At the end of the line, the bodyshells were lifted by an overhead conveyor and cross to the return leg of the lines. Here they were lowered on to the engine, transmission and axle assemblies, which had been built up on their own production areas and fed into the main production line.