The V8 Owners Forum -

I have two Rover v8 complete engines, one a 4.2 reconditioned from Land Rover (zero miles) and a new 4.0 cross bolted engine (zero miles), both require work/investigation. I now only have one project car, Triumph Stag, so only require one engine, my question is which one should i concentrate on?
The 4.2 which is in the Stag at the moment shows signs of a slipped liner on no.7 cylinder, have done all the obvious checks but not pressure tested the block.
The 4.0 was fitted to my Triumph TR8, now sold, but a could never get it to run right, always very rich on idle. Changed the new Edelbrock carb for a overhauled Holly, played around with the jets but still not right, complete ignition system replaced also. This problem was raised in a thread I started several years ago.
Both engines were bought about 12 years ago and have been stored in the garage.
So from a reliability and power point of view which is the best engine to investigate and get sorted?
This problem has been going on for about 5 years now and have I not touched the engines in that time as I lost interest and more recently been waiting for an operation. Now out of hospital and want to get this problem sorted.
Any advice appreciated.

I would go for the 4.0 engine.
Both engines are equally likely (ish!) to have liner / block issues, but the 4.0 has a cross-bolted bottom end so is a lot stronger.

The 4.2 engines I believe had a habit of breaking crankshafts. They are also rare, so somebody who wants one for a Range Rover restoration might pay a bit for it!

Chris.

Must admit I'd be worried about the final drive in the Stag when fitting an engine with lots more torque. It had a habit of breaking with the standard engine.

Well you know the 4.2 has a major problem...and the 4.0 you just said was not running correctly. So the 4.0 makes sense