The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi all, new member currently collecting parts to rebuild my pre air flow mk1 Cortina thats fitted with a Rover v8 and bw auto box from an sd1. The car was built years ago and came to me robbed of parts, needs welding, but will be a nice car once finished i reacon, its still running on the steering box front end but has gt struts etc. I am looking to put in a narrowed 2.8 special rear axle, i have been offered a TVR 4.0 motor in good cond but what should i look out for regarding probs with it?, this isn,t the first car i ve built like this i also have a yb powered 105e, but any comments will be greatly appreciated, oh and wiil post some pics soon, cheers, Simon.

Hi and welcome, not a bad place to find, as there are a few modified Cortinas on here, as I am sure you will find out all we need now are some pics

Simon.

Welcome, just to let you know the TVR 4.0 engine is actually a rover 3.9
so not cross bolted mains like the Rover 4.0 and with other differences with the crank rods and pistons.

Also the Rover 4.0 had the worst grade of blocks and are prone to problems. as are the 4.6 engines.

Kevin.

Thanks for the welcome guys, and you have confirmed what i have been told about the later Rover blocks. What would you suggest as a good starting point as far as a doner Rv8 is concerned?.

Bigger is allways better, but do not think tuning a RV8 is a cheap exercise, its deffo not!!!!
All blocks share the same bore except the 3.5. so engine capacity is not a problem, even using a later 4.6 crank is feasable if you want to get the crank machined, Real steel offer stroker cranks,
For me as a starter point, I would be looking at a 3.9, ARP studs top and bottom, arp rod bolts and a decent set of pistons, with this combo the engine is safe to at least 7k, you can get away with stock pistons and I know of a couple of people who do, Heads are the key to HP on the rover, and to get good HP you need good heads, especially in the exhaust area, personally I like a lot of compression Im runnig 14.1 static, but with my cam it works out about 12.1 dynamic,

Welcome aboard redrs2..you'll find everything you need re the RV8 from the guys one here.

I'm in Leicester too..currently rebuilding the top end on a '73 Rover 3500S P6B. Give me a shout if I can help in any way.

Stan

Again thanks for the replys, food for thought. I used to have a 71 p6b auto in corsica blue with black leather, loved it, always promised myself a 3500s one day, cheers . Simon.

CastleMGBV8 wrote:Simon.

Welcome, just to let you know the TVR 4.0 engine is actually a rover 3.9
so not cross bolted mains like the Rover 4.0 and with other differences with the crank rods and pistons.

Also the Rover 4.0 had the worst grade of blocks and are prone to problems. as are the 4.6 engines.

Kevin.

Does that include the new coscast blocks?

I have a 4L cross bolted coscast engine and I was led to believe that it was very good

The Coscast blocks are of a higher quality. Whether that means any better is anyone's guess.

Simon, welcome to the mad house. First piece of advice is watch out for Cortina owners......they all want a zillion bhp at 12,000rpm

Second piece of advice is watch out for Capri owners.....they to all want a zillion bhp at 12,000rpm

Third piece of advice is dont listen to Range Rover owners........especially the ones that have abandoned the Rover cause for a Buick 455

Oh and by the way did I mention I just happen to have a spare one

Honestly though in respect of your question you need to decide how deep your pockets are because the Rover V8 needs very deep pockets if you are going to get any serious power out of it.

My advice would be to find a nice 3.9 and start with that. Most of us started with a base engine and over the years we've acquired the bits and knowledge to push the limits a bit.

All the best

Rossco

Rossco wrote:The Coscast blocks are of a higher quality. Whether that means any better is anyone's guess.

Simon, welcome to the mad house. First piece of advice is watch out for Cortina owners......they all want a zillion bhp at 12,000rpm

Second piece of advice is watch out for Capri owners.....they to all want a zillion bhp at 12,000rpm

Third piece of advice is dont listen to Range Rover owners........especially the ones that have abandoned the Rover cause for a Buick 455

Oh and by the way did I mention I just happen to have a spare one

Honestly though in respect of your question you need to decide how deep your pockets are because the Rover V8 needs very deep pockets if you are going to get any serious power out of it.

My advice would be to find a nice 3.9 and start with that. Most of us started with a base engine and over the years we've acquired the bits and knowledge to push the limits a bit.

All the best

Rossco

who Ian and me ,
never

and as above welcome to the mad house

Welcome from me 2, always good 2 c another rover powered tina, my advice is ditch the steering box setup and make sure u have a good suspension setup on the rear.

demo2 wrote:Welcome from me 2, always good 2 c another rover powered tina, my advice is ditch the steering box setup and make sure u have a good suspension setup on the rear.

Hi i remember talking to you some years ago at the nasc nats at herts, always liked your car, we had my missus light blue four door with us, was in classic ford a couple of years ago, cheers, Simon.

Did mine still have its 4 cylinder in it then or was it V8? Only went to about 2 shows with it as a V8 b4 we left the UK.

You had just put the v8 in it, if i remember right you went on the cruise and it got a little hot sitting in all the traffic, i think you had an advert for all the stock running gear that came out of it. At that time it was the first mk1 i had seen fitted with a twin plenum injection motor, lovely.

Is there another twin plenum Mk1 around now then? Its defo the only one in Oz thats 4 sure, only 3 twin plenums r in the country!