The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi,

I've just finished stripping down my 3.5 engine from an SD1 ready for a complete rebuild.
The engine is high mileage with a lot of wear (including a burnt head gasket).

The engine is for my "locost" (Lotus 7/Caterham/Westfield style) car which I am building, so basically a very light-weight sports car.

The car will used on the road rather than racing so I'm aiming for a mildly tuned engine.

I am thinking of getting the "fast road rebuild kit" from v8tuner, and was wondering if anyone on the forum has used this and what they thought of it? Or if there are other kits I should be considering?

I haven't called them yet to discuss the details of the kit. It appears to include most things necessary for a complete rebuild (camshaft, lifters, rockers, reground crank, pistons, duplex timing chain etc), but I think I would also add the following if they are not included:
- main stud kit
- cylinder head stud kit
- pushrods
- conrod bolts and nuts

I'm also considering drilling and tapping holes in the block to take a camshaft thrust plate, assuming the cam is suitable - has anyone else done this mod to a 3.5 block?

Once I've got the bits I'll take the relevant parts to a local engine shop and get them to:
- check the block and heads are flat
- fit the new valve guilds
- rebore the cylinders
- remove the old camshaft bearings and fit the new ones
- press out the old pins/pistons and fit the new ones
- maybe drill/tap holes for camshaft thrust plate
- clean the block/heads

Is there anything else I should be asking them to do? Hopefully I'll then be able to finish the build myself.

Any advice on doing the above would be greatly appreciated! I'll stick with the original stromberg carbs and standard ignition for now, but may look to upgrade at a later stage.

Cheers,
Sammy

Sammy,

It looks like a thorough rebuild.
I would advise you to get the later type valve guides fitted with proper seals.
Also don't forget to order a shim set for setting the preload.
Myself i would replace not the conrod bolts as these don't "see" much load but these are not that expensive so if it gives you "piece of mind" then do it.

Here's a report and a picture on the RoverP5 forum on the Sd1 V8 i rebuild for my P5B


http://roverp5.proboards.com/thread/736 ... ne-rebuild
Regards

Peter

Hi there, IMHO don't bother to change the cam bearings as many builders inc my good mate at ward who has build over 500 rover v8s at least very rarely changes these. For fast road 3 things I sold think about - heads - 3 angle valve seat and pocket porting - if you are changing guides go for billeted as they are not much more expensive and consider bringing compression up - cam - a good hydrology gastro ad item with duplex timing gears, new lifters (standard) - furling - standard SU is a limiting factor and the manifold is quite poor - but changing to Eddie or other can be dear - but give it some thought - used injection setup??

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply great looking engine!

That's useful to know about the valve guides, I'll make sure I get the later type - I assume the standard valves can still be used?

Very useful to see your build as well, I had wondered how I was going to get some of those core plugs out so I'll try your welding a bolt on method!

Thanks again
Sammy

Hi DJ,

Thanks for reply!

I'd forgotten about the valve seats, they certainly need re-cutting so I'll ask the engine shop to do that and sort out the valve faces.

Yes the standard carbs will not make the most of a fast cam, but it's something I'll upgrade at a later stage (once I've finished the car! still got a lot of work to finish it off).

Thanks
Sammy

Sammy wrote:Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply great looking engine!

That's useful to know about the valve guides, I'll make sure I get the later type - I assume the standard valves can still be used?

Very useful to see your build as well, I had wondered how I was going to get some of those core plugs out so I'll try your welding a bolt on method!

Thanks again
Sammy

I normally just drill a hole in the middle and screw in a large self tapper. If you have a slide hammer with a self tapper fixing, even easier.

Remember, you're never going to get vast amounts of power out of these engines without spending a fortune - but they can be made to pull like a train as well as being happy to spin to their limit. For a lot less money than going for maximum BHP.

For this kind of application a 3 angle valve seat and throat blend is one of the single best fast rad mods - said to liberate up to 30 hp - add in a raise in R with a skim and low profile guides with a fast road cam- put a radius on the manifold faces and you will be talking a significant mid range gain for a couple of hundred quid, but IMHO bringing the CR up really pays with a hotter cam- with this tact I run an aggressive cam on a 4x4 and pulls nicely around city centres:-)

DaveEFI wrote:Remember, you're never going to get vast amounts of power out of these engines without spending a fortune - but they can be made to pull like a train as well as being happy to spin to their limit. For a lot less money than going for maximum BHP.

Yes, I'm aware I'm not going to get huge power, but the engine is relatively light and going into a light car so I think there should be enough; I just want it to rev a bit higher and be reliable.

It is well worn though so I'm going to have to spend quite a bit on it, but if that gives me a fully reconditioned engine then I don't mind so much.

Cheers
Sammy

DaviesDJ wrote:For this kind of application a 3 angle valve seat and throat blend is one of the single best fast rad mods - said to liberate up to 30 hp - add in a raise in R with a skim and low profile guides with a fast road cam- put a radius on the manifold faces and you will be talking a significant mid range gain for a couple of hundred quid, but IMHO bringing the CR up really pays with a hotter cam- with this tact I run an aggressive cam on a 4x4 and pulls nicely around city centres:-)

If the engine shop re-cut the valve seats presumably they would do a 3 angle cut?
I had wondered about porting the throats but I'm worried that I might either damage something or mess things up by having different flow rates in each cylinder?

I think the kit I'm looking at will up the compression ratio from 9.35:1 to 9.75:1, so from what you say this will hopefully make things better. I'm hoping I won't need any surfaces skimming, but if I do I'll then be concerned about upping the CR too much!

cheers
Sammy

IMHO - the way to make the best out of a cam with longer duration is to raise the compression ratio - it will also give you mod torque across the rev range - you can safely go above 10 but not too much more bless you want to run 97-99 octane all the time. Usually these days 3 angle is the standard with a serdi or other machine - but I would specify just in case - it's the number one thing to do, then simply blend the seat and throat into a smooth continuous transition, with low profile guides and a cr or 10 or so and a hot road cam you may see close to 200 bhp ( although there may be disagreement here over that:-)) fuelling will then be the future priority to mate the best of it.
Cheers
Dave

DaviesDJ wrote:IMHO - the way to make the best out of a cam with longer duration is to raise the compression ratio - it will also give you mod torque across the rev range - you can safely go above 10 but not too much more bless you want to run 97-99 octane all the time. Usually these days 3 angle is the standard with a serdi or other machine - but I would specify just in case - it's the number one thing to do, then simply blend the seat and throat into a smooth continuous transition, with low profile guides and a cr or 10 or so and a hot road cam you may see close to 200 bhp ( although there may be disagreement here over that:-)) fuelling will then be the future priority to mate the best of it.
Cheers
Dave

Hopefully cr will be higher but won't end up over 10; I don't want to have to use high octane fuel or additives.
When you say blend, do you mean grinding off the slight ridge a few mm up above the valve seat? I may give it a go but I'd not want to touch it after the seats have been cut in case I scratch the seat (I'm a bit clumsy!).

Oh does anybody know of any Rover V8 specialist engine shops in the North West (I'm near Ormskirk)? Or can recommend anywhere? I'm guessing the work I'm after could be done by most places but a RV8 specialist may be able to offer more advice?

Thanks!
Sammy

Send them to woards of rugby - Richard is a Todd freind of mine and will give you stage 1 with 3 angle and open & blended throats as standard - say Dave sent you - 01788 543900 - genuinely there is nothing in it for me - he does the best work. Does more rover v8s the. Almost anybody - mostly for Europe - 2-3 a week -

DaviesDJ wrote:Send them to woards of rugby - Richard is a Todd freind of mine and will give you stage 1 with 3 angle and open & blended throats as standard - say Dave sent you - 01788 543900 - genuinely there is nothing in it for me - he does the best work. Does more rover v8s the. Almost anybody - mostly for Europe - 2-3 a week -

OK thanks; however I was hoping to find somewhere more local to get all the work done that I can't do myself - don't fancy sending my heads though the post plus I prefer to support local businesses where I can.

Cheers
Sammy

Sammy wrote:

DaviesDJ wrote:Send them to woards of rugby - Richard is a Todd freind of mine and will give you stage 1 with 3 angle and open & blended throats as standard - say Dave sent you - 01788 543900 - genuinely there is nothing in it for me - he does the best work. Does more rover v8s the. Almost anybody - mostly for Europe - 2-3 a week -

OK thanks; however I was hoping to find somewhere more local to get all the work done that I can't do myself - don't fancy sending my heads though the post plus I prefer to support local businesses where I can.

Cheers
Sammy

Where do you live Sammy ??
If we know this we can point you to a workshop that may help you.
Also, if the valve guides are not badly worn you can get the tops cut down to take the later Rover valve stem seals that push on.