The V8 Owners Forum -

as mentioned in one of my other posts i've got a rotten cylinder in my 8.13:1 ex range rover V8, i've pretty much decided if i'm getting rebores etc done i may as well go up to 3.9L. i've picked up some 94mm straight liners so am now wondering a few things.
1 - whats a reasonable price to expect to pay for the relinering work? whos good but reasonably priced to do it? i'm not far from DJE where i live but unfortunately i'm not loaded so probably not an option!
2 - can i use all my current crank/rods etc and just change my pistons to suit the new liners, perhaps the 3.9+20thou available from real steel?
and finally
3 - would SD1 heads be ok for this set up? am i right in thinking they have slightly bigger valves than the rangie?
i'm planning on using ARP studs wherever possible in the rebuild as i'm hoping to supercharge after a couple of years once i'm used to the new power. thanks for all the advice you guys freely dish out, its certainly helping this newbie with his first, and problematic, rebuild!!
Cavman

It will be roughly the same as getting top hats put in which is around £800. To be honest I am not sure if that price included liners or not.
Yes your original crank rods can be used. Why +20? give yourself options and fit standard size then you have somewhere to go later. Sd1 heads only have bigger valves than the early heads whether rangerover or not. They are mostly the same as the 3.9 although the 3.9 valves are wasted so flow slightly more but no real big deal.
To be honest with you for a man on a budget your going about it an expensive and potentially dangerous way. There is no real reason to go this route these days to get a 3.9 given the proper blocks are readily available for little money. Although my engine is done this way it was done when 3.9 was expensive and rare, These days I wouldn't even think of doing this unless I used top hat liners. The downfall is it could all go wrong and you end up with a cracked block. If for whatever reason you really really do want to go this route then get the block ultrasonic tested to make sure there are no cracks and enough material there.
As for who can do it, pass but have a search under top hat for names. Not many shops do this work, even most of the big names in Rover farm this work out as its too specialist for them and requires equipment they don't have.

Marki speaks wise words !

You can buy a COMPLETE 3.9 Range Rover MOT rust failure of Fleabay for £500. A new set of shells and rings, new cam lifters and rocker gear will see even the most long legged motor back to near new condition without a the need for a re-bore You can then easily recover all of that cost (and more) by selling of the RR parts you don't want/need if you have space to break it.

Russ.

the main reason i was hoping to do all the work to my current block is that, and i know this sounds a bit lame but, the engine was a Chrimbo pressie from my girlfriend and she'd be gutted if it turned out it was a dud. however with those kind of prices for relinering and the potential problems, i reckon the block is finished with.
so just to clarify, my best bet is to bite the bullet and pick up a fresh block, either 3.5 or 3.9 and then transfer all my internals (obviously with new pistons if 3.9), stick my SD1 heads on it and i'll have a decent working 8.13:1 engine? now i just have to somehow work out how to reassure the girlfriend, but thats for a different forum!

Why not just get a +20 rebore and use new 9.75:1 pistons? Girfriend happy and you get pretty much a brand new block out of it.

that was my first idea but i reckon the liner is too coroded for even a +40thou rebore, which i believe is the maximum allowed. i'm gonna have my local auto engineers have a look as soon as i get a chance to strip it far enough to get it to them.
i want to keep the CR pretty much as is for when i supercharge it, although it may be worth investing in a "stiff block" when that time comes.

Get another block and overbore that .020, your girlfriend never needs to know!

I wish my girlfriend bought me engine parts for christmas and birthday

yeah, she sure is a catch! cute too! (but i would say that)

Tell GF block is going to be painted at a mates house. Get newly bought block delivered to said mate.

Paint it there, bring the 3,9 freshly painted home, and she'll never know that you swapped blocks.

yes ok its a lie, but its a nice one, and it might encourage her to buy engine bits again. if she thinks she got it wrong she'll probably never do it again!

also if you sell the 3.5 and use the money to buy the 3.9 technically she has bought the 3.9 as its all her money still.

i like your thinking!