The V8 Owners Forum -

hey guys wanting to v8 my capri was going for a 302 ford block but out of my budget so have opted for rover engine but i cant decide to go for small or big cc. as i no nothing about rv8's need advice on best overall engine to go for. i can tell you that it will be run on a carb not efi. is it worth going for a big 4.6 or 5.0 or just rebuilding a 3.9 or 4.0. looking to start off with tad over 200bhp and long way down the rad possibly a blower conversion. thanks any opinons would help me out alot

Hi
It really depends where you want to end up.
If you are not going to want much more than 210 BHP then a 3.9 with the newest RV8 heads ported to stage 1 and a matching cam and headers with standard SU manifold and carbs should get you close, hotwire EFI will get you there. This will be the best BHP re pound wou will get. match the manifolds and headers to the ports (don't match to the gaskets it makes the ports too big). If you want another 20 bhp it will get very expensive very quickly, stage 3 heads, a further cam upgrade, bore out the EFI manifold, upgrades to the ignition better higher ratio rockers will get you there but it costs alot (you need to use a rolling road to set it up and that gets costly).
A big capacity bottom end is expensive, you are in the teritory of top hat liners, serpentine front cover custom pistons probably chevy rods and to make any more power it will need merlin heads, or buick 300 heads, this is a £5000 plus engine to get 300 odd BHP
A reasonable spec 302 of 5 litre ford starts at atleast 250 bhp and can be built for £2500 or less 350 for £3500 or less for £5000 will get you well over 400.
Chevy 350 is atleast £500 less for the same power at all levels. My chevy build should get me over 600BHP and will come in at around £5500 when finnished, normally asirated, a rover at that level will be £12,000 plus with a couple of turbos and a short life between rebuilds.
Personally I would revisit the costs of a basic 302, especially if you want to run carbs, unless you will be happy with 210 bhp.
Best regards
Mike

The 3.9 litre would be the better way to go. You could easily build a nice reliable motor with over 200HP.

With the bigger Rover V8, the 4.6 the costs involved in lifting power become much greater, but you lose the benefit of what the engine was designed for...providing massive low and mid range pulling power...Torque and tons of it!

Ron.

When the expected demise of my RV8 as I am starting to lean on the engine very heavily, a SBF is the next logical move, with the right set of aftermarket heads and a bit other things thrown in, 500hp is not beyond the scope of the ford for a lot less than it would cost to get 350hp from a RV8