The V8 Owners Forum -

Can anyone help me to identify the cylinder heads on my engine 3.5 rv8 they are stamped at rear on the near side and front on the off side on a flat face parrallel to the exhaust outlets one says 45xN2 and the other says 41xM1, i am not sure if these are just somebodies personal marks or if they mean something.

I am asking out of curiosity as i own a kit car and am gradually trying to work out what all of the bits are originally from, the block has no engine number on it but i think it was made between 1980 and 1987 because it has the wide ribs in the valley and the distributer drive with the toggle type drive for the oil pump, i am guessing that the engine was from an sd1 but i cannot confirm this, and am looking for any further clues that may help me to identify this engine.

Any help that can be given would be appreciated thank you Tom

have you checked here mate?

http://www.v8forum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=133

and welcome,

I had spotted that post but have been trawling through the forum looking for similar problems to mine, [just finished the head gasket change and in the process of fixing the leak from the thermostat housing that appeared when i put a thermostat in (74c as it didint previosly have one at all)] that i dindnt look for casting numbers and these ones are stamped on, i originally thought that one of these was the engine number, imagine my surprize when i found another one!

i dont have much experience in the guts of an engine but im learning, i found a lot of info already on this site so although i have only just registered i have been reading old posts so much that my missus thinks im up to something suspicious!

hehehehe no worries mate,
glad to have you aboard the mad house.

Hi Tom,

Wouldn't worry about the missus thing...they always think blokes are up to something suspicious anyway!

If you pop a rocker cover off, you'll see the head casting number:



Then you can look it up on the link above.

Also, you say there's no engine number? Do you mean it's illegible? Or removed? Should be on the block deck as per my pic.

If there's no engine number then the heads may give you a clue, but they might not be original anyway.

Stan

Yea i will try and look at under the rockers,

There is no engine number as in it just aint there, just did the head gaskets and there was a very faint but illegible number under the gasket on the same bank as the number should be on so i guess that it has not been skimmed, it does not look like the engine number has been filed off or anything as the it is flush with gasket face and there is no scoring.

Buying a kit car that has been built by someone else is a great oppurtinity to challenge the guys in motor factors to a game of name the component!!!

Thanks tom