The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi
My newest project is to build a TR7 V8 from a TR7 4 pot banger.


I have a tired 3.5L Rover V8 engine in my garage and access to an even more tired 3.9 L Rover Engine.


I would like to achieve at least 220 - 250 HP at the flywheel.

The 3.5 SD1 engine put out in the region of 155 HP when new and the 3.9 around 180 HP.

I am on a budget (2 kids at University both doing post Graduate courses - $$$$$$$$$$$), so am looking for "quick and dirty" / "cheap, but not neccessarily nasty" options.

Whilst I think that the lowest risk, cheapest and most sensible option will be to refurbish the 3.9 L engine - decent cam, ported heads, decent headers, dual plane manifold and Holley 390 or Edelbrock Weber 500 which should give me around 230 horses, I like the idea of a "do-it-yourself" stroker motor.

The RPI, Real steel and Rimmers stroker kits are way too expensive for me and beyond my budget.


Is it feasible (probably not sensible) to get a buick 300 crankshaft sent from a USA breakeryard, import a flywheel from D & D, grind the crank main journals and create an instant stroker motor - 4.3 litres if fitted to the 3.5 block and 4.8 litres if fittted to the 3.9 block?

I understand that Hot Rod magazine (USA? UK?) ran an article on this conversion some years ago.
Anyone got a copy, please?

I am in South Africa, and we can get rebuildable cut-out American V8 engines for around 500$USD (full cost, landed in SA).
(Rebuildable means they guarantee that the engine turns and is not trashed, or the vendor will supply a replacement. At best, you can get away with a clean-up, set of rings and bearings. At worst, it is a re-bore, new pistons and reground crank, plus new oil pump.)

I realise that a cheaper route would be a Ford 302 Windsor Ex Mustang (500$, pretty cheap to overhaul), but I like the like Rover / Buick engine, and the thought of a 5.0 Litre 250 HP Rover engine is mouth watering.

An alternative option is to get a 4.6 Litre range Rover engine from a breaker, and transfer front cover etc - but this is much more expensive - around 1,800$ for the engine.

Yet another alternative is to try and get a complete Buick 300 1964 Aluminium cylinder heads breaker engine - then I can use the heads, too (need to reduce the compression ratio and import a fabricated flywheel).

Any advice will be sincerely appreciated.

Hi ?

Building a Rover stroker motor is not a cheap exercise, don't ask, I've just built a 4.35 engine with modified Buick 300 heads..

In the states they have been using buick 300 3.4" cranks for years originally in the Buick 3.5 and now of course in the 3.5 and 3.9 rover engines.

The 300 crank is longer at the flywheel end and therefore additional work has to be done to allow fitment of rover gearboxes.

To build a stroker engine you require the crank a different length set of con rods and pistons with a compression height that will bring the pistons to near the top of the bore at TDC which is why they come as a kit and are expensive.

Yes you are right it would be much cheaper to do a performance re-build on the 3.9 engine.

Have a read of this site before I start re-writing the book.

http://www.aluminumv8.com/about/about.htm

The 3.4" crank in the 3.9 block will get you to 4.8 litres.

If your still interested come back and we'll try to help.

Des Hamills book "How to Power Tune Rover V8 Engines" is worth getting.

Kevin.