After many Many hours of deciding What engine I am going to put in my kit car. I have decided upon a Rover V8.

So I am after as many parts as possible.

I live in Hertfordshire and would like to talk/meet up with any one who has created a Monster!

I want to spend as little as possible on the engine as I then want to replace all the bearings and seals ECT to make it as good as new SO please can any one help!

Hi,
Welcome to the V8 club! (Well almost...)
I can't help with the engine itself but I would give you one piece of advice if you are looking to buy a second hand engine...

Take the rocker cover's off and have a look inside!

Expect some black residue in some of the hollows but look out for excessive caked-on dry black sludge. If this is what you find then walk away! You only need a star head screwdriver to remove the rocker covers and if the seller doesn't want you to open them up then they probably know it ain't pretty in there so again walk away.

The engine number will tell you a lot about the origin of the engine and can be found on the left hand side (viewed from driver's seat) on the block face between cylinder's 3 and 5. It should also have the compressions ratio stamped there.

Avoid older P6 engines (pre 1976) and stick to SD1 engines (1976 onwards) as these are vastly superior in many areas. See here for details of engine numbers and their origin's. Best bet of the lot are engine numbers beginning with 30A.

Any questions just drop me an email or U2U.
Cheers,
Craig.

I think your best bet would be to get hold of a rusty 3.9 rangerover for £500, even up to £750 if the engines really good and ebay the rest.

To refurb yourself will cost you the thick end of £500 to do properly.

There are loads of RR on Ebay, distinquishing feature is Hotwire injection so no cold start injector (3.5's have a single injector in the top of the plenum).

People try and sell 3.5's as 3.9s.

Plenty of flywheels on ebay so if you land an auto its not expensive to sort.

Gearbox may be harder to source as decent lt77's from SD1's are scarce, IMHO you would be better with the ford box and modified bell housing.


Regards Mark

[Edited on 1/2/07 by mark chandler]

round of applause.. you made the best choice they rock

also.. not to go off topic.. but have just brought a 4.7 rover v8.. so my 3.5 will be up for sale shortley...still running in me car at the moment.....

you need to trwl the net to find oput about slipped liners and poroous block; fro memory this affect the the bored out engines - 3.9?

3.5 is safe from those.

nothing really wrong with the p5/p6 engines but they have rope seals on the crank that are not as robust as the sd1 and later ones. the p5 has high CR for use on 5 star! also p5/p6 have smaller valves in head so best to avoid, smaler oil pump too.

many RR about so you have a huge choice.

take a look on rpi websit.

re: the auto box - I seem to recall the crank needs to be machined (something abouthe spigot bearing) - again see the internet to find out more.

Parts are not expensie, see rpi,.rimmer bos,craddocks and paddocks (later are cheap LR spares).

Good choice,

Start your gerbox hunt know as well getting a good lt77 ( sd1 Gearbox ) is possible but they are few and far between. This is the cheepest / easiest option.

Other gearboxses can be used but won't bore you with the details.

Fuelling options go from twin SU through 4barrel holly / Edelbrock to Full injection ( Twin SU is chepest ).

Another area to take a good look at is dizzie ( points work ) but would suggest upgrading to later electronic types. ( these have a reputation of playing up ) but can be improved by a simple and cheep mod ( trust me I have been there !!! done it )

As posted walk away from anthing that has lots of crusty black sludge in the top unless you have a healthy re-build budget !!

Would sugest going for 3.9 but the Engine age and SVA has to be taken into account.

Anyway if you need anything further post up.

regards

Agriv8

I have converted a couple of RR autos to manual as I used to race a landrover.

All you need is the phosphor bonze bush for LT77 or R380 gearboxes.

If you want to slip on to a series motor then you need to machine the primary shaft on the gearbox.

NB/ 3.9's tend to be okay, its the 4.2's and above that suffer from porous blocks, 4.6 from gems P38 rovers can have slipped liners due to excessive heat as they try and run lean. If the oil is sludgy/milky then do not buy the car !

Regards Mark

Why sell the one and start again?

Why not just put the v8 in your current chassis?

Cheers,
James

you know it makes sense, I have stuck a 3.9 V8 in a Luego, with MS II injection, I neary wet my self everytime I start it.

Sounds bonza.....

There's a few on ebay (3.5 and 3.9) for around 500 quid.

One downside tho, clutches are VERY expensive, also big bugger n all........ but the sound....... the sound........ did I mention the sound.

Cheers

also, as pointed out, gearbox's are getting hard to find, I managed to get a good LT77, you then have choice of R380 or T5 Borg Warner box (fitted to a few cossis if I remember)

did I mention the sound

I am near Cambridge if you want to pop over for a long chat and a drive (weather permitting).

I can tell you all about my experiences.
If you havent bought an engine yet, then you MUST go and read up on RPI Engineering's website. Look in the FAQ's for buying guide.

Basically it boils down to look inside the rocker box area.
Silver and shiny = New and Very good.
Light brown = Good, well maintained engine
Dark Brown = Getting on a bit, but OK if well maintained, some wear to be expected.
Black and Gungy = WALK AWAY & do NOT buy. (which is exactly what I dind't do)
3.5 is well powerful enough for a locost / 7 style even my Viento at 700kg ish and 40 Stones of driver and passenger - (me & my Boy), it still goes like sh*t off a shovel.
0-60 4.5 to 5 sec, and 120mph++ (with the right gearing). I chickened out up the M1 at 125+, and it was still accelerating well. I was happy with that, its enough speed for me, and nice to know I still had a bit more in hand.
Look out for a 2WDrive R380 box as well, these replaced the LT77, and are a bit better, and a lot more expensive, as they are current boxes!.



EDIT:
Rimmers Clutch master Cylinder £52
Paddocks Genuine Girling £19, Pattern one £9. Only difference is you need the Saddle Clamp for the pedal end, these are about £2 from Europaspares or from Rally Design. ie the Landy M/Cyl ends in a Imperial threadded bar, the rimmer one has the saddle clamp already on it.

Clutch Slave cylinder Rimmers £46, Brakeparts International (website) £32.
BPI are good for brakes etc as well.
You get the idea

[Edited on 1/2/2007 by wilkingj]

quote:

---

Originally posted by darrens
One downside tho, clutches are VERY expensive, also big bugger n all........ but the sound....... the sound........ did I mention the sound.
Cheers

---

Could be because the Land Rover thrust bearing is the same part as a Morris Minor rear wheel bearing

i have been offered a Full 3.9 Engine out of a 1995 land rover it has done 45,000 miles it comes with|:

-Fully dressed engine
- ECU
- full injection
-fly wheel
- clutch
- T5 gear box

for 1000 from a bloke who races V8's BUT!!!!! will this pass the SVA?????

he told me the SVA people could not be able to tell you what age it was any way because the code just states it was the new batch?

ALSO i know this is a good deal because he is a friend of a friend BUT if i can pick up an engine for 200 would it not be cheaper to get all the parts and build my own?

The T5, if its any good will fetch nearly £500 on its own. They are good and scarce.

Fro 1K, its a 3.9, and injected, with a t5 box. Break the blokes arms off.

Check its not using water, as 3.9's are a little prone to leaking between the cylinder liner and the block.

If its all OK, you wont buy a good 3.9 and a T5 for that money.

Just my 2d.

my 3.5 cost me £50... or was it £25 off Ebay. I spent £1700 ish sorting it out.
V8's are NOT cheap to refurbish, its like doing Two engines. Look in my archive.

sounds a good buy, I'd buy and worry about SVA later, but that's me.

The clutch I bought for £83, but I can't remember where from, I have a post it note on my desk which say's "clutch 83 quid!!!" but can't find the reciept.

Still, did I mention the sound!!!!

Hi
Don't be too put off by a ropey looking engine, cos although they can be a bit pricier than 4 pots to recon, they can also take a hell of a lot of abuse, mainly because they are so over engineered (talking bout 3.5 here) also if you use the landy suppliers then its not to expensive, I bought entire new parts for my 3.5, everything except the crank, and it came to about £200, add on a bit more for machining work and it still works out quite cheap considering i bought it for £15!

BTW I'm converting to auto, much better top end as higher ratio in top, much better acceleration as it will change faster than any human can, and above all i'm lazy It does mean I have a good SD1 LT77 box with bellhousing for sale though, bell housing has a small crack in that would be very qucik and cheap to fix, i never bothered cos i'm fitting auto...

Mike

forgot to say, ask on the landrover owner forums (like lr4x4.com) as there is a wealth of knowledge on v8s and plenty of cheap bits
mike

Ford 302 V8, cheap to buy, cheap to rebuild, cheap to tune, i have rebuilt 5 from 250hp to 400hp, the noise is orgasmic? regards Alan.