Stag - Rover V8
Discussion
Hi
Good friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
Good friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
Whizz65 said:
Hi
Good friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
tell him to give me a call 07761091734 i have a sd1 twin plenum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuLGI-ltX4Good friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
These guys may be of help - http://www.monarch-stags.co.uk/index.html
Or look through the Club Triumph Stag forums - http://club.triumph.org.uk
Or look through the Club Triumph Stag forums - http://club.triumph.org.uk
Edited by //j17 on Wednesday 3rd October 09:01
Whizz65 said:
Hi
Good friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
HiGood friend of mine has a stag and now has engine problems for the second time.
He asked me what’s involved in putting a Rover V8 in the Stag?
It’s a Mk1 Stag I think, K reg,
I remember someone doing this and they had a problem with the gear shift linkage and had to change the front springs as the RV8 is lighter.
The next question is which RV8?
Many thanks
What engine problems has he had?
IIRC you keep the triumph gearbox and fit an adapter plate on the back of the Rover v8 - therefore no gearstick / propshaft issues.
I have heard that some Rover V8's cranks have a longer nose piece at the front of the engine and clearly this will fowl the rad etc
There are kits that mean you won't have to barry the bonnet up with a scoup to clear the carbs.
Discuss with Monarch etc as there are some mods that MUST be made to the front suspension as the Rover v8 is a lot lighter than the Triumph unit.
Lastly and not being a Stag Purist who blings up his engine bay with chrome and then compains bitterly about anybody who puts a Rover v8 into the car
If I were doing / concidering this I would work out all the costs of modifying the car, (are they planning to install a 2nd hand rover v8 or rebuild one?), additional insurance ?!?! and reduced value of the finished product against fixing the original Triumph engine. A car mag recently tested a standard stag against a 3.9 EFI 'ed stag. IIRC they summed up by saying that the standard Car handled better but the modded car really shifted. well it would with nigh on 200bhp wouldn't it
Good luck whatever happens
replacing an engine with one half the weight and more power will result in a change of handling.
this is easy to resolve : lower springs, up grade braking system to 4pot calipres with vented disc front replace rear drums with discs, fit adjustable shocks. Look at the tyres, original stag are massive, i have fitted 195/60 14.
Having done all the above has given me a car that is reliable, excellent performance (220bhp) and handling that will out perform most modern cars
Engine choice, i would go for the sd1 vitesse with fuel injection. You will need to shop around for the efi system though, early flapper type are getting aged. It is possible to fit the latter hot wire system.
To clear the bonnet you will need to machine off 10mm from the trumpet base,easy done as the trumpets are push fit.
As far as car value goes, in my mind the original stag was under developed. Scratch the surface and all kind of horrors come up... diffs with no drain plugs, unf threads in aluminium castings and so on. So if you inprove the car and keep its character it should be worth more? ( watch the purists scream.)
On that note Stag Owners Club spares are promoting bmw diff conversions. It would be interesting to look at the purists cars and find out how much of them are original. I dont have a problem with owners who keep there cars original, i do have a problem with owners that look down their nose because you have had the audacity to improve your car.
Speak to any none stag owner they will say the engine was a bag of sh**. Speak to any Stag owner with the original engine they will say " all the problems are sorted", "more advanced then the Rover "
this is easy to resolve : lower springs, up grade braking system to 4pot calipres with vented disc front replace rear drums with discs, fit adjustable shocks. Look at the tyres, original stag are massive, i have fitted 195/60 14.
Having done all the above has given me a car that is reliable, excellent performance (220bhp) and handling that will out perform most modern cars
Engine choice, i would go for the sd1 vitesse with fuel injection. You will need to shop around for the efi system though, early flapper type are getting aged. It is possible to fit the latter hot wire system.
To clear the bonnet you will need to machine off 10mm from the trumpet base,easy done as the trumpets are push fit.
As far as car value goes, in my mind the original stag was under developed. Scratch the surface and all kind of horrors come up... diffs with no drain plugs, unf threads in aluminium castings and so on. So if you inprove the car and keep its character it should be worth more? ( watch the purists scream.)
On that note Stag Owners Club spares are promoting bmw diff conversions. It would be interesting to look at the purists cars and find out how much of them are original. I dont have a problem with owners who keep there cars original, i do have a problem with owners that look down their nose because you have had the audacity to improve your car.
Speak to any none stag owner they will say the engine was a bag of sh**. Speak to any Stag owner with the original engine they will say " all the problems are sorted", "more advanced then the Rover "
I agree fitting lower springs, I am not so sure (the jury is out
)about brakes upgrades. The standard setup, apart from UNF studs securing the rear backplate / hub bearing to the trailing arm , is pretty effective. The point is that it can be a little too effective in the wet and if the standard brakes can lock all four wheels in the wet and retard the car quickly in the dry I would be inclined to not bother fixing what isn’t broken. No purist just my POV. 
I am not in anyway dissing your modded brake setup it is probably very good indeed but it would have cost a lot of cash for not a huge increase in retardation. Most Stags standard brake systems are let down by the Master cylinder, being a duel circuit system the fluid could slip between the two chambers or even start to fill up the servo (check for white smoke, could be brake fluid being sucked into the inlet manifold) and reduce braking effort to the front. Replacing my 30ish year old master with a brand new unit off the shelf made a massive difference to the brakes even though I had rebuilt the original unit a couple of times!! I had already replaced all the hoses (it’ll get aero hoses next time round!!) bought new rear wheel cylinders which are cheap as chips and bought recon callipers (mainly because I couldn’t shift the pistons out of the old units, I bought the car as a half finished restoration project).
Bleeding brakes is also fraught because the handbrake mechanism can actually make one rear wheel hydraulic brakes inoperative
Whenever I work on the rear drums or bleed brakes etc I always disconnect the handbrake cable from the backplate and wind the self adjusters right back. I often use an eazybleed to pump the fluid through to the rear of the car and once done nip up the bleed nipples and stamp on the brake pedal to get the rear brakes adjusted. I can then continue to bleed the brakes before adjusting and refitting the handbrake cable. The PWDA can be a fiddle to get centred but once done you don’t really need to touch it again, especially if you use eazybleed rather than brake pedal to bleed the brakes.
Adjustable shocks on the rear are dead easy to fit and can be messed about with if that is your thing, it is mine IIRC adjustables on the front required the strut to be removed to adjust which would kind of defeat the purpose, though I could of course be completely wrong. I have Gas cartridges up front and adjustables on the back.
Tyres can help both handling and braking but can also completely bollox up handling. When I first got my stag it had 10 year old Michelins on it and I could wheel spin it with no effort and it was more than happy to understeer whenever I touched the steering wheel. I quickly replaced the shagged out hard old tyres and it makes a huge difference. Tyres go off over time and when they do the grip is reduced which will impact braking. At the mo I am running Dunlop 195/70’s which are slightly smaller than the 185/14’s that should be on the car. I think the factory was using 195/70’s towards the end of the production run anyway. The real trick with tyres is to make sure that they have a round cross section on the shoulder between the tread and sidewall. Many low profile tyres don’t and this can give some unpredictable oversteer reactions when cornering hard. The rear suspension being independent means that the surface of the tyre that contacts the road changes as the car corners, by fitting square shouldered tyres you are affectively reducing the amount of rubber on the road in certain circumstances.
I have nothing against Rover v8 Stags after all it is what should have gone in from day 843 sometime in 1969 when BL were trying to rush the car to production. Unfortunately production of the engine couldn’t be increased to accommodate the forecast sales
for the new Stag. You do really have to ask how BL managed to fowl up what should have been a world seller 
Yours sounds interesting. A standard late Classic Range Rover 3.9 has 190bhp so 220 should be fairly easy and cheap to get to. I agree about flapper systems, the hotwire setup is far superior.
I agree that the original Stag was rushed and under developed. Most of the issues were around the engine and service schedules. The engine was 2.5l v8 but the efi planned couldn’t meet US emissions restriction, so the engine was enlarged to 3 litres and strommies plopped on top. BUT the crank bearing sizes remained the same. The waterpump is situated just below the top level in the rad which is just bloody stupid because the slightest drop in water level and the engine runs hot. The oil pump has an impossibly short life span (but is quite cheap and easy to replace). The timing chains is a contentious issue for me because I believe that from day one they were fine however when the engine started to misbehave then the chains would show weaknesss. Here is my theory
- Triumph neglected to insist on antifreeze in engine as part of service schedule
- Triumph neglected to insist on annual back flushes of the marginal cooling system
- 2 – 3 year old stags start to over heat because the cooling system is furred up
- Triumph dealer remove the heads which may have warped and skim them flat but DON’T re line bore the cams
- Owner takes car away, cams are now running tight to the chains start to stretch
- Triumph dealer didn’t fix the source of the original problem which was the plugged rad so the car still runs hot.
- The chains start to rattle at 20k miles so are replaced but only last another 20k because the cams are running tight.
- if ignored the chains snap and turn the engine inside out.
- Owner hoiks out the Triumph v8 and installs a Rover / Ford / Triumph 6 replacement
German chains made the situation worse as they were supposed to be a fit and forget solution. The problem is that they don’t slacken and start to rattle warning you that they need replacing they simply snap which is really
ing useful isn’t it
Also to make things worse the marketplace is also flooded with crap reproduction parts, dodgy waterpumps, rubbish chains, useless chain tensioners, etc etc but we all demand value for money and think we are getting it with the lower price but this is not necessarily the case!!!
The crank was another issue, when supplied the factory fitted soft bearings so the crank only needed the slightest of hardening. When the crank needs new bearings (which were too small for the engine capacity so only lasted 100k ish) the engineering company happily grinds away what hardening there was and hands back the crank to be installed with hard bearings and we wonder why the car needed bottom end rebuilds every 15k.
I have had lots of problems with my stag due to vibration and was thinking about the BMW diff because even though crown wheel and pinions are available it is a specialist job to get them setup and even then it won’t be LSD. I can see the advantages but it is pricey.. By the way my diff is off the car that often that I tip the old oil out most normal owners use a small pump and long plastic tube to get to the old oil.
UNF threads are a bastard how have you gotten round those, I am sure that Stag Owners worldwide are keeping Helicoil in business
As far as values etc go it is a tricky one because the car should be worth more improved but lots of potential owners out there demand originality those wanting something a little different are in the minority and as such there is a limited market for modded cars, supply and demand I’m afraid. You could always hang onto your car for a long time and get your personal value for money from it
The whole purist think makes me chuckle, go to a stag show and look and the concourse cars and how much they have been blinged up with more chrome under the bonnet than on the outside of the car, leather interiors, birdseye walnet dash and horrible wooden steering wheels etc while their owners look on proudly from under their badly fitted toupees ( watch the normal owners scream…… with laughter)
Mrs Thestag doesn’t really want to get involved with the Stag scene because it is a bit… old fart for her (and she is 45 fcol). When I can drag her and the nippers to SOC shows, we camp and meet other families of similar ages who are hidden in the background of what at first appears to be a retired owner dominated club scene. I won’t do anything about it because they do a good job at the club and I really don’t think I could do any better myself, I have accepted that the public face of the SOC is like a SAGA christmas bash. I expect many other clubs are little different.
But you are right, more advanced isn’t necessarily better though, think pig iron lumps in the latest mopar offerings from the States / Australia etc. I have had more than my fair share of issues with my Stag over the years check out the website below, but keeping it running is becoming less challenging and much more rewarding, the car is my hobby and not something I use for a daily grind and therefore I can accept it’s little foibles. If I were to replace it with another Stag I would probably look for another triumph v8 engined car, not only for the sound 
but also so when passers by congratulate me on a nice car before enquiring “his it got it’s original engine?” I shock them by saying “yes?” You won’t believe how many people are taken aback by this response.
Anyway I am rambling on now, hopefully see you on the road someday
Check out my Stag website ==> http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rupertstag/
)about brakes upgrades. The standard setup, apart from UNF studs securing the rear backplate / hub bearing to the trailing arm , is pretty effective. The point is that it can be a little too effective in the wet and if the standard brakes can lock all four wheels in the wet and retard the car quickly in the dry I would be inclined to not bother fixing what isn’t broken. No purist just my POV. I am not in anyway dissing your modded brake setup it is probably very good indeed but it would have cost a lot of cash for not a huge increase in retardation. Most Stags standard brake systems are let down by the Master cylinder, being a duel circuit system the fluid could slip between the two chambers or even start to fill up the servo (check for white smoke, could be brake fluid being sucked into the inlet manifold) and reduce braking effort to the front. Replacing my 30ish year old master with a brand new unit off the shelf made a massive difference to the brakes even though I had rebuilt the original unit a couple of times!! I had already replaced all the hoses (it’ll get aero hoses next time round!!) bought new rear wheel cylinders which are cheap as chips and bought recon callipers (mainly because I couldn’t shift the pistons out of the old units, I bought the car as a half finished restoration project).
Bleeding brakes is also fraught because the handbrake mechanism can actually make one rear wheel hydraulic brakes inoperative
Whenever I work on the rear drums or bleed brakes etc I always disconnect the handbrake cable from the backplate and wind the self adjusters right back. I often use an eazybleed to pump the fluid through to the rear of the car and once done nip up the bleed nipples and stamp on the brake pedal to get the rear brakes adjusted. I can then continue to bleed the brakes before adjusting and refitting the handbrake cable. The PWDA can be a fiddle to get centred but once done you don’t really need to touch it again, especially if you use eazybleed rather than brake pedal to bleed the brakes.Adjustable shocks on the rear are dead easy to fit and can be messed about with if that is your thing, it is mine
IIRC adjustables on the front required the strut to be removed to adjust which would kind of defeat the purpose, though I could of course be completely wrong. I have Gas cartridges up front and adjustables on the back. Tyres can help both handling and braking but can also completely bollox up handling. When I first got my stag it had 10 year old Michelins on it and I could wheel spin it with no effort and it was more than happy to understeer whenever I touched the steering wheel. I quickly replaced the shagged out hard old tyres and it makes a huge difference. Tyres go off over time and when they do the grip is reduced which will impact braking. At the mo I am running Dunlop 195/70’s which are slightly smaller than the 185/14’s that should be on the car. I think the factory was using 195/70’s towards the end of the production run anyway. The real trick with tyres is to make sure that they have a round cross section on the shoulder between the tread and sidewall. Many low profile tyres don’t and this can give some unpredictable oversteer reactions when cornering hard. The rear suspension being independent means that the surface of the tyre that contacts the road changes as the car corners, by fitting square shouldered tyres you are affectively reducing the amount of rubber on the road in certain circumstances.
I have nothing against Rover v8 Stags after all it is what should have gone in from day 843 sometime in 1969 when BL were trying to rush the car to production. Unfortunately production of the engine couldn’t be increased to accommodate the forecast sales
for the new Stag. You do really have to ask how BL managed to fowl up what should have been a world seller Yours sounds interesting. A standard late Classic Range Rover 3.9 has 190bhp so 220 should be fairly easy and cheap to get to. I agree about flapper systems, the hotwire setup is far superior.I agree that the original Stag was rushed and under developed. Most of the issues were around the engine and service schedules. The engine was 2.5l v8 but the efi planned couldn’t meet US emissions restriction, so the engine was enlarged to 3 litres and strommies plopped on top. BUT the crank bearing sizes remained the same. The waterpump is situated just below the top level in the rad which is just bloody stupid because the slightest drop in water level and the engine runs hot. The oil pump has an impossibly short life span (but is quite cheap and easy to replace). The timing chains is a contentious issue for me because I believe that from day one they were fine however when the engine started to misbehave then the chains would show weaknesss. Here is my theory
- Triumph neglected to insist on antifreeze in engine as part of service schedule
- Triumph neglected to insist on annual back flushes of the marginal cooling system
- 2 – 3 year old stags start to over heat because the cooling system is furred up
- Triumph dealer remove the heads which may have warped and skim them flat but DON’T re line bore the cams
- Owner takes car away, cams are now running tight to the chains start to stretch
- Triumph dealer didn’t fix the source of the original problem which was the plugged rad so the car still runs hot.
- The chains start to rattle at 20k miles so are replaced but only last another 20k because the cams are running tight.
- if ignored the chains snap and turn the engine inside out.
- Owner hoiks out the Triumph v8 and installs a Rover / Ford / Triumph 6 replacement
German chains made the situation worse as they were supposed to be a fit and forget solution. The problem is that they don’t slacken and start to rattle warning you that they need replacing they simply snap which is really
ing useful isn’t it Also to make things worse the marketplace is also flooded with crap reproduction parts, dodgy waterpumps, rubbish chains, useless chain tensioners, etc etc but we all demand value for money and think we are getting it with the lower price but this is not necessarily the case!!!
The crank was another issue, when supplied the factory fitted soft bearings so the crank only needed the slightest of hardening. When the crank needs new bearings (which were too small for the engine capacity so only lasted 100k ish) the engineering company happily grinds away what hardening there was and hands back the crank to be installed with hard bearings and we wonder why the car needed bottom end rebuilds every 15k.
I have had lots of problems with my stag due to vibration and was thinking about the BMW diff because even though crown wheel and pinions are available it is a specialist job to get them setup and even then it won’t be LSD. I can see the advantages but it is pricey.. By the way my diff is off the car that often that I tip the old oil out
most normal owners use a small pump and long plastic tube to get to the old oil. UNF threads are a bastard how have you gotten round those, I am sure that Stag Owners worldwide are keeping Helicoil in business
As far as values etc go it is a tricky one because the car should be worth more improved but lots of potential owners out there demand originality those wanting something a little different are in the minority and as such there is a limited market for modded cars, supply and demand I’m afraid. You could always hang onto your car for a long time and get your personal value for money from it
The whole purist think makes me chuckle, go to a stag show and look and the concourse cars and how much they have been blinged up with more chrome under the bonnet than on the outside of the car, leather interiors, birdseye walnet dash and horrible wooden steering wheels etc while their owners look on proudly from under their badly fitted toupees ( watch the normal owners scream…… with laughter)
Mrs Thestag doesn’t really want to get involved with the Stag scene because it is a bit… old fart for her (and she is 45 fcol). When I can drag her and the nippers to SOC shows, we camp and meet other families of similar ages who are hidden in the background of what at first appears to be a retired owner dominated club scene. I won’t do anything about it because they do a good job at the club and I really don’t think I could do any better myself, I have accepted that the public face of the SOC is like a SAGA christmas bash. I expect many other clubs are little different.
sax player said:
Speak to any none stag owner they will say the engine was a bag of sh**. Speak to any Stag owner with the original engine they will say " all the problems are sorted", "more advanced then the Rover "
But you are right, more advanced isn’t necessarily better though, think pig iron lumps in the latest mopar offerings from the States / Australia etc. I have had more than my fair share of issues with my Stag over the years check out the website below, but keeping it running is becoming less challenging and much more rewarding, the car is my hobby and not something I use for a daily grind and therefore I can accept it’s little foibles. If I were to replace it with another Stag I would probably look for another triumph v8 engined car, not only for the sound but also so when passers by congratulate me on a nice car before enquiring “his it got it’s original engine?” I shock them by saying “yes?” You won’t believe how many people are taken aback by this response.Anyway I am rambling on now, hopefully see you on the road someday
Check out my Stag website ==> http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rupertstag/
Edited by richardthestag on Friday 5th October 13:27
Many thanks for all the info
I had an MGB 1970 up until last year that I looked in to fitting a V8 so all this makes sense.
Its was 15 years + ago I looked into the conversion, but bought a house and got married, as you do, but kept the car!
I had it 21 years but with what it was worth and the cost of conversion I bought a TVR Chim 4.6 last year (yes I know it’s a kit car) but boy does it go......oh and handle. Can’t beat the sound of a V8 can you?
When I was a young boy I used to wash cars at a weekend for a few ££ and one was an L reg stag, I always wanted one, fell in love with them.
Having two daughters 9 and 5, time is a premium at the moment hence the reason I didn’t do a V8 MGB.
I’m sure I will get involved with the Stag so again many thanks
I had an MGB 1970 up until last year that I looked in to fitting a V8 so all this makes sense.
Its was 15 years + ago I looked into the conversion, but bought a house and got married, as you do, but kept the car!
I had it 21 years but with what it was worth and the cost of conversion I bought a TVR Chim 4.6 last year (yes I know it’s a kit car) but boy does it go......oh and handle. Can’t beat the sound of a V8 can you?
When I was a young boy I used to wash cars at a weekend for a few ££ and one was an L reg stag, I always wanted one, fell in love with them.
Having two daughters 9 and 5, time is a premium at the moment hence the reason I didn’t do a V8 MGB.
I’m sure I will get involved with the Stag so again many thanks
Fascinating thread,
As a possible future Stag owner, who knew a few owners when the car was current and nearly bought one myself then, but for various reasons didn't and whose wife new a few too and believes them to be unreliable, this thread is great reading. Thank you. Must learn to put full stops in my sentences. Still not sure if I should go Triumph or Rover suppose it depends on cost and condition of the rest of the car. Can't be too expensive I'm afraid so no concourse show cars just a nice usable one.
Regards
Tony H
As a possible future Stag owner, who knew a few owners when the car was current and nearly bought one myself then, but for various reasons didn't and whose wife new a few too and believes them to be unreliable, this thread is great reading. Thank you. Must learn to put full stops in my sentences. Still not sure if I should go Triumph or Rover suppose it depends on cost and condition of the rest of the car. Can't be too expensive I'm afraid so no concourse show cars just a nice usable one.
Regards
Tony H
Skyedriver said:
Fascinating thread,
As a possible future Stag owner, who knew a few owners when the car was current and nearly bought one myself then, but for various reasons didn't and whose wife new a few too and believes them to be unreliable, this thread is great reading. Thank you. Must learn to put full stops in my sentences. Still not sure if I should go Triumph or Rover suppose it depends on cost and condition of the rest of the car. Can't be too expensive I'm afraid so no concourse show cars just a nice usable one.
Regards
Tony H
rover engined stags are cheaper. In the end you need to look at what is your preference my views As a possible future Stag owner, who knew a few owners when the car was current and nearly bought one myself then, but for various reasons didn't and whose wife new a few too and believes them to be unreliable, this thread is great reading. Thank you. Must learn to put full stops in my sentences. Still not sure if I should go Triumph or Rover suppose it depends on cost and condition of the rest of the car. Can't be too expensive I'm afraid so no concourse show cars just a nice usable one.
Regards
Tony H
Rover : Excellent reliability, cheap to get parts, vast scope for performance tuning (up to 5ltr), light, car will need suspension modifications, car value lesser
Triumph: Heavy engine, maintenance can not be ignored, good torque, will get accepted amongst stag hiarachy
Alternative Analysis
Buick: Reliable unless stressed at which point it eats it's cam followers. Basic parts cheap but anything over basic tuning quickly gets expensive. Light, cheap to buy, reduces value of car.
Triumph: Only reliable if you treat it right, keep it full of fresh anti-freeze, reverse flush cooling system every 12 months, etc. Cooling critical and only marginal in standard form. Eats oil pumps too but easy to change (like that's a defence!) - timing chains don't last forever but standard ones start to rattle a good while before they go so you know what's coming (alternative German ones last better but never rattle, just break when they fail). Much more rev happy that Buick engine and makes a glorious noise the Buick can't match.
Buick: Reliable unless stressed at which point it eats it's cam followers. Basic parts cheap but anything over basic tuning quickly gets expensive. Light, cheap to buy, reduces value of car.
Triumph: Only reliable if you treat it right, keep it full of fresh anti-freeze, reverse flush cooling system every 12 months, etc. Cooling critical and only marginal in standard form. Eats oil pumps too but easy to change (like that's a defence!) - timing chains don't last forever but standard ones start to rattle a good while before they go so you know what's coming (alternative German ones last better but never rattle, just break when they fail). Much more rev happy that Buick engine and makes a glorious noise the Buick can't match.
sax player said:
Rover : Excellent reliability, cheap to get parts, vast scope for performance tuning (up to 5ltr)
with regards the 3.9 4.0 and 4.6 's that were fitted to Range Rovers, they were notorious for cracked blocks, slipped liners and general reliability issues that rendered many blocks as expensive paperweights at incredibly low mileages. I experienced issues with a cracked 3.9 block which rendered my first Range Rover as scrap.It has been suggested by third parties, who offer nice expensive replacement ECU's, that the fuel map is too lean in the mid range which causes localised hotspots in the cooling system which then leads to slipped liners, crack blocks and cooling system pressurisation. K-seal fixes the problem in some cases short term but ultmately you are looking at some very expensive engine work to fix the problem.
Other than that ultra reliable
richardthestag said:
sax player said:
Rover : Excellent reliability, cheap to get parts, vast scope for performance tuning (up to 5ltr)
with regards the 3.9 4.0 and 4.6 's that were fitted to Range Rovers, they were notorious for cracked blocks, slipped liners and general reliability issues that rendered many blocks as expensive paperweights at incredibly low mileages. I experienced issues with a cracked 3.9 block which rendered my first Range Rover as scrap.It has been suggested by third parties, who offer nice expensive replacement ECU's, that the fuel map is too lean in the mid range which causes localised hotspots in the cooling system which then leads to slipped liners, crack blocks and cooling system pressurisation. K-seal fixes the problem in some cases short term but ultmately you are looking at some very expensive engine work to fix the problem.
Other than that ultra reliable
Whizz65 said:
It was only the later 4.6 that is cross bolted.
And I don't think that a cross bolted main bearing cap will stop a liner slipping nor a crack between liner and cooling system developing. There is a company who replace the standard cylinder sleeves with a tophat liner. These are not supposed to slip but I don't know whether they stop cracked blocks from pressurising the cooling system.Like I said it is probably due to an excessively lean fuel map (on Range Rover) which causes localised hotspots and subsequent cracked blocks. Trouble is that you can't fix it once it has happened, you basically need a new block ...
... or another second hand engine from a scrapped car whose owner lost the will to solve the cooling system pressurisation issues.. probably
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