rattle rattle now what???

[boardinscotland]

Ok

So my car has developed a slight rattle on the top end of my Tuscan. Kinda knew this was gonna happen as it is an early 2000 model with now 30000 miles on the clock. She has done me well over the summer and now looking to upgrade the engine.
The choices. I have previously mentioned on another topic I would like the racing green engine, however I was planning for end of next year so cant really afford it at the mo.

At the top of my list is a rebuild at Dulfords with Red rose upgrade. They seem to cater for individual needs down there or would TVR power be an option?
My budget is a max of £8000.

[TVR_owner]

boardinscotland said:

Ok

So my car has developed a slight rattle on the top end of my Tuscan. Kinda knew this was gonna happen as it is an early 2000 model with now 30000 miles on the clock. She has done me well over the summer and now looking to upgrade the engine.
The choices. I have previously mentioned on another topic I would like the racing green engine, however I was planning for end of next year so cant really afford it at the mo.

At the top of my list is a rebuild at Dulfords with Red rose upgrade. They seem to cater for individual needs down there or would TVR power be an option?
My budget is a max of £8000.

The world should be your oyster with 8k, as its the TVR world I guess its not though...

[Barry Ashcroft]

Never understood wht everybody feels the need to throw huge amounts of money at this engine and seem quite pleased to do it. If the engine has developed a top end rattle why not just fix that problem with a top end rebuild new cams & fingers, maybe valve guides but not touch the bottom end. It's what i would do.
Ok I'm lying I'd fit an LS.

[boardinscotland]

Barry Ashcroft said:

Never understood wht everybody feels the need to throw huge amounts of money at this engine and seem quite pleased to do it. If the engine has developed a top end rattle why not just fix that problem with a top end rebuild new cams & fingers, maybe valve guides but not touch the bottom end. It's what i would do.
Ok I'm lying I'd fit an LS.

I did consider this at first but the engine has to come out anyway and it has been smoking a little (either valve seats or piston rings) and if it is the pistons would rather refresh the bottom end while it is all out.

Edited by boardinscotland on Tuesday 7th October 11:37

[Daston]

Is this rattle constant? Does it vary with engine temp?

If it needs a top end rebuild I would go for the upgraded fingur followers and cams plus the extra oil way upgrade that Racing Green do.

Also have a sit down with Richard when he knows what needs doing and go through the options, he certainly knows what he is talking about.

[Buffoon]

I would do the minimum and spend the least, with a view to seeing how the RG engine develops, or even the Power 4.3

If you can get a warrantied top-end done, run to end of warranty, then review your options, you will have covered most eventualites.

[D14 AYS]

For me personally i would go for Powers 4.3.

Good luck with whatever you go for

http://www.tvrpower.co.uk/sp6.4.3.php

[T450t]

How ever you choose to spend that 8k make sure you spend it on a proven product otherwise you will end up another guinea pig.

Thats narrowed it down.

[boardinscotland]

Daston said:

Is this rattle constant? Does it vary with engine temp?

If it needs a top end rebuild I would go for the upgraded fingur followers and cams plus the extra oil way upgrade that Racing Green do.

Also have a sit down with Richard when he knows what needs doing and go through the options, he certainly knows what he is talking about.

I have always had a knock at high temps on idle but disappeared once you hit the throttle. probably due to oil starvation. Now it follows the rev range when at 60-80deg oil temp.
I am pretty certain it is worn fingers and I do plan on getting everything uprated to the new finger followers and cams. (have done 8500 hard miles in the last 10 months)
Have spoken to Dulfords after reading their article in sprint of Tamora never dies and am really impressed with their knowledge and down to earth attitude as well as the different customising options for individual needs.

Just want to get an all round view of other peoples rebuilds before spending the cash.

I for one absolutely love my Tuscan and for all its faults it has a lot of soul. I really dont mind spending some cash on it and getting in sorted as I full well knew the faults when I bought it. My father has lots of british sports cars(Aston Martin DB7, Mk 2 Jag and Dax Cobra with 5 litre V8) and it is part of the game to keep them going for as long as possible as unfortunately the british car industry is down the pan and it is up to us to keep the older ones going. I can see my wallet getting lighter thinking about how much I could spend but when u get the toy on the open road at the end of the day money is really inconsequential.

greig

Edited by boardinscotland on Tuesday 7th October 19:51

[Barry Ashcroft]

boardinscotland said:

Have spoken to Dulfords after reading their article in sprint of Tamora never dies and am really impressed with their knowledge and down to earth attitude as well as the different customising options for individual needs.

In my limited experience of the speed 6 I have learnt that Dulfords have great knowledge and a great place to take your car (mine goes there)I would have no hesitation in recommending there improved finger followers and indeed there oil way mod is being done to mine in the new year when it has it's 12k service.

Barry

[icraigmy]

Hi Greig,

I had my speed 6 rebuilt/upgraded from 3.6L to 4.0L Red Rose spec by Richard at Dulfords. The reason was that my Tamora is a 2002, and the speed 6 engine reliability is suspect around that year, so I decided to have my engine rebuilt and upgraded to 4.0L with upgraded parts, as the newer (2004 onwards) speed 6's appear to be more reliable. Richard put a few more tweeks in my speed 6 for extra torque;).

If you want to know about pricing and what work was done then email me.

P.S. Hope you found my article "Tamora never dies" in March's Sprint interesting.

Hope this helps.

Edited by icraigmy on Wednesday 8th October 06:03

[TVR_owner]

T450t said:

How ever you choose to spend that 8k make sure you spend it on a proven product otherwise you will end up another guinea pig.

Thats narrowed it down.

If had a concern, it would be the number of folk that seem to want to jump on the latest upgrade and then line up to spend there money on something thats not even part proven (in realsitic terms)

Maybe I've become all risk averse , I dont think so, I think it's just common sense..

[ehasler]

I've recently had mine rebuilt at TVR Power, and am very pleased Dom seems to really know his stuff, and if you stick with the standard rebuild you'll be well within your 8k budget, plus it comes with a 2 year warranty too.

I set off on a 3000 mile trip around Europe just 1 day after collecting it from Power, and it ran perfectly - which could not be said for my previous rebuild done elsewhere at the end of last year...

[Jediworrier]

boardinscotland said:

I did consider this at first but the engine has to come out anyway and it has been smoking a little (either valve seats or piston rings) and if it is the pistons would rather refresh the bottom end while it is all out.

Hi boardinscotland, good luck with deciding who to have your rebuild done by but may I ask why you state the engine has to come out before you know what's wrong with it?

[boardinscotland]

Jediworrier said:

boardinscotland said:

I did consider this at first but the engine has to come out anyway and it has been smoking a little (either valve seats or piston rings) and if it is the pistons would rather refresh the bottom end while it is all out.

Hi boardinscotland, good luck with deciding who to have your rebuild done by but may I ask why you state the engine has to come out before you know what's wrong with it?

I have always planned on upgrading the engine since it is an early 2000 model with 2 piece cams etc. I realise that I could take the cam cover off and then decide but I have always had a knock on hot idle which has now progressed into a knock which follows the rev range and not just on idle.
My main train of thought is that with it blowing smoke on start up etc as well I may as well get the whole thing upgraded and have have the engine sorted so I can add to the 8500 miles already done this year.
I absolutely love the car and am not stupid with money but I would rather spend some now and get the car sorted and enjoy many more years of motoring.

greig

Edited by boardinscotland on Wednesday 8th October 18:50

[icraigmy]

boardinscotland said:

Jediworrier said:

boardinscotland said:

I did consider this at first but the engine has to come out anyway and it has been smoking a little (either valve seats or piston rings) and if it is the pistons would rather refresh the bottom end while it is all out.

Hi boardinscotland, good luck with deciding who to have your rebuild done by but may I ask why you state the engine has to come out before you know what's wrong with it?

I have always planned on upgrading the engine since it is an early 2000 model with 2 piece cams etc. I realise that I could take the cam cover off and then decide but I have always had a knock on hot idle which has now progressed into a knock which follows the rev range and not just on idle.
My main train of thought is that with it blowing smoke on start up etc as well I may as well get the whole thing upgraded and have have the engine sorted so I can add to the 8500 miles already done this year.
I absolutely love the car and am not stupid with money but I would rather spend some now and get the car sorted and enjoy many more years of motoring.

greig

Edited by boardinscotland on Wednesday 8th October 18:50

Greig - I did exactly that, had the money and decided to get my speed 6 rebuilt/upgraded there and then - now 1 year 7 months on and coming up to it's first 12000 mile service - enjoying every minute and looking forward to many more years of motoring - Do it while you have the chance.

[tail slide]

boardinscotland said:

Ok

At the top of my list is a rebuild at Dulfords with Red rose upgrade. They seem to cater for individual needs down there or would TVR power be an option?
My budget is a max of £8000.

Been very happy with Dulfords.

They do cater for individual needs, and budgets (up to a point of course!)

Very pleased with the special higher-torque 4.0 engine they built for me, and the very numerous build mods that are available to improve reliability, after much experience with other race & road engines over last 20 years as well as S6's. Most importantly, when there were probs with some components (that they had had from me!) they took the engine out & replaced at no cost.

Performance-wise, suggest alternatives should be measured against real-world in-gear acceleration times. This one does 80-100mph in 3rd in 2.1 secs on a 3.9 diff - data logged to prove if anyone wants to swap data. Haven't found figures as fast from any other roadgoing TVR, yet .....