Rover V8 Advice Please

[jvaughan]

A few may remember that 18 months ago, my 400SE decided to eat its engine. This was replaced.... then replaced again.... and now the current engine has been in the car 14 months, and it has done about 2500 miles.

Now it needs to be setup correctly.
The Engine that was ordered ... and subsequently fitted should have had the following specs..
Lightened, balanced, cross bolted.
Stage 3 heads, uprated oil pump, solid lifters.. Plus a few other bits.

I have been trying to confirm this spec as currently the car is no faster than any other 4 litre I have put it against (I would have thought with the tweaks mentioned, it would have pulled a little stronger, or maybe sprinted to 60 a little faster).

Anyway... to cut to the chase here.. Having spent a few thousand on the engine, i am a little disapointed. I think though, it needs to be setup correctly... Maybe re-mapped .. I dont know.

I dont want to spend more than necessary, but, would like to get the car "sorted". any recommendations / advice greatly recieved.

>>> Edited by jvaughan on Tuesday 14th December 15:30

[Boosted LS1]

Are you able to get support from the engine builder? That would by my first call. Next would be a dyno session on a rolling road to see if the settings are optimised or need adjusting. The rr session could also reveal any faults that might not have been noticed.

Boosted.

[jvaughan]

Boosted LS1 said:

Are you able to get support from the engine builder? That would by my first call. Next would be a dyno session on a rolling road to see if the settings are optimised or need adjusting. The rr session could also reveal any faults that might not have been noticed. Boosted.

Not sure about this one ..... the whole experience kinda P155ed me off a bit... I have been assured the engine is sound, but obviously donot have the documentation to support the assurance. I just want to car setup correctly.

[Boosted LS1]

Well, if you have some sort of a warranty then it's probably an ok engine. I would go for the rr session so you have a base line of sorts. You could also ask a PH'er with a similar engine to take it for a drive and pass coment on if it feels slow or normal/ish.

Boosted.

[RichB]

Jason, I think if I was as disappointed as you seem to be I would be tempted to get the sump off to see if there any signs of the upgrade work you have paid for. It should be possible to see the crossbolting and balancing surely? Rich...

[GreenV8S]

Solid lifters, presumably it has a fairly wild cam then? If so you might have to rev it a lot harder than you're used to, and it might be relatively uninspiring off cam.

Since you've changed the heads and (presumably) cam, it would certainly need to be remapped to achieve it's full potential. I would expect this to have been done as a matter of course if the engine was installed professionally, and I'd expect to get a copy of the final power curve.

[Boosted LS1]

If it has solid lifters it will have to have adjustable rocker arms or adjustable pushrods. Either can be viewed by lifing off the offside rocker cover. Crossbolts are visible along the side of the block just above sump level. As for pulling the sump to witness balancing work, well that depends on who balanced it and to what tolerence. If I did a thorough balance you would see evidence of material removed from the rod caps. Another person may decide to weigh a group of rods and match like with like. In which case you won't see anything if you remove the sump. They may have given it a fresh dynamic balance but it's down to interpretation between yourself and your builder.

As said, maybe the cam is a hairy beast. If so you need to put your foot down and see what happens. Lastly, is the throttle opening fully?

Boosted.

[jvaughan]

I think these are points I need to get clarified.
Is there anyone in the South that is "good" ? I know Mark Adams is the best... where does he hang out ? anyone got any contact details for him? is there anyone else ?

[Boosted LS1]

jvaughan said:

I think these are points I need to get clarified. Is there anyone in the South that is "good" ? I know Mark Adams is the best... where does he hang out ? anyone got any contact details for him? is there anyone else ?

Also ask on the V8 forums, google will get you the link. There may be someone near to you if nobody here can help.

Boosted.

[2 sheds]

Jason

Mark Adams contact 01694 720144
Austec (crawley) the RR he uses 01293 531080

You've had plenty of sound advice so far but just to ad my thoughts.
Sounds to me like it just needs "setting up" with solid lifters they should be checked/re-set after first 1000 miles when new, they could be as slack as Alice ?
As mentioned you probably have a hairy cam together with incorrect fuelling at top end so maybe you aren't seeing the potential.

Tim

[rev-erend]

Jason - if you are refering to the race you had with Trinity - well all I can say is that is one rapid 4litre Chimaera ... it may well not be all it seems.

He also seems to be a pretty quick driver..

From following you and the sheer amount of flames (yes I'm jealous ) - I'd say that the mixture may well be very rich.

Rich = good power but too rich will kill it !

I would fully recommend you call Austec who will book it in with the next Mark Adams tune up session or call them and get them to put it on the rollers to see what it makes - I'm guessing 240 ~ 280 is expected. They have a lot of experience and offer good advice.

Well worth a call.