Rover V8 engine problem.

[jenand40]

I bought a new Rover 4.0l short engine, new camshaft (Piper 270), stage 1 cylinder heads and new Edelbrock/Webber 500 carb.

I have never been able to get it to run right, lumpy idle and running rich with an erratic vacuum reading at idle and black oily plugs.

I have tried everything i can think of to find the problem. Have rechecked the camshaft timing, changed the ignition system, removed the heads hoping for gasket failure even down to checking that i had the correct dipstick/tube and not been overfilling with oil. Thought the carb may have been too big for the engine size so fitted a Holley 390, but still the same.

Compressions are all equal at 175/180 psi.

Other than the initial startup whereby the engine was kept at 2500 rpm for 20 minutes to bed in the camshaft the engine has mainly been idling whilst i tried to find the problem. I am now wondering whether the oil control rings have not bedded in? (Is there any way to check these?)

So down to my question, should i just run it to, hopefully, bed the oil control rings in? My concern here is bore wash and damaging the engine.

Any suggestions would be welcome as i have been at this for a long time (years)!

Although the car is not a Land Rover i thought this the best section of the forum to get help.

Thanks.
jenand40.

[coetzeeh]

Try posting in the TVR section - either Chimera or Griffith.

[jenand40]

Copied to the TVR section of the Forum, thank you.