3.9 rv8 rebuild

Indeed, but dare i say its actually on road that i need more torque, of road i rarely struggle in low box.

I am however a fan of the traffic light grand prix and do use all of my available rpms.

maybe i just need a 5.2...

or a 4.5 which mine has become

still cheaper than 5.2 lol

The problem you face is why I spent so long looking at cams, although you saved a lot of cash doing it the way you did.

Yeah it has to be said if you're starting from scratch on a 5.2!build yu really should be looking very hard at American/jap options instead.

ALTHOUGH that die hard lightweight beauty that is the rover v8 is a hard habit to shift.

Your p76 is something of a wildcard, easily the best all round option but like you have found out is a wallet shagger.

Basically theres no way for good power out of a rover v8 without around 2 grand minimum.

Any less than that and you're not making much power, and more and you could be said to be burning money for the sake of keeping the old rover.

I mean I must admit that I am dead sure for the weight of my vehicle now it simply needs more capacity that 3.5 litre, or at least more compression to make use of that capacity.

Bit of a rock and a hard place deciding what to do if we're honest, which brings is round to your original point of it taking ages to choose what to buy.

For me, despite all that we've said about large bore engines, I think top hat 4.6 is the best bang for buck, enough of them out there for cheap enough parts prices and good power available with decent reliability.

Still can't afford it though

yeah I was told I could have done mine cheaper using a turners 4.6 top hat motor but tbh with the good cam and vat that engine still comes in at £3500 stripped.

Mine will have the same power and more torque and its going to be £2000 when its done and thats will all the arp bits, the good cam and high vol oil pump etc. The main point was I always wanted to do a scratch re-build on a v8 rather than just fixing whatever was wrong with it and getting it back on the road as quickly as I could which is what always happened in the past.

I think if you go for anything else and you are not lucky enough to have an old over finch conversion kit lying about or something like that its a hell of a lot more work and you will still need 5k for a crate 350 and probably break u/js and diffs all day long lol.

prob best to stick with the rv8 unless you have lots of time and cash and an engineering facility , but lets be honest landys are not a cheap hobby any which way :doh:

Yes indeed, many people hark on about changing to another motor but there is a lot more involved in it than just that.

A small bore 4.4 really is the best of both worlds but that comes at a price, you can have something decent from either world at much less than your happy medium cost.

But it will be the best all rounder and that will make you grin for a long time

All the best pal

cheers dude, lol it was the wiring/gearbox/transfer box/mounts that put me off the bmw option or I would have had an m60 in there.

Mind you it wouldnt be fook all use in the zombie Apocalypse like my 4.4 wud

Waiting for todays engine pics got one of my gearbox bolts out today, only took about 45mins LOL!

Only one ?

Dr_evil said:

Only one ?

Click to expand...

Yep it got to dark so gave up, will hopefully get them all out and torque convertor ones on tuesday

Evening everyone.

Finally have an update for this thread.

Although its not a lot in the grand scheme of things but its a start.

On the stand ready to go.



Engine loom removed.



Did take the manifolds off as well but forgot to take pics :doh:

Then got this far and left it for the night as im knackered.



When i get a chance to work on it again i shall continue to remove the 3inch layer of mud over the engine and clean what i can before i take the rest apart.
Hopefully next update the rocker covers will be off at least.

bencorkill said:

Yep it got to dark so gave up, will hopefully get them all out and torque convertor ones on tuesday

Click to expand...

I cant judge, I gave up when it started raining yesterday

bencorkill said:

Waiting for todays engine pics got one of my gearbox bolts out today, only took about 45mins LOL!

Click to expand...

Was that one of the top ones by any chance?

They are a right ballache to get out! Took me nearly all day to separate the derv engine from the box!

I'd love a 4.6 in my challenge truck but there's just too many factors holding it back. I'm not too bothered about fuel cost as it will just be used as a toy, competitions ect so not that important it's the waterproofing issues and how to make the rest of the drivetrain power proof. I can't afford the grand for a mega squirt plus it's not practical in a 90 challenge wise. You either have to replace the lt77 every challenge after you blow it up or move the engine forward and fit an auto or strong r380 don't know if Ashcroft do a strengthened lt77 which would be perfect but that would no doubt be expensive too. Still I can drool every time I drive the rangie and hear her roar

Although all the other designs for trucks I've got designed in my head allow much more free play

robbh said:

Was that one of the top ones by any chance?

They are a right ballache to get out! Took me nearly all day to separate the derv engine from the box!

Click to expand...

Yeah was a top one , got my hands through the tunnel, sprayed loads of WD40 up there so should make life easier when trying to get the rest off

Never had that much trouble with top bolts tbh with the right combination of extensions.

And YES I always replace them!

That Ben corkill was a right dirty bugger btw, wash your engine man!

As for v8 lt77, I don't think you would instantly explode it, but what about LT85 instead?!?!

isn't the 85 a fender only box ? or do disco versions tend to be dead rare

That was the point though, ayresy was saying that he would like v8 in his 90 but wants to keep the rearward fitment, cos r380 would take the engine forwards.

LT85 bellhousing is pretty large so reckon it'd push it forward (below) so I'd think only way to get it to fit would be to make a stumpy R380 or stumpy LT77 using the Rover saloon bellhousing (bottom)



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rover-V8-...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cd0bb827b Would need to mate this to a shorter input shaft too though

And hello again.

Got a bit more done after work this evening.

Intake maifold and rocker covers and valley gasket now removed!







Heres a few pictures of what i can see of the camshaft.







Left it at that this evening as once again dinner was ready only other thing i did do after all that was undo the sump plug to drain the oil.

Oh and took a pic of whats on the table at the end of my bed ready for cleaning.

I win the most worn cam and blackest engine game