which one is the best

POAH said:

LS1 is not as light as a RV8 and its not a simple job to fit. having a lot of power in a defender is not the best idea in the world though lol

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Aye but very useful offroad with big tyres and lots of weight

It's been done a fair few times and can only be as challenging as setting up mega squirt etc

Mr Noisy said:

Well yeah but I thought we were talking RV8.

After spending some time in a Monaro these past few days with the LS1 fitted, I have now lost faith in RV8 and would never pile any serious money into one.

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seeing the light eh??

re best rv8

there aint one..

3.5 or 4.4 uses standard bore,but are sooooooo old that everything is worn out..

3.9/4 4.6 are less worn out but suffer from slipped liners etc..(due to not enough wall thicnes etc)

so whichever way you go you buggerdd unless you pay for rebuild/take a chance

me...i run lexus supercharged and turbo gmc in mine...sod the rv8...

yeah but you like wires zen, and a rv8 rebuild (even with full machining and performance bits) is cheaper than a crate motor and a direct fit.

zen said:

seeing the light eh??

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I think so yeah

A fair few people refer to the slipped liner problem on the RV8 but how many have suffered from it. I have had 2x 3.5 2x 4.2 and 1 3.9 and have never had a slipped liner problem there are thousands of 3.9 and I hear the odd slipped liner. As far as I am aware the 4.6 in the p38 was most prone and that's because of the lean running and overheating. Happy to be corrected if someone had proof of massive slipped liner problem in the 3.9


Mick

Oh yeah for sure the p38 had the worst issues, on the whole part rich running engines were alright, especially if you looked after your cooling.

The best all round is probably the 3.9 out of the d1, it has the possibility to have trouble but is as you say not that likely real world, yet it never ran lean and makes enough horsepower which the 3.5 couldn't manage.

Any p38 engines have a heavy potential to be troublesome!

The stupid thing is that you can't ask which is the best one, because for every man the answer is different.

For me, I started on 3.5 and replaced with 3.5, because it was cheap.

I would have loved to go to 4.6 but it costs more than I could afford and 3.9 might not have been worth the risk of the big bore.

The problem you have with the 3.5 is its pretty gutless in a large vehicle like a landrover. 3.9 is a nice compromise cheap enough to buy with reasonable power. I have a 1998 90 which had a 3.5 in it was okay with standard tyres but a bit down n power with 34 inch tyres. So I put in a 4.2 I had just overhauled its a lot better but 5th at 70 its only doing About 2.2k revs which is a bit under geared. The V8 90 has a 1.2 transfer box i am tempted to go for a 1.4
Mick
Ps if when buying your engine get the guy to take of the heads slipped liner is noticeable by a steam cleaned bore

texpis said:

A fair few people refer to the slipped liner problem on the RV8 but how many have suffered from it. I have had 2x 3.5 2x 4.2 and 1 3.9 and have never had a slipped liner problem there are thousands of 3.9 and I hear the odd slipped liner. As far as I am aware the 4.6 in the p38 was most prone and that's because of the lean running and overheating. Happy to be corrected if someone had proof of massive slipped liner problem in the 3.9


Mick

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mine had it in a non cat 1990 rrc same as disco non cat. also i think irish rover had it, or some long standing member anyway. neither were on gas either btw

I had one - 97 disco ES7 with only 70000 miles

So if everyone who hasn't had one sign in and we'll get a percentage of fails just as a matter of interstate how were they diagnosed?

Mick

4.0 p38 on gas, no issues, debating over the 3.5 or 3.9 in disco 1 form at the moment, pros and cons of power output, older models and slipped liners, leaning towards a 3.9

In a disco I would say you need a 3.9, not something I would have said 6 months ago but I have now realised the 3.5 is under powered, despite its built in reliability.

In a 90, 3.5 on a nice cam would be alright, but disco just needs that bit more.

I would however recommend buying the 3.5 disco with a look to upgrading the engine, I feel that the older car is better through its increased simplicity.

And you can go legal non cat

texpis said:

Happy to be corrected if someone had proof of massive slipped liner problem in the 3.9
Mick

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Had it happen to my '93 a few years ago & a mate on his '91. New short motor for me, scrap job for him - this malady can happen to any of the 94mm bore RV8's. The good 'ole 3.5 is the most reliable but, as has been said, not the most powerful but can be uprated. Guy I knew 'stroked' his to 4.3 & was very happy with it, trouble was he gave it too many beans whilst towing & blew the A pack on the ZF 'box!

4.3/4.4 stroker kit for 3.5 is a great way to achieve lots of useable safe torque for rv8, great for land rover application.

This is what I would do if I had some money to put into a rover, it is a dear option though but not as bad as a top hat motor iirc!

I'm stroking my chevy so if the liners slip on my disco I may just chevy it. The engine it has now has plenty of power for off road use.

noisy it might be worth just getting a nicely done 3.5, no offence but yours is a bit of a mish mash of parts which was good for the price but not really an A1 3.5 to judge by.

I was going to build that efi sd1 3.5 motor of mine in to a bit of a beast with re-bore, skimmed heads and tin gaskets and a decent cam and home porting and then get some decent carbs on it like the truck avenger, I expect that would make about 190 which is the same as a 3.9 but without the bore trouble so much. if you mega squirted that package like you spent the pennies it it would be better than that as it could acheive 190 in stock form with hotwire.

hows the v8 hot tub coming bud?

Yeah you're right fett, the chances are my 3.5 isn't showing full potential.

So far I'm judging a tired 3.5 and a bodged 3.5

The v8 hottub is still sat in the corner.

A mortgage awaits me around the corner so skintness is my new priority

This does not leave any room for frivolous engine playtime.

I still think it is fair to say that my 3.5 will be in reasonable nick though, even without a rebore it has only done 2k on new rings with lapped valves, I assume the p5 cam doesn't do anything for torques but I still feel displacement might be an issue.

That said, I'm currently rebuilding a 1.4 transfer case which will go in tomorrow if gasket set arrives today so that might make a huge difference by bringing my gearing back to stock.

The plan then is to look into tuning in some economy on the motorway, she currently drinks far too much but that's because I do not achieve a lean cruise, basically we suspected that my over gearing was keeping the revs low and the MAP high, basically engine labouring a bit, which is driving the fueling up the fuel table.

Hence, get a 1.4 case to correct gearing and then see about lean cruise.

It will also help the car feel more like stock again.

A sudden influx of money would assist me with putting my engine related chit chat into parts and pictures, but for the near future all I can do is waffle on about it.

I hear that, I just spent £400 at real steel lol

if your newer engine had a lip on it I am not sure how long rings alone will keep it nice???

Probably not long, but is say it would be good for 10k miles? Maybe not even that!

Not too fussed tbh, it was a £400 stop gap that had a new cam, followers and crank!