Engine and Transmission Tech

Dont know if this link will work, Owned by a friend of mine, same car as mine, but fitting a V8Lotus Turbo engine, the reasom for posting is on the first page, have a look at the bare block, may give some ideas????
[www.oldskoolford.co.uk]

If Ian's link doesn't work, [www.espritv8.net]

The Wildcat block with 101,6mm bore :

Not to 'bore' anyone... but what "is it" about our "psyhci", that we cleave to this,dated/antiquated design?? Misplaced loyalty? Love the British? Pentance for our misdeeds? We "Know", there are better designs out there, why don't "We" join the lemmings? I have no desire to change, cause I'm old, obstenant? "Mike" could've, bought a 4" Wildcat ! Whats your reasons? roverman.

I vote for penance. (yea for spell checkerr, I couldn't get it right either.)

Jim

Hot.

I think it is funny beacause there is also a guy in the UK running a killer LS series Chevy small block in his Esprit with turbos.........completely unorthodox! I love it!

Well..."Mike", a least "One" of us, thinks it;s funnee.He didn't "destroy" a perfectly good Lotus- it's a Funny Car that burns corners. Now a priceless piece of TR 8 history, that's a different story. At least "HE" told us ,whaat-the-hells-goin-on! And to think,"Ian" would have given you a discount. All bets are off now. Thatz OK, I sense, Nic's bout to build a 4X4 Caddy motor "extrodanaire"- AND, He will Share! Thanks in advance-Nic. Art of Sharing.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2010 06:49PM by roverman.

Since I've got time that I'm waiting to get the spare blocks for experimentation time, I got to thinking. I'm not so sure it matters if the thickness between the liners is thin as long as the rest of the aluminum bore is welded in.

Quote:

"NixVegaGT"
So far I've worked out that 4" is too big for the aluminum/iron sleeve combo. Not enough aluminum left over between cylinders.

Since I'm taking risks anyway. Might as well try it out. The other thing I noticed about the wildcat 4" block is the deck is solid. No water jacket ports. Interesting. The heads are air cooled. JK. Seriously it'd probably help the block rigidity a lot to have the deck more solid. Since I'm welding in the larger aluminum bores anyway, maybe I could close some gaps.…?

Manley makes some reallly short SBC pistons that could work (1.05"), Honda 6" rod, destroked 350 crank (3.8"): 6.4L. 1.58:1 rod ratio. The combo of the destroke and smaller journal should alleviate the clearance issues with the cam. Another possibility is the JE 1" comp height SBC pistons. WOW that's short.

How thin is too thin for sleeves BTW? Anybody?

Nic,Does not the "Wildcat" 4" block have a system of coolant transfer holes through deck? Somewhat similar to Darton/MID.? Might consider Melling# CSL 308 F, high-strength material and .062" wallx4.025" OD.! I hope your going to ,"symese-weld", the vertical seams of companion cyls.? Block filler would only be ,the icing on cake. PM. ?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2010 12:47PM by roverman.

Not to 'bore' anyone... but what "is it" about our "psyhci", that we cleave to this,dated/antiquated design?? Misplaced loyalty? Love the British? Pentance for our misdeeds? We "Know", there are better designs out there, why don't "We" join the lemmings? I have no desire to change, cause I'm old, obstenant? "Mike" could've, bought a 4" Wildcat ! Whats your reasons? roverman

If I had any sense, I would have ditched the RV8, and gone for a 400+cu SBF, but im into the Rover thing now,and have far to much money invested in the thing to cut and run. I have even gone down the route of building a spare head with bigger "canted valves" to try and move the valve heads nearer the CL of the bore, and also machined the top of the Exhaust ports off and fitted an alluminium bar to the head so I can raise the exhaust ports a bit like the Gapp and Roush ProMod Cleaveland heads, but are "in progress" jobs waiting to get on my mate flowbench for the last year+
Whats my reasons??? to build a better MouseTrap? probably because we like a chalenge, for the same reason they climbed mount Everest, and got a man on the moon. and the same reason people still build Flatheads!!!!!

Back to oil pumps,
I cant find a pic of the pump you suggested, but im likeing the external oil feed in the side of the pan, especially as Im tight on space under the pan so the closer I can make it to the crank the better, and obviously the external pipe has that advantage of not being in the way, just make sure the fittings are loctited so they dont rattle loose,

Ian and clan, I'm glad Pete Aardema may be the "first" to build a "907/Rover". I would like to be there when they "storm" Bonneville. I think some of us are compelled to take the, more difficult and "much" less traveled road. That is why I like the folks of this forum. Anyone can build an "LS" motor and make good power-big deal. You see a lot of,"fresh" ideas here and not too many lemmings. Regarding s.b.Mopar oil pump, looks similar to sbc(cast iron), but is "gerotor" inside. Cheers, roverman.

I've been mulling that over a bit as well. It is sort of a puzzle to solve, the Buick/Rover. Initially it was discovering the mystery of the engines beginnings that I was compelled by. Now it's what is possible. Another part is the desire to build something totally unique. Not for others but for myself. It is sort of a personal "Everest". The big surprise to me was that there were other guys like me. Fun.

I guess power is not the only reason I want to build these engines. If so I would choose something more logical like the LS. I think the LS is a great platform. I've grown to accept that my hobby is illogical and a big waste of money. It is intensely fulfilling to me though. Putting a mechanical construct together with unreasonable restraints is what I'm in to I guess. Ha ha ha. Well that's me. I'm good with it. Onward! Right fellas?

Art, I did notice later that Wildcat has coolent transfer at the rear of the block. Makes sense now. Still waiting on the Rover blocks. I was just contacted on Monday that they were to be shipped out of S. Carolina and should be here next week. Then the next epic challenge begins. Can't wait.

Nic ol' chum, jus' think, the correct number,size and location of coolant transfer ports as, "toeholds" in "Everest". I'm thinkin with enough, all-american alumium in there,it will be, waay-cool ! Ofcoarse, "Petes Rotus Brossum", may beat you to the top ? May we all climb, beyond 2009. roverman.

Howdy all.. first post.. followed the link from v8buick..

In the August 2007 issue of Hod Rod Magazine starting on page 110 there's an article about putting the Darton MID sleeves into a 6.1L Hemi block check the link: www.hotrod.com/techarticles/113_0708_426_hemi/index.html

looks to be the way to go



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2010 11:58PM by 87gn@tahoe.

Dude. How'd you get a cool name like Harcourt!?! I'm a little jealous. LOL Thanks for the post. I've already got ideas from it.

After 1300 years or so, I guess it was my turn.

Hey, maybe I can get a discount on an intake.. LOL

Well, I made an inquiry to Darton for an MID setup on an iron Buick 300 block I konw it's not an aluminum Rover block, but I think it still pertains to he discussion. Here's the response I received:



"Wesley,

It is hard to say whether or not your block could support the MID sleeve. Our machinist is somewhat familiar with the block and said there is not much room in that block for the MID sleeve. We could custom make some sleeves if you could supply the specs of what you need. This would probably be a one off MID kit. If it were possible to convert the block it would cost somewhere in the range of $5000.00 for R&D, the sleeves and installation. If this was a block that we wanted to make a kit for it would be less. Unfortunately there is not many, if any, inquiries for that block.

You could contact Race Engine Development at race-engine-development@cox.net . This is our shop so you can see if this is something he would be interested in doing. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Thanx,

John"




A bit too steep for me. Maybe if I was racing in a class where there was a $50k purse or a street racer making 10k per race...

For the work involved it does seem fair. It was cool that they've got a machinist familiar with the block. Interesting. You may be on to something there with the 300 block though as far as wet sleeves. Hmmmm. May be a better candidate for the 400 cid SBB. (4.06"x3.85"). Likely a bit more rigid than the aluminum cousin... a bit taller too. What is it? 9.5, right? OK

2" journal 6.125" eagle rods, Probe sportsman 1.425" height 4.06" pistons put the slugs 25 thou down the hole... 400 lb. 400. That would be cool.

Nic, "Mike" has thrown-down the gauntlet at 280 horsee's... you gonna take that? I never knew 4.02" could be so....boring? I think, "Ian" can beat that with Ford modular pistons! What say Ian-ol' chum?? roverman.

To be fair, he was limited to 4.2L and it was an experiment. The one thing that doesn't square is the use of the 3.5L crank. Isn't the 4.0 the same stroke as the 3.5? You could use the 4.0 to destroke to 2.52 to get 4.2ish liters.

I would use consider this combo: Probe 1.56" height flat top pistons (4.03"), 6.125" Honda rods (1.89 journal), 2.51" destroked 4.0 crank. 4195 ccs. That puts the pistons 20 thou down the hole.

It would be nice to have some inside dimensions of the block, though. That would help me. How wide is the water jacket on the inside? more than 4.5"? hopefully? Otherwise I need to turn down the OD of the T6 tubes.