Dan Jones Dan Jones St. Louis, Missouri (280 posts) Registered: 07/21/2008 03:32PM Main British Car: 1980 Triumph TR8 3.5L Rover V8 |
I hurt my TR8's engine today
I ran to FedEx over lunch. On the way home, the
engine felt funny. I ran it up through the gears to see if it was down on power or not. It felt decent in 1st and 2nd (chirped the tires on the shift) but seemed a little down on power in 3rd and 4th. As I backed out of the throttle, I heard a tapping noise coming from the engine. I made it back to work but the engine was popping (through the exhaust) and down on power besides, besides the tapping noise. Temperature gauge and voltmeter looked fine. Oil pressure and level were good. I had a few hand tools in the boot so I pulled a valve cover and found the bolt retaining the rocker stand closest to the driver was loose. I unscrewed the bolt and a spiral of aluminum came out with the bolt. Probably a bent rocker shaft too. I know D&D also make end stands to prevent such things from happening. I could probably use an insert or helicoil to repair the head without pulling it apart but I'll probably take it as a sign to build a stroker engine over the winter. I've got most of the parts on hand to build three strokers: 1. 4.3L: Buick 300 crank, Eagle H-beam rods, forged flat top pistons (3.530" bore size), aluminum flywheel. Just bore the block and drop in the rotating assembly. Without porting, the Rover cylinder heads would be the limiting factor in this build. Maybe port a Rover 3.9L EFI manifold set... 2. 4.2L: Rover with cross-bolted mains, Carrillo H-beam rods, Wiseco pistons (10.75:1), GM race cylinder heads (developed for Mickey Thompson's Indy car effort), stud mount roller rockers, Huffaker intake (or GM 2x4 bll but I don't think that will fit under the sloping hood), solid lifter cam. I have one of the heads at the shop to be flow bench tested. 3. 4.9L: Rover cross-bolted block, ported Buick 300 heads, roller rockers, Buick 300 crank, Willpower fuel injection single plane intake, solid lifter cam, aluminum flywheel. Still need to order the pistons and rods. This one would make the most power but the other two would probably make enough power for the convertible and I could save this one for the coupe. Time to fire up Dynomation and see how the engines compare. Dan Jones |
mbhnm Mark Howard Maryville, Tennessee (7 posts) Registered: 08/15/2010 07:02PM Main British Car: 1972 Spitfire, 1969 GT6 |
Re: I hurt my TR8's engine today
Hi Dan ,
Been reading your posts with interest, lot's of good information. Sorry to hear about the engine. The rocker shaft supports are on my build list, seems with good reason. I would vote for the 4.9, mainly because that is what I am working on but with the 4.6 offset ground crank and Rover heads. Keep up the good work and best wishes. Keep everyone posted. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is interested. Mark Howard |
Re: I hurt my TR8's engine today
Curious to hear more about the 4.2 x-bolted configuration. Did the original 4.2 come with x-bolted mains or is that a 4.0 with offset ground rod journals? I think that's the one I'd go with.
I got a 4.2 crank off of eBay and was considering using it in my Olds 3.5 engine. If I recall correctly, that makes right around 4 liters. |
Dan Jones Dan Jones St. Louis, Missouri (280 posts) Registered: 07/21/2008 03:32PM Main British Car: 1980 Triumph TR8 3.5L Rover V8 |
Re: I hurt my TR8's engine today
> Curious to hear more about the 4.2 x-bolted configuration.
It's a 4.2L small journal block that was fitted with cross-bolted mains. It came from the factory with provisions for cross-bolting on the block but had standard main caps. Cross-bolted caps were fitted and it was align bored. Dan Jones |