Engine and Transmission Tech

The BOPR-8 and Buick V6 have essentioally the same front group and external oil pump.

It is being the bet-noir of my GT6 - Buick V6 "Trick-6" build.
The pump wants to be right into the right side suspension tower.
I already have an adapter to use a remote filter and it does help.
If I must I can probably trim the right tower, then find a way to reinforce it.

What I'm considering if I can find a way is to be rid of the front mounted pump entirely.
Suggestions for an external pump that is readily available and not excessively expen$ive?
Not really looking to dry-sump due to cost and limited space.

I'd choose a Peterson wet-sump pump. Made-in-America. Top-quality. Nice people. I toured their Denver factory to see they build their pumps. Very very trick!

You could switch covers and use the later Rover covers that have the crank driven pumps. It will require you to rework all of the ancillaries on the front of the engine. Back when I raced the TR8, I had a remote Oberg filter. What a nightmare. I was constantly either loosing engine bearings when there was a suction leak, or wiping out cam drive gears that were overworked trying to spin the pump.

Don't the late Rover front covers with internal oil pump also delete the distributor?

Just got rid of a '96 Discovery after having to deal with it's distributorless ignition computer which could only be "Reflashed" by a Rover dealer or major shop.

Do not want computers in this car, want to keep it simple.

There is a cover for the 4.2(intermediate) that has the distributor hole. You would have to modify the crank snout and damper for the gear drive oil pump. There is also a Buick V6 one, 87 FWD I believe. Some have made a hybrid front cover, top half old style, bottom 3800. Do a search on this site and internet Google search.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2015 05:45AM by mgb260.

There is always the intermediate cover where the dizzy boss was there but not machined out. I know of a few TR8s running the serpentine belt with the crank driven oil pump. For simplicity they have had the dizzy boss machined to accept the dizzy and install a 4 barrel. One I know of in particular is running that setup in a 4.9 with a FAST fuel injection system sitting on top of a 4 barrel intake. Makes 325HP without the fuss of a lumpy cam and over rich carb.

Need a pic of the front of the "Intermediate" Rover 4.2.
Never got a true free lunch in my life, the internal oil pump has to take up space somewhere.
Seems like a probable good answer unless it makes the engine longer?

[forum.britishv8.org] Last one pictured is the intermediate cover.

"You would have to modify the crank snout and damper for the gear drive oil pump".

Not wanting to dismantle the engine, have too many in pieces already.
So how much "Modify" are we talking about here?

Found the "Intermediate" front cover on a 4.0 engine at P&P.
$45.00, but I need a $100.00 battery powered impact wrench to get the crank nut off.
Unless some one knows another trick?

Engine turns over a little too easily, access is not great either.
Tried to jam the crank without any luck.

But it does look like it might be the answer.

"Engine turns over a little too easily, access is not great either.
Tried to jam the crank without any luck. "

Take a plug out, work out an up stroke on the cylinder where both valves are closed (compression stroke). Feed part of a length of nylon rope into the spark plug hole. The rope will stop the piston, thereby providing the resistence you need. Then you can use a regular breaker bar.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2015 12:20PM by alanmoor.

Used vacuum line in place of rope, worked great.

So for about $70.00 and a couple of hours time I now have an "Intermediate" front cover.
After some cleaning I put it up next to a Buick V6 engine for a quick visual check.
Looks cleaner without the oil pump hanging out front but may not gain me the space I am looking for as the filter mounts lower.
So may miss the suspension tower only to hit the front cross-member.
Next step is to try it on an actual V6 block while checking gasket surfaces, crank snout diameter, front hub and seal, etc.
Will take pics if there is interest.

moroso makes a nice remote adapter that I used on my 4.6 with the earlier front cover with crank driven pump and distributor hole it is a bit pricey but swivels to allow clearance and direction for oil lines to filter/cooler about $100

"TransDapt" does/did, also.

Buick V6 - V8 and Rover 4.0 front cover notes.

Finally got the front cover off the mock-up Buick V6.
Comparing it to the 4.0 cover I see that Rover deleted a couple of bolt holes at the upper outside edge on each side.
The shape of the water passages is different.
The oil pump gear appears to fit fine on the V6 crank.
The 4.0 cover does not have the cam thrust boss the V6 uses.
The 4.0 cover uses studs for the oil pan instead of bolts.
The location and height of the distributor hold down boss are different, probably need a Rover distributor clamp.

Unable to place the 4.0 cover on the mock-up engine due to the studs at the pan rail until I remove the oil pan.
Was able to put it part way on, not sure I would gain much with the external oil lines locations.

Thinking I will try to machine it to take a distributor as I do like the internal pump over the Buick pump which has a fairly poor reputation.

Pics.
I'm going to try to get one of each type gasket to match up.
The 4.0 cover may not gain a lot of space but it does at least point the oil filter forward.
Will probably put an adapter on it for a remote filter.

I was doing some work under the TR3 this morning and thought I'd take a picture or two of my oil pump mod. It is much like the cover that TA Performance sells but having the facilities to do the same I changed the stock cover. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the cover on the bench but it comes down to a plate with a 1/2" pipe thread for the supply and return ports of the pump. I eliminated the bypass and went to a HP1 filter with a bypass built into the filter unit. Hope it helps.

Greg