Gasp!.....
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Gasp!.....
Thats kinda what my best Rover buddy said last night when I told him about the small block :) His chin dropped a little and he said "But Pel, its just about only me and you left now mixing it up with the big boys with our Rover engines" !Quote:
Originally Posted by 34_40
Dump the Rover---you want to go as fast as you can----not just run an 8 with a Rover-hell, skip the 8s and go right to the sevens----------------
Once you have run in the eights or sevens, sixes----and have the handling /setup of the car sorted out for that level of performance, you can put the Rover back into the car knowing you and the car are capable of that performance and the net result will be whatever the Rover can put out------
I hear you Jerry :)
And I intend to make the car even quicker when the Chevy goes in for testing in the future. But I do need to see if there is an 8 in the Rover engine. I cant really do much with the handling of the car as I dont have much to adjust. The MGB is still running cart springs with slapper bars and all stock front suspension and steering on its 39 year old body ?? The body and chassis (what there is of it) is still in good condition given its age though ;) I have a simple roll cage welded in which helps to brace the old girls body. Thats about it really. She's all steel and all original (apart from the fibre glass bonnet) and has full glass fitted. So over here the MGB doing what it does with the Rover fitted makes folk smile :) So I'll hang on to that until i cant go any further with the rover engine. Having said that I have been getting some experience with the SBC on the digger I help with. And I have a MSD Digital 7 on the shelf waiting for the Chevy engine in a years time. I have no doubt that the SBC in almost stock form with boost and nitrous will push me into the 8's when its fitted ?
Regards
Perry
Hi Guys!!
Please bear with me. This is one of my rambles again ;)
Back on the 13th I said I had done the deal on a SBC engine. Well my friend and I went up north to meet the seller who is a friend of a friend. It turned out that the seller is not only a very nice guy, but he is also an accomplished engine builder to boot ?
My friend Dave who put me onto Richard ( the engine builder) is having his SBC engine built there for his Land Rover. And this is where the story got quite interesting ?? We got to site and met Dave who was there having some work done on his own SBC. I saw my 4 bolt engine in the shop and started to ask some questions. Because when I saw the 4 bolt motor I could see that the bottom end was new ? And then I saw another two SBC engines with 2 bolt mains on the floor. All the engines were painted Blue ? And then I noticed that Daves new engine was Blue also. So the story was then told. There were 4 engines in the shop. Richard (the shop owner) had built 4 new SBC's for one of his clients. 2 of them were 4 bolt and two of them were 2 bolt. The 4 SBC's were out of Richards clients Chris craft boats. The boat owner is a "no expense spared kind of rich guy" So after Richard rebuilt the 4 motors the guy ran them for an hour or so and then decided he wanted bigger engines. So the 4 SBC's came back to his shop for free as he was building new motors for the boats. In the mean time the engine shop guy gave us a tour of his facility. He showed us every machine he had and demonstrated each one in action. I saw valve seats being re cut, I saw heads being skimmed, I saw blocks being decked, I saw a crank being re ground, I watched and engine block being centre line bored, I saw several vintage engines in various states of refurbishment as this guy does everything. One of the vintage engines was a Rolls Royce from the 1930's I think. Richard made a pint of asking me to find the dipstick for the engine ? I looked but could not see one. He then showed me an exposed needle on the side of the engine block. This old Rolls engine had a float in the sump which operated a needle outside the block against a scale cast into the block to indicate sump oil level :) Amazing !!
So back to the plot now!
We had arrived and had spent a good deal of time making friends. Richard had been shown video's of my MGB and my friends Slingshot. He likes both of our cars. Mainly because my friend Dave is a good friend of the engine guy and he spends a lot of spare time in the guys shop working on his own SBC for his Landrover. My friend Dave is a real petrol head and he loves drag racing. In real life he is a Brain Trauma specialist who has to do what he can to keep folk with serious head injuries alive in the first stages of them getting to hospital in a bad way after serious accidents tht involve head injuries. Its an unlikely pairing of friends, but if you went to school with someone and became friends, then friends is what you are despite what you end up doing for a living eh ?
So we are now in Richards shop drinking coffee and talking Drag racing. He then says " I really dont need these other two engines laying around taking up floor space, are you guys interested in a deal" ? I was going to pick up a single block and heads for $450.00 and I was not expecting the 4 bolt block to have a new stock bottom end. Mike and I ended up going halves on a deal for $1100 or £700.00 for all 3 engines with all new stock cranks, rods and pistons + 8 SBC iron heads with new valves etc and a big box with 4 new cams + a host of rockers, push rods and all the stuff that goes with it. So we loaded up the Jeep with all this stuff and on the way home we came to a conclusion. And that was .... My garage is full of junk and I only have enough free space to get my Rover V8 on the stand. Mikes garage is almost empty apart from the digger because he is close to moving house. So I had to make a call to another friend to see if we could dump this load of iron in his workshop for a few weeks? Luckily Ian said yes and we went there to off load the metal.
Now I have some sort of plan. My friend Mike only wants a spare SBC block that he can convert ot 4 bolt mains so he said I can buy the guts from his engine for $100.00 That gives me a full 4 bolt SBC + another 2 cranks + rods and pistons and 8 cast iron heads to play with for the next year !!
Regars to all
Pel
I guess Christmas came early at your house Pel.... sweet!
Crikey!
A good deal indeed!
Good for you...pleased for ya!
Just goes to show that sometimes it's not what you know; but who you know!
Pel, sorry to hear about your Rover engine. That is a bummer. But, it will be cool to see it in the 8's. That does sound like a great deal. That would make it hard to stay Rover now. :LOL:
Nice score Pel. Extra parts too!
Added congratulations to the mix. What a deal!
Thanks Guys!
I'm looking forward to learning about the SBC now. I already have the "how to rebuild" book for the SBC. :)
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Oh Boy its way too cold over here for me to be bothered about doing any car stuff. I did go to my friends workshop yesterday with all good intentions of stripping one of the SBC's down. But it way way to chilly for me ! So I grabbed a coffee and sat in one of the cars he has in for some work to be done. And once I had sat in it I didnt want to get out. Who the hell could resist chilling in a pristine OLDS 442 ??
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After sitting in the OLDS I decided I needed to do some car stuff on the Sunday. But it was way too chilly outside so I thought some indoor car stuff would be better ? So me and Grand Daughter Faith got to building her first ride :)
Its a little VW Bug and its cool as hell:)
We got the wheels fitted
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps70359e6e.jpg
Then we got the steering gearbox linkage fitted
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps85278f0d.jpg
Then she sat inside while the battery charged and decided that the built in music was not good enough so she wanted and MP3 input to rock out to until she had power:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L5B...iZ--GyG4tfRrjw
AND THEN the battery was charged. But she's too small to reach the pedal, so I flicked the switch on the dash from pedal to REMOTE and let my Son drive her around while I filmed as she listened to one of her fave records, Axle F :)
The Bug will be her main form of pit transport at the track next season !! I think I may modify the lap strap to a 4 point harness ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWEZ...iZ--GyG4tfRrjw
That is a really nice olds for sure! Very cool lil Bug Faith got! That's cool it can be operated by remote control as well. She's such a cutie! We just got our kids a new out door power wheel type ride. Santa hasn't brought it so they haven't gotten to try it out yet. :LOL:
Ha Ha Ryan !!
This is actually Faiths Xmas present from Grandad !!
It will mysteriously disappear in the next few days and then come back on Xmas Morning :)
Perry
I agree, that little bug is amazing! remotely controlled also?? That is so neat..
I wonder how big the springs would need to be to help get the Rover in it??:eek::LOL:**)
I wonder if there is a power booster and wheelie bar accessories? :)
Way to cute, thanks for sharing, and ditto on the 442, a friend years ago had one with swivel bucket seats!
Happy New Year to all you folk over there :)
We had a mild Xmas Day so Faith went out for a ride in the Bug ! She was rocking to the music from the audio system :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWLBrxM75eU
Happy new year to you too sir! She definitely looked like she was having a blast in there!
Happy New Year Pel! Thanks for the video and the smiles..
OK guys!!
This weekend is the big one for me now?
8 of my race buddies have come together to get me to take the MG to a friends workshop so the engine and tranny can be hauled out for inspection. The tranny can just be taken out and left to one side because its working ok. I already know that the engine has spun two con rod bearings. And hopefully thats all we will find when the engine comes apart ? All I need to do is take my BBQ to the workshop and make sure that all of the guys get fed and watered while they pull my engine and strip it down for me so I can determine what is wrong. That is pure luxury for me right now. With the weather here being so cold I just cant be bothered to mess around outside to pull the engine out. I already know that when the engine is fixed I should be running strong into the low 9's. But I'm thinking that i just want to be working on the car when the sun is out and its warm outside which will be at least 3 months from now. So the guys have decided that they dont want me to wait for the warm weather so they will be helping me and kicking my butt to get the MG out on track again as they will be pulling the drivetrain out whether I like it or not ? At this moment in time I'm happy to stay inside the house at the weekend and sit in front of the log fire and play with my Grand Daughter. But it seems that I will have to be going out on Sunday instead ? God Bless my Race Buddies :)
Cheap price to pay for such nice friends, bring some beer, and hot dogs, maybe a smoker for some slow cooked pulled pork, Have some good tunes playing and Enjoy! I need friends like yours! :)
Heck hire some help too. Here's a few pros that are good with a BBQ
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/...43_468x455.jpg
I'd fit in with your friends.. give me some good bar-b-que and I'll turn wrenches all day!
I'm hopeful the damages are minimal and easily repaired. I'm still enjoying the original chase and hope you can keep up the good fight!
Ha Ha ! With BBQ help like that no work would get done as us old guysd would just be staring and dribbling :)
I have an eclectic bunch of RWYB buddies. The guys working tomorrow will be me, HVAC engineer, Kev who is a Jaguar top techy and a wiz on anything to do with vehicles that is electronic, Tricky (who's workshop it is) autmotive mechanic and classic car repair expert, Mike (who runs the digger) is a tv satellite broadcast guru who works all over the world for various tv companies, Reg who is a commercial IT expert (as well as a Ford Capri expert) , Coxy (who runs a really quick cossie powered Escort) is responsible for deivering expensive cars to the stars, JJ who is my Son in law (is a fully trained chef and a darn good cook to boot) who dropped out of the restaurant rat race and now does top flight car detailing for a Ford dealership, DJ Dave who is a brain trauma surgeon, and Doctor Mike who is a fetal nutrition expert who gave up on the NHS over here and re trained. He now teaches plastering and electrical installation at a college. Doctor Mike dropped out and sold up, now he teaches and lives on a boat and enjoys his stress free life now :) My Son and Crew Chief Jason, is not able to help tomorrow because he is working a the Drag Strip as he is a Fire Marshall there some weekends.
I was at Trickys workshop the other day on the way home from work for a cuppa and he was working an an MGB. A black GT just like mine, so I stopped on to help him finish this blower conversion and a 1972 4 pot.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...ps1f38be15.jpg
DJ Dave the Brain Trauma surgeon is a Land Rover nut. I met him just over a year ago and got him into our RWYB crew. Back then he was running a Rover 4.6 with Nitrous in his Landy, but it wasnt very quick. After several months of him fiddling and being too shy to ask for advice I told him in no uncertain terms that his nitrous system was not working as I could hear that as soon as he left the start line. By this time he was attempting to run a 150 shot. So he gave in and asked me to look it over. This is quite funny really. It only took me an hour to static test the system and rewire it to work properly. Then I told him that he would now definately have the full 150 shot on tap when he planted his foot. I then advised him to back it down to a 50 shot so we could re tune the engine. But he said "ahh it should be fine Pel" So I let him go for a test run. He ran 2 seconds quicker, but on the way back to the pits his crankshaft broke in two :) This was aobut 9 months back. And he has been working on a new engine for the Landy. Its a bored and stroked SBC with EFI and nitrous on throttle bodies. A few of the lads have done the engine bay wiring for him, I have advised on the pro nitrous injection system and I will soon be going to his to install the purge system and make sure the nitrous is working properly and safely. His Landy is pristine and he's going to raise a few eyebrows when he next goes to one of his Landy club meets and uncovers the engine ??
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Trickys little TR8 will soon be going for media blasting as we will also finish fitting the last two bars on his roll cage tomorrow. Then I will finish building his Rover 5.2 for him so we can fit it. He is busy trying to make a living so he does not have a whole heap of spare time to move on with the project. Which is where me and the boys come in ;)
This is Tricky on the left and my Son Jason on the right after me and Jay spent 4 hours carefully removing the roof from a donor car which didnt have an awful aftermarket glass sun roof fitted.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...psmqcolmio.jpg
I have just finished the shopping for tomorrow and we should all have a good day I think. Despite the actual engine repairs that may or may not be required and the good or bad news that may or may not be found when the engine is stripped I know that this will be yet another good day out with friends and there will be many laughs during the day :)
I'll be back with more pictures when we have all the parts laid out on the floor !
Regards to all
Pel
We also rippped out the old rear end and made this with Tricky and fitted it to his TR as he was suffering just a little with too much power from his Rover 5.2 a while back.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...pss3cvplqo.jpg
He ran 11.4 on his old manual box LT77 gearbox with the suspension trying to escape the torture of the launch and having to waste time shifting a manual gearbox. You can even see the tired front suspension having problems on the launch :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sWx-QWRrac
When the car is finished he will run straight into the 10's with a 50 shot of the nitrous system I'm building for him. Then when he has learnt how to drive the modified car and we have the steering and suspension set up I'll give him another 100 shot of gas to get him easily into the 9's with his Rover engine :)
Pel
You've got a fantastic crew of friends there, Pel! I REALLY like that EFI manifold on the SBC! It looks very nice, clean and pristine, with the cross over inlet bells. SWEET! Who makes it?
I'll ask him Roger. ....................................................................................
I've asked him now and he says he got the manifold on USA Ebay. Crossover Weber Manifold.
He says the ITB's were made by this guy FOX ENGINEERING CO. - HOME - WEBER EFI REPLACEMENT
The basic news from todays tear down is:
All con rod bearings worn to the copper, except the two that had vapourised and left nothing but a badly damaged journal and two wrecked rods.
All of the crank main bearings show galling marks, but the mains on the crank dont look more than just a little scuffed so they will polish up ok.
The big problem was that the crank was tight to turn even with all of the rods removed. So we removed the main caps as well and it was still tight, but with one loose spot in rotation. So I guess the crank is now bent or distorted in some way ?
Luckily one of the guys on site today had this problem before and he has a machine shop guy that corrected this for him on his engine. Apparently this guy took his crank and made it straight and then re ground it and balanced it as well for not much money. Then my mate had the crank cryo treated by another guy I know at 195 below in the UK. This is Andy at 195 below who cryo treated my original MGB drive shafts a while back. Believe it or not this made them twice as strong??
So there may be hope for the old Rover this year. Here is the worst con rod journal from two angles. In the second picture you can see a raised groove between where the shells would have sat :(
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Ouch.. I guess it could be worse somehow?
Perhaps there's a chance to do an offset grind and gain a touch of stroke? I am not familiar with the Rover engine.. but - just thinking out loud here!
Glad to hear that your mates got it out and identified the issues so now the healing can begin.
I hope this link works ??
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...81&pnref=story
sadly.. no!
Wow! I guess those strong shots of Happy Gas carry a price! Not doubting, but thinking of the forces required to bend a crank that's secured in the mains - that's some POWER, seems to me.
I'll try to get the video link working guys.
Its just a few seconds showing the crank running on the test rig with a dial gauge on the centre main journal. We didnt need the dial gauge to be honest? The crank is rotating 3mm out of true YIKES !!!
I now have to get a spare crank from a mate to drop it into the block to make sure the block is still straight, which will be lucky I think ?
So while I'm waiting to do more checking I have made a small start on the SBC build. Well, not so much build, but I have just found a really neat set of Mickey Thompson valve covers and a billet alternator bracket :)
Pel
That one works. Shame about the crank, I'll keep good thoughts that the block is ok.
I guess I didn't know that you could bend a casting. I would think that if the block saw enough force to push the limits it would crack vs deform?
Overtighten the intake bolts on a sbf and you can measure the distortion in the base pan rail.
The block needs to be "flexible" or it will crack. I'm certain PEL is beyond the limits but we'll see for sure now!
I know that the cast block is flexible and will deflect, but I wasn't aware that it would deform, with deflection becoming permanent.Quote:
Originally Posted by 34_40
I'm hoping for good things with the block :)
I will try to get off work early tomorrow to go and grab a spare crank so I can drop it in and see if it spins ok ?
If it doesnt I'll take the crank and block to my engine guy so he can check it to see if it can be line bored to make it work.
The block has showed no signs of water leakage or cracking anywhere which may be a good thing ?
Pel
A quick update!
Work has kept me from doing any checking. I have taken Thursday off this week as Gill and I will be going to the theatre to watch War Horse in London. So early on Thursday morning I will be dropping my block to the engine shop for proper checks to be done by my engine guy. I will also be collecting the SBC from him for my mates Slingshot so we can get that back together for the spring so I can run it on track while my buddy recovers from some surgery he is having next month. So at least I'll be on track for some fun this season :)
Results of the block testing to follow ??
Regards to you guys over there
Pel