Griff 500 Engine info anyone?

[Esprit]

Hi all. I'm in NewZealand and looking at importing a TVR Griffith 500 engine to use on a little project of mine (don't ask, it hurts my wallet when I'm forced to answer!)
What can I expect to pay for one secondhand etc? I'll be building it for the road and not using Cats (that sorta crud ain't needed over here).
What sorta things shoul dI look for for a good one? I'll either get a shigher mileage one and spend a few quid reconditioning her when she's over here or I'll spend a little more and get a fresh(ish) one... what's better a Serp or Pre Serp? Are the blocks the later cross-bolted rover type or do they just use the 2-bolt mains (SD1/Vitesse) spec block? Any word on which years to look for as being any better than any others? I'm currently saving up and it'll not be long before my wallet bursts open at the seams and I'll have to spend the cash on an engine

Your help much appreciated.

Cheers

George

[shpub]

Griff 500 engines are very sought after and expect to pay £3-4000 for a S/H one with the ancillaries. All of them will be catted. Go for the serp one which is the Range Rover block and probbaly as late a year as you can get.

[anonymous-user]

Hi George,
If you're thinking of bringing the Griff engine and your 7 together, you may want to research this further before buying anything. Having owned both a TR7V8 and a Griff, I can state that you would be up for some serious problems. Exhaust manifold, gearbox, chasis, and the 7's live rear axle to name but a few. I would stick with a locally sourced sd1 unit, and gradually tune it - much lighter on the wallet.
David

[Esprit]

Dod, yeah I am allying the 7 with the Griff 500. I'm not simply dropping it in either, it's as a part of a total rebuild that's if anything going to focus on chassis more than the engine. The TVR engine is expensive yes, but not as expensive as building a 5.0L Rover V8 over here. Getting a S/Hand griff engine's actually CHEAPER than building a similarly specced RV8 from a donor range rover engine and going from there..... unless I'm missing something here.
Theree's nothing wrong with running the live rear axle as I've seen 340bhp in racing TR7s go through that very same axle on the track and on the road with various TR7s and they've generally been a fantastic handling car. I'm an engineer and by nature love "improving" things and believe me it won't just be the engine.... this is more than just a flash in the pan... I'm building my baby!

[GreenV8S]

A stock 4.6 will be much easier to come by (and cheaper, I would have thought) although you would then have to find a lot of ancilliaries. But if you can scrounge these locally from and old engine, I think this would be a good option to consider. With stage III heads and ACT induction my 4.6 puts out similar power to a standard TVR 500.

[anonymous-user]

Sold???

www.pistonheads.com/ads/detail.asp?i=9872&sc=3WA9&s=7

[boosted ls1]

Esprit, look for a stock 4.6 crossbolted engine. Should cost £1400-2k. I have a TR7-V8 also and have in the past fitted it with 2.84 diff and twin turbo's. It was a 4.5 then became a 5.0. The 4.5 was a two bolt block. Neither engine needed to rev to make megapower. If you turbo a big capacity rover find some 1964 aluminium buick 300 heads. They have really big ports and 54cc combustion chambers. Your axle will be ok for road use. I pegged the tubes so they couldn't rotate and nothing ever broke except traction. I located the axle with an 'A' frame under the diff which was one of my best mods. The car corners flat now. Well it did when I last used it. Now it's got an LS1 lump and T56 sitting in it, just for fit. It fits a treat, maybe you should look west and use the LS1. Loads more potential and it may be quite cheap in Oz. If you look on my profile you will find some specs that might help you. I'm changing the axle and now have a Ford Thunderbird 8.8" item with lsd, discs and wheel sensors as standard (for my traction control).

Tr7's, Wow so much potential. You just have to realise it!

[apache]

give V8 Developments a call, they had a 5.3 lump with nitrous they had built for some nutter, apparently he was putting it in a Caterham too. If they can't source or supply one then they will have plenty of info for you, find em here.

www.oilypages.com/redirect.asp?nodeID=2970

>> Edited by apache on Friday 4th July 18:32