What can I do to my V8?

[Matty Boy]

Hi,

What would be the first thing to improve performance on the stock V8? K&N filter plus an induction kit? The reason why I say this is that I am on a resonably strict(ish) budget. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

M

[number 7]

There are all sorts of things you can do depending on the depth of your pockets: uprated cam, big-valve heads, plenum/throttle body mods, coupled with tweaking of the AFM/ECU to cope. But you don't say what size/spec engine you have or what its in?

7.

[badredwedge]

You could fill it up with that Tesco 99 rocket fuel, so long as your south of Watford

[firefox1712]

Why not leave it as it is? Keeping it original contributes greatly to its value in the long run. I should know!!!!!!!

JJ

[jmorgan]

Plenum insulator 60 odd squids.

[grahamw48]

Matty Boy said:

Hi, What would be the first thing to improve performance on the stock V8? K&N filter plus an induction kit? The reason why I say this is that I am on a resonably strict(ish) budget. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, M

You need more info' on your profile, then people can be more helpful.

[badredwedge]

badredwedge said:

You could fill it up with that Tesco 99 rocket fuel, so long as your south of Watford

Just looked at your profile Mat Your north of the ice barrier like me so Tesco 99 is not an option

[Matty Boy]

Sorry, didn't put in enough specifics - I have a 1988 350i with a stock V8 in it, I'm just looking to get it to sound as sweet as possible. I've just got the hood redone and it looks fantastic! If anybody is looking to get their hood redone in the south then Chris at Northolt Trimming is your man.

[wedg1e]

jmorgan said:

Plenum insulator 60 odd squids.

I think we can do better than that

[dickieandjulie]

Matty

I would recommend and Mark Adams chip with road tune, forgot to look at your profile but if down south then Austec are good. Mine was around £700 but what a difference.

Would you mind telling me the cost of your hood? Email me privately if you prefer re the hood and I can let you know what I had done/cost etc.

Richard

[Matty Boy]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the info. very kind of you.

In regards to the hood - mine was in a sorry sorry state! Chris has a background in vehicle hoods spanning over 3 decades, he used to work for Rolls Royce and made and fitted the hoods to the old corniches. Put it this way, he had a Jensen Interceptor, a 2 year old DB-9 and a fleet of nearly new Aston Martins that he was retrimming for some 'well to do' customers. He has totally replaced the rear section of the hood in Mohair(used to be double duck, but as we know that shrinks!) and replaced the rear screen. The comments so far have been that it is superior to what TVR themselves can do! TVR would have charged £450 ecl.vat..............Chris charged me £180 - it really is that good Richard, if I get some time I'll take some pics of it. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to pursue this, he's also retrimming the whole interior for me just after Christmas, it will look the nuts afterwards!

Cheers,

Matt

[rev-erend]

Where is he based - that's a good price.

Talking of tuning - I would recommend getting the car up to scratch
first. New plugs, leads, dizzy cap & arm, Air filter, timing etc..

I think most TVR's have a K & N as standard.

Tuning always costs a lot and the gains are usually small - so on a small budget it will not be easy.

A can of injector cleaner (the type that needs 1/2 bottle rather than a small amount) or new injectors could be worth while.

I found a source in the US which is much cheaper that the £600 that UK suppliers want : £200 for a set of Boshe red tops (see : Range Rover Discovery 3.9, 4.0, 4.2 $288 )
www.fiveomotorsport.com/Injector_SetsENGLAND.asp

Everytime you change something - in theory it will need re-mapping.

Not cheap.

Talk a look around :
www.djev8.com/

www.v8developments.co.uk/products.htm

www.tvrpower.co.uk/

What a lot of these will not tell you is that sometimes it's just
easier to buy the next model up or fit a large engine.

Pistolar fitted a 5.0 TVR to his 350i but I'm sure it cost him
plenty to do and and he probably recouped very of his investment.

But he will probably need to have the permanent grin surgically removed at some point.



>> Edited by rev-erend on Friday 11th November 10:08

>> Edited by rev-erend on Friday 11th November 10:09

[Matty Boy]

Hi Alan,

He's based in Iver, Berkshire. I paid him £250 and he did the hood, retrimmed the pillars and sorted out a few other bits and pieces - it really is fantastic, can't see anyone else doing better, fantastic guy too. His number Alan is 01753 654033.

Thanks for the info. by the way, I'm just going to leave it for the time being. I've just had the service done, had a new oil pressure switch, new coolant sender and had the tie-bars put back into shape. I know that ideally it is better to get them replaced but on further research I know that people in the know have bent them back into shape and had no problems from then on - finger crossed! The chassis as a whole is in good nick but the sills need taking off and there needs to be a minor tidy up. It is a work in progress but I got the car for £3000 knowing that quite alot of work needs doing - the guy just ran out of time. The bill file is huge and is right from day one! I'll get the pics up as soon as I get a bit of spare time.

Cheers,

Matt

Matt

[number 7]

rev-erend said:

I found a source in the US which is much cheaper that the £600 that UK suppliers want : £200 for a set of Boshe red tops (see : Range Rover Discovery 3.9, 4.0, 4.2 $288 ) www.fiveomotorsport.com/Injector_SetsENGLAND.asp >> Edited by rev-erend on Friday 11th November 10:08 >> Edited by rev-erend on Friday 11th November 10:09

An alternative might be to have the existing grey tops checked/refurbed and then up the fuel pressure with an adjustable regulator - as long as you don't go mad with the pressure of course. I don't know what the absolute limit is with the standard injectors, but you can get at least 300 real hp using them - and for most wedges that gives quite a bit of scope.

7.

[chassis 33]

dickieandjulie said:

Matty I would recommend and Mark Adams chip with road tune, forgot to look at your profile but if down south then Austec are good. Mine was around £700 but what a difference.

The Austec chips etc are Mark Adams' work.

Regards
Iain