Getting a new engine put in

[Ballsy]

My engines currently sittin in a few hundred bits due to the fact it went 'bang' and few months back, it should be getting a new engine under the warrenty (well not a new one but another one) i was wondering if its aneasy conversion from the 4.2 to the 4.5 becuase i thinking of asking the guy thats doing the work if he could drop the 4.5 in instead!! If its a straight swap then i might aswell have the bigger one put in, do you think it'l affect the price when i come to sell it?

Thanks

[caduceus]

Ballsy said:

do you think it'l affect the price when i come to sell it?

Thanks

In a word, yes.
Anything other than what the car is supposed to be (NOT including tasteful upgrades) is potentially suspicious come selling time.

I'd stick with the 4.2 IMHO.

Cad

[gazzab]

caduceus said:

Ballsy said:

do you think it'l affect the price when i come to sell it?

Thanks

In a word, yes.
Anything other than what the car is supposed to be (NOT including tasteful upgrades) is potentially suspicious come selling time.

I'd stick with the 4.2 IMHO.

Cad

Agree with your view on this albeit rebuilding a 4.2 with a 4.5 bottom end etc is an attractive purchase option.

[jensena]

I've had a 4.2 and a 4.5 - In Standard form the 4.2 is the better car in my opinion, engine is a lot revvier and responsive.
With the 4.5 you need to spend a grand to make it faster than the 4.2.

[Ballsy]

jensena said:

I've had a 4.2 and a 4.5 - In Standard form the 4.2 is the better car in my opinion, engine is a lot revvier and responsive.
With the 4.5 you need to spend a grand to make it faster than the 4.2.

I thought (reading the reports and posts on here) that the 4.5 was faster than the 4.2??? Are you sayin that from standard the 4.3 is faster than the 4.5?

caduceus said:

Ballsy said:

do you think it'l affect the price when i come to sell it?

Thanks

In a word, yes.
Anything other than what the car is supposed to be (NOT including tasteful upgrades) is potentially suspicious come selling time.

I'd stick with the 4.2 IMHO.

Cad

Whats suspicious about gettin a car with a 4.2 instead of a 4.5? considering the fact both will probably come with no previous history since both the engines would be comming from a breaker or where ever the warrenty company buys it from. All the history i got with the car reguarding the engine is worth bugger all now and might as well chuck it in the bucket

[Julian64]

little know fact that when the 4.2 first came out it had an option for a built in vanity kit in the drivers side pocket. In TVR circles it was called the girly kit.

Later on when they realised women weren't buying the car in big enough numbers it was scrapped and therefore cannot be found on the later 4.5 version cars.

[FUBAR]

Julian64 said:

little know fact that when the 4.2 first came out it had an option for a built in vanity kit in the drivers side pocket. In TVR circles it was called the girly kit.

Later on when they realised women weren't buying the car in big enough numbers it was scrapped and therefore cannot be found on the later 4.5 version cars.

.........and again

[TooTall Paul]

I may be wrong, but weren't they all the same bottom ends (except early models), wasn't it just a different bore size. The 4.2 inlet manifolds must be better than the 4.5 rubber items, (except for diameter), So wouldn't that make for a good combination ???

[jonnyw]

Paul,

That is what Andy at APM is building for me, polished and fully sorted 4.2 top end with the 4.2 inlets etc and a 4.5 bottom end with billetted crank etc..oulet manifolds are 4.5 to let the air out. It was only the heads that survived the 12,000 rpm explosion at Goodwood.

On the basis the 4.2 with theses heads was producing 370 bhp in 3rd at Surrey Rolling Road, without the standard ECU, then I am expecting something quite special!

I chose this route as I wanted to know what the engine had done as a total rebuild isn't far off a second hand motor which has most probably come from a shunted Cerb and has probably done about 30,000 in any case (needing a rebuild in another 30k). Issue is what is it's history, did the car turnover etc..unless you look inside you wont know and the only come with a 31 day guarantee at best.

Jonny

Edited by jonnyw on Monday 2nd October 19:57

[TooTall Paul]

I think the heads are exactly the same too

[jonnyw]

Just crank and sleeves then

[johnbear]

How on earth did you get 12,000 rpm? I didn't think the value springs would respond fast enough at that speed.

[TJW]

did you accidently put it in 1st at 90 or something?

[jonnyw]

Followed a Davrian down Lavant in practice for the sprint there, is in excess of 8000 rpm started to brake, Davrian had spilled its guts about 150 metres before the bend. Back tyres didn't bite and the throttles stayed open and with no resistance as I changed down the engine revved and the air going through the bodies kept the butterflies open.

I was wrestling the car so hard that I had to hold on the steering wheel and couldn't press the kill switch.

Finally did a 720 degree pirouet and got hold of it again to drive on to the grass on the left before the chicane.

Crank snapped in three, pistons split in half and rods through both sides of the block.

Saving grace was that the chain did'nt snap and stopped the cams so only one valve was damaged.Chain was pretty stretched!!!!

Andy McGloughlin of APM has it for another rebuild, it's going to have more than 3 springs pulling back on the throttle bar this time!!

[TooTall Paul]

jonnyw said:

Just crank and sleeves then

Do you know what Diameter the 4.2 inlets are Jonny

[TJW]

42/43mm I think, 45mm are the 4.5.... or was the 4.5's 48mm?

[gazzab]

jonnyw said:

Andy McGloughlin of APM stuff

Saw your car back at Andys on Sat for another rebuild. Shame you had the throttle stick etc.....
Poor old Andy - I popped in to say hello as I was driving past on Saturday. The poor bloke got me for 45 min talking TVR balls etc.... The man is the god of cerbs.

[jonnyw]

Gazzab,

Andy had all the remaining parts sorted out from stock in Blackpool ready to send and then someone packed the box containing my pistons into one of the containers for the factory move! He's got someone climbing through all the containers trying to relocate it!

all the best

Jonny

[Julian64]

jonnyw said:

Followed a Davrian down Lavant in practice for the sprint there, is in excess of 8000 rpm started to brake, Davrian had spilled its guts about 150 metres before the bend. Back tyres didn't bite and the throttles stayed open and with no resistance as I changed down the engine revved and the air going through the bodies kept the butterflies open.

Don't understand this. I can understand the fact that if you are unlucky enough to have both springs break on the same journey that there will be nothing pulling the throttles back to closed.

But the idea that high air flow though the butterflies keeps them open can't work as half the butterfly would be pushed closed with high airflow and the other half open, so the net effect would be nought.

Surely its more likely in the heat of the manouver that you inadvertantly put your foot to the floor?

[jonnyw]

Not at all, throttles stuck open, accelerator pedal was on the floor. It used to happen to the Tuscan Racers where the butterfly just goes over centre, they have lots of springs on theirs now. Big Springs infact.