Supercharging a high mileage engine?

[AceOfHearts]

What are peoples views on this?

I am still daydreaming of more power, but there are so many options it is very difficult to decide which is best to aim for.

I currently have a strong 400 (200bhp at the wheels) but it has 110,000 miles on it. It has never shown any sign of weakness and never uses any oil or water.

Overall my final goal would be between 350 and 400 bhp but I don't mind taking things in steps if need be. I don't know what is the best way to get to my end goal :/

If I was to get an engine built it would be by V8D, so maybe it would be a good idea to get a nice strong 4.6 built, see if I still want more power then look into supercharging it.

OR

I could go all out and get a 5.4 and leave it n/a

OR

I could supercharge my 4.0 and if it breaks get a 4.6 built for the charger.

OR

I could look at doing an engine swap (which really appeals but could end up a money pit

It is all a bit academic at the moment as it will be a while until I have enough money, but I like to dream and like the discussions. Also it is good to have something to aim for

[Alexdaredevils]

I could supercharge my 4.0 and if it breaks get a 4.6 built for the charger.

Gets my vote

I could look at doing an engine swap (which really appeals but could end up a money pit

Still might be cheaper than a new engine, Ecu, s/c kit uprated box and diff

[Mr Supercharged]

I had this dilemma too. But mine had just over 50,000 miles. I decided the supercharger route and stay at 4 litre. It's a nice short stroke and works well with the SC kit. I then bought a brand new (not reconditioned) 4 litre cross bolted P38 engine as a spare off ebay. That cost me £1500, that is my insurance policy. Staying 4 litre keeps the base unit as cheap as possible because everyone else wants to go larger. But the SC kit works well on this platform. Only my opinion.....cheers.

[Alun450]

I've seen Fatboychims 4.0 supercharged and it goes like st off a stick!
He'd be the first boy to ask!
You'll get the figures your after no worries.

[Alun450]

Excuse me Mr supercharged I didn't see your post,
Seems there's a few out there.
As the 4.0 spins up so well it seems a perfect marriage.

[AceOfHearts]

Good points about the 4.0 being a cheap base to work from

I should be spreading the costs and getting the car prepared before any big engine mods, which will help in the future. It already has a great condition and well set up chassis, brake upgrades and I plan on fitting an aftermarket ECU (fuel and spark) this summer. So hopefully it should just be ready for more power when I want it

I also thought about turbocharging and building a system myself (rather than the tvr power kit), but my daily driver is turbocharged and I'm not a fan of the power delivery or muted exhaust, plus a supercharger seems more in keeping with the car for some reason.

[alex_gray255]

Chas who comes to H&B meets usually in good weather has supercharged his Chim from memory.

[AceOfHearts]

Thanks Alex I will have to keep an eye out and bribe him for a spin in it

[450Nick]

Do a leak down test and give it a general check over - SCing the car isn't going to stress it that hard, and if it breaks then as you say you can just rebuild it. If you are planning on doing this though, I would get a blower sized for a 450 - it won't spin up as fast on a 4L, but it gives you expandability, otherwise a 4L one will run out of puff and you'll have to replace it at great expense... Mine's done around 75K miles, probably around 30k with a charger and its been fine. I am having it rebuilt at the moment though as it cracked a valve guide, and the crank bearings did need changing along with the oil pump and some other bits just from general wear and tear. So while it will probably work ok, it would be wise to rebuild for peace of mind in the future.

[QBee]

+1 for that - I did the other route, got a V8D 5 litre in place of my nice, free-revving 4 litre, and all in all spent about 7 grand. Lovely 300 bhp engine, loads of torque, but last time I was on the track with Fatboychim he was quicker than me, as is NickOrangeTVR, with an SC 4 litre making about 335 bhp. Talk to Andy, Nick, or Nick's dad Engineer 1949, for the lowdown on the likely issues and costs of going SC.

Once you decide on SC, you just need to do a compression and leakdown test to confirm your 4 litre lump is in good nick. Mine was at 73k.....

[fatboychim]

I fitted my supercharger at about 60k with exactly the same thoughts as you, if it breaks I'll chuck a bigger lump in. (TVR engineering ethos) Supercharging will only bring on any wear a bit quicker than it would have happened anyway. I checked the compression and then fitted the SC.
Six years later I'm still waiting for it to go pop, in fact I'm sourcing a 4.6 purely due to fancying a bit more oomph.
Nicks advice regarding the bigger blower is good, I have the smaller Rotrex unit and that will likely be the limiting factor on what I can achieve with the 4.6, so I may have to replace it or find some sort of work around by helping the breathing as much as I can.
The leak down test if you decided to do it will give you a reasonable idea as to the condition of your engine. Go for it and have some fun, it's also a pretty straight forward self install if you fancy saving some wonga that way.

[Mr Supercharged]

AceOfHearts said:

Good points about the 4.0 being a cheap base to work from

I should be spreading the costs and getting the car prepared before any big engine mods, which will help in the future. It already has a great condition and well set up chassis, brake upgrades and I plan on fitting an aftermarket ECU (fuel and spark) this summer. So hopefully it should just be ready for more power when I want it

I also thought about turbocharging and building a system myself (rather than the tvr power kit), but my daily driver is turbocharged and I'm not a fan of the power delivery or muted exhaust, plus a supercharger seems more in keeping with the car for some reason.

I think you need to decide what your end game is, fast road or a track day car? My 4 litre has had a few choice modifications that I have made to the basic SC kit and goes quite well. Wheel spin in the dry in 3rd at 70mph is surely fast enough for road applications isn't it?

[Bassfiend229hp]

Mr Supercharged said:

I think you need to decide what your end game is, fast road or a track day car? My 4 litre has had a few choice modifications that I have made to the basic SC kit and goes quite well. Wheel spin in the dry in 3rd at 70mph is surely fast enough for road applications isn't it?

i really must get over to see yours now that I'm "fixed"...

[ChimpOnGas]

fatboychim said:

I fitted my supercharger at about 60k with exactly the same thoughts as you, if it breaks I'll chuck a bigger lump in. Six years later I'm still waiting for it to go pop

That's very encouraging, so you started at 60k with the blower and six years have passed, so how many supercharged miles have you covered in total Andy?

[Engineer1949]

If you would like to see and have a run in nicks orange 4.0sc i have it for its mot plus a few bits i am just east of norwich so not to far to come.

John

[ChimpOnGas]

Engineer1949 said:

If you would like to see and have a run in nicks orange 4.0sc i have it for its mot plus a few bits i am just east of norwich so not to far to come.

John

I'm giving Old Gasbag a run up to Beccles next weekend, am I invited?

[Mr Supercharged]

Bassfiend229hp said:

Mr Supercharged said:

I think you need to decide what your end game is, fast road or a track day car? My 4 litre has had a few choice modifications that I have made to the basic SC kit and goes quite well. Wheel spin in the dry in 3rd at 70mph is surely fast enough for road applications isn't it?

i really must get over to see yours now that I'm "fixed"...

Sure, pop round. Car will be re-taxed on April fools day. Spent time today fitting the corrado wing mirrors. Wow what a difference they make. You can actually get a useful view from both mirrors now and they are so much better engineered than the citroen ones and look a lot better IMO.

[Bassfiend229hp]

Mr Supercharged said:

Bassfiend229hp said:

Mr Supercharged said:

I think you need to decide what your end game is, fast road or a track day car? My 4 litre has had a few choice modifications that I have made to the basic SC kit and goes quite well. Wheel spin in the dry in 3rd at 70mph is surely fast enough for road applications isn't it?

i really must get over to see yours now that I'm "fixed"...

Sure, pop round. Car will be re-taxed on April fools day. Spent time today fitting the corrado wing mirrors. Wow what a difference they make. You can actually get a useful view from both mirrors now and they are so much better engineered than the citroen ones and look a lot better IMO.

... done!

[l6rth]

I'm contemplating this to, john (tvrengineer1949) has just fitted gas golds and full re bush of my chassis good bloke clearly knows his stuff and sensible prices. I have 63k on the clock.

I know what a compression test is but what is a leak down test?

[AceOfHearts]

Engineer1949 said:

If you would like to see and have a run in nicks orange 4.0sc i have it for its mot plus a few bits i am just east of norwich so not to far to come.

John

John, that would be fantastic, I will send you a PM later

Lewis