Low Budget Tuning
Discussion
I've followed the threads on supercharging and the like but at over £5000 that's well over 50% of the value of my old banger (tongue firmly in cheek) and beyond my reach. I was wondering though whether there might be a cheaper way to add or restore performance?
With 49,000 miles on the clock I wonder if the old girl has lost some of her ooomph compared to when new. General wear, cams etc must surely have taken their toll. What's the most effective way of assessing any such losses and restoring them, short of an engine rebuild?
Moving on a step is it worth looking at a chip/cam/rr session? How much might one expect to spend with say, Mark Adams and for what gains? More than a couple of thousand and the supercharger starts looking more attractive (I still can't afford it).
Or. Sell the 4.0 and buy a 5.0?
Or. Live with what I have? Perhaps I've just got used to it. Most other things still seem to be going backwards by comparison.
With 49,000 miles on the clock I wonder if the old girl has lost some of her ooomph compared to when new. General wear, cams etc must surely have taken their toll. What's the most effective way of assessing any such losses and restoring them, short of an engine rebuild?
Moving on a step is it worth looking at a chip/cam/rr session? How much might one expect to spend with say, Mark Adams and for what gains? More than a couple of thousand and the supercharger starts looking more attractive (I still can't afford it).
Or. Sell the 4.0 and buy a 5.0?
Or. Live with what I have? Perhaps I've just got used to it. Most other things still seem to be going backwards by comparison.
Cheap ways of assessing if it has lost performance - take it to the Pod? 
Or a rolling road session might be more conclusive - should be quite cheap to just have a run and not go for any remapping fiddling unless it needs it.
As for cheap significant improvements in performance, have you considered... nitrous?
Or a rolling road session might be more conclusive - should be quite cheap to just have a run and not go for any remapping fiddling unless it needs it.
As for cheap significant improvements in performance, have you considered... nitrous?
Cut 20mm off plenum trumpets (or blend the base witout trumpets) - free (diy)
Plenum thermal isolator plate - £30-£40
Silicone pipe from AFM to plenum = £30
wrap your intake ducting in heat resistand material
Clean and re-oil air filter - free
replace spare with tyre foam
Get some good tyres - just fitted toyo t1Rs in lower profile and its a transformation
Just some easy BHP ideas... apart from the foam and the tyres they dont give much bhp
Plenum thermal isolator plate - £30-£40
Silicone pipe from AFM to plenum = £30
wrap your intake ducting in heat resistand material
Clean and re-oil air filter - free
replace spare with tyre foam
Get some good tyres - just fitted toyo t1Rs in lower profile and its a transformation
Just some easy BHP ideas... apart from the foam and the tyres they dont give much bhp
A rolling road session to optimise timing, air flow meter CO trim and fuel pressure if necessary is a good starting point, as is keeping the plugs in good condition and cleaning the air filter. A typical 3 hours on the rollers might cost £180. A RR session will show how healthy your car's output is and whether there are any issues which need addressing. None of the above constitutes modification (in my book) so your insurance should be happy. You could then look at giving TVR Power a call and seeing if they have a modified fuel chip off the shelf for your engine - though you'd probably want to get the car back on the rollers afterwards to check everything again. Best of all get the car up to TVR Power and let them select a chip for your car on their rollers and check things over all in one go. Their chips are about £80 each.
In short, make sure it's all working as it should before changing anything.
In short, make sure it's all working as it should before changing anything.
Edited by Griffter on Tuesday 7th November 13:35
I don't know what engine you have in your car but I found the replacement cam on my 4.0l and rolling road session gained me loads of usable power even though I didn't go mad and just fitted the MC1 cam from V8 developments.
Why not drop into the Herts & Beds meet later this month and speak to other owners about the best bang for bucks.
Why not drop into the Herts & Beds meet later this month and speak to other owners about the best bang for bucks.
Griffter said:
A rolling road session to optimise timing, air flow meter CO trim and fuel pressure if necessary is a good starting point, as is keeping the plugs in good condition and cleaning the air flow meter. A typical 3 hours on the rollers might cost £180. A RR session will show how healthy your car's output is and whether there are any issues which need addressing. None of the above constitutes modification (in my book) so your insurance should be happy. You could then look at giving TVR Power a call and seeing if they have a modified fuel chip off the shelf for your engine - though you'd probably want to get the car back on the rollers afterwards to check everything again. Best of all get the car up to TVR Power and let them select a chip for your car on their rollers and check things over all in one go. Their chips are about £80 each.
In short, make sure it's all working as it should before changing anything.
In short, make sure it's all working as it should before changing anything.
What he said. I spent about £200 on 2 sessions on a RR, a new set of plugs & plug leads & general cleaning and adjustment and the bloke found me another 20bhp, as well as it definitely feeling like it drove better.
Mark at Racing Developments in Milton Keynes. Nice bloke.
-JUT- said:
derbygreg said:
Cut 20mm off plenum trumpets (or blend the base witout trumpets) - free (diy)
Plenum thermal isolator plate - £30-£40
Plenum thermal isolator plate - £30-£40
Explanation for the ignorant please - what do the above mods do?
The isolator plate is to reduce the transfer of heat from the engine to the plenum. When the plenum heats up it heats air up going into the engine too. Hot air = less dense = less power
RV8 TVR's are particularly bad for being hot under the bonnet! However, I'd be interested in the theory of trumpet mod too, assume its an airflow thing...?
The plenum trumpets are standard Rover 3.5. It has been said that there is a benifit to reducing thier height to allow greater airflow over the top of them. 20-30mm is about the norm. If you check the ACT ones they are shorter... Blending the base is the extreme version of this - removing the trumpets and smooting the edges of the holes - similar to a well known 500 upgrade... but probably a bit extreme for a 4.0
derbygreg said:
the isolator plate also effectivly increases the length of the manifold which influences performance. I THINK its an increase in torque... somone correct me...?
Sounds like a worthwhile mod for the price then... anybody got pics and/or part numbers for it?
EDIT: Assume this is it?
www.magnaparva.com/catalog.html
Edited by -JUT- on Thursday 9th November 00:54
Although my car is a 5.0 i found the elbow and insulator gave about 10 bhp/10ft/lb.
the insulators are available from member trackcar, send him an email. His website is down at the moment.
he was also talking about the elbow too, so he may have these in now?
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0&memberId=48965
the insulators are available from member trackcar, send him an email. His website is down at the moment.
he was also talking about the elbow too, so he may have these in now?
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=0&memberId=48965
Edited by old64er on Thursday 9th November 19:49
You can do a diy insulator out of cork gasket material. Its only about 2-3mm thick, but a lot better than nothing, and is dead easy to cut with a sharp knife. A nice man on Ebay sell the stuff by the roll. Check the width on this particular link before you order it. I tried various material sheets for heat transfer and this cork was the best insulator for its cost.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Synthetic-Cork-
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Synthetic-Cork-
poorpeet said:
Re the plenum chamber mod. how do you remove the trumpets from the body of the chamber?
I guess you need to cut the base rather than the to which I assume is flared?
or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
I guess you need to cut the base rather than the to which I assume is flared?
or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
RV8 plenums r us...
www.mez.co.uk/ms12.html
The blended base is about 1/3 way down...
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff