Chim 500 going into TVR Power - what should I have done?

[jdharris]

Hi All,

Apparently one of my cylinders is moving in both the horizontal and vertical axis and apparently that's not good. Luckily the repairs are covered by Fernies excellent warranty but I'm now in a position that my car will be going to TVR Power in the new year and I have the opportunity to have some extra work done while the engine is in bits (it would be rude not to...)!

Fernies have suggested replacing all of the cylinder liners, rocker gear, cam, maybe some port grinding and open up the breathing... Question is, what do you guys think? Has anyone got any experience of any of these? I don't have a bottomless pit of cash but as the warranty will be covering taking the engine apart my costs will be limited to the renewals/upgrades (and the fitting). What do you think will be the most worthwhile?

Cheers in advance,
James

[thegman]

out of interest what symptoms did your car show that lead you to get the head off in the first place?

[jdharris]

Hi Gareth,

It started as a ticking noise about 2500 miles ago. It was very slight and changed with revs so I phoned Fernies and they reckoned it would be the exhaust gaskets which I could have fixed at the next service. No worries I thought. The ticking got louder in the last thousand miles (which I've done in the last 3 weeks) so I booked it in for it's service and upon listening to it that's when Fernies gave me the diagnosis. I would say the sound is definately more 'internal' than I would expect from an exhaust gasket.

Cheers
James

[OscarT]

Watch Out! - slippery slope ahead!

[crackedfinger]

Supercharger?

[JR]

crackedfinger said:

Supercharger?

Beat me to it.

[hiltonig]

Get top hat liners fitted, then after that its all about how much dosh u want t spend, me I would either go for the takara or the whole hog and charge it.

[adavy]

are you sure fernies will honour the warranty if they are not doing the work??

[David H]

Cam kit
Plenum insulator
Pre cats out
ACT induction with air filter
72mm Throttle
Emerald ECU (with mapped ignition obviously)

And all the other standard rebuild bit that you'll be getting anyway.

I think you'd get a very good increase in driveability (cam dependant), power and future proof for further mods with the airflow meter gone and widely available ECU mapping.

ETA: Just re-read your post and realised that you probably don't want to go this far. Got a bit carried away.

Edited by David H on Thursday 6th December 21:36

[jdharris]

OscarT said:

Watch Out! - slippery slope ahead!

Indeed - it's going to be a struggle to stop! All it was in for was a service and a straight-thru on the silencer...

crackedfinger said:

Supercharger?

I actually spoke to the power guys about this at Rockingham this summer. They were quoting around £4K which is a bit much but they were guaranteeing a 100bhp power increase out of the box! Tempting but not this time...

hiltonig said:

Get top hat liners fitted, then after that its all about how much dosh u want t spend, me I would either go for the takara or the whole hog and charge it.

Sorry for being a bit thick but what are top hat liners and why should I get them over regular cylinder liners?

adavy said:

are you sure fernies will honour the warranty if they are not doing the work??

Yes - it's actually Fernies who are sending the car to TVR Power - apparently they send all their major engine work there. Good to know. On a slight tangent, when I dropped the car off on Monday morning, they had someone's AJPV8 in the back of their van - apparently an oil pipe had gone and even when the driver saw the smoke he didn't bother to pull over. You can guess the rest. Poor chap.

David H said:

ETA: Just re-read your post and realised that you probably don't want to go this far. Got a bit carried away.

I think you already said it... I'm thinking that £1.5K might be about my budget... Not sure what's involved in the full Takara and I'm not too fussed about going all out on tuning and new ECUs. What I'd like is to get the mechanicals freshened up and running 'better than new' before upgrading things that haven't worn out (e.g ECU) if that makes sense. I'll happily consider upgraded components (e.g. a better cam) but I drive it a lot in traffic so don't want to lose drivability in the conquest for power.

Thanks so far for your suggestions though - it really is going to be a dilemma!

James

[hiltonig]

There you go jd

http://www.v8developments.co.uk/liners.htm

[cmr2payne]

Taraka Link

Taraka ;-) Picking mine up tomorrow ;-)

[Philr]

Yes it is a very slippery slope !

.....having done some mods when my cam was a bit poorly and needed to be replaced :

- ACT trumptets in the plenum
- pre-cat removal
- ACT basic induction + filter

This would be a nice relatively cheap starter and probably wouldn't need an ECU remap......I'm sure others will comment here.

On top of this you could upgrade the cam and in particular get the overly heavy springs replaced. It may be that once the engine is in bits other things are noticed that should be addressed (eg toothless cogs ...).
At this point you might be looking for an ECU remap which will up the costs.

By now I was getting around 330 lb torque and 330+ BHP, but the low down revs were a little rough.....

The last thing I have had done was to get the ignition mapped.

Now looking at 336 lb torque and 330+ BHP, so not intended as a top end power increase but Torque at 2000rpm is up from just over 100 to just short of 300 now and low revs are much smoother.
Boy does it move now !

Down side is not too much MPG....but then that is where I was when the cam needed sorting.

[jdharris]

Thanks for the links and info all - certainly given me plenty to think about. Full taraka treatment is fairly pricey - may leave that for another day! I think I'll have a chat with the guys at Power and see what they recommend. I think you're right to suggest waiting to see what it's like once they have the engine in bits. I'll probably get have an initial chat and then wait to see what NEEDS doing before discussing what I WANT to be done...

Can't believe I'm being almost sensible about this... Though the supercharger is tempting...

[im]

jdharris said:

Can't believe I'm being almost sensible about this... Though the supercharger is tempting...

...Do it...Do it now...you've never seen the horizon rush towards you so fast...but get re-inforced underwear cos if you ever 'lose it'...well...

[coetzeeh]

jdharris said:

Hi Gareth,

It started as a ticking noise about 2500 miles ago. It was very slight and changed with revs so I phoned Fernies and they reckoned it would be the exhaust gaskets which I could have fixed at the next service. No worries I thought. The ticking got louder in the last thousand miles (which I've done in the last 3 weeks) so I booked it in for it's service and upon listening to it that's when Fernies gave me the diagnosis. I would say the sound is definately more 'internal' than I would expect from an exhaust gasket.

Cheers
James

I am not going to argue with the experts at Fernies, but a ticking noise suggests a worn camshaft.

[jdharris]

Maybe it's my fault for not explaining the noise poperly... Wouldn't be the first time! When the engine comes apart I'm going to get them to check everything anyway so hopefully they'll be able to tell me if anything else needs replacing.

Cheers,
James

[OscarT]

I think I would have the engine rebuilt under warranty toa high standard - see how you get on with it when it's run in BEFORE considering any upgrades such as Supercharging, etc.

That way if it goes 'tits-up' again there will be no 'debate' about responsibility. I would imagine if you 'upgrade' it your warranty will then cease.

OscarT

[Bomber Denton]

Stuff the Taraka.

Megasquirt to tame a 404 cam, ACT induction, trumpets etc - cheaper and better results.