Head gasket replacement

[drew.h]

I am building a job list for the Chimaera, so assuming it is a head gasket that has gone, what should I replace/check at the same time?

1) Replace both gaskets or just the side that's at fault (if we can determine which)?
2) Valley gasket?
3) Manifolds off and pre cats out.
4) Starter motor

What else?

[paulathome]

New cam shaft?
New cam chain and sprocket?
Cam followers?
Clean injectors while its all in bits?
Gets expensive, how far do you want to go?
You would need new head gasket and valley gasket at least and valley gasket rubber end seals.
Plus exhaust manifold to head gasket. (decent metal ones)
Might be worth replacing fuel pipes behind head while access is easy.

Just a thought.
Cheers.
Paul

[blitzracing]

On the 3.9 pre serp heads, the stock head gasket was tin, and due to the way the head bolts are positioned they do start to leak over time, so they are both worth changing, but thats asumming TVR did not fit composite ones when they tuned the engine- I dont know for sure on that one. The latter heads had the offending bolts removed, and composite gaskets fitted as standard, so they dont fail as a matter of course like the tin ones. Lots of nice pictures on the RPI site.

http://www.v8engines.com/engine-4.htm#gaskets

Mark

[spend]

paulathome said:

Might be worth replacing fuel pipes behind head while access is easy.

Removing the air duct across the back of the engine and making it jointed was a good move in my book. It means that in future you can remove a section to work on the back of the engine, Leccy loom, petrol pipes... I also replaced mine with silicone as the original showed signs of chaffing.

Other jobs depend on whether you want to mod anything or just put it back together.

You will need more gaskets / seals than you have planned for. You might want to look at the lifter preloads (or not )

Its a good chance to paint the top chassis rails, replace / recover / ally tape over the wing insulation whilst the manifolds / heads are off.

When you see how much you have to bend the grille to get the plenum off, you will want to something about the trumpets I predict.

Unless you are sure of the spec of your engine I wouldn't order gaskets etc until you have stripped the engine and can see which versions you need. TVR have used comp gaskets, some even copper fire rings, early engines maybe better (trickier!) components and later ones more std LR so not knowing even your engine size never mind date its impossible to even guess.

You will probably want to drop the sump as well & give that a good clean out.

You will of course need lube & coolant, I would run a cheaper diesel oil with a short change to ensure its cleaned out afterwards if it was me. Don't forget suitable sealant for the plenum / trumpet base.

As has been said before, if its a 4.0 just put it back together, if its better there are plenty of modifications you can consider.

[drew.h]

I don't think I'll attempt the job myself, was hoping Dad would let me use his garage and tools, but unlikely (he knows he'd end up doing the work for me).

Decision now is do I use local mechanic (he's good but never worked on the Rover V8 before) or a specialist like TrackVRoad, although they are not exactly local. Any other suggestions near to the South Lake District?

[drew.h]

Just had a guestimate from a TVR specialist, around £1175 to £1410 for both sides with free collection.

Time to sell some junk on eBay I think.