NCK engine numbers, 390se, 350se, 400se???
Discussion
hi all, i have an nck engine in my wedge which started life as a 1984 350i, i had assumed it was an early nck3905 engine from a 390se as the log book states 3905cc. this i thought was great news because the early 3905 motors are supposed to be the most trick, special, high revving and most powerful of the 3.9s and 4.0s. however no i am having doubts because my engine is number 175
what it actually says is (37A40 N.C.K. 175) and as there were only around 120 390se cars made maybe my engine 175 isn't one of those after all.
looking at the rimmer bros engine number page the 37A part is tvr, and the 37A40P**** is down as chimaera so i don't think that can be right, i don't think nck were doing engines as late as the chimaeras.
37A**** is down as a tvr 350i so it could have been a 3.5 engine destined for an early wedge rebored by nck which is what i understood the nck engines were anyway.
37A50p*** is down as a griff/chim 5.0 so that makes me wonder if 37A40 without the 'P' before the numbers could be a 4.0, pre griff/chim so a 4.0 wedge???
so can anyone who has or has had a 4.0 wedge, a 400se tell me what their engines numbers are and if they have that code and if they have the nck number? the more 3.9 and 4.0 engine numbers the better so i can try to work out what mine is without stripping down an engine than runs perfectly just to see what is inside. am starting to think it is most likely a 400se engine so if you 400 owners could tell me the FULL engine number start to finished of everything stamped on the block and also the year of your car, that would be a real help, cheers
what it actually says is (37A40 N.C.K. 175) and as there were only around 120 390se cars made maybe my engine 175 isn't one of those after all.
looking at the rimmer bros engine number page the 37A part is tvr, and the 37A40P**** is down as chimaera so i don't think that can be right, i don't think nck were doing engines as late as the chimaeras.
37A**** is down as a tvr 350i so it could have been a 3.5 engine destined for an early wedge rebored by nck which is what i understood the nck engines were anyway.
37A50p*** is down as a griff/chim 5.0 so that makes me wonder if 37A40 without the 'P' before the numbers could be a 4.0, pre griff/chim so a 4.0 wedge???
so can anyone who has or has had a 4.0 wedge, a 400se tell me what their engines numbers are and if they have that code and if they have the nck number? the more 3.9 and 4.0 engine numbers the better so i can try to work out what mine is without stripping down an engine than runs perfectly just to see what is inside. am starting to think it is most likely a 400se engine so if you 400 owners could tell me the FULL engine number start to finished of everything stamped on the block and also the year of your car, that would be a real help, cheers
Hi mate
Not sure as regards to the NCK but the early disco 1 engine/SD1...37A series has the number stamped on the N/S block near the dipstick..Then the later 4.0 had it on the front of the engine near the pulley but could also have it on the N/S...And then some can have it stamped near the back of the plenum, The front and N/S as the early block was fitted with a new top engine...TVR were also making 3.9 engines for Morgan in around 1990-91..Which also were used in Chimaera I believe...
Its all very confusing...
Not sure as regards to the NCK but the early disco 1 engine/SD1...37A series has the number stamped on the N/S block near the dipstick..Then the later 4.0 had it on the front of the engine near the pulley but could also have it on the N/S...And then some can have it stamped near the back of the plenum, The front and N/S as the early block was fitted with a new top engine...TVR were also making 3.9 engines for Morgan in around 1990-91..Which also were used in Chimaera I believe...
Its all very confusing...
drak ula said:
hi all, i have an nck engine in my wedge which started life as a 1984 350i, i had assumed it was an early nck3905 engine from a 390se as the log book states 3905cc. this i thought was great news because the early 3905 motors are supposed to be the most trick, special, high revving and most powerful of the 3.9s and 4.0s. however no i am having doubts because my engine is number 175
what it actually says is (37A40 N.C.K. 175) and as there were only around 120 390se cars made maybe my engine 175 isn't one of those after all.
looking at the rimmer bros engine number page the 37A part is tvr, and the 37A40P**** is down as chimaera so i don't think that can be right, i don't think nck were doing engines as late as the chimaeras.
37A**** is down as a tvr 350i so it could have been a 3.5 engine destined for an early wedge rebored by nck which is what i understood the nck engines were anyway.
37A50p*** is down as a griff/chim 5.0 so that makes me wonder if 37A40 without the 'P' before the numbers could be a 4.0, pre griff/chim so a 4.0 wedge???
so can anyone who has or has had a 4.0 wedge, a 400se tell me what their engines numbers are and if they have that code and if they have the nck number? the more 3.9 and 4.0 engine numbers the better so i can try to work out what mine is without stripping down an engine than runs perfectly just to see what is inside. am starting to think it is most likely a 400se engine so if you 400 owners could tell me the FULL engine number start to finished of everything stamped on the block and also the year of your car, that would be a real help, cheers
The 1988 F-plate 390SE (so one of the last) that was on ebay recently, had the engine number NCK96. I would say that 175 would be well into 400SE territory...what it actually says is (37A40 N.C.K. 175) and as there were only around 120 390se cars made maybe my engine 175 isn't one of those after all.
looking at the rimmer bros engine number page the 37A part is tvr, and the 37A40P**** is down as chimaera so i don't think that can be right, i don't think nck were doing engines as late as the chimaeras.
37A**** is down as a tvr 350i so it could have been a 3.5 engine destined for an early wedge rebored by nck which is what i understood the nck engines were anyway.
37A50p*** is down as a griff/chim 5.0 so that makes me wonder if 37A40 without the 'P' before the numbers could be a 4.0, pre griff/chim so a 4.0 wedge???
so can anyone who has or has had a 4.0 wedge, a 400se tell me what their engines numbers are and if they have that code and if they have the nck number? the more 3.9 and 4.0 engine numbers the better so i can try to work out what mine is without stripping down an engine than runs perfectly just to see what is inside. am starting to think it is most likely a 400se engine so if you 400 owners could tell me the FULL engine number start to finished of everything stamped on the block and also the year of your car, that would be a real help, cheers
thanks wedged up, that is the highest/closest to mine so far so now seems certain mine came from a 400se or at least that it is post 390se! would love to find someone with a higher number than mine in similar format (i.e. not an eales engine or seac etc) to confirm that the 400se went as high as my number 175 but my understanding is that they made a couple of hundred of them compared to only a hundred-120 of the 390se. cheers
wedged up said:
And it's an F reg 400se.
thanks again ian, yes i already had you down ;-) before i posted asking for help i had spent a few hours yesterday trawling through old ph posts trying to find numbers, and had made a little list and you are about half way down at 45, managed to get to nck79 in an 88 390se car, but as i explained in the post, the combination of seeing previous posts of yours and you web page with the pic of the side by side inlet ports... plus the fact that there were only supposed to be 120 or so 390se cars.... got me thinking that the owner before last who had the car when the engine was changed must have just put the wrong cc down on the v5 when he informed dvla of the change. the correct engine number is on the v5 and i traced him on ph back when i bought the car in march and he told me that not long after he bought the car about 15 years ago i think, the original engine died, and rt racing sold him and installed the present engine.... complete with the efi... but it didn't right right, he then went for the holley carb (new) and it still didn't run right, he then took it to v8 developments who sorted it and according to him (mike billington) they rebuilt it (though he couldn't give me precise details or to what spec... and nor could v8dev's when i called them though they remembered the car and confirmed sorting it), so anyway because mike had bothered to correct the v5 and update the engine number i had assumed the cc he put down to be correct and therefore it was a 3905 390se engine, now it seems clear he got the cc wrong and it seems most likely it is a late 400se engine.
that means doing a whole lot more research to find out what spec they were supposed to be as i have been researching only the 3905 up til now.
you being the oracle of nck might be able to help. i know from reading and talking to you before online that the 3905 was a bored out 3.5 and supposed to be stronger for it, rather than using the later 3.9/4.0 rover blocks. i also understand the porting on the 400s was less extreme than in your 390...
so if you can tell me more about the 400 compared to the 390 i would be interested, i assume it also has a hot cam? same cam as 390?
high compression but maybe not as high as the 390? what should the compression be on a late 400se? should it have double valve springs?
solid or hydraulic tappets?
forged pistons? flat top or recessed rover ones?
would you expect peak power to be as high up the rev range or at least the power to last as high up the rev range as for a 390se or lower?
i suppose i will never know for sure what i have without taking it apart but i don't want to do that for now as it is running really well and although rebuilt by v8dev's quite a few years ago it was only a few thousand miles ago! maybe 4000 miles!
as you can see from 'wedged up' on this post, his car is an 88 400se and has nck133 so i reckon mine must be from a later 400se than his at nck175. cheers.
i
that means doing a whole lot more research to find out what spec they were supposed to be as i have been researching only the 3905 up til now.
you being the oracle of nck might be able to help. i know from reading and talking to you before online that the 3905 was a bored out 3.5 and supposed to be stronger for it, rather than using the later 3.9/4.0 rover blocks. i also understand the porting on the 400s was less extreme than in your 390...
so if you can tell me more about the 400 compared to the 390 i would be interested, i assume it also has a hot cam? same cam as 390?
high compression but maybe not as high as the 390? what should the compression be on a late 400se? should it have double valve springs?
solid or hydraulic tappets?
forged pistons? flat top or recessed rover ones?
would you expect peak power to be as high up the rev range or at least the power to last as high up the rev range as for a 390se or lower?
i suppose i will never know for sure what i have without taking it apart but i don't want to do that for now as it is running really well and although rebuilt by v8dev's quite a few years ago it was only a few thousand miles ago! maybe 4000 miles!
as you can see from 'wedged up' on this post, his car is an 88 400se and has nck133 so i reckon mine must be from a later 400se than his at nck175. cheers.
i
Wedg1e said:
Mine's NCK45, 390SE first registered September 1987.
leslie, brilliant to hear from you, thanks so much for contributing, you are the first to tell me of a number higher than mine and that it is also a 400se means i am now convinced beyond doubt my engine is from a 400se, as i have yours a 219 and leigh's at 142 9'89 400se, and mine right between the two at 175. mystery solved. would you mind posting a picture of how it looks on the engine block so i can see if it is in the same format as mine, it seems the early ones like ian's 390'87 390se only had the nck number and no rover numbers or letters at all, just "N.C.K.045" for example, whereas mine has the start of the rover code from whatever rover engine it started as before nck got their hands on it
"37A40 N.C.K 175"
thanks again.
"37A40 N.C.K 175"
thanks again.
Lesliehedley said:
My 400SE is February 1990 and NCK219.
if you are talking about mine rather than one of the helpful contributors to this post, i never said mine was a 1984 390se car, as i said all along, mine is a 1984 car that started life as a standard 350i.
the owner before last who owned the car from around 2003, killed the 3.5 engine and bought the current nck engine from rt racing, the engine was later rebuilt by v8 dev's.
the car is a 1984 car. the engine is nck175 there is no question about that. i have even posted the engine number above and a photo of it!
the confusion came because the owner before last who owned the car when the engine was changed (ph-er mtb) had informed the dvla of the engine change as the correct / current engine number is on my v5 and was on the previous v5, but the cc was down as 3905 it was THAT which made me think it was a 390 engine as they were the nck3905 motors. however as it turns out the just got the cc wrong and it is a 400se (so probably 3948cc unless bored bigger since leaving tvr) engine in a 1985 car ;-)
the owner before last who owned the car from around 2003, killed the 3.5 engine and bought the current nck engine from rt racing, the engine was later rebuilt by v8 dev's.
the car is a 1984 car. the engine is nck175 there is no question about that. i have even posted the engine number above and a photo of it!
the confusion came because the owner before last who owned the car when the engine was changed (ph-er mtb) had informed the dvla of the engine change as the correct / current engine number is on my v5 and was on the previous v5, but the cc was down as 3905 it was THAT which made me think it was a 390 engine as they were the nck3905 motors. however as it turns out the just got the cc wrong and it is a 400se (so probably 3948cc unless bored bigger since leaving tvr) engine in a 1985 car ;-)
TVRMs said:
Doubt if the original engine in a 1984 390SE would have been an NCK engine. Much of the machining etc. could well have been done by NCK, but would have thought Rouse or Eales?
drak ula said:
if you are talking about mine rather than one of the helpful contributors to this post, i never said mine was a 1984 390se car, as i said all along, mine is a 1984 car that started life as a standard 350i.
the owner before last who owned the car from around 2003, killed the 3.5 engine and bought the current nck engine from rt racing, the engine was later rebuilt by v8 dev's.
the car is a 1984 car. the engine is nck175 there is no question about that. i have even posted the engine number above and a photo of it!
the confusion came because the owner before last who owned the car when the engine was changed (ph-er mtb) had informed the dvla of the engine change as the correct / current engine number is on my v5 and was on the previous v5, but the cc was down as 3905 it was THAT which made me think it was a 390 engine as they were the nck3905 motors. however as it turns out the just got the cc wrong and it is a 400se (so probably 3948cc unless bored bigger since leaving tvr) engine in a 1985 car ;-)
Apologies, picked you up wrong. That'll teach me to half read posts..the owner before last who owned the car from around 2003, killed the 3.5 engine and bought the current nck engine from rt racing, the engine was later rebuilt by v8 dev's.
the car is a 1984 car. the engine is nck175 there is no question about that. i have even posted the engine number above and a photo of it!
the confusion came because the owner before last who owned the car when the engine was changed (ph-er mtb) had informed the dvla of the engine change as the correct / current engine number is on my v5 and was on the previous v5, but the cc was down as 3905 it was THAT which made me think it was a 390 engine as they were the nck3905 motors. however as it turns out the just got the cc wrong and it is a 400se (so probably 3948cc unless bored bigger since leaving tvr) engine in a 1985 car ;-)
TVRMs said:
Doubt if the original engine in a 1984 390SE would have been an NCK engine. Much of the machining etc. could well have been done by NCK, but would have thought Rouse or Eales?
I lent my Graham Robson book out some years ago and never got it back 
so not sure why I 'know' this but I believe there were 103 390SEs, of which 'about 10%' were actually 420SEs (owners with even deeper pockets), making a likely production of 90-93 390SEs.
Now my engine being 45 in mid-87 and the last of the 390SEs being 1989 (I think, anyone got a later one?) should tally with however many 390SEs Robson says were made post-87, but as I say I can't check.
That would give you a starting point for the first 400SE engine numbers (assuming NCK only built RV8s for TVR and I don't know that to be true either, I'd suspect not
).
so not sure why I 'know' this but I believe there were 103 390SEs, of which 'about 10%' were actually 420SEs (owners with even deeper pockets), making a likely production of 90-93 390SEs.Now my engine being 45 in mid-87 and the last of the 390SEs being 1989 (I think, anyone got a later one?) should tally with however many 390SEs Robson says were made post-87, but as I say I can't check.
That would give you a starting point for the first 400SE engine numbers (assuming NCK only built RV8s for TVR and I don't know that to be true either, I'd suspect not
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