What was the original specification of the 390SE engine
Discussion
shpub said:
cuneus said:
combine said:
Does anyone know if the factory racer is still going and who has it ?
Yes it is http://www.theseacpages.co.uk/racer.aspxThere is a fairly long piece on the 390SE racer (including the engines) written by Roop on that page
Wedg1e said:
shpub said:
Actually Andy Rouse didn't build the AR engines... they were subcontracted out to John Eales.
Aye, sorry, I was referring to the original spec dreamed up by Rouse... the one he allegedly charged TVR a huge amount for that they did or didn't pay depending on who you ask. The version I heard years back (from a learned source 
) was that Rouse built one engine (tested by John Kent? Roop would know), Wheeler shat himself at the cost and they looked for a cheaper option. Perhaps they handed the engine to JE and said 'copy this, but make it work'. Perhaps Mr. Eales proposed his own, repeatable specification.Whichever, as you say, the actual spec varies from full-on engineering masterpiece to (almost) wipe with an oily rag...
cuneus said:
combine said:
Does anyone know if the factory racer is still going and who has it ?
Yes it is http://www.theseacpages.co.uk/racer.aspxCatching this thread a bit late but being the anorak that i am i thought i would add fuel to the fire.
I think Andy Rouse built (or certainly had his initials on) about the first 20 or so 390 engines, the changover to J.E being around end of 1985 start of ,86. Engine in mine is marked A.R.E. 18. Hope thats of some vague interest at 10 o'clock at night, if not 'I'll get me coat' !!!
I think Andy Rouse built (or certainly had his initials on) about the first 20 or so 390 engines, the changover to J.E being around end of 1985 start of ,86. Engine in mine is marked A.R.E. 18. Hope thats of some vague interest at 10 o'clock at night, if not 'I'll get me coat' !!!
What is your chassis no.
My 390 - Oct '85 is chassis SA9DH35P5FB019477 and the engine no is JE 1060.
The factory registered the car with a 3498cc capacity but with the correct engine number.
I was told that the car was delivered late because some of the engine parts weren't available. I was later told that the car was the first of the admitted John Eales engines and the 17th 390SE.
Later on in its life it went into NCK who did some work on the engine (extra porting, oil feed to the distributor drive etc.), they showed me a dyno readout of 256bhp and said that to get much above that the car would be undrivable because the cam would have to be extra-wild.
The porting is pretty extreme, I had to make gaskets out of copper sheets because the standard Rover ones didn't have enough meat on them when enlarged for the ports, the valley gasket has to have extra clearence for the inlet ports.
The pistons are stamped Cosworth on the bottom.
The car is pretty docile at low revs, pulls well and is able to pootle happily in 5th at 20 mph, at this speed pickup is slow but above 5000 revs it gets a bit frantic. NCK said the engine was good for 7000 revs without a problem - this is not a cross-bolted block.
Russ
My 390 - Oct '85 is chassis SA9DH35P5FB019477 and the engine no is JE 1060.
The factory registered the car with a 3498cc capacity but with the correct engine number.
I was told that the car was delivered late because some of the engine parts weren't available. I was later told that the car was the first of the admitted John Eales engines and the 17th 390SE.
Later on in its life it went into NCK who did some work on the engine (extra porting, oil feed to the distributor drive etc.), they showed me a dyno readout of 256bhp and said that to get much above that the car would be undrivable because the cam would have to be extra-wild.
The porting is pretty extreme, I had to make gaskets out of copper sheets because the standard Rover ones didn't have enough meat on them when enlarged for the ports, the valley gasket has to have extra clearence for the inlet ports.
The pistons are stamped Cosworth on the bottom.
The car is pretty docile at low revs, pulls well and is able to pootle happily in 5th at 20 mph, at this speed pickup is slow but above 5000 revs it gets a bit frantic. NCK said the engine was good for 7000 revs without a problem - this is not a cross-bolted block.
Russ
I've just been in the garage and looked up the chassis and engine number of my car.
They are:- chassis SA9DH35P3JB019316 and engine number NCK079.
Mine was registered August 1988
How do TVR's chassis numbers work then, slight difference in the letters before the final number but my number is approx 150 lower than CO's car which was registered three years before! I would have thought it would have been the other way round.
They are:- chassis SA9DH35P3JB019316 and engine number NCK079.
Mine was registered August 1988
How do TVR's chassis numbers work then, slight difference in the letters before the final number but my number is approx 150 lower than CO's car which was registered three years before! I would have thought it would have been the other way round.
pjtvr said:
How do TVR's chassis numbers work then, slight difference in the letters before the final number but my number is approx 150 lower than CO's car which was registered three years before! I would have thought it would have been the other way round.
The chassis numbers are sequential but the cars were not always registered in that order. Your car was built in 1988 because the letter after PI, for petrol injection, is J for 1988. My second 350i was ...PIG19560 and was built in 1986. The 560 was the 560th car that they built in that year.Edited because I was half asleep earlier.
Edited by JR on Tuesday 5th January 17:23
Just for comparison
My NCK 400SE was 245 calculated Engine BHP by Mark Adams,
The 420SE engine I rebuilt to blueprint. was 289 BHP, this should be the same spec as a 390 but just a 4.2
My Experimental Race Engine based on a 3.9 Landrover from ebay, with a fast roads camshaft and correct pre-load set, running emerald and ECU and coil packs. was 240 BHP with 98 ron and 230 BHP with 95, so should expect a 390 should be at-least 240.
My NCK 400SE was 245 calculated Engine BHP by Mark Adams,
The 420SE engine I rebuilt to blueprint. was 289 BHP, this should be the same spec as a 390 but just a 4.2
My Experimental Race Engine based on a 3.9 Landrover from ebay, with a fast roads camshaft and correct pre-load set, running emerald and ECU and coil packs. was 240 BHP with 98 ron and 230 BHP with 95, so should expect a 390 should be at-least 240.
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