Replacement/rebuilt engines -eg Powers Taraka and V8D 5l
Discussion
900T-R said:
Nah, that's just the way Yank engines were laid out. The Buick/Olds 215 was specifically conceived for the 1961 Buick Special and Olds F-85 compacts and after three model years it was ditched by GM in favour of thinwall iron cast blocks. It was only after its short OEM career that it was used as a boat engine, and it was in a boat shed that the Rover man who was trying to sell Land Rover engines for marine applications in the USA, found it...
When Rover took over the rights to the engine in 1965, GM sent one of the senior engineers who were responsible for developing the lump in the first place. Rover wanted to raise the rev limit (the original developed its peak power @ 4,600 rpm which was already on the high side by American standards) and the American was questioning why on Earth someone would want to do that. Allegedly, a short introduction to European driving habits by a Rover works test driver made him see the light...
Really enjoyed that. I have read that now you have provoked a few of my brain cells. When Rover took over the rights to the engine in 1965, GM sent one of the senior engineers who were responsible for developing the lump in the first place. Rover wanted to raise the rev limit (the original developed its peak power @ 4,600 rpm which was already on the high side by American standards) and the American was questioning why on Earth someone would want to do that. Allegedly, a short introduction to European driving habits by a Rover works test driver made him see the light...
We went out there selling but bought instead,,, maybe I should be American as I do love low revving plodders with loads of base power.
Very amusing the American technicians view on higher revving,,,
Classic Chim said:
maybe I should be American as I do love low revving plodders with loads of base power.
Very amusing the American technicians view on higher revving,,,
Bit OT but having spent a couple of weeks driving round Florida earlier this year, it was amazing how small all the cars looked when we got back home.Very amusing the American technicians view on higher revving,,,
Two most common 'cars' were the new shape Mustang (we were never more than 20 yards from one!), and Chevvy Suburban XLs.
Most of the latter were taxis! Most in 6.2L V8 spec naturally. It was quite surreal getting taxi'd to the airport in one of these:
A glance over the driver's shoulder at the digi-dash showed current average of 15mpg, with a lifetime best of 22
But when fuel is that cheap why bother with a smelly diesel when a 6.2L V8 petrol will do the job!
And yes I now want one badly. Makes our Range Rovers look a bit "junior-SUV"
I reckon it would be the ideal companion to my Chimaera- if the TVR ever broke down I could just fold the (million) rear seats down and stick in the back.
I bet American airmen based in the U.K. who all like to bring their own motors over just love our supermarket car parks
I want to be a Taxi driver then,,,,,,,
They say some commute a 100 miles to work ( don’t we all!) but it’s no big deal as they haven’t gone round one corner,,,
Couple of hours in your arm chair and waft into work.
You can judge a country by the quality of the average taxi maybe,,,
Skoda seems to be the choice round here
At least the Germans still use Mercedes
ETA I’ve just looked again,,,, the fooking wheel base on that. does it have an electric step up like a motor home. Awesome really 
I want to be a Taxi driver then,,,,,,,
They say some commute a 100 miles to work ( don’t we all!) but it’s no big deal as they haven’t gone round one corner,,,
Couple of hours in your arm chair and waft into work.
You can judge a country by the quality of the average taxi maybe,,,
Skoda seems to be the choice round here
At least the Germans still use Mercedes
ETA I’ve just looked again,,,, the fooking wheel base on that.
does it have an electric step up like a motor home. Awesome really Edited by Classic Chim on Thursday 21st June 12:24
Classic Chim said:
They say some commute a 100 miles to work ( don’t we all!) but it’s no big deal as they haven’t gone round one corner,,,
I did Naples across to Miami- check it out on Google maps it's basically a straight line. It's great hearing the Sat Nav say "continue straight for 157 miles" We had a Chrysler Pacifica - 3.2 V6 auto with cruise control. I reckon if I could have engaged the steering lock I could have slept on the way.
Similar again driving from Miami down to Key West- just one road the entire way- for 3 and half hours! Although we did encounter a couple of corners in that one.
Classic Chim said:
ETA I’ve just looked again,,,, the fooking wheel base on that. does it have an electric step up like a motor home. Awesome really
Ridiculous size. Can seat 9 (NINE) people in reasonable comfort - 6 or less is luxury. Bloody wide too- the space between the driver's seat & passenger seat could fit a small wardrobe... does it have an electric step up like a motor home. Awesome really Wouldn't want to park it outside a Tesco Express
A 5L V8d or power engine will give you the least amount of headaches in the long run. You can keep the original look and feel. Original ecu and dizzy, catalytic converter etc. Youll get something like 340-350 hp and the car will be a blast. Come sale time the cars will be MUCH easier to sell than a turbo/SC modded car.
I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
Classic Chim said:
I was reading up on Weslake engines recently and here’s a thing
Weslake produced a single cyl test engine that produced over 100 Bhp per litre in the mid sixties. Dan Gerney got involved and they built a 3.0 for F1 that produced over 400 hp, it was reputed to produce around 137 Bhp per litre. All in the head design basically. I then realised the little 500cc Weslake engines I raced on grass bikes as a youth produced about 60 hp which again is extremely powerful with the power to weight of a grassbike but then it did use Methanol fuel.
Did I read somewhere that the Buick was first designed to be used as a boat engine,,,
Makes sense why we have low hp but big grunt built in.
The Weslake heads on this F1 3.0 engine had multiple valves if my memory is correct!
Talking to a chap on the Dan Gurney Facebook page he mentioned Gurney got the sponsorship and people together to build this engine but sadly the tooling was poor and they never overcame a few reliability problems.
Fascinating
Interestingly the Wildcat heads have the Gurney-Weslake combustion chamber design and they fit the Rover V8 engine - see photo attached... Weslake produced a single cyl test engine that produced over 100 Bhp per litre in the mid sixties. Dan Gerney got involved and they built a 3.0 for F1 that produced over 400 hp, it was reputed to produce around 137 Bhp per litre. All in the head design basically. I then realised the little 500cc Weslake engines I raced on grass bikes as a youth produced about 60 hp which again is extremely powerful with the power to weight of a grassbike but then it did use Methanol fuel.
Did I read somewhere that the Buick was first designed to be used as a boat engine,,,
Makes sense why we have low hp but big grunt built in.
The Weslake heads on this F1 3.0 engine had multiple valves if my memory is correct!
Talking to a chap on the Dan Gurney Facebook page he mentioned Gurney got the sponsorship and people together to build this engine but sadly the tooling was poor and they never overcame a few reliability problems.
Fascinating
Unfortunately the article I read was from a screen shot, I could hardly read it.
Yes infact I think the idea dates way back to the 1020’s or so.
I’ll try and read up some more now I know this
Classic heart/ kidney shape
When I started out on the bikes I wanted a Weslake but could only get a 2 valve Jawa.
I assumed the Jawa being eastern European would not be as good.
It was brilliant for a club rider like me and very robust. I did two full seasons on it without rebuilding it too. That’s a lot of riding including practice,I always raced in the 500’s and unlimited so a lot of track time.
Ive never experienced anything like them since and those old engines were so fast coupled to a pushbike frame
I think the whole bike only weighed 110 kg or something like that.
A friend then sponsored me with a bike he built using a Mk 5 Weslake bottom end with a revised mk6 head, a real one off at the time, he was an ameature and something was amiss with oil ways I think. I just rode it. If that thing had worked for longer than 2 Laps I felt like I’d win every week on it it was so fast. Alas it cost me money as I entered a load of meetings but once you were flat out it fouled the plug. I neve4 finished a race but the power was extreme.
Finally before I bore the pants off you, I made the 500 final but had a puncture as I came over the line in the semi on my old Two valve,,, a top racer dragged out his other spare bike. A Jawa with a special engine,,, totally illegal and over 550 cc, stuck some numbers on it and was told to ride it,,, I was second off the line and held that position until lap 3 when my arms couldn’t hold on anymore. The guy leading owned the bike. I came 5th or something. That was the fastest bike I ever rode.
This is why I find the Weslake stories so fascinating, you have to experience them to respect those engines. Wonderful power.
Yes infact I think the idea dates way back to the 1020’s or so.
I’ll try and read up some more now I know this
Classic heart/ kidney shape
When I started out on the bikes I wanted a Weslake but could only get a 2 valve Jawa.
I assumed the Jawa being eastern European would not be as good.
It was brilliant for a club rider like me and very robust. I did two full seasons on it without rebuilding it too. That’s a lot of riding including practice,I always raced in the 500’s and unlimited so a lot of track time.
Ive never experienced anything like them since and those old engines were so fast coupled to a pushbike frame
I think the whole bike only weighed 110 kg or something like that.
A friend then sponsored me with a bike he built using a Mk 5 Weslake bottom end with a revised mk6 head, a real one off at the time, he was an ameature and something was amiss with oil ways I think. I just rode it. If that thing had worked for longer than 2 Laps I felt like I’d win every week on it it was so fast. Alas it cost me money as I entered a load of meetings but once you were flat out it fouled the plug. I neve4 finished a race but the power was extreme.
Finally before I bore the pants off you, I made the 500 final but had a puncture as I came over the line in the semi on my old Two valve,,, a top racer dragged out his other spare bike. A Jawa with a special engine,,, totally illegal and over 550 cc, stuck some numbers on it and was told to ride it,,, I was second off the line and held that position until lap 3 when my arms couldn’t hold on anymore. The guy leading owned the bike. I came 5th or something. That was the fastest bike I ever rode.
This is why I find the Weslake stories so fascinating, you have to experience them to respect those engines. Wonderful power.
OleVix said:
A 5L V8d or power engine will give you the least amount of headaches in the long run. You can keep the original look and feel. Original ecu and dizzy, catalytic converter etc. Youll get something like 340-350 hp and the car will be a blast. Come sale time the cars will be MUCH easier to sell than a turbo/SC modded car.
I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
Proviso on the V8D 5 litre - you will need stage 4 heads, which adds to the cost.I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
QBee said:
The standard 4 litre makes plenty of power for the public road in the UK...
Rubbish900T-R said:
Boggo 4 litre still on a par with a 4.3 litre Aston
More rubbish macdeb said:
PS: Anthoney, my 4.7 Aston V8 (420hp) returned 22mpg recently
That's probably because you're driving it like a girl OleVix said:
A 5L V8d or power engine will give you the least amount of headaches in the long run.
Ah, some sense
OleVix said:
You can keep the original look and feel. Original ecu and dizzy, catalytic converter etc. Youll get something like 340-350 hp..
Is that Norwegian hp Ole? Get a 4.6 and give it a blowjob. Anything else is just farting about.
I'm here all week.....
I, as many, have been through this same process of thought. What I can you tell though is, watch that 'power' thing as the idea of I'm CURRUPTS!
Consider what you want out of your car. If you've been happy with 220bhp, imagine how 300bhp is going to feel??? High 2's or low 300's is going to feel VERY fast in our cars.
At this kind of figure you'll be able to keep your car as OEM as possible.....i don't care what anyone says, OEM cars will always hold their value better and therefore more desirable should you wish to sell in the future.
With this thought in mind, I sent my 450 engine to v8d for one of their rebuilds and head work - thankfully my car already had factory BV heads, which saved valve cost. PLUS, I'm fitting a GEMS, which I think is keeping with the OEM theme.
I prefer the idea of 'improving' rather than reinventing our cars - well, that's how I see it.
Consider what you want out of your car. If you've been happy with 220bhp, imagine how 300bhp is going to feel??? High 2's or low 300's is going to feel VERY fast in our cars.
At this kind of figure you'll be able to keep your car as OEM as possible.....i don't care what anyone says, OEM cars will always hold their value better and therefore more desirable should you wish to sell in the future.
With this thought in mind, I sent my 450 engine to v8d for one of their rebuilds and head work - thankfully my car already had factory BV heads, which saved valve cost. PLUS, I'm fitting a GEMS, which I think is keeping with the OEM theme.
I prefer the idea of 'improving' rather than reinventing our cars - well, that's how I see it.
OleVix said:
A 5L V8d or power engine will give you the least amount of headaches in the long run. You can keep the original look and feel. Original ecu and dizzy, catalytic converter etc. Youll get something like 340-350 hp and the car will be a blast. Come sale time the cars will be MUCH easier to sell than a turbo/SC modded car.
I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
I have gone from a 4litr chim to a 4.6 upgrade and then turbo + I have gone from a 4 liter griff to a 5 liter v8d upgrade
Hmm, my 573hp/610lbft Chimeara turbo was probably the easiest car I've sold. Depends on car I suppose but then again that goes for N/A cars too. Then there are those who just want a bog standard car Those 'wildcats' look tasty
Edited by macdeb on Thursday 21st June 19:06
900T-R said:
Boggo 4 litre still on a par with a 4.3 litre Aston
More rubbish Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 21st June 20:33
900T-R said:
244 bhp/ton (and that's based on factory quoted kerb weight, likely to be less in reality), 4.8 0-60, 13ish 0-100. Not worlds apart from a healthy four-oh by any means...
Hear what you’re saying Eric but you’re quoting factory figures and making some assumptions. I’ve driven both in the real world.Edited by 900T-R on Thursday 21st June 20:33
baconsarney said:
Hear what you’re saying Eric but you’re quoting factory figures and making some assumptions. I’ve driven both in the real world.
Me too - ('t was a 4.7 N420 even); let's just say all perform commensurate with their respective power/weight and torque/weight figures, that is up until you get deep into triple figures. Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff