430 Engine Specification

[Gary11]

After purchasing my 430BV and riffling through the history I noted although basically the same car as a 400 the 430 was significantly more expensive than the 400 (At some £2600 the original buyer specced both a 400 and the 430 at the main agent)This presupposes that the "Extra" cost must be engine related has anyone got a description of the actual internal differences between the 400-430?
G

[Alun450]

Can't answer I'm afraid but I was very close to buying a 430 BV so will be very interested in the facts!

I had a chap with Dom at Powers once and he said there not all the same, some had heads gas flowed and big Valves other just the valves etc! I was confused which is not hard for me so I stayed away from the car but still think about the darn thing.

I hope someone on here really knows what makes a proper 4.3 BV and can tell us all!

[nickb134]

Hi Have to agree with alun450. Mine is a factory BV. I am not sure whats inside, I think the only way to be sure is to strip the engine and look/measure. Mine does not have the "extra" range rover sender. It does go very well and keeps up with 5.0 litre chims/griffs on the road. It does rev very cleanly and picks up quicker than the 4.5/5.0 litre ones. Mine is quite lumpy on idle but gets going above 3K so driving round town is best done in 1st/2nd

[A900ss]

I'm not trying to say who has a BV and who hasn't but I thought the 430BV was very rare and most 430’s have regular valves.

Reading PH it seems that most people who own a 430 say it is a BV.

have I made a mistake and all 430’s are actually BV's?

PS - this is NOT a dig at any 430 owner just a genuine question and I'd like to know the answer

[Gary11]

nickb134 said:

Hi Have to agree with alun450. Mine is a factory BV. I am not sure whats inside, I think the only way to be sure is to strip the engine and look/measure. Mine does not have the "extra" range rover sender. It does go very well and keeps up with 5.0 litre chims/griffs on the road. It does rev very cleanly and picks up quicker than the 4.5/5.0 litre ones. Mine is quite lumpy on idle but gets going above 3K so driving round town is best done in 1st/2nd

Well I've just sold my 500 and whilst quicker mid range It didn't feel much quicker than the 430 which IMO is definitely revvier and much quicker in real terms than a 400,I had a few struggles with normal cars in the 400 even a diesel Audi giving it a real hard time once we got going,in respect of the 430 though this "Feel" is not borne out in BHP figures.I have yet to give it the beans so will hold judgement.Its so sweet its not going to get stripped anytime soon,hopefully it wont suffer the 500 cam issues.The only visual confirmation I can find is BV written on the ECU in black marker pen!! Proper TVR.
NB
I understand there were only 12 or so produced with only 5 now on the road,however even a STD 430 is a rare beast.

Edited by Gary11 on Tuesday 31st December 14:56

[nickb134]

I have a factory build sheet for mine (whatever that means) I think the only way to be 100% certain is to take it to bits and look/measure. When I spoke to Dom at power and showed him my dyno curves he did say it was likely to be. NB only "likely". Quite a lot were dealer modified too just to confuse things.

[Alun450]

A900ss that's what I thought too!

These bloody BV's are an enigma, its why I want one.

I'm sure if you trapped Dom in his office and waited long enough he'd just about remember all the variants and you can go from there.

Surely someone's pulled one apart!

Rare rare beast and full of character.

The Big valves could just be the 4.6 ones but don't quote me on that!

I'm sure the cranks lightened but again that might have been in a dream.

[wuckfitracing]

I also think the only way to tell is pull the engine apart. I may whip my heads off to have a lookie lookie shortly, its not a difficult job.That will satisfy my curiosity and finally confirm whats inside. Ive SORNed it today after a final blast this morning. Had loads of fun with a VXR thingy up and down the bypass. Twitched a little on the roundabouts in the rain, when I say a little I couldnt get the power down because it was wheelspinning in 4th.
I have never driven a 5.0 litre so I dont know how fast they are, but myself and various mates all from racing backgrounds say its one of the fastest rover V8,s they have driven.

[Alun450]

Yeah the BV I looked at the guy had a little fear in his eyes when he said how fast it was, he had about 12 Tvrs for sale at any time!

I didn't like the look of the riggers so didn't even drive it! What's a set of riggers!!!!

Something about the secrecy of the cool damn things that had me but I hadn't found Pistonheads so bottled it.

I think the 430BV is the coolest of the lot.

Now we have engine builders and better tech doing wonders the 430 is not so advanced now but still they have a real spirit about them that's intoxicating mainly because of all the mystery.

[nickb134]

Hi gary11 just had a look at my ecu and it has BV written on the cover in black marker. Never noticed before lol
Perhaps we should have a very exclusive 430 fest sometime. It would be good to compare with others.
They do seem to be a bit of an enigma, though I suspect the grifters will know more about the 430. Dare we go to the dark side to ask??

[loud430]

hopefully spend will be along at some point, he's pretty clued up on the 430's.

[900T-R]

A900ss said:

I'm not trying to say who has a BV and who hasn't but I thought the 430BV was very rare and most 430’s have regular valves.

Reading PH it seems that most people who own a 430 say it is a BV.

have I made a mistake and all 430’s are actually BV's?

PS - this is NOT a dig at any 430 owner just a genuine question and I'd like to know the answer

There may have been a couple of BV's out there that weren't specified as such, but by and large you can assume that a 430 is just that - ported heads, standard sized valves. The porting on mine was quite elaborate, but the valves were the std sizes. Apparently there were 12 genuine factory BVs built, plus the ones that
'accidentally' left the factory as such and the ones that were converted at a later date.

Why well over half of the 430s on here and quite a few in the classifieds are referred to as BVs (even when they have the just the standard 430 badge on the plenum)... I don't know.

The only way to be sure without stripping down the complete engine is to remove the intake manifold and valley gasket and look for 'REC' (Race Engine Components, the supplier of the 43/37 mm valves) stamped in the valve heads...

[A900ss]

Thanks.

So that kind of confirms my initial thoughts.

[spend]

900T-R said:

The only way to be sure without stripping down the complete engine is to remove the intake manifold and valley gasket and look for 'REC' (Race Engine Components, the supplier of the 43/37 mm valves) stamped in the valve heads...

WTF?

The stamping is on the stems under the collets, removing manifold & valley gasket won't get you anywhere...

REC also make plenty of valves, so could be the RV8 big valves not the TVR ultra big valves & the REC is easy to read but the number is much fainter..... So you just need to do the valve spring removal with heads in-situ procedure (heartily advised because 430 head Gasket replacement is a can of worms BV or not they were all o-ringed).

[spend]

AFIK 430 & 430BV bottom ends are the same, just reworked LR4.2 lumps. All have the piston valve relief cut outs done & are probably a little better balanced & blue printed that the stock 400's. High lift cams were installed in all versions. All heads had o-rings fitted to the gasket face and shortened bulleted valve guides added, double valve springs, and a reasonable level of porting (there is a lot of st casting just left in standard heads). The BV variants in addition have larger valve seats inserted (cut old ones out, ream head out & insert new seat then cut to valve & blend head casting). Then the woolly bit is in the BV porting ~ size & shape of inlet & exhaust ports + 3d inside seems to vary a fair bit which is no surprise really as we see pretty much the same variations on the 500 BV heads as well, whether development / cost restraints / operatives over time I don't know.

Even though there were only a few Chim 430BV's from the factory, there are several which were upgraded by dealers (at POS or as later mods?), and possibly others. Don't overlook that there are many more Griff 430's +BV's as well, and the engine was just a 'component' which could be fitted in either model. I wouldn't be surprised if there were chims with engines (+ecus) fitted from written off Griff BV's...

[loud430]

also after speaking to Darren(retrowheels) it might be worth checking your engine numbers as it seems there are a few 4.3's that are 4.5's, after getting my build sheet from him it shows mine was ordered with a 4.5 engine upgrade, when he started going through his build sheet records it showed tvr central ordered a few all in the same month. that's what he found up to date, he was going to keep looking to see just how many were ordered with the 4.5. just to add a bit more intrigue to the murky waters...

[nickb134]

spend said:

WTF?

The stamping is on the stems under the collets, removing manifold & valley gasket won't get you anywhere...

REC also make plenty of valves, so could be the RV8 big valves not the TVR ultra big valves & the REC is easy to read but the number is much fainter..... So you just need to do the valve spring removal with heads in-situ procedure (heartily advised because 430 head Gasket replacement is a can of worms BV or not they were all o-ringed).

Hi Spend
Good info thanks, a couple of technical questions if I may. Are the heads o ringed and fitted with a gasket or is it just an o ring for each cylinder and no gasket.
Is replacement best left to a specialist or is DIY possible if you are experienced.

[Alun450]

Merky waters! Tougher than a Ruth Rendall Mystery. I'm loving this thread.

[SILICONEKID346HP]

Why are people so bothered about factory engine specs ? Rolling road it ,that should tell you what you need to know .

Are they 270hp ? we have moved on getting more like 350hp.

[carsy]

nickb134 said:

Hi Spend
Good info thanks, a couple of technical questions if I may. Are the heads o ringed and fitted with a gasket or is it just an o ring for each cylinder and no gasket.
Is replacement best left to a specialist or is DIY possible if you are experienced.

The heads are ringed and fitted with copper head gaskets. I have rebuilt mine with Elring composite head gaskets leaving the rings in the heads and no issues.