Rover V8 rebuild

[andys2]

I've just finished stripping a Rover V8 ready for rebulding and I'v got some unusual ( I think ) wear on the main bearing shells:-



Anybody care to comment on this? I don't think the engine has done many miles since the crank was re-ground, but does this wear mean it need doing again?
Also , the reason I got the engine cheap was that it had seized up, turns out the head gasket had blown and a couple of the bores had been full of water causing the rings to rust to the bores. The bores have cleaned up OK but I cant get a couple of the rings out of the pistons.

Any help appreciated.

Andy

[350zwelgje]

Looks like no oil big time to me.
And needs everything related to that to be redone.

Rob

[boosted ls1]

Looks like the caps have been fretting which is fairly common. Is that lucquer (can't spell that now) on the bearings? If so they got hot but didn't wear so maybe the clearance was to great? Hard to say from a pic. I'd take some crank measurements.

Boosted.

[350matt]

What sort of reves have you been using? As the the caps tend to shuffle around at anything over 5.5K. I'd recommend the use of a ARP stud kit which means you can tighten them up a bit more, then would mean a line bore with the new studs and higher torques tho'

Matt

[campbell]

Hi andy

those shells look to have some strange wear on them, if i were you and im sure you dont want to do this again for a long time, i would have the crank reground, may be balanced along with new pistons and rings, will the oridunal conrods stil be used?
also think about fitting [url]thishttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=31349&item=4524649898&rd=1[/url]
this is lots you could do to the engine when its appart but it all comes down to what you want to spend at the end of the day.

Good luck and enjoy putting it back togeather

Campbell

[russell_ram]

Andy,

that looks like standard VERY high mileage wear to me. Definately not lack of oil - bearings melt in a few minutes with no oil. Judging by the 'black' state of what I can see of the caps, that engine has never been apart. Who says the crank has been ground? What does it say on the back of the caps - they will have the siz e marked on them? This 're-built' motor had blown a head gasket and siezed - hmmm! suspicious.

Just my opinion.

Russ

[andys2]

OK here's the story on this engine. I was looking for a cheap V8 to strip and rebuild as a bit of practice for a V8 engine I'm planning to build to put in my Range Rover. I saw this advertised in the local free ads for £50, I went over to look at it and the bloke told me that he had bought it as a runner that had just been re-built. As it had been sat in his garden for over a year it looked a little worse for wear and would not turn over, so I offered him £40 as it was perfect for what I wanted it for. Plus it was a high compression type and it even had the later stiff block, at £40 I couldn't walk away!



As I stripped it down I discovered that the reason it would not turn over is that the head gasket looked like it had blown and one of the bores was full of water, causing the rings to rust to the bore. The rest of the engine was in remarkabley good condition, the valley is a nice light gold colour, no sludge, no visable wear on the cam or tappets, the rocker gear is clean and unmarked, the pistons look like new and are on the first oversize, a new set of rings and they will be fine, and honing marks still visable on all bores. I've cleaned the rust off of the bore and taken the block to a local engine shop for an acid bath and a hone, and they have assured me the remaining marks will hone out.
This is where I'm up to, I'm wondering if the crank was re-ground, badly, when it was rebored and this is what is causing the unusual wear. The engine shop have quoted me £85 to re-grind the crank, so I might just get it done to be on the safe side and put it all back together.
Will keep you posted.

Andy

[boosted ls1]

FYI, that's a very old rover, pre SD1 so it's probably had a very long life and they don't get regular oil changes.

Boosted.

[andys2]

Early 80's Range Rover Classic according to the engine number.



Acutally looks cleaner than the one in my 92 Range Rover!!

[boosted ls1]

Ah, looks like a stiff block that was fitted with an early pair of valve covers then. Wonder what the heads are from, have you looked closely at them?

Boosted.

[selbymsport]

A point of interest when rebuilding V8's to consider is the engine balance. When fitting new pistons or the crank is reground it alters the balance of the crank assembley. Everything that hangs on the crankpin needs to be weighed and taken into account for it to be dynamically corrected. A 7 gram error at 4inch radius can be close to 30 kilos at 6000 rpm playing havoc with the bearings. I can recommend a specialist to those who are interested.