Chim Conversion - 5 litre engine

[JazzyZ]

I have been driving my 4.0 Chimaera for about 4 years now. Its been great, with not much trouble !

I have been wanting to either:

a) Buy a second hand 5.0 litre engine, and put the engine into my 4.0 Chimaera

b) Buy the upgrate kit and just upgrade my Chim to 5.0 litre.

I prefer to go for Option a). If I Does anyone know where to get the second hand engine from? How much is the average price of 2nd hand 5.0 litre engine of Chim?

And if I am to opt for Option b), which pisons / conrod / valve springs / cam shall I buy? And what else do I need to buy in order to upgrade my 4.0 Chim to 5.0 Chim? How much would these parts cost? What is the average cost of such conversions? (without labour charges)

It would be great if you would give me some input.

[350Matt]

Why not just chop yours in for a 5 ltr?
Otherwise keep an eye on the classifieds and ebay for a complete 5 ltr lump, or you can buy one out of a crashed car from bell hill garage for about 3.5K I think.
Otherwise its a lot of block machining to put top hat liners in, long stroke crank, new pistons (Think the rods are the same) plus head work to get some reasonable airflow in and either a 5ltr inlet manifold or an ACT one all of which won't leave much change from 3K if you build it yourself either but at least you know its all shiny new.

Oh and don't forget to uprate the clutch and the brakes.....

Matt

[spend]

Not sure how to read Matts 'chop in' comment? Second reading I guess it was the swap complete car?

Swapping engines is best I reckon. As he says it is a lot of quite expensive work to upgrade the engine bit by bit. Just buy a 5.0 complete and then sell your 4.0 complete, the offsetting of cost makes it quite reasonable. If you can find a modded writeoff all the better

But having said that, Joo seemed to have a problem selling his 4.0. I guess Serps are much more desirable SH?

Dave

[JazzyZ]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for your guidance. I can't sell off mine and buy a 5.0 Chim - I live in Malaysia and there aren't any 5.0 Chims around. Even if I ship one from the U.K, I would end up paying 200% tax on a 5.0 Chim !!!!

So its going to cost 3k pounds for 5.0 Chim upgrade huh...I will definately consider this option!!

[GreenV8S]

Be prepared for knock-on effects on the clutch, gearbox, diff, back axle, suspension, brakes. In my experience these costs can outweigh the initial engine work. I don't know where you stand with the insurance out there but in the UK this would be quite an issue - it's *much* easier and cheaper to insure a standard 500 than a 4.0 that has been converted to similar power levels. If you have the option, trading for a standard 500 is the sensible option. Next would be swapping the engine (and clutch) from a 500, gearbox too if you get the chance. Least favourite (unless you're an experienced engine builder) would be rebuilding your existing 4.0 as a 5.0 engine. I don't know how difficult / expensive it would be to get an engine shipped to you, but a new 4.6 short engine is likely to be far better value for money than trying to buy all the parts to make a 500 and then rebuilding the old engine. A second hand 500 engine may be similar cost or perhaps cheaper than a new 4.6, but is an unknown quantity.

Edited by GreenV8S on Saturday 29th September 14:29

[spend]

GreenV8S said:

..but a new 4.6 short engine is likely to be far better value for money than trying to buy all the parts to make a 500 and then rebuilding the old engine. A second hand 500 engine may be similar cost or perhaps cheaper than a new 4.6, but is an unknown quantity.

Problem is if you want to bring it up to spec breathing wise..., the BV plenum, tbase, inlet, heads, pocketed pistons, cam ... gets to cost around £2k IIRC. These are all bundled in with a 500 (possibly with 450 - but risky).

Dave

[GreenV8S]

spend said:

GreenV8S said:

..but a new 4.6 short engine is likely to be far better value for money than trying to buy all the parts to make a 500 and then rebuilding the old engine. A second hand 500 engine may be similar cost or perhaps cheaper than a new 4.6, but is an unknown quantity.

Problem is if you want to bring it up to spec breathing wise..., the BV plenum, tbase, inlet, heads, pocketed pistons, cam ... gets to cost around £2k IIRC. These are all bundled in with a 500 (possibly with 450 - but risky).

Dave

That all gets you about 25 bhp, and you need to look at the bang-per-buck to decide whether that's good value for money. IMO a new stock 4.6 represents an extremely cost effective upgrade from a 4.0. You don't get quite the same power and torque as a 500 but you aren't far off, and it's a brand new engine costing *far* less than a brand new 500. Second hand engines will be cheaper of course but then you're taking a gamble on the state of the engine and even best case you know it has a reduced life expectancy.

[spend]

Hmm, I would be surprised if a TVR 4.0 topend bolted on to a vanilla 4.6 short engine (inherent rover auto mud plugger cam?) would make any more power? The chap is also in Malaysia, so a crated solution would be sensible IMHO.

Dave

[GreenV8S]

spend said:

Hmm, I would be surprised if a TVR 4.0 topend bolted on to a vanilla 4.6 short engine (inherent rover auto mud plugger cam?) would make any more power? The chap is also in Malaysia, so a crated solution would be sensible IMHO.

Dave

You would get it with the right cam, of course, and you'd specify that it was for a pre-serpentine front cover. It's up to you whether you get a new top end with your new engine or stick with what you have, but if you're getting just the short engine you would get it built to achieve the right CR with your heads. When I say buy a stock 4.6 I don't mean take an engine off the Landrover production line, I mean buy from V8D or one of the various other specialists who will build a 4.6 for you using the standard commonly available parts.

[JazzyZ]

Spend,

Yeah, I think what 350Matt meant was that I swap 4.0 Chim for 5.0 Chim. That would be a good option, if I have not been spending much money on maintaining my 4.0 Chim but I really have spent a lot of money to keep my 4.0 Chim in tip top condition! Swapping my 4.0 Chim for a 5.0 Chim would be a tough choice even if I live in England with my 4.0 Chim....

[JazzyZ]

GreenV8S

Thanks for your very good advice. You really know your stuff!!! I am okay to take on some risks with the second hand 5.0 engine. I will try to find the 2nd hand engine & see if I can get it cheap.

Although many Chims were produced in Malaysia, there are only twenty 4.0 Chims on the road, with no 5.0 Chims around!! I just have to see if I can get a good second hand engine from the U.K....

[winston lai]

Hi JazzyZ

This is Winston from Hong Kong. In my opinion, it is a lot easier to pop a 5ltr engine in then mess about with bore out your existing engine to 5ltr in Malaysia. As to finding the engines, it all depends how much you are willing to spend. You can get a new one from the like of V8 Development in the UK. They even do a 5.2ltr race engine. One of my fellow Chim owner here had that. However, it is not very reliable and spare part takes 6 months to be made and shipped out. Very rough and does not suit city traffic. The big end went after 2 and a half years. Now he just has a standard 5ltr in.
The other choice is to get a second hand one from breakers. Bell garage is a good place as mention above but there are risk involved.
May I ask how you get by your Chim in Malaysia. Did you buy it brand new? The reason I ask is that, the old TVR Malaysia should still has quite a bit of parts left there (about a year and half ago they supplied me, via my mechanic, a new air-con compressor hose). If you still have contact with the old general manager, he may be able to help you. I think they had some 5 ltr engines left. These were used for the race prepared Chim previously.
If you have problem with sourcing engine in the region, let me know, I may be able to help you locate one in Malaysia or Hong Kong.

By the way, where do you live in Malaysia? I come to KL 4 to 5 times a year and have a place in Cheras. I was surprised to hear you said there are about 20 Chims in Malaysia! Do you guys meet up? Who does your serviceing and repair? Sorry about all these question as I have been try to find if there are anymore Chim owners in Malaysia for some time.

Regards

Edited by winston lai on Saturday 29th September 19:30

[winston lai]

Hi JazzyZ
By the way, are you a member of the TVR Car Club (the UK one)?
Winston

[JazzyZ]

Hi Winston,

Thanks a lot for your advice. I think I will try to search for a 2nd hand 5L engine in the U.K and see what happens...I know its not going to be easy to find a 5L engine at below 3k pounds, but its worth trying!

As you may know, the TVR Malaysia has sold off almost all their assests about 3 years ago. So they should have nothing left by now. I have heard that, when TVR Malaysia sold off their stocks, some of their racing spec Chim (strictly for the track) were sold to H.K buyers for about 30,000 pounds. In Y2002, most of the workers who were working for TVR Malaysia were made redundant. Over 20 competent Malaysian mechanics, who were trained in the U.K for nearly a year, were also made redundant. I know a few mechanics here so I usually ask one of these guys to service my car. Not only these guys used to maintain Chims but they used to really BUILD Chim for TVR U.K, so these guys really know what they are doing !!! Unfortunately, they do not know much about modifying Chims, as they have only been building and servicing standard Chims when they were working for TVR Malaysia.

As to your question on Malaysian Chim Scenes, most owners of Chims keep things to themselves and they tend to get on with their own things so Chim owners here do not get togeher.

Its very nice to hear that there are people in H.K who are driving Chims!

[spend]

If Peter tempted you with the 450, I stumbled across this bargain whilst searching for on-line pictures...

Sounds like a rebuilt TVR450 for £1400?
http://www.gumtree.com/london/62/13226562.html

Dave

[Else]

spend said:

If Peter tempted you with the 450, I stumbled across this bargain whilst searching for on-line pictures...

Sounds like a rebuilt TVR450 for £1400?
http://www.gumtree.com/london/62/13226562.html

Dave

Dave,

That's a scam, he will tell you he had just moved to kirkwall,orkney or somewhere equally distant and inaccessible and will ask for a deposit before he sends it. You'll never see the goods or your deposit again!!

Andy

[That Daddy]

Else said:

spend said:

If Peter tempted you with the 450, I stumbled across this bargain whilst searching for on-line pictures...

Sounds like a rebuilt TVR450 for £1400?
http://www.gumtree.com/london/62/13226562.html

Dave

Dave,

That's a scam, he will tell you he had just moved to kirkwall,orkney or somewhere equally distant and inaccessible and will ask for a deposit before he sends it. You'll never see the goods or your deposit again!!

Andy

Spend,this isnt you is iti thought you might be after a quick buck

[trackcar]

I looked into different routes for getting more hp from my 4 litre in my v8S (same engine as early chims) and decided that by far the best route was to get a complete 5 litre TVR engine .. i paid just over 2k for mine from a fire damaged car with 17000 miles on it from one of the TVR bodyshop repairers.

If you have a later car (ie serps engine) then you already have the bigger brakes and other stuff that the 5 litre has anyway so no need to upgrade anything else. All you need is the right ECU chip and away you go, cheap hp. There's no way i could get 5 litre grunt from my pre-serps 4 litre for an installed price of under 4k!

The other alternative is the supercharger option from SC Power.

[spend]

Sorry about that link, as I said just came across it when googling for a picture of a good rocker pad

Completely agree with Joo, I cant see how you can get all the 500 BV bits cheaper than buying a complete engine.

Dave

[5LitreV8]

Thought about supercharging the exisiting 4litre?