SEight....Should I?
Discussion
Previous Sylva Striker, Dutton Phaeton & Westy SEi 1800 Zetec owner. Im about to....possibly purchase an SEight Club Westy, Immaculate 1999, Weather gear, 3500cc, very good condition. Factory build, Full service history. Looking at it tomorrow. Anything I should look out for? Am I mad? 
Lordbenny,
Only point I would make is that if it's not an EFI injected 3.5, then power will only be ~ 180bhp with a 4 barrel carb, and it will make a super noise, but drink fuel and only feel a tad faster than an 1800 zetec westie. My advice is go for a 3.9 or preferrably a 4.6 litre (range rover) motor, since the blocks of the 4.6 have cross bolted crankshaft main bear cap fixtures, and help keep the engine together even if rev'd hard frequently, and both 3.9 and 4.6 make more power and hence offset the weight penalty the have over the alloy block 4 pot engines.
I built my V8 IRS Dax Rush with a 3.5 ltr and holly 4 barrel carb, and was a tad disappointed once the novety of completing the build had subsided. That's why I then decided to have a brand new overbored 4.6 litre engine built (by V8 Developments in Spalding - very knowledgable / nice guys). With big valve fully polished heads, pocketed high compression ratio lightweight pistons, lightened + balanced con rods and crankshaft,it kicked out ~ 300BHP and 275lbft torque before it was run in. Updating to the Weber Eddlebrock 600 cfm 4 barrel carb is also a step in the right direction for more power, but not better MPG ! Now the car sounds even more wicked and goes like the preverbial rat up a drain-pipe.
Hope you like the car, and if you buy and later decide to upgrade, it's not a big job (or prohibitively expensive - < / = £3k gets a very nice brand new 4.6 litre with the above mods from JE motors or V8 Developments)
Only point I would make is that if it's not an EFI injected 3.5, then power will only be ~ 180bhp with a 4 barrel carb, and it will make a super noise, but drink fuel and only feel a tad faster than an 1800 zetec westie. My advice is go for a 3.9 or preferrably a 4.6 litre (range rover) motor, since the blocks of the 4.6 have cross bolted crankshaft main bear cap fixtures, and help keep the engine together even if rev'd hard frequently, and both 3.9 and 4.6 make more power and hence offset the weight penalty the have over the alloy block 4 pot engines.
I built my V8 IRS Dax Rush with a 3.5 ltr and holly 4 barrel carb, and was a tad disappointed once the novety of completing the build had subsided. That's why I then decided to have a brand new overbored 4.6 litre engine built (by V8 Developments in Spalding - very knowledgable / nice guys). With big valve fully polished heads, pocketed high compression ratio lightweight pistons, lightened + balanced con rods and crankshaft,it kicked out ~ 300BHP and 275lbft torque before it was run in. Updating to the Weber Eddlebrock 600 cfm 4 barrel carb is also a step in the right direction for more power, but not better MPG ! Now the car sounds even more wicked and goes like the preverbial rat up a drain-pipe.
Hope you like the car, and if you buy and later decide to upgrade, it's not a big job (or prohibitively expensive - < / = £3k gets a very nice brand new 4.6 litre with the above mods from JE motors or V8 Developments)
If you're used to 4-pot 'Sevens', it would also be advisable to make sure you have a good test drive of the car (not just as a passenger - arrange the necessary insurance cover and insist on driving it yourself); the torque characteristics of the RV8 make it a very different driving experience.
Thank you SO much for your contributions, I'm used to four pots yes, but the price was/is around £6500 - £7000 he's open to offers! Remember its in VERY good nick, so I thought I'd keep it for the summer and then sell it for around £9000 so I could fund my 200bhp Vauxhall engined screamer! He contacted me today to say that he couldnt make the test drive due to business commitments! I'm having second thoughts now!
Ok, so it was on PH classifieds, I contacted owner to make a viewing, owner had to cancel viewing due to work commitments and now it's been deleted from classifieds. Im getting the impression the owner realised he's put it on too cheap. I'll be honest in that I was only interested due to the price (I really want a four pot) but I thought I could make a killing on it! If its gone, its gone. Something else will crop up sooner or later that will fit the bill! Anyone got a 200bhp, duratec/vauxhall engined Westy that they want to sell for £7000? PM me!
Lordbenny said:
Ok, so it was on PH classifieds, I contacted owner to make a viewing, owner had to cancel viewing due to work commitments and now it's been deleted from classifieds. Im getting the impression the owner realised he's put it on too cheap. I'll be honest in that I was only interested due to the price (I really want a four pot) but I thought I could make a killing on it! If its gone, its gone. Something else will crop up sooner or later that will fit the bill! Anyone got a 200bhp, duratec/vauxhall engined Westy that they want to sell for £7000? PM me!
if he gets that impression he might got it from reading your posts.....Gassing Station | Kit Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff