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The 390s were just a 350 with an options pack as some sort of homologation short-cut (certainly in Oct 1985), I'm fairly sure that they were just in the normal sequence of the chassis numbers.
The 390 still had the original engine size (3,498) but changed the engine number to JE1060 in my case.
The 390 still had the original engine size (3,498) but changed the engine number to JE1060 in my case.
E Ponym said:
The 390s were just a 350 with an options pack as some sort of homologation short-cut (certainly in Oct 1985), I'm fairly sure that they were just in the normal sequence of the chassis numbers.
The 390 still had the original engine size (3,498) but changed the engine number to JE1060 in my case.
The later (S2) ones had NCK engines and engine numbers, apart from the obviously different bodywork and wheels etc. The 390 still had the original engine size (3,498) but changed the engine number to JE1060 in my case.
grahamw48 said:
The later (S2) ones had NCK engines and engine numbers, apart from the obviously different bodywork and wheels etc.
Seem to recall that the Rouse/ JE engines went into only a handful of the very early cars, MOST 390SEs had NCK engines.There seem to be three distinct variants of 390 'bling':
First cars had the rear under-wing and front airdam with driving lamps and brake cooling ducts. Demo car (the yellow one) also had louvres in the air scoop but whether this made it to production seems dubious. Although early cars shared thir bonnet with the 350i, eventually a new style was introduced with transverse louvres at front LH and rear RH corners only. The only wheelarch flares on the early cars were incorporated into the 'trailing edge' of the front airdam as short extensions up the wing. Sills were as 350i. Wheels were 15" versions of the 350i cross-spoke pattern. Very early in production the A-frame rear-end was introduced. Let's call this Series 1
Mid-production cars had the rear wing and front airdam but now the airdam lost the little extensions and the front and rear arches were flared on the shell itself. The sills were also changed to incorporate the flare. Bonnet and wheels remained the same.
Late cars ('88-on) had a fake version of the rear underwing blended into the rear bumper as one unit. They also got the OZ 5-spokes and a new, softer airdam (looks like the 400SE front, which is what it became). Arches got still more flare and the sills were changed again, to suit. Final versions appear to have had the fake underwing and bumper blended completely into the shell; this became the seamless rear-end for the 400SE. Generally known as 'Series 2' cars.
By a process of elimination the mid-production cars should be 'Series 1.5' but they're usually lumped in with the early, arch-flare-less cars as Series 1.
Roughly, Series 1s have C&D plates. Series 1.5 late D & E plates. Series 2 were F (maybe late E and into G?) plates, at which point the 400SE came along...
Edited to clarify bonnet details
Edited by Wedg1e on Thursday 31st March 00:02
c pryor said:
Sorry to split hairs but the first 390SE models had a solid bonnet with no louvres. The standard Rover lump is 3528cc but still shown as 3498cc on the V5 fom the DVLA for both the 350i and 390SE.
The whole thing is hair-splitting really; you can take almost any car that sticks around for a few years and you'll find differences throughout production. The makers use the same name, it's only us 
s who nitpick At some point there was a 390 prototype that was really a standard 350i with a 3.9 engine, maybe that should be the REAL Series 1 car
Wedg1e said:
First cars had the rear under-wing and front airdam with driving lamps and brake cooling ducts. Demo car (the yellow one) also had louvres in the air scoop but whether this made it to production seems dubious. Bonnet was new type with transverse louvres at front LH and rear RH corners only.
Early 390s did not have the bonnet Louvres.The Louvres were developed on the 390 racer (Jeff Statham's car) by using a 1/2 " drill on the bonnet in situ. The holes in the top of the inner wing (caused by clumsily failing to stop the drilling when through the bonnet) were visible when my wife and I were on the factory tour in 1986.
Russ
E Ponym said:
Early 390s did not have the bonnet Louvres.
The Louvres were developed on the 390 racer (Jeff Statham's car) by using a 1/2 " drill on the bonnet in situ. The holes in the top of the inner wing (caused by clumsily failing to stop the drilling when through the bonnet) were visible when my wife and I were on the factory tour in 1986.
Russ
Already corrected by C Pryor, Russ The Louvres were developed on the 390 racer (Jeff Statham's car) by using a 1/2 " drill on the bonnet in situ. The holes in the top of the inner wing (caused by clumsily failing to stop the drilling when through the bonnet) were visible when my wife and I were on the factory tour in 1986.
Russ
My bonnet has the faint outline of rectangles outside the louvres so I imagine they took a bonnet, chopped two holes out, added the louvred bits and took a new mould from that, but didn't quite get rid of the join lines!
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