Replacement/rebuilt engines -eg Powers Taraka and V8D 5l
Discussion
Folks,
Contemplating the prospect of getting my engine rebuilt in my Chimaera,which is currently a 4l.
I have had (and enjoyed!) this car for over a decade.
With rebuilding, come the options of rebuilding it as with a little more oomph..
I note that common engine rebuilders/builders include TVRPower , John Eales and V8 Developments.
I'm considering going for a good 5l or 5l plus options (realistically - had I had the funds when I bought my 4l a decade ago, I would have gone for a 4.5 or 5l, but I didn't back then).
as examples:
TVRpower do a 4/4.5 to 5l upgrade, plus also a 5l Taraka
V8D do various flavours of 5l and 5.4l
I need the car to be driveable in traffic (ie manageable at low revs), and reliable, but otherwise keen to get a 'significant step up' on what I currently have (last rolling roaded at 220BHP@fly)
Grateful for peoples thoughts on the various options, and feedback, good and bad (please PM me if you need to - I appreciate name and shame rules may prevent sharing bad experiences).
Ta :-)
Contemplating the prospect of getting my engine rebuilt in my Chimaera,which is currently a 4l.
I have had (and enjoyed!) this car for over a decade.
With rebuilding, come the options of rebuilding it as with a little more oomph..
I note that common engine rebuilders/builders include TVRPower , John Eales and V8 Developments.
I'm considering going for a good 5l or 5l plus options (realistically - had I had the funds when I bought my 4l a decade ago, I would have gone for a 4.5 or 5l, but I didn't back then).
as examples:
TVRpower do a 4/4.5 to 5l upgrade, plus also a 5l Taraka
V8D do various flavours of 5l and 5.4l
I need the car to be driveable in traffic (ie manageable at low revs), and reliable, but otherwise keen to get a 'significant step up' on what I currently have (last rolling roaded at 220BHP@fly)
Grateful for peoples thoughts on the various options, and feedback, good and bad (please PM me if you need to - I appreciate name and shame rules may prevent sharing bad experiences).
Ta :-)
Fair comments.
My take is that the cost of a straight rebuild (which includes engine out etc) is already committed....ie I am expecting I will have to pull the engine out and rebuild it.
I will be paying someone to do this, so this spend is mentally committed.
Assuming this is the case , then the additional cost of rebuilding to a 4.5, 5, 5.4 etc are incremental to a base cost of 4.5-6k anyway...
...major case of man maths.. but if I keep the car another decade the additional cost of a few extra k on the rebuild , over time, is not that much...
Hence looking at options :-)
My take is that the cost of a straight rebuild (which includes engine out etc) is already committed....ie I am expecting I will have to pull the engine out and rebuild it.
I will be paying someone to do this, so this spend is mentally committed.
Assuming this is the case , then the additional cost of rebuilding to a 4.5, 5, 5.4 etc are incremental to a base cost of 4.5-6k anyway...
...major case of man maths.. but if I keep the car another decade the additional cost of a few extra k on the rebuild , over time, is not that much...
Hence looking at options :-)
Wow.. what a response, and food for thought.
Thanks for the offers of passenger rides to get a feel for some of the options.. Would love to take you up, I suspect time constraint realities of work/family etc may preclude this ...at least for a while..
A few people questioned what the budget is, or could be. My starting point is that I am expecting an engine out rebuild will be needed (I may be proved wrong...but unlikely I fear).
At this point, it's turns into a what do I get it rebuilt into.
If I was not needing to rebuild..FI would I feel be the clear winner (or sell it and buy a 500). However that is likely not to be the case..
Anyway, developments since my Sunday post.
Took it out on Monday, and at idle the car has developed a new 'sound'..(or at least it is louder/more noticeable than it was). Described by the nearest local mechanic at the time as 'sounds a bit bottom endy... ..though it might be just a slipped liner.."
Car has is now left at the nearest TVR specialist garage to avoid further damage for investigation, so will wait to hear back..
In the meantime, I'm hearing:
-turbo for big power
-supercharger for power w/out lag
-NA tuning/capacity increase to retain original character
- straight rebuild, plus possible update 14cux to something more modern/less fragile.. (though to be fair, my 4l, once I had the cam done was very drivable .... albeit it had a few electrical gremlins )
Thanks for the offers of passenger rides to get a feel for some of the options.. Would love to take you up, I suspect time constraint realities of work/family etc may preclude this ...at least for a while..
A few people questioned what the budget is, or could be. My starting point is that I am expecting an engine out rebuild will be needed (I may be proved wrong...but unlikely I fear).
At this point, it's turns into a what do I get it rebuilt into.
If I was not needing to rebuild..FI would I feel be the clear winner (or sell it and buy a 500). However that is likely not to be the case..
Anyway, developments since my Sunday post.
Took it out on Monday, and at idle the car has developed a new 'sound'..(or at least it is louder/more noticeable than it was). Described by the nearest local mechanic at the time as 'sounds a bit bottom endy... ..though it might be just a slipped liner.."
Car has is now left at the nearest TVR specialist garage to avoid further damage for investigation, so will wait to hear back..
In the meantime, I'm hearing:
-turbo for big power
-supercharger for power w/out lag
-NA tuning/capacity increase to retain original character
- straight rebuild, plus possible update 14cux to something more modern/less fragile.. (though to be fair, my 4l, once I had the cam done was very drivable .... albeit it had a few electrical gremlins )
Edited by HiAsAKite on Tuesday 19th June 22:30
Last point is a fair point re: additional power and impact on the driveline etc.
With this in mind probably would not want to stray too far from parameters of a 500 (which the current T5 box should be ok with I would hope).
Someone mentioned Topcats - when I looked on their site LS conversions were mega bucks (ie of the order of 25-30K).
I suspect it will be a week before I hear back on the diagnosis - which will guide the next steps beyond that,and whether a rebuild is needed.
With this in mind probably would not want to stray too far from parameters of a 500 (which the current T5 box should be ok with I would hope).
Someone mentioned Topcats - when I looked on their site LS conversions were mega bucks (ie of the order of 25-30K).
I suspect it will be a week before I hear back on the diagnosis - which will guide the next steps beyond that,and whether a rebuild is needed.
Belle427 said:
wormus said:
I did notice how my suggestion for an LS conversion was ignored. I love Rover V8s but cannot understand why you’d try so hard to squeeze 300hp out of such an old 5 litre engine design. Even with turbos they aren’t that great and don’t have cross bolted main bearings for making safe power. TopCats recently had a T350 with an LS7 making about 600hp for sale. Apparently it was terrifying! 400hp must be nice though.
And who’ wouldn’t want this? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJgkVS1uJk
Probably cost and most like to keep some sort of originality.And who’ wouldn’t want this? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJgkVS1uJk
Edited by wormus on Friday 22 June 21:02
Would love to live in America though, these engines are readily available for little money.
Price of an LS conversion is 2-3x the price of an rv8 rebuild or replacement...
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