Rover - 3.5 V8 (Advice Needed)

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Caprigt
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Rover - 3.5 V8 (Advice Needed)

Post by Caprigt »

Evening All...

I'm looking for advice please...

I'm building a Mk 1 Capri track car at the moment and was intending of fitting 3.1 Essex Engine...

However, a friend of a friend has offered me a 3.5 rover with 4.2 head, race cam, hoffenhauser inlet & a 600cfm holley

He says it has a lightend n balenced flywheel with a 4-2-1 exausts, Re-con rad x2 12inch fans & 5point earths (What are 5 points earths...).

He also said it has an uprated oilpump inners & Elec Ign. Included as well is a sd1 5 speed box with solid prop.

What is the general opinion on this set up....

What kind of horses should this be putting out...

Thanks in advance...



jef
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Post by jef »

Hi mate, what's he askin for it?

The rover V8 isn't really a huge horsepower engine, but it's certainly enough.. I think the 3.5 litre as standard was 160BHP (but remember it weighs the bes part of 400lb, that's like 30 stone..) it'll happen be running 200 - 220, maybe more, but 250 is your limit without having a major overhaul of the engine.

at the end of the day, you can allways just pull up and say "it's a V8, mate!"

:wink:

Coops
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Post by Coops »

the standard 3.5 is around around 150bhp, and weighs about 20lb heavier than a pinto, but is a lot lighter than a v6 ford, (2.8-3.0)

at a guess 190bhp, nothing special about the 4.2 heads this is rovers down fall,
and the most expensive part to tune to get decent power out of them,
a cheap upgrade is using 4.6 heads they are equivilant to stg1 heads,
Regards Tony C (COOPS)
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MS2 V3.57 Ecu mapable efi and wasted spark ignition.
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Caprigt
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Post by Caprigt »

Lads,

Thanks a Mil for the help....

Am tempted to go for it... It's working out about Stg 850 for all the running gear including LSD Atlas AXle etc.... Looks like just a bolt in job (Ecept for gearbox tunnel mod)...

Can i fit the 4.6 heads to the standard engine and if so, would this improve the performance...

As you say... A Capri really needs a V8 when it will only be used at the weekends...

Whats the best Rover V8 to go for ?

Coops
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Post by Coops »

3.5 efi as they are higher comp than the carb v8's,
or a 3.9 v8 have the best of both then,
the 4.6 is prone to liner problems due to heat and fueling probs
Regards Tony C (COOPS)
Image
MS2 V3.57 Ecu mapable efi and wasted spark ignition.
Rotrex C38-91 supercharger and Cossie RS500 Intercooler @ 14psi of Boost.
Sponsored by: www.extraefi.co.uk & www.interpart.biz & www.caprisport.com
Web site: http://www.capriracing.co.uk

csr
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Re: Rover - 3.5 V8 (Advice Needed)

Post by csr »

Caprigt wrote: However, a friend of a friend has offered me a 3.5 rover with 4.2 head, race cam, hoffenhauser inlet & a 600cfm holley

He says it has a lightend n balenced flywheel with a 4-2-1 exausts, Re-con rad x2 12inch fans & 5point earths (What are 5 points earths...).

He also said it has an uprated oilpump inners & Elec Ign. Included as well is a sd1 5 speed box with solid prop.
I'm surprised Tony didn't pick up on this -

Whilst the spec sounds impressive - it is in fact rubbish.

4.2 heads are basic EFI heads - nothing special about £50 for the pair

Race cam - yer right - you want to know exactly what it is

Big silly carb and manifold - the 600 is way too big - that's been fitted
because it's much cheaper than the 390 which is still rubbish but would
sort of work about as well as a bucket with holes in it.
Any one that has a clue what they are doing with Rovers uses injection.

4-2-1 manifolds - if they are off the shelf, the quality will be poor and
they will not fit in the Capri how ever hard you try.

The flywheel might be useful if it's been done properly.

If the rad has 2 12" fans, its going to be far too big for the Capri.

"5 point earths" think you might have miss-heard or it's total cow poo.

Uprated oil pump - think that's a bit unlikely - maybe a little more pressure with a fatter spring?

SD1 box - now that is worth having if it's any good and what the f**** is a solid prop?
Whatever it is, it's not going to be any use - you need a modified 2.8 prop.

Sorry if I've just slashed all over your bonfire but you needed to know the reality before you get conned.

If it's cheap, you can use the engine an sell off the crap on ebay but
think about this too - fitting a Rover in a Capri is not a weekend job.
It will take you ages and cost fortunes. Here's just a few things you will need -

specialy made engine and gearbox mounts

modified sump

exhaust manifolds

prop shaft

radiator, fans etc

some sort of cable to hydraulic clutch system

The simple truth is unless you have an injected 3.9 doing 220+, it's just not worth it.
There are much better options for less money and a lot less work.

And on a general note, conssidering an engine swap and not using fuel injection.
That realy is wasting your time and money.
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Caprigt
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Post by Caprigt »

Hi there...

Guys...Thank you very much for the advice...

I really appreciate the honest advice... I didn't buy that engine and I'm now a very happy guy...

It's great to be able to talk to people who know what their talking about...

Back to the drawing board now I recon....

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