14th May 2006 - Been working away so not able to pick the engine block and crank up. So, with nothing else to do but the gardening(!!!) I decided to try and renovate the rocker covers. I had thought about buying new ones, but it seemed a bit of a waste of money when I could probably make the existing ones very presentable. I first used "Nitromors" paint stripper to get the old grey stuff off, then used a fine grade wire wool with "Brasso" to get some of the worst marks off. Once they were presentable I used "Mothers" aluminium polish to shine them up. This stuff if fantastic and was recommended by someone on the CRC website. Finally I used black "Hammerite" to paint in between the veins. Still more polishing to do but looking good so far and I don't think they look bad. See the picture below for a before and after view!

I got the Alloy oil filler cap from e-bay, I think it sets it off nicely!!

Engine (And Associated Parts)

6th April 2006 - After many searches in local papers, various web sites, including e-bay and the Cobra Replica Club I got an e-mail from Ian Briggs of "British American Engines" who told me he had an almost complete SD1 engine with Gearbox that he wanted to sell. After chatting to Ian and looking over the numerous photo's he sent of the engine, I bit the bullet and handed over the cash. Ian seemed a nice guy and true to his word shortly afterwards the engine and gearbox arrived at my door, securely attached to a pallet.

Now the hard work begins!!

I decided on a Rover V8 3.5 engine after much research and pondering. This was going to be my first attempt at building an engine and some of the deciding factors were as follows:

The RV8 is an aluminium engine, therefore light for humping about! I only live a couple of miles from "Rimmers" so parts (all be it not the cheapest) will be easily accessible. I don't feel the need (yet, anyway!) for the massive amount of Horse Power an American SB provides, despite the fact that parts seem generally cheaper. I want a driveable car with half decent fuel consumption and enough power to put the famous "Cobra Smile" on my face. Another factor, and very important one is that I can't afford a Turnkey engine, so a cheap Rover engine that I can do up as and when I have time and finance will do just fine!!

If in the future, when the car is on the road, I feel the need for something more powerful, then perhaps I will contemplate an engine change (but then again maybe not), but that is a long way in the future!!!

The RV8 will be perfect...........................just need to find one!!!

21st April 2006 - Next move after stripping everything down was to get the heads, block and crank sorted. I took them to Northern Road Engineering in Newark near where I work, and they put the block and heads through the engine Bath, put new guides in the heads, and new valve springs (retained the old valves). They didn't come out of the bath like new, but not far from it. I bought new rocker shafts and rockers from Rimmer's (see costs page), but kept the old pedestals as they cleaned up OK and also kept the old washers and rocker shaft springs. I also got them to skim 27thou from each head in order to accommodate composite gaskets. Apparently the old tin type are bad for leaks etc, but by putting the thicker composite ones on it affects the compression ratio, hence having the faces reworked to put it back to normal. I decided against new stage one/two heads for cost reasons but do plan to put a better cam in and a few other bits. I can always get the heads reworked or change them after I have had the engine running in the car for a while should the urge take me!

 

 

Jan 5th 2008 - With the engine in, (see "Engine installation"), I need to start looking at the oil system. I am going to have a remote filter due to space restrictions, and have replaced the standard oil filter housing with a Mocal oil pump cover plate from Merlin Motorsport. This gives me the option to run braided hoses to a remote filter and also an oil cooler. I don't think a cooler is particularly necessary at the moment, but my long term plan is to put a larger Rover engine in and so I may as well make all the applications future proof!!

Feb 03rd 2008 - Received a consignment of Aeroquip hose connectors and braided hose from "Think Auto" on Friday. The parts are VERY expensive, but at the end of the day, they look fantastic and I never started this project to save money!!! (hope my wife doesn't read this!!!). A quick tip if you buy stuff from this company. Order over the phone rather than on the net. They give you 15% discount on phone orders, and believe me, with the price of this stuff, the 15% is very welcome!! They aren't easy to fit because the anodizing on the connectors marks easily. I bought myself a new vice and also some soft jaw protectors to hold the connectors while I fitted the pipes to them and tightened up the connector. This made things easier but you still need to be careful if you don't want to mark your very expensive Aeroquip parts.

The first part of the oil system pipe work was to take a pipe from the oil pump cover plate "out" port (fitting a remote oil filter), to the oil thermostat. From there it goes to the oil cooler, back through the oil thermostat, on the the filter and then eventually back to the engine. More pictures to follow as I complete the rather complicated pipe work!!

Feb 12th 2008 -   Quick hour in the garage tonight (bleeding freezing!!) to do a bit more of the oil pipework.I have now got everything in apart from the two pipes to the oil cooler. I might wait till I get the alloy tray for the front to make sure I get the right length for the pipes to the oil cooler. You can see from the photo's below that I have fitted the remote filter with the pipes entering and exiting from the left. There is no room to have a straight pass through but this work fine and looks fairly neat. I have put the Oil temperature take off in the line leading back to the engine from the oil filter, you can see in in the bottom centre of the last three pictures below.

Essentially what I have is a pipe from the engine (right port as you look at it on the Mocal cover plate), to the oil thermostat (top port). From there, (top port of the Thermostat) it goes to the oil cooler. From the cooler the pipe returns to the oil thermostat (bottom port) and then exits and goes to the in port of the oil filter (marked with an arrow on the remote filter head). Then, from the out port of the remote filter head, it goes to the oil temperature take off and from there, back to the engine. I think that's right!!! Will find out when I prime the oil pump!!

The bracket holding the Oil Filter on to the chassis is temporary until I can get some alloy angle to make a better one that will bolt to both bolts, not just one.

April 13th 2008 -   Short of things to do at the moment because I need advice on the electrics (don't know where to start!!), I decided to start putting the exhaust pipes on. The first problem was that GD don't make a bracket for the Rover based application for the exhaust centre box to fit on (that is the end of the centre box nearest the front of the car). On the Chevy's and Fords, I believe the bracket that the bottom of the gear box secures to, has a tapping for the bobbin that secures the centre box. The rear part of the centre box is connected, via a bobbin, to a bracket that connects to the chassis via two rivnuts. This end is the same on all applications and was not a problem. For the front most end, I had to get my engineer friend to fabricate a bracket for me. This he did and made a thoroughly good job of it too!! Pictures below show the bracket before drilling the holes for the bolts and the bobbin, and then attached loosely to see if everything fitted OK..........and it did!! Just need to take it off again now to zinc coat and paint it.

Although GD suggest that a 4" ground clearance under the centre box is about right, I am going to try and gain .5" or so by finding some shorter bobbins. Watch this space!!

July 6th 2008 -   After much thinking and advice taking (mostly in periods when I had nothing else to do on the car), I have redesigned my oil pipe work, hopefully for the last time!!! The problem I had was that I couldn't find anywhere suitable to put the oil temperature sender. I tried various options but rightly was advised of the unsuitability. Eventually I have added the housing for the temp sender just before the thermostat on the outlet side of the oil pump. I am happy with it there as its as near to the pump and engine as I can get it for a true reading. I have also added an adaptor to the "out" port on the Mocal pump cover so that I can fit an oil pressure sender which I have just ordered, along with some gauges and other senders. Once I receive these I can get the temp dashboard ready for first engine start.

I also moved the pipes a bit because I was a bit concerned about the clearance for the steering rack. Anyway. The pictures below show the finished setup, and that's how its going to stay!!!

6th Aug 2011 - Engine back together at last and I am fairly pleased. The smoke at start up has gone and it doesn't smoke on the over-run any more, so it was obviously the heads\valves that were causing the problem. I should have taken them to a specialist tuner before rather that just normal engineers................you live and learn!!

There is a tiny trickle of smoke on tick over still, but the car has still only done 300 miles so I will  get a thousand miles on the clock before I worry about that. Hopefully by then everything will have bedded in.

There was a slight tappet rattle when I started her up for the first time, but I put that down to the preloads being different due to the heads being changed. The issue was only on the left bank. I had shimmed the rocker pillars originally to set set the preload with 48 thou shims (in hindsight probably a little too much). I took these out and put 32 thou ones in and this has sorted the issue and the engine sounds sweet now.

Just need to get some miles on it now!!!

26th July 2011 - I picked up my Cylinder heads today from V8 Developments today. The plan was to get my heads refurbished and a proper job done on the valves, valve seals etc etc. I also asked them to port the heads to stage 2 tuning level. Anyway...................Ray had rung me a week ago and made me an offer I couldn't refuse!!! He told me that because my heads were old, and the 14 bolt variety, they were not really goo enough for unleaded petrol. He said he could do what I asked on them, including the stage 2 tuning, but he reckoned that in 10,000 miles the valve seats would burn out. These guys are experts with the Rover V8..........and you have to trust someone at some point..............so I listened to what he had to say. He had a set of 10 bolt stage 3 heads that they had done for a customer , who had then told them he didn't want them. He offered me the heads for not a lot more that doing the work on mine...................so what could I say??...................I said "Yes" and have now got set of V8 Developments stage 3 heads!!! Even though my engine is generally standard, apart from a Viper Hurricane Cam, Ray told me that these heads would be fine and give me a significant power increase.

Just got to get the engine back together now!! I haven't got a lot of spare time at the moment and next weekend is booked for something else, but the one after should see me back on the road, with a smoke free engine....................(everything crossed!!!)

17th July 2011 - Having taken the heads in to get sorted on Friday, I thought I would take advantage of having the manifold off to do a mod suggested by various people of the Cobra forum but initially discovered by Jim from JRV8.

Essentially, there is an issue with the Edelbrock Performer manifold regarding overheating. What is happening is that the temp gauge will go up to over a 100 degrees for the first few minutes of engine running, and then drop back to normal temp. this is caused by a hot spot on the manifold around the temp sender. The solution is to drill a 7mm(1/4") hole on either side of the manifold into the water way behind the thermostat. In the words of Jim Robinson, this explains why:-

".What is actually happening is that when the stat is closed , heat builds up in the area of the sender unit , and this then dissipates when the stat opens.   These holes allow the hot water to bleed away and not form a hotspot.     It is just more of an annoyance that an actual problem as the engine is certainly not running at that temperature. I now drill all the manifolds with a 1/4" hole on the engines that I supply , and I also fit them with a 74c stat with a small 1/8" hole drilled at 12 o'clock to allow air to bleed and not collect behind the stat".

Anyway, I have done this, and am now waiting in anticipation for the heads to come back from V8 Developments!

12th July 2011 - 300 miles under my belt, and the smoking hasn't stopped that I have been worried about, so time to do something about it before I lose the summer.

Then engine has been smoking from day one. Not too bad, but enough to keep me thinking. I thought it just may need the rings bedding in, but 300 miles should be enough for that. The car smokes quite a lot when I start it, and also smokes on the over-run. Recently I have been getting a trickle of smoke on tick over too.

I did a compression test and all Cylinders are showing about 150 psi. Spoke to Jim at JRV8 about this, and he reckons that is a good reading and what he would expect for a new engine, so in my opinion it must be the heads\valves.

I had the heads done (5 years ago) by a local engineering company. I knew less than I do now and I took their word about what needed doing. They said the valves were OK and the valves only needed new springs. they said they put new guides in but I doubt that now. Also when I took the heads off and looked at the valves, only about half of them had stem seals on, and they were the old type (not neoprene). That means that they were not put on, or they have disintegrated. Either way that is one of the ways that the oil is getting into the combustion chamber.

Anyway I am taking the heads to V8 Developments on Friday to get them to refurb the heads properly. New valves, guides etc etc, and to port them up to stage 2 level (well it would be daft not too now the heads are off!!). They reckon it will take them about 10 days. That being the case, I should be back on the road in a couple of weeks.

26th July 2009 - I fitted the Engine bay hydraulic hoses today. Can't think of a better way of attaching\securing them but it's neat enough for now. I need to make a bracket to secure the rubber hoses in the same area.

24th Jan 2009 - I bought a Goodridge clutch hose from Rimmer Bros  during the week, specifically for the SD1 engine and assumed it would fit OK. When I got it home and tried, the slave cylinder end fits fine but the end that fits to the engine union block is the wrong size. I spoke to Craig at GD and he told me I needed an M10x1 to -4 JIC fitting, so I duly sent for one from Merlin Motor Sport. Got that on Friday and fitted it today. The hose was to long really but after speaking to Andy at GD, the ones he had were similar and he told me just to put a loop in it and secure to the chassis somewhere. I guess that's fine, as after all, the clutch fluid is literally a fluid rod, and as long as there are no kinks in the hose, it doesn't matter how long or what shape it is. I have it secured under the front of the cross member on the chassis with no tight bends or kinks, so am fairly happy with that. See pics below.

13th Jan 2009 - I've been looking for ways to attach the throttle cable to the throttle bracket on the carb. I found lots of brackets that I didn't like the look of, but nothing I fancied. I then saw the bracket that both Simon and Andy had got from JEGS in the States and was sold on it. It ain't cheap!!! I couldn't find anywhere in this country that provided anything similar so I bit the bullet. I was a little worried that it wouldn't fit round the throttle actuator (the black bit in the first photo below, but I needn't have worried as it fitted fine). The bracket is made from Billet Alloy and I bought the polished version. There are cheaper options (unpolished for example). It comes with return springs and is fully adjustable both at the spring end and the cable end. JEGS delivered in 4 days which is pretty good, but pricey!! Anyway I'm only going to buy something like this once (for this engine anyway!!!) so I got it, and I  think it look pretty nice. Just need to get a throttle cable.

6th Oct 2008 - I spent the weekend and the best part of today (took the day off as I new I wouldn't have enough time at the weekend!) stripping the heads off, changing gaskets and rebuilding. When I got the heads off, there was nothing alarming and I am still not sure what the issue was! I have replaced the normal head bolts with ARP studs which allegedly torque down better, and have put fresh composite gaskets on. Got everything back together and it started first time. More importantly there are no leaks or "seepage". I'm not sure what I have learned by this exercise although I am certainly getting to know my engine intimately!!!

1st Oct 2008 - Well, my worst fears were realised at the weekend, my head gaskets are leaking!! I was hoping I still had a slight leak from the rocker covers and it was seeping down the block, but after thorough investigation while the engine was running, both sides are leaking. As much as I hate to say it, there is only one thing to do, and that is take the heads off and re-do it. I really can't understand it, I had the heads skimmed so I know they are not warped, I used composite gaskets and torqued the bolts up to the Haynes manual recommendation but I could see quite clearly water\oil bubbling out by the gasket, below the plugs, on both sides. It's not pouring out or anything of the sort, but any leak is to much at this stage.

The only good thing I guess is that I haven't got the body on yet. I guess I may as well get all this out the way and sorted before the body goes on, otherwise it would be a REALLY big pain in the bum to fix!! I have booked next Monday off so Sunday and Monday should see the job done hopefully. I have sent for some ARP studs from "V8 Tuner" rather than the Rover head bolts, and some new composite gaskets.................watch this space!!!!! :o(

11th Aug 2008 - I expected the smoke (Andy reckons once the rings have bedded in that should disappear. Time will tell and it's not something I'm going to worry about now). What I didn't expect was the horrendous rattling from the Lifters!!! I had read that they sounded like a can of pea's till they got pumped up with oil, but I didn't expect the noise they made! Anyway after about five minutes the noise had subsided, and after ten minutes the engine sounded sweet as anything.  My wife (who you will tell by her voice on the film clip, was more excited that me!!) stopped filming before the engine sounded really sweet(!!) but take my word for it, it did!!!!

I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks on Friday, I can go a relieved man!!!

11th Aug 2008 - Two years to get to this stage.............was I nervous...............? Damned right I was!! The plan was to start it at the weekend but the weather let me down. Anyway, this evening was fine and I got my friend and local engineer Andy round (builder of two Cobra's all ready!) to help me with the timing and a few other bits................and to give me moral support!!! After a minor electrical issue (the oil pressure gauge wouldn't work), and one corrected cockup (I had the wires for the fuel pump the wrong way round. I wondered why I wasn't getting fuel to the carb!!) it was time to stop dithering and give it a go. While I tried to look at everything at once, making sure there was no electrical smoke, no leaking fuel pipes etc, Andy hit the start switch. The video link below show what happened next...............................!!!

7th Aug 2008 -   The big day is nearly here!! The plan is to start the engine this weekend!! The only think that will stop me is the bleeding British weather! I got an outboard motor fuel tank from the internet. Only a tenner and it has a fuel outlet built in to attach my fuel hose to. I was hoping to go for it on Sunday but the weather doesn't look good, and I have to start the motor outside............just in case!!!! :o) Watch this space..........................

19th July 2008 -  At last today I got the crankshaft pulley bolt tightened! I've had to put it off and put it off because I couldn't stop the wheels moving when I tried to torque it up. Now with the handbrake rigged up and the car in first gear, I have finally torqued it to 200nm (as suggested in the Rover manual). Thank God for that!!!

April 20th 2008 -  Finished off the exhaust today. Drilling the rear chassis bracket to accept the reinforced rubber exhaust bracket was a bit of a fiddle. In hindsight, should have done it while I was putting the chassis together. Once that was on and lined up, the rest went fairly easily. I have fitted the tail pipes just to see what they looked like ( pretty damned good I reckon!!), but they need to be shortened a tad once the body is on. Talking to Andy and he says its all preference but he normally takes an inch or so off.

April 19th 2008 -    Finishing off the exhaust this weekend. A lot swearing and use of a soft hammer but nearly got there!! I made the joints with the clamps GD provided and RTV silicon as a sealant (recommended by GD). Just need to sort out the bracket for the back boxes. The centre box has been the most difficult to sort out up to now. One of the bobbins is still under stress slightly because my bracket needs some "adjustments" but should be OK for now. It would have been easier if GD made a proper bracket.

Mar 22nd 2008 -   I fitted the remote gear change housing this afternoon. I have had it shortened by Jim Robinson from JRV8. The standard size will put the gear lever to far back for comfort. On the original GD video, they recommend bending the gear lever forward by about three inches, but I didn't particularly like the look of that, and I also want a fairly short gearshift. The job Jim has done is excellent and brings the gearshift forward by aprox 2.5" which will be ideal.

While I was at it, I also fitted the propshaft, which was a bugger to get a torque wrench to, so I just did the bolts up "F'ing" tight by hand!!

Mar 16th 2008 -   I installed the alternator today using the bracket supplied by GD so that I could mount it low down on the nearside. I believe this is necessary as if it is in the high original position it would be in the way of the steering rod. After a few adjustments for the bracket bolt holes so I could get the alternator exactly straight, and using washers as spacers so I could torque the front bolt up, it made a fairly neat job. The spacers are needed because the bracket is made to accommodate all the Rover water pump covers and they are not all the same size and shape. I guess on some the bracket would fit perfectly without spacers.

Mar 15th 2008 -   Been working away followed by a weeks holiday in Devon (worst weather for a million years apparently!!), so haven't had much garage time. I received the starter motor from Jim Robinson this weekend and it is far better than my original P6 variety. It's also a high torque motor.  I have a couple of inches space now between the motor and header, but I will still wrap heat wrap round the motor, solenoid and cables.

Mar 2nd 2008 -  Taking advice from people on the Cobra Club website, I decided to take a second look at my cylinder head bolts. My heads are of the 14 bolt variety which have caused issues in the past. The problem has been that with these extra 4 bolts (per head) torqued as per manual, there was an issue with head gaskets blowing due to uneven pressures by the bolt setup. Later engines (4.0 and 4.6) did not have these extra bolts at all, and according to Jim Robinson (JRV8), Rover's advise was to either take these bolts out or reduce the torque to 25-30 ft lbs. I agree with Jim's opinion that to take the bolts out all together looks a bit untidy, and creates a hole for dirt and oil to gather. Because of this I will re-torque the bolts to 25 ft lbs. (the bolts in question are the four lower bolts in the picture below).

Mar 1st 2008 -   Having posed a question on the Cobra Club forum, regarding the closeness of my starter motor to the offside header, I decided to ask an expert!! Jim Robinson at JRV8 is the guru on Rover V8 engines as far as I am concerned. He has given me countless pieces of advice so I always turn to him when I am unsure! Having sent Jim pictures of my starter (see below), Jim soon put his finger on the problem. The starter I have (which came with the engine) is actually from  a P6 Rover (predecessor to the SD1). This is a much bigger starter, hence the problem with the proximity to the header. Jim has come up with a much smaller and neater starter, which will give me the much needed distance away from the header. As a guide, the P6 is 7.5" long and 4.25" in diameter. The SD1 starter is the same length but 3.75" in diameter. This is still a bit large, and the one Jim has found me is 5.75" long and 2.75" in diameter. The solenoid on this one is on the side as opposed to underneath like the original SD1, but with the reduced size, this is not a problem in the GD chassis.

Feb 25th 2008 -  Out with the grinder today to cut a groove in the manifold plate so that I could get the Dipstick tube in. Fairly neat job and everything fits now.

I was slightly disappointed with the nearside header. The plate welded across the four pipes that connects to the engine had a slight bow in it. This was corrected when I tightened up the header bolts. Hope there are no leaks, but that will become apparent when I fire her up for the first time (that seems a long way off yet!!!).

Feb 24th 2008 - Bit short of things to do at the moment. I'm waiting for a long bolt so that I can fit my GD alternator bracket. Should be here next week. Unfortunately I'm working abroad next week so still not got any quality time scheduled in the garage in the near future!!!

I decided to spend an hour today fitting the exhaust headers. I used ARP stainless steel chromed header bolts, not cheap but they look very nice, and that important!!! I thought it would be a simple job but how often do you think that and find your wrong!!! Got both headers fitted then I realised  that the dipstick wouldn't fit back on!! I now have to take the nearside header off and cut a groove in it to allow the dipstick guide to fit (see the ink marks on the picture below). Is anything ever simple at this game!!!!?

Feb 16th 2008 - After talking to fellow builder Simon Rudman, I have had a rethink on my oil pipework! Simon suggested that the oil temperature take off was in the wrong place because it was after the oil cooler, which in effect didn't give me the correct temp of the oil in the engine\sump. When I thought about it he was right (bugger!!) so I have had a change. I have taken the temp sender housing out of the pipe leading to the filter from the cooler. I am going to get an adaptor for the sump plug and put a temp sender directly into the sump oil. I have (hopefully) finished the oil pipework now. I need to get the aluminium under tray to attach the cooler too, but there is no rush for that as it has to come off before the body can be fitted anyway.

Anyone want to buy a Mocal -10 JIC oil temp adaptor!!!!?

Feb 06th 2008 -   I had to send for a different remote oil filter head to the one I had first purchased.  It wasn't until I got all the pipes and connectors sorted that I realised I needed a remote filter head with both oil pipes entering and leaving from one side. Anyway the correct one arrived today so I will get that fitted in the next few days and then I can finish the pipe work. The first  remote filter head I bought was in one side and out the other but I don't really have room for that. See the two pictures below. The first pic is the wrong one and the second pic is the right one.

Jan 25th 2008 -  Picked up the Exhaust and Headers from GD! Look fantastic and I can't wait to fit them! This is another step closer to the day when I can start the engine......!!

Jan 19th 2008 - As I'm fitting an oil cooler, I need to fit an oil thermostat as well to make sure I don't cool the oil too much. Because of the type of chassis that GD produce, there aren't many flat surfaces to attach things to so I need to make brackets to mount things on. I started by creating a cardboard template. I then took this to my local engineer (what would I do without him!!!?) to make me a polished stainless steel version to mount the oil stat on. As you can see below, it turned out quite well!

The thing on the left of the bracket as you look at it, is the remote oil filter housing. This incorporates an oil temp sender on the front. I just need now to measure up for braded hose and connectors to go from the oil pump take off plate (seen on the second picture down to the right) to the remote filter, and from the remote filter on (cooler, back to oil stat and then back to engine).

May 24th 2007 - Finally got the engine off the stand and ready for fitting Clutch\flywheel and Gearbox. Looks good, even though I say so myself!!!

Also started to fit some Moroso "Blue Max" plug leads I got from "Real Steel". These come with the distributor end unfinished so you can get the exact length required before fitting the boot.

Now just got the clutch and gearbox to fit then its ready to drop into the Chassis when it arrives!!

Gearbox and Clutch..........

Sept 9th 2006 - Changed my mind about the Thermostat housing!! Took the cast iron one back to Rimmer's and got my money back. I then sent for an aluminium one from "Real Steel". Wasn't cheap (£33.00), but it won't rust and it looks a lot better (and that counts for a lot!!). See the pics below.

That is pretty much the engine complete, apart from the Carb (intend to get a Weber 500) which I won't get until the engine is in the Chassis. I sold the original SU's and manifold on e-bay. It was a novelty to have some money coming back my way!! I obviously need HT leads, plumbing etc, but again for the time being that can wait. Once the engine is in the Chassis all that can be sorted.

Got to get the gearbox sorted....................

 

Aug 12th 2006 - Distributor arrived from JRV8 on Friday. He has made a cracking job of it and it is "as new" now. I needed a new vacuum unit for the dizzy and also a new coil, which Jim provided. All in all, very pleased.

Fitted the Thermostat housing (and thermostat) today (which I had to buy new from Rimmer's because I needed the type with the thermostat bypass hose, see pic below). I had thought of getting the Thermostat housing chromed, but by the time the hose is on and all the other bits are around it you will hardly see it, so don't think its worth the expense. Maybe one day in the future..!!

Fitted the Distributor. One bit I didn't have for the distributor was the clamp which holds it in place (see pic below). I hadn't really thought about it until I came to fitting the Dizzy. Anyway, a quick trip to Rimmers (which is only a few miles from where I live) resolved the problem (cost me a fiver).

July 9th 2006 - With the sump on it was time to start building up to top end. Put the heads on using composite gasket that I got from "Real Steel"(no sealant) and torqued them up. Then came the real bugger of a job, setting the pre-load on the Tappets/Followers!! Having read lots about it both on RPI's web site (very comprehensive help on all parts of the Rover V8 engine) and other places, I was still confused. RPI said the tolerance was between 20 and 50 thou. The paperwork that came with the Lifters said the best tolerance was 60 thou!! In the end, and after chatting with an engineer colleague, I decided to go with what it said on the paperwork that came with them, and set them to 60 thou. To get this average gap I had to put some 47 thou shims (from Real Steel) under the Rocker Pillars. They still were not all exact but this seemed to be the best average. They are mostly 60 thou or just less. Hope that works out OK!! I used a bit of bent welding wire to measure the gap, this stuff was exactly 60 thou!!

July 8th 2006 - Been busy in recent weeks so have not touched the engine. Now finally got the Oil Strainer in and the sump on. I took the advice of Russ on the CRC website and didn't use a cork sump gasket, just used an RTV silicon sealer from Halfords. Cleaned both surfaces with white spirit, then degreaser  before putting it on . Just squeezed the silicon along the line of the sump facing edge and round the bold holes. I put the sump on straight away without letting the sealant go off and torqued it up. It squeezed out a bit when I torqued it but I can always clean that off with a sharp blade.

I also put the new timing chain on (Cloyes Duplex from Real Steel) and put the Timing case on together with the Water pump, Water Pump Pulley and the bottom Crankshaft Pulley. May get a new water pump to be safe so will probably change that later. It took me ages to find stainless steel bolts for the Water Pump and Timing case. Finally got them of a guy that advertises on E-Bay called "Basils Bolts". He was extremely helpful and friendly and I would highly recommend him if you are after hard to find stainless steel nuts and bolts.

3rd June 2006 - Put the Crankshaft back in today together with new main bearings. I was going to put new studs in instead of the original bolts but after reading comments from Russell Ram (Unless you're having to buy new bolts (why?), I can think of a lot of other parts you'd be better spending your money on first) on the CRC web site, I decided to save money and use the originals. I bought new Cross seals and and the rear main seal from Real Steel and fitted them as per the Haynes manual advice (I didn't use a Rover seal guide though as I couldn't find one!). I got everything torque'd down and the Crank turns OK so now on to the next step........................Pistons!!

 

24th June 2006 - Not touched the engine for a couple of weeks. Been on holidays etc. Did manage to take in Newark Kit Car show today. It was interesting and the weather was red hot but it was no where near as good as Stoneleigh!

Made a bad cock up (due to inexperience) while putting the first piston back in. Got it ringed up OK and used a ring compressor to insert it into the bore (see pics below). What I didn't take into account were the bolts on the big end and the highly polished journal on the crank not liking banging against each other!! The result was a scratched journal. When I ran a bearing round it, it scratched the bearing so I new I was going to need some more work on it! I had to take the crank out again and take it to the engine shop. Fortunately it didn't need re-grinding and the scratches polished out. I did have to buy another set of bearings though!!

Got the bearings from Real Steel again and they also sent me some Big end "Bolt Boots" to put over the bolts while inserting into the bore. Worked a treat (see pics below).

Just to add insult to injury I broke one of the compression rings putting it in, despite using a set of ring pliers (pic below). Fortunately Real Steel sell single cylinder ring sets so I didn't have to shell out £40 for a complete new set of rings. This is a big learning curve!!

Oil strainer next and then the sump back on..................next weekend hopefully!!

 

 

Aug 5th 2006 - Got my Edelbrock performer manifold yesterday from "Real Steel". Also bought a set of stainless steel bolts from them which were very expensive, but look nice (and that's important!!). I all ready had the valley gasket (Real Steel) and end clamps (Rimmers) so now to put them all on. Firstly I test fitted the manifold because having had 27thou skimmed off the heads to accommodate the composite type manifold (thicker than the tin one) I just wanted to make sure everything lined up.............and it did (phew!!). The next little problem is that an Edelbrock Performer does not fit straight onto a Rover  because of a threaded lug at the back which fouls the Rocker Cover. I spoke to Jim Robinson (a Guru for Rover V8's) of JRV8 and he told me that it wasn't needed for my engine and to saw the edge of the lug off just behind the thread hole. This I did (see picture below) and it fits fine and still looks OK. So, on went the valley gasket and the new end clamps and rubbers. Russ from the CRC web site said you should put a pea sized blob of RTV silicon on each of the four "V's" where the heads join the block and where the rubber seals locate into. This I did and then fitted everything together and torqued it all up. Starting to look like a proper engine now!! Oh, I cracked and bought a new water pump (seen fitted on picture below). I thought If I am spending all this money and then the first time I take it out I have a water leak I would be rather peeved!!!

Just waiting for my Distributor to return from JRV8 who is rebuilding it for me, so I can fit that. I thought I would stick with the original Distributor (Lucas "Opus" 35DE8) after speaking to Jim Robinson. Although there seems to be a well documented overheating problem with these when they get older, this will be in effect a new one with all new insides etc, and at half the price of a new Mallory, I thought it was worth the risk. Hopefully this will turn up this week which will give me a bit more to do at the weekend!!...:o)