Thread: head bolts - help.

I was going to suggest that given all the this motor has obviously been through, it may be easier and cheaper in the long run to drop a short motor in.

But i also thought that they may wish to enjoy the fun and experience of reconditioning the existing motor.

I recently saw a 4.6 short motor for around 4K, so not a bad option

Still need to get the heads done, crack tested, valve seats, valve guides, valves, leveled/planed, port and polish, compression chamber balancing .. depends how far you want to go

Regards
Stvee

You've really hit the spot Steve! once you start thinking "may as well do xyz while it's in bits" the $$$$ can skyrocket. That's why I went "vanilla" stock standard when I did mine... as it was there wasn't much change out of $1,500.

Well worth getting the heads professionally cleaned up and concentrate on the deck and pistons for the DIY cleanup job. Lanotec "orange" cleaner and the green plastic pot scrubbers +elbow grease get the job done...takes a while but it's worth it ...see Head Gasket Time... post #18

good advice from this forum also about not reinstalling oil seals on exhaust valve stems to minimise carbon buildup...

Thanks heaps guys.

Heads now off to be checked over. Putting in new valve stem seals as they were leaking a bit. I'm pretty sure it's just a clean up for them, and maybe a lap of the seats. No valve seat recession, and all the valves were sealing properly. With the heads upside down on the bench, I filled the combustion chambers with petrol, and there were no leaks out of the ports.

Am trying to keep the whole job under a $1000; though 500hp would be nice.....

I've been talking to one of the guys at Camtech (knows his stuff too); will be ordering it today. New billet ground cam $330 - so I thinks it's reasonable value too.

Is that the torquey cam you spoke of earlier?

I'd love to see a Dyno graph of a factory 4.6 next to a factory one with that cam...

Torque is king.

FWIW.. I notice that the Camtech Rover v8 cam offerings for all but the #509 are designed for either manual transmission or high stall automatics... perhaps need to get more info on the ZF 4HP22/24 characteristics to ensure you get the correct match. Frankly, given you are wanting to keep the $$$ down, I'd recommend a stock standard cam from Karcraft and get the new lifters and solid steel rockers from Turner engineering UK and a set of ARP head studs instead of the TTY bolts. A Payen metal valley gasket is also worth getting instead of the composite one, and use Loctite 518 "cling wrap' thin to seal it.
good luck with it... this job is not for the faint hearted if it's not your normal day job!

I just found a good article on that valley gasket, and as usual, Hoges is right on the money

Interesting read

RANGE ROVER WORLD South Africa: Rover V8 - Critical engine failure from composite valley gasket

Steve

Mmm, ill do a bit of research on that. Thanks. Im pretty sure the lr place in Ballarat would have the steel gasket.

Got the cam yesterday. ..yay!
Now I've just got to dial it in. The specs are. 043 of an inch at tdc.

I've found tdc. Made a piston stop out of an old spark plug, tapped with a 1/8npt tap and die some tube in the end of the plug.
I used the teeth on the flywheel instead of a dial guage though, but I feel its accurate.

Ive got the micrometer setup ontop of the pushrod of #1intake, and cam easily dial in the 1.2246mm on a trial run with the old cam.

What happens if the teeth on the cogs dont match up with this measurement; I guess id just go to the closest possible?

Is there anything else before I put the cam in tomorrow. ..
Just a bit nervous.