Thread: 2.6 Engine Improvements

Originally Posted by djam1

We did many many thousands of Km in 2.6 litre Land Rovers in extreme heat and we found that the cooling system was really very good.
Vastly better than the Nissans and Toyotas of the equivalent era.

Sorry, when I said that the 2.6 usually runs fairly hot, what I meant was that the exhaust manifold, sitting up high in the engine bay, doesn't benefit from any stream of cool air to carry the heat away, resulting in the manifold retaining excessive heat, especially when the engine is working hard. This heat is then retained in the exhaust port area of the engine block, making it very difficult for the exhaust valve to effectively cool. This is also compounded by the exhaust valve being of a smaller than ideal size. Any improvement to help evacuate the exhaust gas will result in a cooler running exhaust valve, so prolonging it's life and helping to prevent valve burning.
I agree that the cooling system, well maintained, is very good.
A shorty with a healthy 3 litre would be lots of fun
Cookey

Extractor Update:

well this has taken about 4 times as long as I first estimated but finally the first set has been completed and test fitted to a Series 3. The good news is that the jigs I spent many hours constructing have worked precisely as intended and allow all the welding to be carried out without distortion ensuring that the extractors are a perfect fit, and that each subsequent set will be exactly the same. The tail end of the extractors aligns with the original support bracket and intermediate pipe. The only modification required to fit them is to provide some extra clearance at the firewall support bracket, very simple to do. You would not believe the time that has gone into this project. The costs have blown out slightly to $4088.00 for 5 sets not including consumables or my time. (the exhaust shop originally quoted me $1250 per set plus GST for a batch of 5)
Some photos below......

Cookey


completed set unpainted or coated



below shows clearance with modified firewall bracket

below clearance under chassis outrigger

below view from top fitted to engine

below intermediate pipe and hanger

below modified firewall support

Great work Cookey. I'll definitely buy a set if they aren't all sold. As well as a disk brake conversion when you have those ready to go.

Cheers - Gav

Cookey,
Those headers are an absolute joy to look at and high on my list of things-of-beauty!

Being a metal-worker myself, I appreciate the time and development that has gone in to this project and I admire your perseverance and patience - top work! Did you TIG the pipes to the manifold plate? I can think of no other method which could produce such magnificent weld appearance in that application.

Thank you for sharing your understanding of this engine and your special development programme for increasing its performance,

Cheers Charlie

nice welds

Originally Posted by chazza

Did you TIG the pipes to the manifold plate? I can think of no other method which could produce such magnificent weld appearance in that application.

I am probably wrong but it looks like very handy MIG welding to me. I always thought TIG looked like "overlapping dinner plates".

The welding was all done using a MIG.

Cookey

Latest update.
The extractors are finally finished and have been ceramic coated inside and out. Final cost per set is $1200-00. A couple of sets are still available if anyone is interested.

The three finished pieces

Front section

Rear section

Third section

Ceramic coating inside and out

Close up front section pipes

Close up rear section pipes

The ceramic coating cuts down radiated heat transfer by more than 50%. This keeps the exhaust gas traveling thru the exhaust at a greater speed. The smoothness of the internal ceramic coating also helps maintain maximum gas speed, resulting in less power loss and greater removal of heat from the exhaust valve and seat area. The ceramic coating also protects the extractor components from corrosion, both internally and externally, outlasting painted extractors by several times.

Cookey