Thread: Stage one v8 engine rebuild

Originally Posted by Summiitt

Just after some thoughts, my stage one clutch exploded yesterday and needs either the box or engine pulled. Ive never been impressed with the performance of this vehicle, particularly when compared to my other stage one which hauls ass!
Im thinking of pulling the engine out and doing a rebuild, Id like to up the power, but haven't got a huge budget..just wondering do I go a worked 3.5, 3.9 or 4l+ any thoughts from practical experience and approx costs would be appreciated. Current motor is a standard 3.5 carby with electronic ignition.

So Tim what are your intentions?

All I can say is that is you recondition your engine it will cost more than you think - however they are easy to rebuild and parts are freely available.

i would be tempted to go a 3.9 and use its basic injection system which has a simple ECU etc and can be connected up with not much mucking around.

Garry

Thanks Gary and sorry Tim for hijacking your thread slightly. Now back on task after Gary has been kind enough to full fill my needs.

I agree with what Garry has advised if you are going to rebuild your 3.5. I went down the 3.9 path as it was easier to source parts and it is a very useable engine in a Stage One. The LT95 gearbox in mine has stood up well so far with the extra power that my 3.9 has feeding through it. I have done about 40 000kms with the rebuilt motor and gearbox and am very happy that I have done it.

If you do inject it I think you will be very happy. My Holley is nice but a fuel injected 3.9 in a Stage One would be awesome! As Gary said probably the way to go if you can source a simple ECU system. Mine still uses the original drum brakes all round which is one of the things you have to keep on top of when you have the sort of power available through a warm 3.9. It would be awesome to have disks all round to match the performance of the engine but that can take you down another path which I have ventured but decided to turn back and just maintain my drums well.

I have no intention on selling my Stage One either otherwise I wouldn't have spent the sort of money that it did cost to pretty much rebuild the entire drive train. As Gary said you will be surprised how much it does cost to rebuild a Rover V8. Mine was off the road for close to 2 years and it didn't take long to get over 10K by the time it was back together. I did put in new seats and reconditioned the steering as well plus a couple of other big ticket items like some Wolf rims and new tyres etc.

It is interesting to see how much people are asking for good examples of these vehicles at the moment. I saw a very nice 1984 tray back ute on Gumtree today for $25K. Not sure if it will fetch that price but it looks like a beautiful vehicle. Some images below.

While mine is not cosmetically as beautiful as the images below it is still in good nick for its age and I always have a smile on my face when all 4 barrels on the Holley are wide open and the extractors expel the gasses out of the 3 inch single exhaust system!

What is the condition of your Stage One Tim?

Regards Warrick.

All good on the hijack, interesting to see where the stage ones came from. Ive got a quote for $7500 on a full rebuild (I pull it out) but they have given me options of high compression, 3.9, 4.2,4.6, stroked..
My budget is 10k all done with new clutch ect, the ute is in such fantastic original condition, that I'm cool with spending some cash on it, but I want birds to fly away and people to turn and look when I take off from the lights.. perhaps a ZF auto down the track..

I would definitely go high comp (but you will need higher octane fuel) - if they are using your old block then 3.9 and 4.2 (stroker crank) are good options. Making a 4.6 out of a 3.5 block is more problematic as machining of the block is needed to get a 4.6 crank in and the 3.5 block is not quite as strong as the 4.0/4.6 block which can take four bolt mains (crank bearing caps).

But yes there are options.

Garry

TimNZ on here is putting a 3.9l v8 in his stage 1 wagon at the moment. I'm sure he would answer any PM'd questions.
Cheers, Chris.

Originally Posted by garrycol

So Tim what are your intentions?

All I can say is that is you recondition your engine it will cost more than you think - however they are easy to rebuild and parts are freely available.

i would be tempted to go a 3.9 and use its basic injection system which has a simple ECU etc and can be connected up with not much mucking around.

Garry

hi gary this stage 1 here has the original 3.5 moter stillwas running when stood up there was a fault in reverse gear do you think the best way to go is part it out regards jim

Originally Posted by Summiitt

All good on the hijack, interesting to see where the stage ones came from. Ive got a quote for $7500 on a full rebuild (I pull it out) but they have given me options of high compression, 3.9, 4.2,4.6, stroked..
My budget is 10k all done with new clutch ect, the ute is in such fantastic original condition, that I'm cool with spending some cash on it, but I want birds to fly away and people to turn and look when I take off from the lights.. perhaps a ZF auto down the track..

Looks like a very nice Stage One Truck Cab Tim.

I would go 3.9 or 4.2 and keep the LT95. I was told by my mechanic who has done it, not to go for the 4.6 as the transfer case on the LT95 will be the weak link in the drive train with that sort of power pushing through it. I was toying with the idea of putting a 5 speed box in mine out of a Discovery but I ended up changing the ratio of the gears in the LT95. I can easily sit on 110kmh all day and she just coasts along. In fact I can pull it up to 110kmh in third if I am loving the sound of the Rover V8 in full cry.

I also put a shorter shift gate in the LT95 which feels much nicer than the original set up when pulling through the gears. I do run 98 octane fuel in my 3.9 because it is so much more responsive when you open up the throttle and if I drive it sensibly you do get better economy and even though it is more expensive than 95 it sort of evens out.

If you put a warm 3.9 or 4.2 in your Truck Cab with a nice exhaust system you will be very happy with the sound that comes out when you open it up. My exhaust exits out of the passenger side just before the rear wheel (image below). She revs and sounds brilliant when you open up the taps with high octane fuel detonating in it! More than enough noise to scare birds and for people to turn and look when I take off from the lights

That's my 2 cents anyway. Look forward to seeing what you do.

Regards Warrick.

Originally Posted by wpalmo

I was told by my mechanic who has done it, not to go for the 4.6 as the transfer case on the LT95 will be the weak link in the drive train with that sort of power pushing through it.

Hi Warrick - I assume the view of your mechanic is an assumption rather than knowledge of failures. I know of a few LT95s behind 4.6s and they have no problems. The LT95 (gearbox and tfr case) will easily handle a 4.6 - it is not the power that could cause problems but torque which is just a little more than what is produced in a Turbo 6x6 Perentie - though upgrading to tapered bearings in the tfr case might be an option (like they did in the perenties).

I agree though that for a Stage 1 a 3.9 or if you can get a 4.2 crank (rare and expensive) would be the way to go.

I think with Tim's Stage 1 these are now in Classic Car territory so originality starts to become an issue, so keeping the old block with its engine number becomes important.

So if I were Tim, I would be taking the 3.5 out to 3.9 bores and if he can get a stroker (4.2) crank then put that in - makes a 4.2 and put the 3.9 CUIX injection manifold on and use the associated ECU (can be tweeked) - so has a nice engine, with a decent increase in power, engine is essentially still original and if required at a later date, the injection manifold taken off and the carbs/manifold can go back on for total originality.

Cheers

Garry