Thread: Would the V8 out of a Range Rover Classic be a 'Classic' V8... l

While the 202 red motor (and to some extent the blue motors) were a little asthmatic, they were solid enough. They did not rev freely like the little 149 and 161's that were like little sewing machine motors but there were ways of liberating a lot of reliable fun from all of those (and the 186). I had a few motors in the straight 6 years but my favourite was a 202 bored 40 thou over and worked big time - from a new cast Yella Terra head made in Aus, to 3/4 inch Sig Erson roller rockers, stallite valve seats, phosphorus/bronze guides, larger (but not crazy large) valves, billeted Pro-cam from the US, full balance (even the harmonic balancer copped a balance), hand ported and polished at home, steel timing gear instead of the silly blue motor fibre, shot peened con rods and higher compression forged pistons, then even with the stock Strasbourg Vara-jet carb the thing absolutely went. And revved cleanly time and time again to 6,000 without valve bounce. I had a mate with a new 5 series BMW straight 6 and both motors were quite similar in character. Let us just say it nailed stock 253, 308 V8's as well as VL 3.0 Turbos (stock) with both a 4 speed M21 and the 3 speed auto that I had in there at various times and was a great highway cruiser. So I think with some work the Holden straight 6 (the 3.0 of course was Nissan) was a gem and mine used to put up decent miles even with the output so high.

As for Rover V8 - I think the 3500 was the best but the 3.9 distributor motor was close in terms of reliability but had a fair bit more grunt. The 4.6 of course can be made to work well in terms of reliability (and some went to 300,000 - 400,000 wihtout issue but most it seems not) as can the 4.0. My pick would be however a well re-conditioned 4.6 any day provided the block was sound, with the thicker webbing (which they usually were) and top hatted pistons and ARP head studs.

Cheers

Hi

Unfortunately, the author and full title no longer in my head. Book is around what would pass for A4 size these days at least 1/2 inch thick plus covers with as I recall a worked V8 with 8 trumpets and snakes on the cover. Is an English book, and I do recall the author was a name familiar to me in mid 80s.

No further help I am afraid.

Cheers Rick F

Originally Posted by ozscott

As for Rover V8 - I think the 3500 was the best but the 3.9 distributor motor was close in terms of reliability but had a fair bit more grunt. The 4.6 of course can be made to work well in terms of reliability (and some went to 300,000 - 400,000 wihtout issue but most it seems not) as can the 4.0. My pick would be however a well re-conditioned 4.6 any day provided the block was sound, with the thicker webbing (which they usually were) and top hatted pistons and ARP head studs.

Cheers

One of my Brothers has a D1,3.5 V8,done just under 400,000Km.Does all the work on it himself,weaping heads the only issue,not a very difficult repair.
Cams slightly worn,but not bad enough to cause any issue.Had it since it was a year old.

The Isuzu 4BD1 was probably one of the most reliable and long lasting engines ever fitted to an LR.

Originally Posted by scarry

One of my Brothers has a D1,3.5 V8,done just under 400,000Km.Does all the work on it himself,weaping heads the only issue,not a very difficult repair.
Cams slightly worn,but not bad enough to cause any issue.Had it since it was a year old.

The Isuzu 4BD1 was probably one of the most reliable and long lasting engines ever fitted to an LR.

Nice mate. Yep purely when considering how things came from the factory then tbe early castings were best and thicker webbing on the 3500 also helped to make them the most reliable petrol motor Land Rover (have ever) fitted. Cheers

Originally Posted by Rick Fischer

Hi

Unfortunately, the author and full title no longer in my head. Book is around what would pass for A4 size these days at least 1/2 inch thick plus covers with as I recall a worked V8 with 8 trumpets and snakes on the cover. Is an English book, and I do recall the author was a name familiar to me in mid 80s.

No further help I am afraid.

Cheers Rick F

Hello Rick,

Does this ring any bells.... Tuning and Modifying the Rover V8 Engine by Daniel R. Lloyd and Nathan J. Lloyd from Lloyd Special Developments in the UK?

Or

How to Power Tune Rover V8 Engines by Des Hammill.

As a bit of a postscript - I have looked into the Lloyd's who are the authors of the first book I found a bit more. They have their own performance and development company. I am not sure whether their book may be a bit like the Land Rover Series restoration book I bought years ago. It was sponsored by Britpart and for some strange reason nearly every single part that you could use to improve the efficiency and performance of your vehicle was available from .... Britpart!

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by scarry

One of my Brothers has a D1,3.5 V8,done just under 400,000Km.Does all the work on it himself,weaping heads the only issue,not a very difficult repair.
Cams slightly worn,but not bad enough to cause any issue.Had it since it was a year old.

The Isuzu 4BD1 was probably one of the most reliable and long lasting engines ever fitted to an LR.

A 4BD1 is very capable of doing 1M kms before needing a rebuild.

I know of one 3.5 that came close to that, even after it was sunk in a dam in a 2 door early in it's life up to the roof.

The 350 in my pos has done 700K kms since its last rebuild.....nearly all on lpg. Has gas heads.

If the definition of a 'classic V8' is based on longevity and strength a cast iron motor (350, Ford Windsor, etc) is streets ahead.

There are none of the alloy oil pump issues, heads warping with water loss issues, etc that 3.5's suffer from............. let alone the liner slipping issues that 3.9 and 4.6 LR donks can incur and other quirky stuff.

Just depends what the definition of 'classic' is.

I had a 2 door with a 4.4 race motor........just awesome sound, etc, but I wouldn't consider it as a reliable daily drive, comparing it with the 74 with the 350.

I like strong, mass produced US stuff (designed to be reconditioned) combined with Pommy design (chassis, body, suspension) from before or around 1970 ish.

Maybe it's all throwaway after that.

DL

Gotta remember as well those old engines were very low stressed.

Look at the power and torque rating of a 3.5L petrol engine today,or a diesel equivalent of the 4DB1

These newer engines are not only highly stressed,they also have to comply to emission standards,EGR’s,DPF’s,cats,on it goes.


A mate rebuilds truck engines,has for years.
Years ago many went for over 1M Km before a rebuild,now they are lucky to get 7 to 800,000 out of them,usually less.
It’s the emissions stuff that is killing them.

Originally Posted by scarry

Gotta remember as well those old engines were very low stressed.

Look at the power and torque rating of a 3.5L petrol engine today,or a diesel equivalent of the 4DB1

These newer engines are not only highly stressed,they also have to comply to emission standards,EGR’s,DPF’s,cats,on it goes.


A mate rebuilds truck engines,has for years.
Years ago many went for over 1M Km before a rebuild,now they are lucky to get 7 to 800,000 out of them,usually less.
It’s the emissions stuff that is killing them.

Yep and as part of that the critical state of mixture to ensure not only the best burn for emissions but best fuel economy. Makes them run hotter and a slight deviation to too lean is always close by. Cheers