Thread: Old school V8i tunning

Originally Posted by black betty

If I was going to improve the power/torque of my 1998 D1 3.9 V8I automatic, what mechanical alterations/upgrades could I make?

As it is an auto I would be looking for more torque in the 1500 – 2500 rpm range.

I’m not looking for a turbo or anything that the wife might notice. Ideally it would be something that could be incorporated into a top end recondition. I do not need a full racing engine just more pull up the big sand dunes.

My local mechanic wants to stroke it to 4.9 but I think that is a bit more than I'll need.

Anybody played with the old V8 a bit?

Sometimes there is a bit of stroking when it comes to engine building


FFS............wtf?

Here are some costs & results from my 163'k 1993 d1 3.9 v8. when bought was stock except extractors power was ok but nothing to crow about. Just loved my Landrover. Changed exhaust system 7 times best combo is 2.5" & straight thru muffler, (owned a muffler shop) Came across the informative English Rpi website: k&n air fliter $89.00 definitely improves performance at wot, rev's harder & quicker. Played with timing between 8-18 deg btdc advised by lr mechanic that crankshaft timing marks are 3 degrees each? not much difference in power but seems to go better at about 12 deg. Rpi ignition power amplifier cost $238 replacing stock ignition amplifier small improvement in power and economy noticeably easier starting and better combustion as seen in spark plugs, used to be black on one side. Magnicore lead set $90 gave smoother running unsure of power inprovement. Rpi adjustable fuel regulator $230 noticed small improvement at part throttle nice to have control over fuel pressure. Rpi Piper torquemax camshaft 270 deg duration, lifters, j and p duplex timing chain set heads reco'ed, composite head gasgets, Arp main bearing stud kit, About $800 in parts $1800 labour, Wow the cam made a big difference much more willing to rev & really comes on at 1500 rpm part & wot and keeps accelerating to 4000+ have won a few from the lights: maybe it's the sound of the Rover V8 screamin ,
Ok nearly done, Rpi optimax fuel chip $700 about $60 to get ecu socketed done less than 60k's so still evaluating but feels good.
Geez hope the missus doesn't see this! Was it worth it? of course it is as I've tried to prolong engine life aswell as performance just wish I had a mate with a dyno

Originally Posted by waxen

Sometimes there is a bit of stroking when it comes to engine building


FFS............wtf?

FFS= for fug sake

WTF= what the fug

My 2c

Because the heads are off ...
Install bigger valves ... Can't beat air flow
Install a mild cam .. Something better than stock / research required
Port match the intake to manifold ... cause you have to
Up the compression .... within reason of cost / for port matching & machining manifold

Your running a Auto ... so you have no problems with location of tourqe / Just select the right transmission gear position for the job required

Mike

This may be a little further than you wanted to go, but it's a good read anyway......


Whats the BHP - LR4x4 - The Land Rover Forum

Tim

Originally Posted by mufflerman

Here are some costs & results from my 163'k 1993 d1 3.9 v8. when bought was stock except extractors power was ok but nothing to crow about. Just loved my Landrover. Changed exhaust system 7 times best combo is 2.5" & straight thru muffler, (owned a muffler shop) Came across the informative English Rpi website: k&n air fliter $89.00 definitely improves performance at wot, rev's harder & quicker. Played with timing between 8-18 deg btdc advised by lr mechanic that crankshaft timing marks are 3 degrees each? not much difference in power but seems to go better at about 12 deg. Rpi ignition power amplifier cost $238 replacing stock ignition amplifier small improvement in power and economy noticeably easier starting and better combustion as seen in spark plugs, used to be black on one side. Magnicore lead set $90 gave smoother running unsure of power inprovement. Rpi adjustable fuel regulator $230 noticed small improvement at part throttle nice to have control over fuel pressure. Rpi Piper torquemax camshaft 270 deg duration, lifters, j and p duplex timing chain set heads reco'ed, composite head gasgets, Arp main bearing stud kit, About $800 in parts $1800 labour, Wow the cam made a big difference much more willing to rev & really comes on at 1500 rpm part & wot and keeps accelerating to 4000+ have won a few from the lights: maybe it's the sound of the Rover V8 screamin ,
Ok nearly done, Rpi optimax fuel chip $700 about $60 to get ecu socketed done less than 60k's so still evaluating but feels good.
Geez hope the missus doesn't see this! Was it worth it? of course it is as I've tried to prolong engine life aswell as performance just wish I had a mate with a dyno

I like it, subtle and most of which the misses will never know.

A couple of quick questions from the newbie:
adjustable fuel regulator, how does that work and why is it a benifit?
Rpi optimax fuel chip, does this replace the old ECU and could I do that if I'm running on LPG.

Keep the sugestions coming, I'm getting exited

Originally Posted by black betty

Rpi optimax fuel chip, does this replace the old ECU and could I do that if I'm running on LPG.

The fuel chip just replaces the old fuel chip within the ECU. You can do this if you run dual fuel but you will only benefit when running on petrol.

The adjustable pressure regulator gives you the ability to do just that, change the fuel pressure available in the fuel rail which must maintain a minimum pressure for the injectors to work correctly, about 2.5 bar or 36 psi as standard for 3.9 v8i.

Any changes to improve performance eg cams, exhaust,s can place the standard fuel supply unable to keep up with the engines new fuel requirements. (causing popping & misfires in extreme cases).

With the Rpi unit you get a fuel gauge that tells you what the pressure is from the pump & you can adjust it or just check it, modified 3.9s run upto about 38-40 psi.

The Optimax fuel chip also has dual fuel mapping for lpg but I don't know if there compatible with gas/lpg systems in Aus, pretty sure they'll have the info "RPi Engineering - Specialised Rover Engines".

The chip replaces an eprom on the CIRCUIT BOARD of your ECU which stores all of the parameters for the injection system, yeh sounds a bit scary but if you do a bit of R&R you'll find most are positive with rechipping.

There's some guy's in Melbourne powerchipgroup that do a chip upgrade also called an optimax and tornado for higher performance LR v8's Don't know if there the Mark Adams design like the Rpi ones.

Cheers Maurice