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[Kevin Wood]

If I could brave the cold outside I'd go and measure mine just to see 

You could probably take a bath in one of yours, never mind fitting it in the dishwasher!

[aaronjb]

 

[zirk]

Go to pound land, get large tin of oven cleaner, spray over area, drink tea, then brush in well, wash off, 

The Alloy Wheel Foam Cleaner from Poundland also works really well as a cleaner (smells like it contains Ammonia), do my throttle bodles, multi Rams, breathers etc, comes up a treat. 

[X30XE]

Procured 5L of thinners from my local paint supplier. Going through the oil varnish like a hot knife through butter.  Now wondering if the hydraulic lifters I gave up on could have been soaked and saved. Ho hum. Next time 

One of the redeeming things about this engine, other than it's mechanical simplicity, is everything is cheap. New timing chain is only £5.99 

[X30XE]

I don't like using waterbased degreasers as all the shite ends up in the watercourses when you wash it off. Least with solvents you can dispose of it irresponsibly into a hedg... I mean down the local recycling centre 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Procured 5L of thinners from my local paint supplier. Going through the oil varnish like a hot knife through butter.  Now wondering if the hydraulic lifters I gave up on could have been soaked and saved. Ho hum. Next time 

One of the redeeming things about this engine, other than it's mechanical simplicity, is everything is cheap. New timing chain is only £5.99 

The lifters are usually dished and worn rather than clogged up, just be very wary of some parts, generally if it has Britpart written on it then its utter shite!

Worth checking your rocker shafts as they wear very badly to (pull one of the rockers against the spring on the shaft and check for scouring. When they get bad the rockers can fracture and the oil pressure in the whole engine also drops as it pisses out the shaft.

[X30XE]

Procured 5L of thinners from my local paint supplier. Going through the oil varnish like a hot knife through butter.  Now wondering if the hydraulic lifters I gave up on could have been soaked and saved. Ho hum. Next time 

One of the redeeming things about this engine, other than it's mechanical simplicity, is everything is cheap. New timing chain is only £5.99 

The lifters are usually dished and worn rather than clogged up, just be very wary of some parts, generally if it has Britpart written on it then its utter shite!

Worth checking your rocker shafts as they wear very badly to (pull one of the rockers against the spring on the shaft and check for scouring. When they get bad the rockers can fracture and the oil pressure in the whole engine also drops as it pisses out the shaft.

Yeah I see that in pictures on t'internet a lot but strangely given the complete lack of maintenance mine has clearly had they're barely dished at all. They have suffered internally though from disgusting oil.

Oh 'dangle berries' Just arrived today. Don't like the look of the machining marks on them. Don't look properly chromed either.  Dammit. Pay cheap...

They are slightly mullared indeed.  At the moment I'm trying to get the thing running again to get an MOT on it.  Depending on the outcome of that I may completely rebuild the engine/replace the engine. 

Any pearls of wisdom on cam timing? All the advice online seems fiendishly complicated for an engine with two sprockets with fixed keyways. Can't see how it could require protractors/dial indicators to set up correctly when a chain link must be 10 deg? 

[Nick W]

They are slightly mullared indeed.  At the moment I'm trying to get the thing running again to get an MOT on it.  Depending on the outcome of that I may completely rebuild the engine/replace the engine. 

Any pearls of wisdom on cam timing? All the advice online seems fiendishly complicated for an engine with two sprockets with fixed keyways. Can't see how it could require protractors/dial indicators to set up correctly when a chain link must be 10 deg? 

If you're using a stock camshaft, then just lining up the marks on the timing gears will be enough. If you're fitting a performance cam(and I would as they're cheap and really effective) then a DTI is necessary to get it right. Timing a single cam with a DTI is actually a pretty simple procedure. And what sort of idiot buys an upgraded part and installs it incorrectly?

[X30XE]

They are slightly mullared indeed.  At the moment I'm trying to get the thing running again to get an MOT on it.  Depending on the outcome of that I may completely rebuild the engine/replace the engine. 

Any pearls of wisdom on cam timing? All the advice online seems fiendishly complicated for an engine with two sprockets with fixed keyways. Can't see how it could require protractors/dial indicators to set up correctly when a chain link must be 10 deg? 

If you're using a stock camshaft, then just lining up the marks on the timing gears will be enough. If you're fitting a performance cam(and I would as they're cheap and really effective) then a DTI is necessary to get it right. Timing a single cam with a DTI is actually a pretty simple procedure. And what sort of idiot buys an upgraded part and installs it incorrectly?

I'm re-using the old one currently. Can you remember off the top of your noggin where the timing marks are on the block?
It is if you have a DTI yes. I might fit a torque optimised cam if I do end up rebuilding it completely then.

[Nick W]

I'm re-using the old one currently. Can you remember off the top of your noggin where the timing marks are on the block?
It is if you have a DTI yes. I might fit a torque optimised cam if I do end up rebuilding it completely then.

Every OHV engine I've seen has the marks on the timing gears, not the block. The gears are keyed to the cam and crank; all you do is align the dots to each other, and ensure they stay that way when the chain is tensioned. Being an American designed engine, the Rover may not have a timing chain tensioner

[X30XE]

I'm re-using the old one currently. Can you remember off the top of your noggin where the timing marks are on the block?
It is if you have a DTI yes. I might fit a torque optimised cam if I do end up rebuilding it completely then.

Every OHV engine I've seen has the marks on the timing gears, not the block. The gears are keyed to the cam and crank; all you do is align the dots to each other, and ensure they stay that way when the chain is tensioned. Being an American designed engine, the Rover may not have a timing chain tensioner

Thanks. I'm not used to this antiquated shit. 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Shit is the correct word! 

There are centre dots on the sprockets which you align, 6 Oclock for the cam and 12 Oclock for the crank, the better crank sprockets have multiple keyways which give some adjustment (you can select the keyway slot to give optimum timing) but the biggest issue is the poor quality chains, you may well find that even a new one is slack still!

As for cams, you have to be a bit careful as many require the valve guides machining down a bit to accommodate the extra lift but, the likes of a Hurricane are a good compromise (the 3.9 injection cam always gave a really nice cheap upgrade on the a 3.5). A good and simple performance booster is to machine down the inlet valve guides in the port a bit (don't bother with the exhaust as the gains are minimal and it affects valve heat transfer) then match the ports to the inlet manifold gasket.

As for the followers, any wear at all no matter how small means they are goosed as the hardening is very thin, check also the cam lobes as they are raised slightly at one edge of the peak which is supposed to rotate the follower, wear here very quickly accelerates.

Done forget you will need to set the follower preload on rebuild with shims under the rocker shaft mounts.

[X30XE]

Shit is the correct word! 

There are centre dots on the sprockets which you align, 6 Oclock for the cam and 12 Oclock for the crank, the better crank sprockets have multiple keyways which give some adjustment (you can select the keyway slot to give optimum timing) but the biggest issue is the poor quality chains, you may well find that even a new one is slack still!

Yep. Can see that inevitability coming a mile off 

As for cams, you have to be a bit careful as many require the valve guides machining down a bit to accommodate the extra lift but, the likes of a Hurricane are a good compromise (the 3.9 injection cam always gave a really nice cheap upgrade on the a 3.5). A good and simple performance booster is to machine down the inlet valve guides in the port a bit (don't bother with the exhaust as the gains are minimal and it affects valve heat transfer) then match the ports to the inlet manifold gasket.

Mine is a late 4.0 (3.9)

As for the followers, any wear at all no matter how small means they are goosed as the hardening is very thin, check also the cam lobes as they are raised slightly at one edge of the peak which is supposed to rotate the follower, wear here very quickly accelerates.

It's safe to assume that everything is a bit goosed with the care it's not had.  If it can pass an MOT then she can have shiney new bits.

Done forget you will need to set the follower preload on rebuild with shims under the rocker shaft mounts.

So I read... but don't understand why? Surely the whole point of the hydraulic lifters is that they compensate for any slack? 

[Marks DTM Calib]

Its because the engine is far from a precision built unit and there is quite a bit of variance, clearly there has to be some load on the lifter or you get a lot of tapping (plus mega fast cam and follower wear) and to much load and the oil port in the follower gets covered and they don't fill.

There is a much easier method than using the wire feeler gauges on the follower for setting it which is described quite well here:

http://www.v8developments.co.uk/technical/valve_train/index.shtml

They are  an engine which really needs oil changes aver 3-5k miles and is far more dependent on oil flow than pressure, sadly they don't see this and continue to appear to run ok......but then if you are down a bit on 2 cylinder and 1 is not firing at all then you hardly notice on a V8

[X30XE]

Thanks Mark.

And the shims are going to have to be the genuine article as that's were the oil feed for the rocker shaft comes up as well... great. 

The more I see of this engine the more I wonder why I'm bothering for 180bhp and probably 15mpg