Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: PaulW on 08 June 2008, 23:42:44
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There was one at PVS today...
Rover SD1 engine (just put in, still setting up) so no exhaust system. Very early days!
Had a chat with the bloke who owns/built it too, and handed him a flyer which I was given at the last cambelt party! He sounded quite interested in the site, as he said... "I've been looking for an omega owners site" so hopefully see him soon!
Few pictures (and video)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04949.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04953.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04956.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04960.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04966.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/dsc04961.jpg)
(http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/th_mov00651.jpg) (http://s130.photobucket.com/albums/p266/PaulW21781/PVS%202008/?action=view¤t=mov00651.flv)
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
a 150bhp rover engine in an omega is a joke considering an mv6 / elite is 217bhp 3.2 v6
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
a 150bhp rover engine in an omega is a joke considering an mv6 / elite is 217bhp 3.2 v6
I tend to agree. Odd choice of engine. You'd need to throw serious money at a RV8 to significantly better the V6 and, whilst more tuning options exist for the Rover V8, you're starting off with a much inferior engine in the first place.
Kevin
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
No they won't, engine bay is too small
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
No they won't, engine bay is too small
Northstar will. Vauxhall did it - TIS is full of info about it - but never released.
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I tend to agree. Odd choice of engine. You'd need to throw serious money at a RV8 to significantly better the V6 and, whilst more tuning options exist for the Rover V8, you're starting off with a much inferior engine in the first place.
Kevin
Small block engine fits in the gap far easier, and dont forget no-one has said its a 3.5, could be an ex TVR 5ltr.
Thats only a guess by the way :)
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
a 150bhp rover engine in an omega is a joke considering an mv6 / elite is 217bhp 3.2 v6
Possible the owner already had a highly tuned one, or just extensive knowledge of the RV8. I agree it will need a lot of work to get it up to V6 performance, but I bet it sounds nice :y
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
No they won't, engine bay is too small
The North will...
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but I bet it sounds nice :y
Sounded great for the 50 feet it ran on the strip for.
The stupid bonnet with the massive air scoop is thing that spoils it, but arriving on 4 space savers was quite comical!!!
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but I bet it sounds nice :y
Sounded great for the 50 feet it ran on the strip for.
The stupid bonnet with the massive air scoop is thing that spoils it, but arriving on 4 space savers was quite comical!!!
Ahh, sounds like a "break! the tyres are too wide to fit the trailer" moment.
Kevin
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The small block will to.
There are a couple of things I note of that V8 lump.
1) Its got the old P6 covers so it isnt an ex-TVR as the roller rockers used wont fit under them
2) Its got a 4 barrel carb (cant quite tell which sort, looks Holley ish, not a weber though) with what might wll be an edelbrock manifold so will be close on 200bhp with a reasonable cam.
3) I suspect its an old P series V8 (judging by the timing cover and water pump setup) so will be low compression............which makes it ripe for a blower (supercharger?)
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Looks like a Holley
carb semi-controlled fuel leak to me.
I guess if he's got drag racing in mind a supercharger / nitrous could well be on his todo list, which will liven it up a little.
Gotta be a project idea for JamesV6CDX there? V8 Disco that won't sell + 4 pot Omega which he claims is a bit gutless.... ::)
Kevin
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not a vx engine tho a shame really as a 5.7 chevvy or a 4.0 north* v8 will drop straight in
No they won't, engine bay is too small
ohh yes they will :)
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Looks like a Holley carb semi-controlled fuel leak to me.
I guess if he's got drag racing in mind a supercharger / nitrous could well be on his todo list, which will liven it up a little.
Gotta be a project idea for JamesV6CDX there? V8 Disco that won't sell + 4 pot Omega which he claims is a bit gutless.... ::)
Kevin
;D ;D ;D
bucket with holes drilled in you mean ;D - throttle bodies is the only way to go - induction roar and electronic control for precise mapping and ultimate power.
never liked that engine - supposed to be light and compact though which is why it usualy gets shoe horned in - but migs ain't exactly lacking in space as long as you don't mind snapping the scuttle off to work on the head ;D
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Agreed. A mate of mine built one with a Weber 500 carb and it wasn't too bad. Not as thirsty and more responsive than the Holley generally.
If I were doing it these days injection is a total no-brainer. Either OE manifold and plenum (ideally a twin plenum 8-)) or ITBs.
I think these engines are popular because you can have the "V8 sound" without a total boat-anchor under the bonnet. I guess they're plentiful enough in this country (not many other V8s in the scrappers in any quantity) and, although most of them are totally breaked by the time they get there the parts to rebuild them aren't that expensive.
Weight is about 150-160 kg, IIRC, which is pretty good. Lighter than an X30XE by a long shot, I'd bet, and not really that much more than an iron-block 4 pot.
Kevin
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a 5.7 wil go straight in google 5.7 catera there is a mopar firm in i think its Illinois that will convert a catera to a 5.7 chevvy they even sell kits on eBay the last time i looked you could buy a 5.7 mounting kit and ecu interface kit for $700 which isnt bad but a crate hemi 5.7 is around the $10k mark so that put me off!
it does look like a p6 engine now i have seen the pix i agree i bet it sounds marvelous though
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it does look like a p6 engine now i have seen the pix i agree i bet it sounds marvelous though
Mate of mine has a Cobra (Dax Tojeiro) with 3.5 RV8 (I believe it had a hurricane cam, but otherwise bog standard). He had a pair of side pipes made with slightly less than the usual standard of sound deadening. :y Went to Le Mans with him and it was the best sounding car I saw all weekend. Even the pukka Cobras with 427s and the like in them didn't sound a patch on his. ;D The Rover V8 really does sound fantastic. :-*
I think he was getting 30 MPG too. Doubt they were getting half that but he managed to avoid any TLGPs. :-[
Kevin
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my p6 does 25ish to the gallon but i drive it for that lovely v8 rumble
but its in bits at the moment having new bushes fitted and im having the seats retrimmed
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my p6 does 25ish to the gallon but i drive it for that lovely v8 rumble
but its in bits at the moment having new bushes fitted and im having the seats retrimmed
25? I never got more that 18 out of a V8,was an auto, as all good cars should be. ;D
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myn is a manual 3500s dont like autos !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but its not a speed machine
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myn is a manual 3500s dont like autos !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but its not a speed machine
Till you have had one. :y
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the rover v8 in p6 and sd1 cars is american engine it is a (excuse spelling) beuwick engine ,my brother has a triumph tr7 with tr8 v8 conversion,has rover engine from sd1,but the car has had 17 thousand pounds restore work done to it,engine sounds well nice,with the header pipes and straight through stainlees steel exhaust,had allsorts done to engine,he had it tested and is throwing out 290 bhp,not bad for a car that weighs next to nothing 8-) 8-) 8-)
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Yep. Rover V8 started out as the Buick 215 in 1960 IIRC. Bought by Rover in about '63 when it wasn't a total success in the US.
For such an old design it doesn't do too badly really.
Saw a lovely P5B Coupe yersterday. :-*
Kevin
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Yep. Rover V8 started out as the Buick 215 in 1960 IIRC. Bought by Rover in about '63 when it wasn't a total success in the US.
For such an old design it doesn't do too badly really.
Saw a lovely P5B Coupe yersterday. :-*
Kevin
Lets get this right, it was bought by Rover who then screwed the head design up and made the headgaskets prone to failure by fitting extra bolts (not fixed until 1994!).
And these days its still a pretty poor design thanks to the poor flowing heads (and wildcat replacements require a house remortgage!).
To get 280Bhp from a 3.5 requires masses of work and expense.........it would be cheaper to get a 4.8 and do a lighter tune.
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The fella that did the work on my TR8 said the 3.9 was the best engine to go for as it revs easier, don't know how true that is, but it was very quick ;)
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Lets get this right, it was bought by Rover who then screwed the head design up and made the headgaskets prone to failure by fitting extra bolts (not fixed until 1994!).
Yes, that was a typical "Well, just chuck a couple of extra bolts on" BL bodgery. From the company who only rushed out new engine designs when the tooling to make the old one wore out. ::)
Kevin
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The fella that did the work on my TR8 said the 3.9 was the best engine to go for as it revs easier, don't know how true that is, but it was very quick ;)
They dont rev easier, thats not a fact in fact they tend to be poorer at revving due to the increased piston/rod assembly mass.
The only difference between the 3500 and 3950 is the bore, the 3500 is 89mm and the 3950 is 94mm (from memory). The one advantage you do get is that there is slightly less shielding by the bores on the valves (questionable that this is the restriction when you look at the head design!) but, the 94mm bored blocks are also known to drop liners......which is not good at all.
There are then a few other derivatives including the later (94 onwards) 4.0 (actualy a 3950!) and 4.6 (a stroked 3950) which had cross bolts on the block and the extra row of head bolts removed plus a much improved crank driven oil pump all developed as part of the failed iceburg diesel project.
TVR then took the 4.6 out to 5.0 for the griffith and some have bored and stroked it to a whopping 5.4!
Thing is that even a heavily modified 5.2 with big valve heads will only make 330-380 bhp at best.........all for about 6500+vat just for the engine (no injection setup!)
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this is my little bro's v8 tr7 sorry no engine shot's though,they where takem at a show a couple of weeks ago 8-) 8-) 8-)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0097.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0134.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0135.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0136.jpg)
and his is injection aswell to add
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Thing is that even a heavily modified 5.2 with big valve heads will only make 330-380 bhp at best.........all for about 6500+vat just for the engine (no injection setup!)
BUT the LS1 5.7 V8 as found in the Monaro ONLY produces 350bhp, and starts at £4500 plus VAT plus all the ancillaries, so the ex-rover V8 in whatever guise (320bhp in TVR 5ltr form) is actually quite cheap, and RPi engineering aren't that cheap hence why they are asking over £6k for their 5.2!!(yep i read the same web page as you ;))
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Thing is that even a heavily modified 5.2 with big valve heads will only make 330-380 bhp at best.........all for about 6500+vat just for the engine (no injection setup!)
BUT the LS1 5.7 V8 as found in the Monaro ONLY produces 350bhp, and starts at £4500 plus VAT plus all the ancillaries, so the ex-rover V8 in whatever guise (320bhp in TVR 5ltr form) is actually quite cheap, and RPi engineering aren't that cheap hence why they are asking over £6k for their 5.2!!(yep i read the same web page as you ;))
Yes but, that is a new untuned engine, not something stretched to the point of breaking and heavily modified and no longer supported.
You could get a more basic small block for much less and throw a supercharger at it or get an LS1 from a breaker......all cheaper and better options than the very dated RV8.
Further more, the ancillaries for the mass produced small blocks and tuning options are very cheap and well proven.
The RV8 is not a good choice for power, its ideal for lazy lugging in a Range Rover but not for other applications.
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Yes but, that is a new untuned engine, not something stretched to the point of breaking and heavily modified and no longer supported.
Another point is that making the power from a lazy, torquey engine in standard tune will always give you a faster car that's more enjoyable to drive than making the same power from a highly strung engine that idles like a jelly on a plate and has torque only between 5K and 7K RPM.
Kevin
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(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0139.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0140.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0141.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0142.jpg)
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u113/geoff_044/Picture0143.jpg)
pics of engine wow 8-) 8-) 8-)