As most of you will know. I am after another more substantial engine to put into my range rover and at the moment the 3.9 sat in it has a snapped spark plug. The new better engine will not come until i have moved house so a bit off yet. To get the Rangie back on the road for the short while i am considering removing the head having the plug removed and replacing the head. The downside of this is the gaskets and studs are going to cost a fair bit from what i have seen it will blow a big hole in £100. The engine has probably covered 142,000 miles and i am scared of what else i will find that needs replacing when the head comes off. Or i can buy another V8 and put that in. i have found a 3.9, which should be a straight swap, a 4.2 will that be a straight swap? And a 4.2 supercharged not to keen on this as i have herd the super charger does not deliver an even mix of fuel/air to the cylinders, Is this true?)
What do you think is going to be the easiest/best option?
Full Version: My V8 troubles
Ben,
Head gasket £11.93 for tin or £18.16 for composite.
As you are only taking one head off you will need to replace like with like as the composite is thicker (and better).
New valley gasket £12.34 and the two rubber valley seals are 2.23 each
Cork rocker cover gaskets are £3.74pr . Rubber is better at £8.70pr
Plus you will need a 5 litres of coolant.
Plus the cost of getting the old plug removed. I would suspect that the thread may come out with it, but no matter, helicoils are readily available and work well.
So DIY, about £50 all in .. provided nothing else goes pear shaped in the process.
No need to get the head skimmed as you are not suffering cooling problems.
Start to finish about a 5hour job + the farting around with the broken plug.
Which plug is it BTW ? if its nice and easy to get at, then I think I might be tempted to try and get it out insitu.
Not a bad job .. make sure the head bolt holes are clean (blow out with an airline) before you reassemble. Coat the bolt threads with a mixture of 60/40 EP90 & paraffin before fitting. This ensures that they will not corrode into the threads.
If you manage to strip a thread in the block I have the correct sized helicoils here if you need them
.
When I rebuilt my 3.5, I went the the lengths of a rebore, 9.75 pistons, reground crank, new cam bearings, cam, rockers, rocker shafts, lifters, cloyes timing gear, skimmed & polished heads, and skimmed block all in all about £800 including the machining.
Although I like the Rover engine for its simplicity my next lump will probably be a big block chevvy £ Vs BHP is a lot less then the Rover
.
Head gasket £11.93 for tin or £18.16 for composite.
As you are only taking one head off you will need to replace like with like as the composite is thicker (and better).
New valley gasket £12.34 and the two rubber valley seals are 2.23 each
Cork rocker cover gaskets are £3.74pr . Rubber is better at £8.70pr
Plus you will need a 5 litres of coolant.
Plus the cost of getting the old plug removed. I would suspect that the thread may come out with it, but no matter, helicoils are readily available and work well.
So DIY, about £50 all in .. provided nothing else goes pear shaped in the process.
No need to get the head skimmed as you are not suffering cooling problems.
Start to finish about a 5hour job + the farting around with the broken plug.
Which plug is it BTW ? if its nice and easy to get at, then I think I might be tempted to try and get it out insitu.
Not a bad job .. make sure the head bolt holes are clean (blow out with an airline) before you reassemble. Coat the bolt threads with a mixture of 60/40 EP90 & paraffin before fitting. This ensures that they will not corrode into the threads.
If you manage to strip a thread in the block I have the correct sized helicoils here if you need them
.When I rebuilt my 3.5, I went the the lengths of a rebore, 9.75 pistons, reground crank, new cam bearings, cam, rockers, rocker shafts, lifters, cloyes timing gear, skimmed & polished heads, and skimmed block all in all about £800 including the machining.
Although I like the Rover engine for its simplicity my next lump will probably be a big block chevvy £ Vs BHP is a lot less then the Rover
.
Ben, if all you want to do is buy some time then only take off one head and don't replace the head bolts.
You will need a valley gasket and a standard head gasket (unless your engine has composit gaskets fitted in which case you will need to fit a similar gasket).
With the head off it may be possible to screw the broken plug through into the combustion chamber or at least be able to get at both sides of it.
Have you tried a stud extractor in the broken plug?
You will need a valley gasket and a standard head gasket (unless your engine has composit gaskets fitted in which case you will need to fit a similar gasket).
With the head off it may be possible to screw the broken plug through into the combustion chamber or at least be able to get at both sides of it.
Have you tried a stud extractor in the broken plug?
Bull Bar can type quicker than I can!
Anyway, as he says.
Anyway, as he says.
QUOTE (Bull Bar Cowboy @ Feb 28 2006, 07:35 PM) 
Head gasket £11.93 for tin or £18.16 for composite.
As you are only taking one head off you will need to replace like with like as the composite is thicker (and better).
New valley gasket £12.34 and the two rubber valley seals are 2.23 each
Cork rocker cover gaskets are £3.74pr . Rubber is better at £8.70pr
As you are only taking one head off you will need to replace like with like as the composite is thicker (and better).
New valley gasket £12.34 and the two rubber valley seals are 2.23 each
Cork rocker cover gaskets are £3.74pr . Rubber is better at £8.70pr
Where are these parts from?
exeter4x4 store 01392 445262 ask for Alistair
they'll ship anywhere in the world.
they'll ship anywhere in the world.
When you say until you move, how long will it need to keep running?
If you're only looking to bodge it anyway, it's surely worth having a go at drilling and tapping the plug from the outside - worst case you drop bits inside and have to take the head off anyway.
If you're only looking to bodge it anyway, it's surely worth having a go at drilling and tapping the plug from the outside - worst case you drop bits inside and have to take the head off anyway.
QUOTE (white90 @ Feb 28 2006, 10:19 PM)
they'll ship anywhere in the world.
Thwy only have to ship to Kidderminster
QUOTE (geoffbeaumont @ Feb 28 2006, 10:24 PM)
When you say until you move, how long will it need to keep running?
I dont want to bodge it. If i fix it i want to do it properly so im not worrying if i have damaged something or how long it will last. I amount of torque i had to put on the plug before it snapped tells me the thread will have to be machined out.
QUOTE (Ben Jordan @ Feb 28 2006, 09:10 PM)
Where are these parts from?
pah!!! get the complete top end gasket set from paddocks; (tin plate head gasket though)
http://www.paddockspares.com/page2/scp/RAN...%20gasket%20set
as I replied before, remove the head, smash out the central insulator then using a hacksaw/dremel saw/cut from the centre outwards in 2 places diameterically opposite each other to weaken the grip the plug has in the head. Maybe with some heat/oil/big screw driver you may be able to shift the plug.
you may be able to tap a thread inside the plug and use a bolt/ut to remove it?
From your description it sounds an easy out/remover is a sure way of breaking that leaving you with hardened steel to remove.
Ben,
I normally deal with Real Steel (01895 440505) for V8 parts and generally found them to be quite helpful, although others will report less so. I only ever deal with sales and have never called there technical help department.
Most LR Parts dealers do not have the breath of stock that you will find in the specialists who generally cater for a much wider V8 market.
Looking in the back of the catalogue they have got your next engine in stock GM502 8.2L BB Chevy V8 .standard at 450ponies and 550 lb/ft of torque ..£6606.23+VAT
Ian
I normally deal with Real Steel (01895 440505) for V8 parts and generally found them to be quite helpful, although others will report less so. I only ever deal with sales and have never called there technical help department.
Most LR Parts dealers do not have the breath of stock that you will find in the specialists who generally cater for a much wider V8 market.
Looking in the back of the catalogue they have got your next engine in stock GM502 8.2L BB Chevy V8 .standard at 450ponies and 550 lb/ft of torque ..£6606.23+VAT
Ian
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