Thought you guys might enjoy some photos of the engine rebuild I've been working on for the last couple months.
Initially the plan was to replace a set of leaky head gaskets, so I set to work:
Intake manifold removed:
Heads finally off:
HEAVY carbon buildup on the heads valves & pistons indicated the problems lie deeper - engine had to come out:
Took the bottom end apart myself to save machine shop costs:
Bag of old bearings & rings:
The rod & cam bearings were SHOT. As were the rings (which had 2x the max allowed gap in certain instances). Main bearings still looked great thanks to the cross-bolted bottom end.
Block is back from the shop:
Carbon buildup on the pistons. This is after a few rounds of cleaning already. it was THICK to begin with, I need to keep the RPM higher I guess:
After they cleaned up they mic-d out great, indicating it was OK to reuse them.
One last bath before reassembly, just in case. The bare block is incredibly light. Less than 80lbs I think:
Buick 215 cam bearings pressed in, perfect fit - just ignore the spare oil hole:
3D printed organizer for the main & rod bolts:
Yes, I reused the rod bolts at the recommendation of a trusted local LR specialist. Some claim they're "stretch" bolts, but the fact that they're stamped 10.9 proves otherwise. Also the RAVE doesn't say to discard them, which it does for the head bolts.
3D printed tools. I made bolt organizers, a ring compressor, ring expander, ring grinder, torque angle gauges, some tabs to keep the pistons organized. Not pictured are the cam bearing drift tools:
Also made a makeshift blasting cabinet to clean up some parts. Used glass beads to clean up various small parts and soda to blast the tops of the pistons.
Begin the assembly:
I bought most of these from Miami British and was pleasantly surprised to receive Glyco & King main & rod bearings despite being cheaper "Eurospare" parts.
Crank is in and spinning beautifully. End play is WELL within spec:
Pistons are back in and once again spin freely:
Went to great pains to make sure the pistons, rods, caps & bolts all went in EXACTLY how they came out. With the exception of the #7 piston, which the factory installed BACKWARDS. So it got replaced.
Bottom end is back together:
On to the top end.
Before/After of the rocker shafts. Kept everything in order. Slight wear but nothing drastic:
The heads are back. The runners were gasket matched and ported to have the casting slag removed - LR did not take too much care in their assembly.
First upgrade. Crower 53230 cam. Direct fit requiring no machining unlike it's Buick counterpart. Yes I'm bummed that this is the only picture I have:
Cam is in & timing chain is on, great fit:
Second upgrade, ARP stud kit:
I used the Rover-specific kit (rather than the shorter Buick). I did NOT want to risk pulling the the threads out of the block. ARP recommends tightening the studs to 100 ft/lbs! 90 was as high as I was willing to go and it seemed perfect.
Heads are on:
Valve train is all done:
The stock pushrods measured out so I reused them. For lifters I used Comp Cams #869-16 for Buick/Cadillac and they were a perfect fit. Some guys use Chevy SBC lifters, but these are slightly too short & the pushrod cup is slightly too small.
Top tip - if you never want your valve covers to leak again - use studs:
Added benefit here is it makes aligning the gasket a breeze.
A note here - you'll notice the non-standard fittings in the SAI ports. That's because I've decided to remove the complete SAI system from the truck. I mangled the flex pipes during removal and thought "**** it", get rid of 'em. Yes I'm aware of the emissions implications but Florida does not have testing & this truck will run less than 3000 miles/year, so the increased emissions I'll be producing for 30 seconds after start-up will be negligible in the big scheme of things. All other emissions equipment (catalytic converter, O2, evap system, purge, etc.) will stay put.
Valve covers & manifold are on:
I tried blasting the valve covers clean but the cast aluminum was so stained up it didn't help. Eventually I opted to paint & bake them.
Timing cover & water pump are on:
Job done (no the upper manifold isn't bolted down):
Or so I thought. Couldn't resist more upgrades. Hedman 39800 headers:
The headers are designed for early Range rovers so they bolt up to the heads perfectly. You need to do a bit of modification to the starter & engine mount heat shields on both sides for clearance but otherwise they fit great. When installed they apparently run pretty close to the frame rails so they may or may not need some modification, but I'll post about that later. I'll be welding up a new exhaust (I'll retain the cats and O2 sensors) in the near future.
It's been a really fun project that should hopefully breathe some new life into my D2. Just wanted to share it with you guys to show you what can be done. Parts are readily available, pretty cheap, and knowledge is plentiful. The total cost came in at $2000 or so but if you opt not to get the ARP studs, headers, and cam you can shave nearly $700 off that price.
She's going back in the car this weekend and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
Initially the plan was to replace a set of leaky head gaskets, so I set to work:
Intake manifold removed:
Heads finally off:
HEAVY carbon buildup on the heads valves & pistons indicated the problems lie deeper - engine had to come out:
Took the bottom end apart myself to save machine shop costs:
Bag of old bearings & rings:
The rod & cam bearings were SHOT. As were the rings (which had 2x the max allowed gap in certain instances). Main bearings still looked great thanks to the cross-bolted bottom end.
Block is back from the shop:
Carbon buildup on the pistons. This is after a few rounds of cleaning already. it was THICK to begin with, I need to keep the RPM higher I guess:
After they cleaned up they mic-d out great, indicating it was OK to reuse them.
One last bath before reassembly, just in case. The bare block is incredibly light. Less than 80lbs I think:
Buick 215 cam bearings pressed in, perfect fit - just ignore the spare oil hole:
3D printed organizer for the main & rod bolts:
Yes, I reused the rod bolts at the recommendation of a trusted local LR specialist. Some claim they're "stretch" bolts, but the fact that they're stamped 10.9 proves otherwise. Also the RAVE doesn't say to discard them, which it does for the head bolts.
3D printed tools. I made bolt organizers, a ring compressor, ring expander, ring grinder, torque angle gauges, some tabs to keep the pistons organized. Not pictured are the cam bearing drift tools:
Also made a makeshift blasting cabinet to clean up some parts. Used glass beads to clean up various small parts and soda to blast the tops of the pistons.
Begin the assembly:
I bought most of these from Miami British and was pleasantly surprised to receive Glyco & King main & rod bearings despite being cheaper "Eurospare" parts.
Crank is in and spinning beautifully. End play is WELL within spec:
Pistons are back in and once again spin freely:
Went to great pains to make sure the pistons, rods, caps & bolts all went in EXACTLY how they came out. With the exception of the #7 piston, which the factory installed BACKWARDS. So it got replaced.
Bottom end is back together:
On to the top end.
Before/After of the rocker shafts. Kept everything in order. Slight wear but nothing drastic:
The heads are back. The runners were gasket matched and ported to have the casting slag removed - LR did not take too much care in their assembly.
First upgrade. Crower 53230 cam. Direct fit requiring no machining unlike it's Buick counterpart. Yes I'm bummed that this is the only picture I have:
Cam is in & timing chain is on, great fit:
Second upgrade, ARP stud kit:
I used the Rover-specific kit (rather than the shorter Buick). I did NOT want to risk pulling the the threads out of the block. ARP recommends tightening the studs to 100 ft/lbs! 90 was as high as I was willing to go and it seemed perfect.
Heads are on:
Valve train is all done:
The stock pushrods measured out so I reused them. For lifters I used Comp Cams #869-16 for Buick/Cadillac and they were a perfect fit. Some guys use Chevy SBC lifters, but these are slightly too short & the pushrod cup is slightly too small.
Top tip - if you never want your valve covers to leak again - use studs:
Added benefit here is it makes aligning the gasket a breeze.
A note here - you'll notice the non-standard fittings in the SAI ports. That's because I've decided to remove the complete SAI system from the truck. I mangled the flex pipes during removal and thought "**** it", get rid of 'em. Yes I'm aware of the emissions implications but Florida does not have testing & this truck will run less than 3000 miles/year, so the increased emissions I'll be producing for 30 seconds after start-up will be negligible in the big scheme of things. All other emissions equipment (catalytic converter, O2, evap system, purge, etc.) will stay put.
Valve covers & manifold are on:
I tried blasting the valve covers clean but the cast aluminum was so stained up it didn't help. Eventually I opted to paint & bake them.
Timing cover & water pump are on:
Job done (no the upper manifold isn't bolted down):
Or so I thought. Couldn't resist more upgrades. Hedman 39800 headers:
The headers are designed for early Range rovers so they bolt up to the heads perfectly. You need to do a bit of modification to the starter & engine mount heat shields on both sides for clearance but otherwise they fit great. When installed they apparently run pretty close to the frame rails so they may or may not need some modification, but I'll post about that later. I'll be welding up a new exhaust (I'll retain the cats and O2 sensors) in the near future.
It's been a really fun project that should hopefully breathe some new life into my D2. Just wanted to share it with you guys to show you what can be done. Parts are readily available, pretty cheap, and knowledge is plentiful. The total cost came in at $2000 or so but if you opt not to get the ARP studs, headers, and cam you can shave nearly $700 off that price.
She's going back in the car this weekend and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.