Rover engine number guru required

[peter-sherman]

I'm trying to ID my engine.

the number has an usual prefix 537D then the usual 5 digits followed by a B.
I believe that the B means electronic ignition. The 37D would indicate that it is a 3.9, what does the 5 mean? I can't find anything like it on the net.
I bought the engine second hand with 20,000 Km on it. I am told it was a new(ish)  short motor that had been put into a range rover, then the previous owner had wrecked the car.
The block has the provision for cross bolting but no cross bolts, although some one had started to drill a hole for a cross bolt onto one of the pads. I had to put a spacer under the pulley which implies the 4.0 crank. I also had no balance problems using a non original SD1 pulley, which also implies an internally balanced engine (4.0).

I'm trying to decide whether or not to put in a stroker kit and crossbolt it, or just go buy a new 4.6.

[peter-sherman]

 -- moved topic --

[castlesid]

Peter,

It sounds to me that you have an interim 3.9 engine which is quite sought after, as it has the ability to be cross bolted and has the crank driven oil pump, but retains the facility to drive a distributor.

kevin.

[peter-sherman]

Thanks Kevin.
 Looks like it would be a prime candidate for the stroker kit, which will take it out to just short of 5 litres. Keeping the same block also means no bureaucracy to to deal with.
Do know if the bearings were the same size as the 4.0?

[castlesid]

Peter.

As far as I know the bearing sizes are the same as the 3.5/3.9 engines which is no bad thing, Wildcat engines use the smaller sizes to maintain a lower journal to bearing speed.

I would get one of the specialists to drill the block and mains caps for the cross bolts and then add the stroker kit, I think a 4.8 kit would probably be the most cost effective and provide up to 300 BHP with a decent pair of heads without having to go too wild on the cam.

I frequent another forum which is predominately modified Rover V8 enines which is a good source for advice.

http://www.v8forum.co.uk/forum/index.php?sid=df7988faa6ab21594a588ef5850a8f17

Kevin.

[Moderator]

Peter asked somewhere:

Are the cross bolt bolts unusual?
Have they got conical ends or something?
Does any one know how deep the threaded holes are in the bearing caps, the size of the bolts?

Photos of Rover 4.0 parts are shown below... but in summary:

The cross-bolts for four of the five main bearing caps are marked M8.8 (which is an ISO standard marking that indicates they're metric and that they're rated 116,000psi minimum ultimate tensile strength. They're also marked "ATLAS", which I presume was the bolt manufacturer's name.) They're 10mm diameter and about 2.5" long.  The cross-bolts for the remaining main bearing cap are socket headed cap screws. They're also 10mm diameter, but they're only about 2 1/8" long. The threaded holes in main caps one through four are bored and theaded right through to where they intersect with the regular bolt holes. On the rear-most cap, the cross-bolt holes don't line up centerline to centerline... but they're close enough that the two holes meet (which facilitates cleaning, etc.)  

Peter, I don't expect to need the bolts or caps shown below... so if you're interested in buying them please let me know.


(edit: now that I think about it, the two socket headed cap screws may be misleadingly placed in this arranged photo. It's been awhile since I tore down that engine... they're either used for the first or the fifth cap.)

[Moderator]

Do know if the bearings were the same size as the 4.0?

Well, I know that the diameter marked with a red arrow in the following photo measures about 67.6mm on the two "4.0" caps I sampled...

[Moderator]

In case you wondered why the socket headed cap screws are shorter... this photo shows how the 4.0 block was machined to recess their heads:

[castlesid]

Curtis,

Clearly that is cap size,ie without shells. the mains on 4.0 and 4.6 engines are 2.5"   3.9 engines have 2.3" mains

Kevin.

[Jperkins]

Howdy fellas, I have an engine that i can't seem to identify.

http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/GM-215-Engine-Identification.htm

according to the photo and article, the ID numbers should be found at the locations indicated. However, no numbers were found at these location. So i scoured the block with a flashlight, degreaser, brush and note pad and jotted down all the numbers i could find and thier location on the block. None of them seem to match up with the numbers listed in this article, so i'm begining to wonder if i have a 215 v8 or not. all outward appearances are of the 215 aluminum block but this is my first time dealing with the B.O.P./Rover aluminum V8 so i may have mistaken a 300 or later for the early 215.

Here is what i can tell you:
The block has 5 bolts per cylinder-so its not an Oldsmobile 215 (6 bolts/cyl) and its not a later Rover version (4 Bolts/cyl). So that tells me it is either Buick,Pontiac, or early rover version.

The heads were missing when i picked the engine up so i can't go off of the heads as a helpful identifier.

When the engine was picked up it came with the twin SU carb intake manifold with all the goodies(carbs) still attached and in good shape. Assuming that is the same manifold that was on the engine when pulled, then that tells me that the engine is an early rover version. That gives me a starting year of 1967 since that was the first year this engine was offered in North America (Rover P5B)

So two bits of information are needed to further narrow my process-of-elimination search. 1: What year did rover go to the 4 bolt/cyl setup instead of the 5 bolt/cyl? and 2: What year did rover discontinue the twin SU carburator intake manifold?

Now for the numbers found and thier location:

Top of the lip where the bellhousing would mate to the block
 1912 79

passenger side of block, below and between the two rear most cylinders
      5
 613769
 BA88291
      A

Front cover, between water pump and crank
 ERC 0036

Driver side Cylinder head mating surface, between two middle cyclinders
 CR8.13`1
 12E01338

[castlesid]

Jody,

You have a US spec Trumph TR8 Rover engine. 8.13/1 compression ratio,approx 137 BHP, a piston swap will give you 9.35/1, 9.75/1 or 10.5/1 and with a cam change and stage 1 heads will get you in the region of 200BHP

Kevin.

[Billfritz]

Slight change of subject:  Given that the Rover engine was an 'improved'  Buick, does anyone have any data on a Rover V-8 ( aka Buick 215) installation in a Stag.   Specifics would be engine mounts.  I understand there were some factory installations.
Thanks in advance

Bill Fritz

[Moderator]

Being make/model specific, that's probably a better question for the Triumph section and for its own new thread.

Glenn Merrell (aka StagByTriumph) has a Stag with Rover V8 that's shown in the photo gallery.

Here's that link: Glenn Merrell's 73 Triumph Stag with Rover SD1 Engine

Glenn's motor mounts are pretty well buried, so I wasn't able to get  a good photo - but maybe he can provide more.