So...

Today I went off to buy/collect a whole load of bits from the guy I bought my project P38's off - got a couple of dash fascias, switchpacks, HEVAC controllers etc all to be pulled apart and overhauled... I also ended up buying most of a GEMS engine... which was apparently the original engine from my 'R' Reg. The problem... it's got a couple of liners which have damage around the top of them... Oh, and a piston missing...

I've attached a pic, but what's the thought on whether this thing would be fixable with (top hat liners obviously). I got the block as it is, a pair of heads, front cover, rocker covers, lower inlet manifold, and another set of 8 pistons/rods for £250 - so figured it was worth the punt, as if it is salvageable with top hats, then it will be nice to put the original engine back in it, and will mean I can build one up to just swap over.

He said that it wasn't using any water, but just had a knock on it. There's another cylinder up the front which is about the same, but I was more worried about this one as it's next to the water jacket.

Thoughts?

Marty

It's an interesting one Marty. It looks like there might be a crack right across the block into the water channel to the head as well as the more obvious damage. You'd need to find out the dimensions of the top-hat liner and see how much block material would be machined out to fit it. My concern would be that there wouldn't be enough material left to adequately reinforce the new liner at that point. If that were the case you'd be into having new metal welded back into the block and then machined back to suit. As with all things metal, anything can be repaired, but the time/cost of doing that might be prohibitive compared to the cost of buying a bare block with no defects and top-hatting it. If it were me, if it was a block from something where a replacement couldn't easily be found, I'd go with it and have it repaired, but RV8 blocks are pretty easy to find, so I wouldn't bother. Your wallet and a chat with your favourite machinist (with experience of machining for top-hat's) will be the deciding factors!

That's what I was worried about....

I figured it was worth a punt at the price, given that I got all the other bits included - so even if the block is junk, I've still got crank, 15 pistons, 2 heads, front cover and inlet manifold!

When I was looking down into the water jacket, it looks like there is about 10mm of metal there which is thicker around the top of the cylinder, which I wouldn't think top hats would machine in that deeply as even in 'normal' cases you would need to leave some metal behind!

I guess it will be a case of give a few places a call (I've had one place locally recommended, but failing that I'll be giving V8 Developments a call, or there's a machine shop up Coventry way that does them aswell) and see what the concensus is. It would all depend how deep that damage is and whether it has broken into the water jacket. It hasn't around the top/horizontally across - but would depend on how deep it is... which would not be visible until the old liner is removed and it can be inspected properly...

Hmm....

I wouldn't worry about it and just get it up to Ray at V8 Dev. The lip on the top hat liners will easily take up the damaged bit. Here's my motor after I picked it up but before I covered it up with all the other bits......

Shiny!

Will have to look at getting it sent up there once I get back from tour... I head away in a couple of days for the first job, and then not back until the end of June - so will have to finish stripping it down and get it sent off when I return.

I was hoping it would be OK - and judging by the lip on your liners, it will be... fingers crossed I have enough money to get the GEMS one and a Thor one done to start with - then I can look at finally building up a replacement engine for my RR from the X-reg vogue I've got... One of my tasks in the summer is going to be to get it in the workshop and get the old engine out and stripped down aswell.

Do you still want either the of the two I have here?

If they are going spare, then I am sure we can work a deal out... I've got plenty of space at the workshop to put them, and I can work on rebuilding them at some point with all this time I'm planning on having over summer!!

I only really got tempted with this one as a) it's the original engine from the R reg, and b) I was going down there to pick up a load of electrical bits, switchpacks, HEVACs, and the likes and I got tempted... haha..

If you are just going to bin either/both of your engines then I'm happy to give them a home in the workshop for sure!

I don't really have a use for either and can store them for the time being - I'm not letting the replacement one go to scrap with the car, there must be a cause for its lethargic performance. The garden is already filling with various bits, whats an engine block or two? More interesting than flower pots.

I might hang on to one of them in case I ever need a core for a replacement for my silver P38, I guess the worse of the two. Might even find the replacement in the green one is a top hatted block already... not sure how I'd tell until removing the heads. That would be a nice surprise :)

Ah temptation, I know it too well... looks at all the crap around me

I'll happily take anything that you don't want to keep a hold of :)

My garage looks about the same as your garden probably does... engine parts, 3 complete sunroof units, 4 transfer cases, engine block, and more BECMs than you can poke a stick at.

Did manage to tidy the work bench up though, and have ran a ring main in the garage, extra breaker in the consumer unit, and managed to repair/test 6 window switchpacks, so hasn't been a bad couple of days! Just need to get a network cable run to the diagnostics PC, from the switch in the office, and then start looking at all the door latches I've got piling up again! Going to be a busy summer when I get back from work! Pity I can't take a load of it with me to work on!

I used a couple of Powerline Adaptors to feed my workshop network from the main farm switch. Much easier than running 75m of cable across the farmyard. Worked fine, even through 2 consumer units. An elegant and lazy solution!

Martyuk wrote:

Just need to get a network cable run to the diagnostics PC, from the switch in the office

PLAs are all right as long as you don't have any radio hams nearby as they kick out a huge amount of interference and if they are Commtrend ones, they run very hot and after about 3 years, burst into flames.

Mine are TP-Link, I think (or maybe Netgear). Can't remember as they were in my junk box from a job I did years ago. I'll have a look when I'm over at the shop. No flames yet :-) . BTW did you mean that the Hams kick out interference with the network, or the network kicks out interference to the Hams?

The PLAs kick out a huge amount of interference which causes the hams to get all offended over the pollution of their spectrum (although quite why they think of it as theirs as they don't even have to pay for their licences any more). When BT Vision first started the box shipped with a pair of Commtrend PLAs and I spent most of my working day placating whinging hams and asking BT to get them swapped. After a while they stopped using them.

No hams per se up here on the Moors. Farmers tend to use CB on anything with wheels, but no-one's complained yet. I've got an old CB on my hybrid. Might switch it on if I can find the battery and see what happens!