rover vs buick motor

[custom hauler]

hey guys pretty new to the rover seen but am loving every minuite of it
by far the most enjoyable car ive eva owned.

ive run into a problem but. because ive been brought up around hot rodders and drag racers im kinda addicted to power as well

and lets face it the lil 3.5 twin carb 8 lacks quite substantially in this department

now ive recently cum to the realisation that the rover 3.5 and the buick / olds 215ci alloy block share the same manifolds

my question is how similar are these motors? ive been doing sum reasearch and they managed to take a 215ci out to a 298ci
which works out to be 4.9L instead of the 3.5. not only would the capacity jump make a difference but so would the fact it pumps it up to 10.25:1 compression ratio

so if anyone knows how different are the rover 3.5's to the buick 215's???

cheers sam

[ISUZUROVER]

The rover/leyland motors are available in 3.5, 3.9/4.0, 4.4, 4.6. There are also aftermarket versions which go out to 5.2 or more.

A few of the guys on pirate4x4 have done lots of research on which chev/olds parts can be used in a rover. Also there are quite a few on aulro who know this stuff.

[3DrDisco]

I'm in the middle of using some Buick parts to build up a 3.9 Rover Block. I'm using the Buick Crank to stroke it out to 4.8 will be using 4.6 heads (slightly worked ), intake manifold and plenum. Hopefully will go alright.

Talk to Mark and D&D Fabrications. I'm pretty sure D&D were the ones that first started using Buick parts with Rover blocks, though I might be mistaken. I just received a whole heap of parts from him and he is really good to deal with, although a bit tough to get hold of on email as he only answers emails from home after hours. It sometimes may take a couple of days for a response, but once he knows your serious he is quick to respond.

[garrycol]

[quote="3DrDisco"]I'm in the middle of using some Buick parts to build up a 3.9 Rover Block. I'm using the Buick Crank to stroke it out to 4.8 will be using 4.6 heads (slightly worked ), intake manifold and plenum. Hopefully will go alright.

Talk to Mark and D&D Fabrications. I'm pretty sure D&D were the ones that first started using Buick parts with Rover blocks, though I might be mistaken. I just received a whole heap of parts from him and he is really good to deal with, although a bit tough to get hold of on email as he only answers emails from home after hours. It sometimes may take a couple of days for a response, but once he knows your serious he is quick to respond.[/quote]

I am thinking of doing the same with a spare 3.9 that I have, but have no idea where do get parts and advice etc - who are D & D Fabrications? I was following this article.

http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Affor ... ker-V8.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Garry

[Bush65]

I have an article in an old hot rod magazine about building the buick/olds 215 aluminium engine (which rover purchased tooling for and lead to the rover V8) with buick 300 components (heads, crank, etc.). It mentions D&D fabrications in the USA).

I'll see if I can post copies of the article over the W.E.

Edit: the following pics are the relevant pages. Note mag published in 1986 and most of this info (probably more up to date) is in the tech pages of the D&D Fabs website http://www.aluminumv8.com/tech/tech.htm & http://www.aluminumv8.com/tech/increasedisplacement.htm

The D&D Fabs site contains most

[ISUZUROVER]

who are D & D Fabrications? I was following this article.

http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Affor ... ker-V8.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Garry

http://www.aluminumv8.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[uninformed]

i have read that the limiting factors with the rover V8's are the heads and their port design. Wildcat V8 in the uk produce some very trick ($$$) stuff including their own cast heads.....I also read somewhere that a company in the USA recently took over a buick V8 parts company and is going to produce their own heads similar to wildcat but less expensive....

I cant remember the name of the USA company...does anyone know about this

cheers,
Serg

[3DrDisco]

i have read that the limiting factors with the rover V8's are the heads and their port design. Wildcat V8 in the uk produce some very trick ($$$) stuff including their own cast heads.....I also read somewhere that a company in the USA recently took over a buick V8 parts company and is going to produce their own heads similar to wildcat but less expensive....

I cant remember the name of the USA company...does anyone know about this

cheers,
Serg

This is similar to what Mark told me also. I had to have the pistons machined down to suit use with the rover heads. He put me on to RPI Engineering in the U.K where I brought their Stage 3 Valve kit. I will have them installed and have a bit of work on the Rover heads so hopefully will go okay.

I think the biggest issue with using the Buick crank is having a flywheel that will suit. AFAIK D&D are the only ones that make something to suit.

[awright]

I know one of the major differences was the heads. From memory the Buick Skylark heads will actually give you more engine volume but lower comp. Fine for a blower or turbo but also getting very hard to get and expensiv-ish A while ago I looked into it and finally found a guy in the states who had a set and then needed re-co but wanted $500 usd (about $450 AUD these days) but back then it was about $800 AUD plus shipping! I think it gave another .2L So you could get up to 5.4 out of it in total.

[red90]

TA Performance is in the process of building an all new HP head at lower cost...

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=172229" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wizkid45/s ... 480262913/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[uninformed]

Thanks red90,

thats the company I was referring to.

Serg

[Loanrangie]

hey guys pretty new to the rover seen but am loving every minuite of it
by far the most enjoyable car ive eva owned.

ive run into a problem but. because ive been brought up around hot rodders and drag racers im kinda addicted to power as well

and lets face it the lil 3.5 twin carb 8 lacks quite substantially in this department

now ive recently cum to the realisation that the rover 3.5 and the buick / olds 215ci alloy block share the same manifolds

my question is how similar are these motors? ive been doing sum reasearch and they managed to take a 215ci out to a 298ci
which works out to be 4.9L instead of the 3.5. not only would the capacity jump make a difference but so would the fact it pumps it up to 10.25:1 compression ratio

so if anyone knows how different are the rover 3.5's to the buick 215's???

cheers sam

Essentially the buick/rover are the same casting for the block with a couple of vital exceptions, the buick went to the BOP (buick/olds/pontiac) bellhousing pattern whereas the rover still used the pre1964 pattern. A lot of buick V8 parts right up to the buick 350V8 (not chev ) can be used on a 3.5 also some Buick V6 parts will fit.