[ROVERNET - UK] RV8 Blocks

Kent Kinard kkinard at swbell.net
Thu Jan 12 17:58:14 GMT 2006


> Is Des Hammill overstating the problems? Has anyone actually fitted
> flanged liners?
> 
> Rob

Hi Rob,
Few on this list will encounter the problems Hammill talks about because 
we usually deal with earlier 3.5 blocks.  I have not put enough miles on 
my P6B to get a good idea of the condition of its engine but in the 12 
or so SD1's I have had over the years, I have seen several blocks 
cracked behind the sleeve(coolant simply disappears, and upon removal of 
the heads, one or two pistons appear to have been "steam cleaned.")  I 
have been guilty of assuming that these were head gasket failures and in 
one case I assumed improper assembly since all the head bolts were 
loose, but that engine had had new head gaskets installed by a previous 
owner.  I would not be surprised if the engine in my TR8 were not 
suffering the same malady due to overheating problems in the past.  My 
new machinist in Midland has resleeved a number of crossbolt blocks and 
claims they have all held.  His approach is to use an unflanged sleeve 
with a 360 degree step at the bottom with the sleeves "bottomed out" in 
the block before final decking.  I will have to inquire further about 
how much he heats the block and how much interference he allows (sleeve 
and block cold).  For a street engine, I feel the reuse of good used 
pistons (with new rings properly fitted) is acceptable when using new 
sleeves.  The pistons should be very carefully inspected and measured, 
but they can be individually fitted to the cylinders with good results 
when new sleeves are used.  I do intend to build one top hat sleeved, 
cross bolt block for eventual use in my P6B, but am not in a hurry to do so.

Because of advances in technology in recent years, it is now possible to 
  "bond" both aluminium and cast iron (but not to each other) by means 
of low temperature, high strength ceramics which have the same expansion 
coefficients as the parent metals.  It could be possible to bore the 
cylinders completely out of the block and replace the entire cylinder 
with a bonded in, hypereutetic aluminum wet sleeve...or a piece of 
aluminum tubing with a pre-installed iron sleeve.  By bonding in the 
sleeves, block integrity would be the same or better than "as cast."
It's just a thought....

All this being said, I have an adequate supply of iron 300 blocks and 
intend to use these when practical in cars that are daily drivers. 
Because of the slight added width, it may not be possible to use these 
in P6B's, but they are a good solution in SD1's, P5B's and Range Rovers. 
  For us North American types, it eases the transmission choice problem 
as well.  the eighty pound difference in front end weight is neglegible 
in those vehicles.




More information about the rovernet mailing list