Manky's Pop.

[Manky Monkey]

Hi Ian. Welcome to the forum. 
Loony & I were blown away by the number of visitors to the workshop that evening. We didn't really expect more than half a dozen & weren't sure we'd actually get the beastie running. The cheer from the assembled masses when you lot coaxed it into life made all those long evenings toiling over the grinder & welder worthwhile. 

[Manky Monkey]

I'm working through the various jobs around the engine bay that need to be sorted before we can run the motor again.
As we're fitting a heater now, I had to change a couple of hose fittings. Like most cars, the warmth comes from the water in the engine's cooling system, which is diverted through a heater matrix, (basically a miniature radiator inside the car), & assisted by an electric fan.
The inlet manifold casting, which the carb's bolted to, directs the air/fuel mix to the 8 cylinders, but also distributes water to the various cooling channels within the engine cases. A standard Rover manifold is tall enough to allow a steel water pipe to pass underneath it from the water pump on the front of the engine to the heater inside the car. The water then returns through an inlet on the back of the manifold. I'm using an old Buick manifold though, which accepts the Holley carb. It's lower than the Rover item so I'll have to run the water pipe over the top of it.
 

[Manky Monkey]

Below the manifold is a tin tray, covering the pushrods that open the valves. The gap between the 2 banks of cylinders is called the valley, so this is the valley gasket. Ours was pretty tatty & covered in sealing mastic. At some point, back when I first bought the engine, someone gave me a brand new gasket, but I can't remember who the generous soul was -so if was you, thank you! 
With the old gasket removed, you can see the pushrods & the cam that operates them. Some wear to the cam surface but not enough to warrant stripping the engine down yet. I've cleaned the old sealant off the mating surfaces with a razor blade. The motor's over 30 years old by the way.

[Manky Monkey]

This is the new gasket. It's better than the old one -made from aluminium or tin coated in a rubbery gasket material.

[Manky Monkey]

It sits in the valley & is held in place by a clamp at either end. While the manifold's off, I took the chance to scrape off some of the old red paint that was on the engine when I bought it.

[Firery Fred]

That's a beut looking motor now Andy 

[Manky Monkey]

Absolutely bog standard Rover Fred.
When I bought it I was told it was a 1970s SD1 Rover bottom end, (remember the old Metropolitan Police "Jam Sandwich" patrol cars? -white with an orange stripe along the centre line), with Range Rover cylinder heads. Others have since suggested it's all SD1. We don't plan to do much more than change the oil & filter & run it just as it is.
It was painted red but, like the Reliants, it's all aluminium, so whenever I get a spare 5 minutes I'm gradually scraping the paint off & will run a Scotchbrite pad over it to give it a satin finish.
I re-fitted the manifold & carburettor today & hooked it all up, then made a start on routing the heater pipes. Looks no different than it did before though, so no new piccies yet.

[gazzagood]

 That b loooking nice Andy  not long know youll be ripping up the road outside that work shop

[Manky Monkey]

Can't wait for the first drive round the yard in it! I'm kinda scared too though. I've never driven anything with that big an engine, (3 1/2 litres, or 213 cubic inches in Americanese), & I'm not used to automatic gearboxes. Also not used to the steering box set-up, rather than modern rack & pinion -it's a bit vague I'm told -you can move the steering wheel an inch or so before the wheels actually start to turn. Although I'm fairly confident about our workmanship, I'll panic if anything goes wrong. When the time comes I'll probably chicken out & let Loony have the first go! He deserves it after it's been in his workshop for so long. 

[Cabman77]

The SD1 Rovers had a bog standard 3500 Rover lump. The police weren`t allowed to make any changes due to financial restraints at the time. I used to have a 2300 straight 6 with a 5 speed box, I`d never seen one with a manual box before and couldn`t find anyone that had. My father in law (at the time) was ex Detective Inspector at Limehouse nick and had it checked out, it was ex porn squad ffs 

[gnasher 6]

Looks like a right beast ya got there andy Don,t reckon ya can beat the v8's Just  love hearing the growl they make. You must be well pleased with your labours. Gnasher

[Manky Monkey]

Gonna be a bit of a handful to drive at first I think!
I'm not planning on racing it -I've got a little Ford Fiesta as my daily commuting car, (I do 70 or 80 miles a day of motorway driving), but want to use the truck for everything else, evenings & weekends. Reliabilty's my main aim, so I'm not going to try tuning it up at all. I think it's beefy enough already.
Although we see a lot of hotrods because we go to a lot of shows, you don't often see them sat in traffic in your local town, so I'd like to get out & about in mine as much as possible & just enjoy using it.

[kapri]

Can't wait for the first drive round the yard in it! I'm kinda scared too though. I've never driven anything with that big an engine, (3 1/2 litres, or 213 cubic inches in Americanese), & I'm not used to automatic gearboxes. Also not used to the steering box set-up, rather than modern rack & pinion -it's a bit vague I'm told -you can move the steering wheel an inch or so before the wheels actually start to turn. Although I'm fairly confident about our workmanship, I'll panic if anything goes wrong. When the time comes I'll probably chicken out & let Loony have the first go! He deserves it after it's been in his workshop for so long. 

I'll take you for a 'spin' in the POS Andy and show you how precise a box can be The secret is 'going with it ' and not trying to constantly correct.

[Manky Monkey]

I might just take you up on that Kev!

[Al]

i put one into a mk1 escort years ago brilliant first drive mm you will have a massive smile and see what all your hard work was for 
al