Manky's Pop.

[Mendalot]

Sounds tasty buddy   Great to see it running...... that sound should have tweaked the old mojo back up again as well as the neighbors alarm
Keep going now, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

[mouse]

sounds bloody lovely does that  its great to see it coming back to life 

[stinkey]

If I remember correctly Andy rover V8s tend to run at a low oil pressure ? 20psi was about normal on several of mine ? And that was hastily confirmed by trying 3 different gauges in "that can't be right ?" Moments ..

[Manky Monkey]

Yeah, I've been told by several people that they're known for low pressure. I'm just not sure how low is too low.
Will be back there in a while to start cleaning up the engine bay. Lots of rusty bolts to replace, parts to paint & 3 years of accumulated dirt & grit to clean, then refit the disc brakes.

[Olds]

My last rover V8 only had 20 - 22 PSI while driving and that was a great engine.
Oil pressure on the gauge does seem a little low at tickover. On pre 2000 engines I believe 15-20 psi at tickover and 27- 35 psi at 2600 RPM is what should be expected from a new or rebuilt engine. The oil pressure light went out while (slow) cranking, about 8-9 PSI. Suggesting that perhaps the gauge may be under reading. Moon, engine mounted gauges are after all, not exactly precision instruments.

[the coppersmith]

great result, well done all !

[twisted]

well done sir. sounding great 

[Manky Monkey]

  Got a few errands to do this morning, but will be back there later, so will check the oil level & try it again. As you say Dave, the gauge is more for looks than anything else but will hopefully give a vague indication of what's going on.

[kapri]

Sticking a higher pressure spring in will fix the low reading. Main concern with a Rover is enough volume. Did you check any oil pump clearances when you changed it over ? Being steel gears in an ali case the cases are prone to wear from the off . Bottom plate that holds all the guts in also needs to be unscored to make the most of things. They are essentially all the same front end as the Buick odd/ even fire v6 but not interchangeble. You ca get replacement gears but if the wear is in the case only way round it is a new / better front cover.

Otherwise stick ONE and ONE only ( trust me !!!) Wynns or STP oil treacle, sorry treatment  in problem fixed.

[Manky Monkey]

I believe you actually checked the pump over when I fitted it Kev, so I'm going to assume it's O.K We checked the oil level before we started but it might be low now that it's circulated everywhere. Just off to the paint shop but will take a look later.
Obviously, getting it running wasn't down to me, but to Chris giving up a day of his holiday to tackle it. Mr Olds spent the morning ferreting behind the dash, but there's still a few electrical gremlins that I'm not going to touch until he's available again. I know my limitations! Thank you gentlemen

[Manky Monkey]

Ho hum. One step forward ...
Arrived at the garage to find a puddle of water seeping out under the door. Could've been worse I guess. Could've been oil. Or blood. Or treacle, (don't ask).

[Manky Monkey]

As far as I can see, it's drained from the top radiator hose & the thermostat housing bypass hose, though I'm surprised there was so much leakage cos they're the highest points in the system.
When Chris fitted the top hose I did point out there's a small pip cast into the thermostat housing to stop the hose going on too far, but he'd pushed it past that, so it wasn't sealing properly. No problem, I pulled it back & re-seated it.
The bypass hose has always been a problem & used to dribble occasionally on the old engine. The trouble is, the 2 ends of the hose need to be different I/Ds, 15mm at one end & 20 at the other. Normal reinforced water hose won't stretch or clamp down that much. So I need a thinner walled rubber hose in 15mm that will stretch over a 20mm spigot, or 20mm that will clamp down to 15, or a properly made reducing hose. It needs to be 100mm long.
So I spent the afternoon driving around various local car spares shops, (absolutely no point trying Halfords so I went to the independent ones), looking for a suitable hose. Even tried the local Rover/MG specialist. I rang Real Steel in Uxbridge, who specialise in Rover V8s, but they don't sell hoses & tried Rimmer Brothers, but they didn't answer the phone. So I need a hose before we can fire the engine up again.
Something like this, but ideally in rubber, not shiny silicone.

[Manky Monkey]

While I was out & about I bought a tube of water proof Chemical Metal putty & rubbed some around the leaking water temp' gauge mount. Will it work? Probably not. I've never had much luck with Chemical Metal, but it's worth a try. Worst case scenario- I have to strip the manifold off & get it ali welded, but hopefully not.
The K Seal obviously didn't seal the hair line crack in it & there was too much leaked water about to tell if it'd sealed the dribbling core plugs. I'll check again tomorrow.

[Manky Monkey]

So nothing new to report, just lots of running about with not much success, but at least the engine's mechanically sound. Water leaks can be fixed reasonably easily -I hope.
Oh yeah, having had all year to do it, the housing association who own the garages have decided to resurface the area during my holiday, so I won't be able to do anything at all next week. Thank you Sentinel Housing. 

[stinkey]

Can you use a copper reducer for your bypass tube ?