Revelation – Rover enters the story 21

By the time the V8 arrived at Solihull, Rover was pinning its hopes on a five-cylinder derivative of its OHC four-cylinder engine. Just two prototypes of the five-cylinder were built, each with different carburettor arrangements, and about 125bhp was

available. The engine’s development was cancelled in favour of the V8.

Martin-Hurst’s response was short and to the point: he told McWilliams to find it.

So, over the next few months, McWilliams searched for an engine that might be suitable; the one he identified was built by Chrysler. Exactly which Chrysler engine is not clear, but it is likely to have been one of the small-block A-series engines: either the 313 (5.1-litre) or the much-more-common 318 (5.2-litre). Whichever it was, it was very much a current production engine,

and Rover people had severe doubts whether Chrysler would be prepared to sell any to them. In the meantime, Martin-Hurst continued to shuttle back and forth to the USA in pursuit of other Rover business. In particular, he was trying to sell Rover gas turbine engines to Mercury Marine for installation in fishing trawlers. That came to naught, although Mercury Marine did take a liking to the Land Rover diesel engine for the job, and it was during a visit to the Mercury Marine premises at Fond

The later carburettor engines, 1976-1993 75

countries where they were sold. As a result, they did not need the Pulsair air injection system that was fitted to Range Rover engines. Nevertheless, they did have a thermostatically controlled air intake, and they also had a redesigned version of the ‘hot box’ on the right-hand exhaust manifold. This now came with a ‘chimney’ (sometimes known as a mushroom vent) which allowed air to be drawn into the system safely when the vehicle was wading.

In most other respects, the Land Rover V8 engine was the same as the current (Suffix F) Range Rover engine. However, the inlet manifold casting was modified to give clearance for a military-pattern 24-volt distributor, the dipstick arrangements were altered to give better access, and the left-hand exhaust manifold was modified to give clearance for the steering components on LHD models. Carburettors were Zenith-Strombergs, the CDS3 type on standard engines and the CDSE type on detoxed engines. Engines destined for use in dusty and sandy conditions also had a special cyclone-type air cleaner which depended on

In theory, the V8 was available only in long-wheelbase Land Rovers, but a small batch of short-wheelbase vehicles was

made specially for a Caribbean police force. This was one of the engineering development models.

The engine and gearbox of a Land Rover Stage 1 V8 model meet the chassis on the assembly lines at Solihull.

a centrifuge effect to remove particles before the air entered the filter element.

The 3.9 and 4.2 engines, 1988-1995 99

Land Rover Defender V8Land Rover changed the name of its utility models to Defender in mid-1990, and from that point mainstream variants were available only with diesel engines. Nevertheless, a good number of vehicles were built to special order with V8 engines, typically working vehicles where maximum power was needed to overcome weight, such as on a six-wheel or armoured vehicle. The majority of these vehicles had old-specification carburettor 3.5-litre V8 engines taken from stock (one example being the armoured patrol vehicles for the British Army that became known as ‘Snatch’ types).

The 3.9-litre V8 was not made available in Defenders for most markets, although it is not impossible that small numbers would have been fitted to special order. However, the enlarged engine did become the standard powerplant for a few thousand special Defenders built for North America between 1992 and 1995.

The first vehicles to get the 3.9-litre V8 engine were Range Rovers for the USA, in 1988. A year later, the engine

appeared in Range Rovers for the rest of the world, and a UK-market model is seen here. The large cylinders visible

behind the coolant expansion tank are for the ABS system, which was introduced at the same time.

Two different versions of the engine were needed. One was the NAS (North American Specification) type with a low compression and catalytic converter, and the other was an RoW (Rest of the World) type with a high compression and no catalytic converter. Particularly interesting was that the Land Rover Engines Team designed its big-bore V8 to deliver peak power at much higher revs than the old 3.5-litre engine. This power arrived at 4750rpm, as compared to 4000rpm in the old engine, so it was no surprise that the 3.9-litre engine seemed slightly noisier and fussier when extended. However, its greater power and torque outputs compensated by ensuring that it only rarely needed to be extended that much.

The bigger bore and accompanying new pistons were not the only changes for the 3.9-litre engines. To

106 Rover V8 – the story of the engine

Least powerful was what the company called its 4.0-litre engine, which was claimed to deliver 240bhp and 275lb ft of torque. More realistic estimates suggest about 235bhp and 250lb ft, and cast doubt on TVR’s claim to have raised the compression ratio to 9.8:1 from the standard 9.35:1. These engines started life as 3.9-litre Rover types, and were then modified with a TVR 51 camshaft, double valve springs and machined spring seats.

The high-compression 3.9-litre V8 was also chosen for the MG RV8, an inspired update of the MGB V8 that had gone out of production in 1976. (Courtesy Charles01/WikiMedia Commons)

Pictured in the London Motor Show car in October 1993, this was the 3.9-litre engine in the MG RV8. (Courtesy David Morgan)

Afterlife 131

All these last engines had

the cross-bolted block, as seen here.

Again, the picture was

taken by RPi Engineering.

The new tooling produced very ‘clean’ castings. This lifter gallery was photographed for publicity purposes by RPi Engineering, an aftermarket V8 specialist which took a number of the Coscast blocks.