21 replies to this topic

[B40RT]

trialsmotopat, on 28 January 2011 - 02:46 PM, said:

am I the only one wondering what would happen if I put my finger in there ?

I to was tempted to put my finger into the upie downie bit on a sowing machine,
the nurse was very understanding !

[DAVETOM]

HAM2, on 28 January 2011 - 07:05 AM, said:

Ahhh the Rover 1.4 K series.
I had one,my brother had one,my mate had one,his neighbour had one and they all had the same problem....Did you ever find a cure for the K series achilles heel; cylinder head gasket failure?
...Great motor otherwise

I left Rover in 2000( I saw the writing on the wall when BMW did a runner) and they were still trying to sort out Head Gaskets. I think it was a combination of the liners being loose in the block til the head was bolted down, and insufficient rigidity of the head/block joint; better steel dowels between head/block have been used since to prevent it.
It was a good engine though ( if built properly!) ,lightweight, liked to rev, and responsive to tuning.I had one in a Caterham and that was happy at 7600 screaming its nuts off. Some of the Caterham crowd have them at 1.9l putting out 260+hp.But yes, if you search the Caterham or Lotus Elise forum for Head Gasket failure, you`ll get a lot of hits...

Talking of the valve spring turning, we did tests on heads with electric motors powering them, specifically to monitor valve rotation. They stayed stationary til about 4k, then would start rotating. If the engine was hardly ever revved over 4k, carbon build up on the seats was greatly increased, but a good rev now and then definately keeps em clean.

[HAM2]

DAVETOM, on 28 January 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

...I think it was a combination of the liners being loose in the block til the head was bolted down,....

Don't I know it..we lifted the head to try a bit of DIY and one of the liners came with it

.....I had one in a Caterham....

[beta_trials]

That was absolutely brilliant. That is the most amazing bike motor i have seen yet.

Can i put that in my Trials bike??

[2/4]

HAM2, on 28 January 2011 - 07:05 AM, said:

Ahhh the Rover 1.4 K series.
I had one,my brother had one,my mate had one,his neighbour had one and they all had the same problem....Did you ever find a cure for the K series achilles heel; cylinder head gasket failure?
...Great motor otherwise

They were obviously working on it - clearly the cure was to melt the head and block together.

Edited by 2/4, 01 February 2011 - 07:59 PM.

[legionnair]

You want the valves to rotate ths prevents hotspots from forming and spreads the wear out around the valve seat. Big diesels use valve rotators to achieve this because they don't rev high enough to cause it naturally

Food for thought

[HAM2]

legionnair, on 02 April 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

You want the valves to rotate ths prevents hotspots from forming and spreads the wear out around the valve seat. Big diesels use valve rotators to achieve this because they don't rev high enough to cause it naturally

Food for thought

Hmm...sounds good.. tech info,you're stimulating the geek in me(ooh err missus ).