Rover P6 4.6V8 Race/Drag/Road car - still work in progress!

OK. So the heads went back on and seemed to run OK (still getting a little warm in traffic). Got back to inspect things and noticed that the valley gasket has lifted up considerably. It is still bolted down and has not come off at the back...but has been pushed up to the point where it has split and there is oil leaking out of it. Been throwing various theories around and the more reasonable one is that the carb has back fired and due to the lack of there being flame traps, has pressurised the top end. How come it didn't do that before? Well perhaps because the head was blowing and that was it easiest path out...now that it's sealed up it cannot do that.



The other consideration is that I am using early rocker covers which do not breathe as well as the later ones...yet I do not have the breather on the block as I have the later 4.6 block. So it probably was not the reason why I had excess pressure, but it will do it good anyway. The plan is to copy the SD1 setup which has the cannister flame trap on one side splitting off and going to both carbs and rocker cover an "open" vent.

Want to get it sorted so I can drive it, rather than trailer it, to the Classic Restoration Show at the NEC These are the rocker covers I bought...I don't think they are as visually appealing as the older style ones...but function over form.



I also took a decision on the cooling system. I am going to drill/clean in some way or another the water outlet on the carb tower as that is almost fully blocked (I get a trickle and that's about it). Have a coolant tank that is t'd off from the radiator outlet and also feeds the carb tower outlet. I also think I need a much better fan - I think the ebay cheapo jobbie is pretty lame - a trip to my parents house will hopefully be fruitful for that .

To get to the NEC I will also need a much bigger fuel tank - it's about 7 litres and that doesn't get me very far at all - perhaps 10 miles! (it will of course be much better once the engine has been tuned - again - another thing that needs doing before the NEC). Fingers crossed.

Thanks

Minor update. After some pondering and talking to others I decided as a matter of course it would be a good idea to fit the later rocker covers as they breathe slightly better. There was also the fact that my old setup did not have any flame traps (I am sure I have them kicking around somewhere) so perhaps the carbs back fired and that caused the valley gasket to lift? Who knows. One thing I do know is I need to get it tuned - when it does "pop" it does it with quite some force - enough to rip a hole in my trumpet filter! So far, so good. I don't think the new rocker covers look as nice as the old style ones, but hey ho, function over form:





At the same time I also re-fitted (well, fitting in the loose sense of the word in terms of the tank, it is only sitting there at the moment) the expansion tank and t'd it off from the only small outlet on my radiator. Also fitted a banking cap for the rad otherwise the outlet wouldn't work as it would be after the pressure release - the expansion tank has a pressurised cap of course. Before doing this it would head towards the red on the gauge very quickly...now...well..it is not as cool as I'd like it to be (I blame cheap ebay fan) but it has certainly improved matters.

Fitted a new fuel cell - the old cell was about 7/8 litres which would not get me very far at all - this one is a little better at 27 litres and is much lighter. I was very impressed with the quality of the tank - made by ARF Racing although the straps are a bit weak - I might make up something a bit more substantial. Just need a longer hose for the overflow and that's another thing sorted. Was very handy that the boot light worked.



I've just noticed I've got a manual in the boot I'll have to see what car that is for! Next up will be to get it over to Lynx Rolling Road to get the carbs setup properly. Or maybe install a choke cable so I don't have to hold it open with a bit of wood for several minutes.