MLS kit fitted on the engine at LPG conversion together with new cambelt, engine was in good condition. grams. K-series were designed to be a small 1.1-1.4 engine for a compact car so surely it weighed less than mid-size cars’ engines like Toyota 1ZZ or Honda F20, they are plainly in different class. The compression rings on the gasket are too hard and indent both liners and head! All in all, the handling of this engine both by way of tuning it and in commercial negotiations has been woeful, and a huge missed opportunity and all because no one sat down and talked it through properly. The engine emerged in several variations, with differing induction systems and maps often produced by the companies using them, i.e., Lotus, produced a map for the VHPD in the Exige and the 340R, initially using a Gems ECU for the handful of motorsport S1 Elises, changing to an ECU from the Esprit for the 340R and Exige. Thank you very much. This is a particular problem for the K-Series as a lightweight block and can cause liners to sink on their shoulders, giving effectively an uneven deck height. In an article originally published on the Sands Mechanical Museum website, Spen King’s nephew, Simon Erland, takes the lid off the K-Series and sees what makes it tick. This makes the K’s power-to-weight ratio all the more remarkable in the context of lightweight sports/race cars and, given its more advanced construction than all but two or three of its most recent competitors, it is clear that the K has a very strong claim to be the best four-cylinder engine around. IF you do this properly it should last a longer time. You have to realise when the Metro was Roverised and received the K series engines in 1990, what a leap forward these were from the A series in terms of refinement, efficiency and performance. Q Is it true that the engine only holds a few pints of water? Based on my limited amateur under the bonnet experience ( although I used to be “in the trade” on the sales side selling both new and used cars back in the middle ages ) it is all too convenient to blame the so called failures on the K-Series design. The first is the positioning of the thermostat in the cooling system, which was not designed for engines frequently put under heavy load. He said that it was on the early ones used in the 800 but that the whole engine had been redesigned for the 75 to make it narrower to fit under the shorter bonnet.’, According to Brian Gunn, other differences between the early and late K-Series engines were put in place to improve reliability: ‘The differences between the early and late KV6 are that the block/liners are dimensionally more accurate, with more tolerance bands. Let’s be reasonable and see my point of view, you cannot build a car according to Northern Ireland average temperature, and expect it not to overheat when running it through Gibraltar! On only one of these engines so specified, Jason Krebbs’ Caterham, have I found a failure and that because one of the drivers on a track day test for a magazine managed to buzz the engine to 16,000 rpm – recorded on the data logger, causing just one liner to split. broke down in a ‘cut out’ fashion there being no excessive steam or smoke. I would like to map out the production life of these engines from a production point of view. Presumably refinement was a different matter though. do not exceed 5000 rpm. "Formula High Performance" into the engine. The exception being a nice Rover 45 project I took on and decided to break to use as a donor spares car for others in the family. My 1.8 non-turbo was going 100% fine to 136000 miles. Rover employed this tactic to perfection during 1989 and 1990 – first with the Honda collaborative effort, the Rover 200/400, then the revitalised Metro. A related issue is that of the dynamic damping provided by the front pulley. I took the car back to the dealer who kept it a couple of days for testing, saying he would change the gasket if necessary. So, if the design of the block and the choice of alloy used in the casting are not the cause of the problem, what was causing all this vibration and distortion that so exercised Miles at Lotus? -When the ECU map is finished optionally you can put a Metal Lube "Formula The 1.8i performance VHPD engine is now very well known. Visit our online store for the best prices and speedy shipping or call ☎ +44(0)1509412317 So then my answer to Miles at Lotus was that the K-Series is a very strong engine with a significantly more sophisticated design than almost all its competition but alone amongst these last in fully taking advantage of this to minimise weight. for the piston pin. Giving the Rover K Series a fresh start with our race winning Lotus engine performance upgrades. FACT: There would be some expense involved, but most of this would be in-vehicle work, which would be required just as much for the Toyota engine, as the K, and therefore would have to be funded by Lotus, whichever engine they chose. I took the car back to the dealer who kept it a couple of days for testing, saying he would change the gasket if necessary. Yes, luck can and does play a part in life but, I know for certain that there is far more to it than mere luck. I’ve never got that lazy since! As far as Im aware the HG hasnt been replaced. On arrival I was met by Myles Lubbock, Chief Engineer on the One-Make Series and his right-hand man, John Danby, both of whom knew that I had done a lot of work on the K-Series engine in pursuit of a bulletproof 350bhp supercharged engine. In short, overwhelmingly all the problems were built into the engine by the engine builders and clearly the management of the engines was badly handled by those responsible for the Lotus One Make series, when just one call to the Rover design office would have provided all the answers. 11.5 A dog could have told you what was needed was wax injection into panels and thicker paint spec to stop them from dissolving. 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