AndyW

I'm replacing part of the cooling system hoses on my Rover engine where one of the bends has been rubbing, and to redesign the expansion bottle system. I was about to get some silicone hoses to replace the rubber bits and pieces I've got, but I've just read on a couple of websites that silicone hoses shouldn't be used with OAT antifreeze. Apparently it degrades and perishes silicone hoses quickly. Is this true? Anyone have any experiences? Should I stick to rubber hoses? Andy

Hi Kev, yes it does look bodged even to my inexpert eye and not surprising it failed. Im quite willing to cut the old L shaped bracket off completely, and I could get some stainless to make a new one, but I will still need someone to weld it on for me.

Bob unfortunately I cant weld and have no equipment, so doing it myself is out the question. I need someone with the skill and equipment to do it for me.

Hi Ivan. Got your photo thanks. Interesting that your bracket split on the vertical part of the plate below the cross tube, whereas mine is going on the horizontal bit before it wraps round the tube. The plate is obviously not strong enough to take the loads, or else the two horizontal and vertical mounting bolts on the engine mount are not well aligned and put the bracket under strain. My bracket has been bent to fit. Did you make your extra bracket out of stainless?

I've discovered that the front engine mounting plate on my Superspec chassis has a large crack. It's a large 3mm stainless steel triangular plate welded onto the front stainless chassis tube. The crack needs welding closed and I'd like to get a reinforcing plate welded on top, as it looks like a repair has been attempted before by previous owner that's now failed. I've asked at a few local places that do body and car repairs and light engineering, but no-one is interested. They say they don't/won't/can't weld stainless steel. So what sort of place should I be looking for that is willing and able to weld stainless steel? Anyone know anywhere in the Bedfordshire area? I'd prefer a mobile service as I think I'm going to have to remove the radiator for access which makes driving anywhere difficult. Andy

Great. Thanks everyone. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to cause problems by changing everything to 32mm.

Ok, so 32 > 38 > 32 is unnecessary normally. Keeping it all at 32mm makes it simpler. But you mention takeoffs. How does that affect the flow? At the moment the output from closed thermostat that normally goes to the heater, returns into the top radiator, which is stupid for fast engine warmup. I intend to tee the 15mm return pipe into the bottom hose instead before it goes into the water pump. Can I still tee that into the 32mm hose entering the pump, or should I increase the diameter of the inlet bottom hose? As far as I can understand it, the 32mm of the pump inlet is the restricting aperture so what happens before it doesn't really matter.

Is there any optimum size or requirements for the diameter of coolant pipes and hoses? I'm looking at replacing some of the top and bottom hoses on my Superspec Rover engine, but they seem to be a bit of a mish-mash of diameters. The thermostat main outlet, the water pump inlet, and both the radiator stubs are all 32mm OD. But the rubber top hose from the thermostat increases to 38mm ID to fit a 38mm OD alloy joiner pipe, then another hose tapers back down to 32mm to fit on the radiator top inlet. Same for the bottom hose, this starts as 32mm, increases in diameter to fit a 38mm alloy pipe, then back to 32mm to fit the water pump. I don't know if this increase and then decrease in pipe diameter is necessary and "by design"? Or just because they were the hoses and 38mm joiner pipes supplied. Can I simplify everything and use 32mm diameter thoughout, or will this cause flow restrictions? Is there really any need to increase the diameter of pipe runs? Or am I over-thinking all this :-) Andy

And include me in as well

To update my old posting, I decided to take the head off my Rover engine again to investigate my excessive oil consumption. And yes, it was down to the wrong valve stem oil seals. The gasket kit I originally used for the rebuild last year appears to have incorrect valve seals - it came with the older taller green seals, rather than the shorter black seals. Bought a set of the correct seals and have now put them in. The head was in a horrendous state - hard carbon and white calcite (?) deposits on the valve faces, carbon and varnish on the stems, loads of soft carbon in the exhaust ports, and soft oily thick carbon paste on the piston crowns as well as puddles of oil. All that had built up in 1600 miles driving over the last year, presumably from constantly burning oil coming through the valve stems. I still find it amazing that poor fitting seals would leak that much oil around the valve stems, as presumably the spring holds the bottom of the seal tight against the head seat. Anyway, it took a days work and fair bit of effort to clean it all up. Also found carbon blow past marks from 3 of the cylinders on the exhaust manifold gasket. Inspection showed the flange wasn't very flat so I had to file the high spots down. Hope that seals a bit better this time and stops some of the popping on overrun, and presumably some mis-fueling.

To resurrect an old post, and answer some long standing questions on the forum concerning the Rover T-series (T16) engines as used in the Superspecs, Al Richey and I have been investigating what the engine number means, when the engines were built, and what cars they were destined for. In comparing the engines in our Superspecs, we noticed we had differences in the water pump and alternator layout, alloy vs pressed steel sumps, and our engine number codes were different. From an academic interest we wanted to understand why they were different, and find more about the origins and changes to the engines. We've gleaned a lot of information from the Rimmer Bros website, who supply supply Rover parts, as well as from Rover workshop manuals, forums and other Rover parts suppliers. We thought it would be useful to capture and summarise all these details, so other Superspec owners can refer to it. This also corrects some of the incomplete information in the earlier posts above in this thread. Rover engine numbers are stamped on a machined face on the engine block under the exhaust ports. The numbers take the form: 20T4H H96 123456 (without the spaces) This decodes as follows 20 = engine size (20=2000cc) T = engine series (T, K, L etc) 4 = valves per cylinder (2 or 4) H = fuel injection type (H=long track multiport injection Normally Aspirated, G=long track multiport injection Turbocharged, F=multiport injection, D=throttle body injection) H96 = prefix code group indicating the vehicle, gearbox and ancillaries. Codes are listed at the end of this post 6 digit = engine number Rover first produced the T-series engine in 1992. It was updated in 1994/95 (appears to be from engine number 101828) to reduce tolerances, stop carbon buildup causing sticking valves, and prevent oil leaks from the head. 1. Waisted carbon break valves were fitted 2. Shorter valve guides were fitted 3. Shorter black valve stem oil seals were fitted (older engines have longer green oil seals). From engine number 128817 the composite head gasket with black sealant was replaced with an MLS head gasket (and the oil restictor was removed from the block as it was now built into the MLS gasket). The engine was updated again for the 1996 model year (from engine number 135751). The distributor was removed and replaced with wasted spark dual coils, and MEMS was updated to 1.9. We don't believe any of these engines were fitted to Superspecs. Incidentally, Rover 220 and 820 had pressed steel sumps, whereas Rover 420 and 620 had alloy sumps. From analysis of the engine numbers and codes provided by current Superspec owners, we have determined that: 1. The engines are typically from the 1994 1/2 model year, so appear to have been built in 1995 (or between late 1994 and early 1996 towards the end of the MEMS 1.6 / distributor era.) 2. The engines are all nominally different and seem to have been built for a variety of different Rover cars - 220, 420, 620 and 820 3. Some would have had aircon; removing the aircon pump accounts for the different layout of the water pump and alternator ancillary drive 4. They should all be fitted with the shorter valve guides and black oil seals. 5. They should all be fitted with the MLS head gasket. If you have your engine number, get the 3 digit prefix group after 20T4H, and look it up in the following list. This will indicate the car the engine was originally intended for, and the variant of injection, gearbox, air conditioning, etc. fitted. (Note only 2.0 litre T-series engines are listed): Rover 200-400 to 1995 G22 - normally aspirated, K4BS gearbox G23 - turbo, K7BX gearbox G24 - turbo, aircon, K7BX gearbox G25 - normally aspirated, aircon, K4BS gearbox G62 - normally aspirated, K6BS gearbox G74 - normally aspirated, aircon, K6BS gearbox G75 - normally aspirated, aircon, K4BX gearbox H35 to H38 - stripped engine H50 to H51 - part engine H79 - normally aspirated, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K4BS gearbox H80 - turbo, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K7BX gearbox H81 - turbo, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K4BX gearbox H82 - normally aspirated, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K4BS gearbox H83 - normally aspirated, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K6BS gearbox H84 - normally aspirated, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K6BS gearbox H85 - normally aspirated, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K4BX gearbox H86 - normally aspirated, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, K4BX gearbox Rover 600 H65 - turbo, standard, manual gearbox H66 - turbo, aircon, manual gearbox J93 - turbo, standard, manual gearbox, 1996 model year J94 - turbo, aircon, manual gearbox, 1996 model year Rover 800 to Jan 1996 H16 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, auto gearbox H20 - MPI Lucas injectors, auto gearbox H33 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, W4DTUT manual gearbox H34 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, aircon, W4DTUT manual gearbox H39 to H42 - stripped engine H50 to H51 - part engine H93 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, R4DT manual gearbox H94 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, V4DT manual gearbox H95 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, aircon, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, W4DT manual gearbox H96 - MPI Lucas injectors, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, R4DT manual gearbox H97 - MPI Lucas injectors, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, V4DT manual gearbox H98 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, 1994.5 model year, immobilisation, W4DT manual gearbox F82 - MPI, R4DT manual gearbox F84 - MPI, aircon, R4DT manual gearbox F86 - MPI, auto gearbox F88 - MPI, aircon, auto gearbox G10 - MPI, turbo, W4DT manual gearbox G11 - MPI, turbo, aircon, W4DT manual gearbox G26 - MPI, V4DT manual gearbox G27 - MPI, aircon, V4DT manual gearbox G69 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, R4DT manual gearbox G70 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, V4DT manual gearbox G71 - MPI Lucas injectors, aircon, auto gearbox G72 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, aircon, W4DT manual gearbox G78 - MPI Lucas injectors, R4DT manual gearbox G79 - MPI Lucas injectors, V4DT manual gearbox G80 - MPI Lucas injectors, auto gearbox G81 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, W4DT manual gearbox H04 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, W4DTUT manual gearbox H05 - MPI Lucas injectors, turbo, aircon, W4DTUT manual gearbox

My engine is earlier - 132832. Now I'm more confused! MSPS bolts were torqued to 80 Nm, but according to RedTrev's manual they shouldn't be used in the later engines. The other type KX bolts were torqued to 70 Nm. But replacement bolts from Elring etc specify torquing to 80 Nm. So do I torque to 70 or 80 ?

Theres only one type of head. The Rover manual just mentions that different bolts might be used in the factory build, but theyre both the same size - M11 x 165 flanged hex head, just different codes stamped on the head. Agree that the MSPS are stretch bolts, but it seems the KX can be re-used. Im not sure whether its good practice to use them too many times though. Anyway looks like my new replacement bolts should be torqued to 80 Nm in two stages then given another 90 deg, so thats what Ill do.

I did. They simply said follow the gasket makers instructions The Elring MLS head gasket says 3 stage torque to 80 Nm + 90 deg, so guess that means they are Rover MSPS equivalents. I just thought it odd that the gasket supplier should specify the torque rather than the bolt manufacturer.

Can anyone give me a clue on torquing new cylinder head bolts in my Rover T-series engine. The workshop manual says that the fitted head bolts might be either: - MSPS which are 2 stage torqued to 80 Nm + 90 degrees, and can't be re-used, or - KX which are 2 stage torqued to 70 Nm + 90 degrees I ordered a replacement bolt set from the GasketShop but they didn't come with any instructions. The packaging doesn't have a manufacturer or type, just the part number KSB.450, and the bolt heads are marked 10.9. So I don't know if they are MSPS or KX equivalents. How should I torque them up? And should they be oiled?

It does if you use Rain-X on the screen :-) Ive driven several miles in pouring rain in my Superspec and found I rarely needed to use my wipers at speed. Air speed does keep the screen pretty clear.

http://www.super7thheaven.co.uk/components/sierra_rear_differential/ But it doesn't explain all the numbers on the tags. From mine I deduced: 83BG = casing type JD = ? 392 = ratio 4A = assembly plant? 1G05 = manufacture date starting with 4=1984, G=sequential month, 05 day in month 1 224 = ? There's also another code cast into the rear cover to the right of the fill plug, but I'm not sure this gives much useful info. Mine has: 83BG-4033-BA D 04 BA Andy

Correction. I just looked at my diff again and there IS an id tag after all. Hadn't spotted it the first time as it was painted same as the diff and stuck flat to the casing at 11 o'clock. Through the paint I think I can just make out the lettering - 83BG JD 392 / 4A 1G05 1 224 So that makes it a 3.92 ratio. And from the data on super7thheaven website, it also indicates it's a 7" 83BG casing, made 5th July 1991, tripod pushin type.

No Id tag on my back plate, so I did the wheel rotation test with just one side jacked up. 10 turns of the road wheel gave 19.5 rotations of the propshaft. So 19.5/10 x2 = 3.9 (I believe I have to double the answer to account for only one wheel moving?) So DanE and Bob are correct in guessing that I have a 3.89 diff. Different from you then Al! Both Superspecs, both different. :-)

Al, as a first step we both need to check our diff ratios. I'm going to look see if I still have the Id tag on the diff back plate, or if not I'll do the rotating wheel test to get a rough calc of the ratio. Bob, coincidence! I've found GearCalc earlier on and started playing with it. First impression is that it doesn't have the MT75 gearbox as on option so we're going to have to try to input some appropriate gear ratios.

And mine's an original Unipart GCL 149 if you can find a current equivalent.

Kevin. Al and I plan to arrive around 10 am.

Copied from an old forum post Pins are numbered left to right when viewed from the rear of the tank looking forward. Pin 1 - Fuel Pump +ve Pin 2 - No connection Pin 3 - Fuel Pump -ve Pin 4 - Fuel Sender to Instruments (Not as the RH supplied drawing, they have this as an earth connection) Pin 5 - Fuel Sender earth (Pin is connected internally to an earth tag on the sender body/metalwork and should have an earth wire connected to it from the loom)

On my Superspec... pin 86 on fuel pump relay - switching power from battery via 10a fuse pin 30 on fuel pump relay - feed power from battery via another 10a fuse pin 85 on fuel pump relay - connects to MEMS ECU pin 20 (black/purple wire). MEMS switches this to earth internally to turn the relay & pump on & off pin 87 on fuel pump relay - output power through green wire to fuel pump You can swap the relay with a similar one to test it. Connections on the fuel pump/sender unit are: green to fuel pump pin 1 2 blacks to earth, pins 3 & 5 green/black (this might be your red?) on pin 4, sender back to instruments fuel gauge there's no pin 2

Reading some old posts on the forum the speedo cable for the Superspec is 7.5ft long (!) and has square drive ends. It's possibly from a Transit. There's a picture somewhere but I can't find it now, that shows the drive gear wheel that goes in the side of the mt75 gearbox has a square central hole. There are different coloured gear wheels with different number teeth used on various Fords. Apparently the yellow 22 tooth one supplied for Superspec was wrong which is why my speedo hugely over reads. You need something like a transit 25 tooth wheel but not easily found now.