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has anyone heard of v8 specialist RPI engineering

Just popped my 110 to these guys for a once over, to see what would need
doing, (BTW have a rover 3.9 efi V8). They are based in Horsford near
Norwich. Chris the owner seemed to know his stuff about V8's in general and
stocked literally dozens of said lumps lying all over the place in boxes. I
was wowed in the extreme, and not being a lump buff he taught me a thing or
two as well.
He went
into one about what I needed to do and how much it would cost. And also
would supply instructions so that even a moron like me could do say, the Gas
conversion. He pointed out that the distributor needed upgrading to a "Land
Range Rover V8 Discovery Cobra TVR Morgan ignition", system including the
"RPi Magnecor Blue Plug Leads Range Land Rover V8 Engine". Both available on
Ebay costing 200 quid. Sorry if you already know, but having his outfit so
close means I can embark on engine overhaul, bodywork repair & eventual
respray most of which will be DIY. I know this isnt extreme conponants but
I'm not mad like some of you lot hehe.
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Is their website.
ZoNeHeaD®
Reply to
ZoNeHeaD®
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I've got an RPI lump in Piglet (4.6V8). Nice engine :)
I ws on their stand at Billing a few years ago (as was Piglet lol!)
Reply to
Neil Brownlee
I bought some rocker shafts from them a few years back, which were fine - just the standard items, so nothing special.
I do trawl through their website now and then, and while there's lots of interesting stuff on there, I can't help but get the feeling that they are very keen on selling you bits to upgrade pretty much every component on the engine. There seems to be a lot of "get this, which will show up problems in that, so you need one of these, but then you'd be best also changing to this, which means you'll need one of these as well" if you get my gist. Not that there's anything wrong in trying to sell you stuff - they are a business after all. I'd just say maybe get a 2nd opinion before parting with your cash.
You might also want to check-out Real Steel in Uxbridge - they do lots of aftermarket Rover V8 parts, along with lots of American V8 bits (Chevy, Ford, Mopar etc.). It's worth paying the few quid for their paper catalogue. Service is also very good.
Cheers,
AndyC.
Reply to
AndyC
He's a fantastic salesman, but from bitter personal experience don't expect amazing after-sales service!
He will tell you "this is crap and needs changing", "that will fail so is best done now" etc etc, but in all honesty there is nothing wrong with any of the standard ignition components IF YOU KEEP THEM IN GOOD ORDER! Magnecor leads are good, no arguments, but they still fail over time due to the heat from the exhaust manifolds baking the ends, and the factory originals are only £35 a set. It isn't rocket science to work out that the factory leads will cost slightly less in the long term assuming they last half as long as the Magnecors. Be careful, you don't need to alter every bit of your engine away from standard to "make it work properly", regardless of what Mr. Crane may want you to believe. We run some fairly well tuned 3.9 engines in Hillrally racers, using standard distributors, coils, leads and plugs - with NO issues whatsoever under pretty arduous usage. Your wallet has been warned........ Badger.
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Reply to
Badger
On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:08:05 GMT, ZoNeHeaD® wrote:
You dont _need_ to upgrade the dissy. Gas kit will work fine on the existing stuff. its just better to do so. I'm running a 3.9 on new OEM leads, rotor and cap on the original 3.5 dissy running through a £10 electric ignition kit. Total cost about £40....
Reply to
Tom Woods
Tom Woods uttered summat worrerz funny about:
.......and a tool box on standby
sorry! couldn't resist.
;-)
Lee D
Reply to
Lee_D
I'm inclined to go with Austins suggestion of an iced up vaporiser, and perhaps the inductive pick up on my timing gun is just too shit (it is intermittant now and you have to wiggle it to make it go)
Reply to
Tom Woods
I've also done 15k in my car on LPG using the standard points and some halfords 8mm leads too (of the ones where you buy each one individually as there is no off the shelf set for my car) - and that has never ever broken down!
Reply to
Tom Woods
Seconded. I got all the parts to rebuild the V8 in Tiggrr from them, and the service (and advice over the phone) was excellent. Would trade again, as they say on fleabay.
Reply to
Rich B
I have a lot of their parts in my tuned V8 (4.6 heads, Edelbrock manifold and assorted bits) - no complaints. I don't think I have anything from Real Steel as they are much more general, less focussed on Rovers (actually I may have got my ARP bolt kit from them). I also got some bits from Rimmer Bros including the exhaust. I think RPi are very helpful as they have a great website which is much more than just a parts list, but all these guys are in business - if you wave money in front of them, they will try and think of a way for you to spend it ! Lots of good people here to consult before diving in.
Luckily I always look poor - its something I have developed to a fine art.
Steve
Reply to
Cheshire Steve
Thx guys...I think I'll go with Badger and hold on for a whiles mebbe get the parts an fit em meself. Oh I got a toolbox onboard too hehe!
Z®
Reply to
ZoNeHeaD®
I was with right up to the ignition upgrade sales pitch. If thats true I can't see how my RR 3.9 efi V8 managed to run for as many years as it did without resorting to such unecessary expenditure! It never needed overpriced blue plug leads to compensate for shortcomings in the tuning and setup. Get the spark timed right and far more reasonably priced leads will do the job.
Are you on commision from them ;)
Reply to
Tim Jones
"you on commision from them ;)"
fuck no ! im just naive hehe! truly iam though but held back by a good accountant. But i dont know alot bout engines but wanna learn. usual typical driver.
Z®
Reply to
ZoNeHeaD®
RPI do sell lots of fantastic shiny stff. Sadly most of it is not quite essential enough for me to be able to justify such frivolous spending to myself ;(
Reply to
Tim Jones
On or around Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:19:09 GMT, ZoNeHeaD® enlightened us thusly:
OK...
there's bugger-all wrong with the standard Lucas dizzy. In fact, there's not a lot wrong with the points one that came before it.
The DLM-8 is plenty good enough for all normal purposes including running LPG, which is more demanding of a good spark.
Leads: Magnecor are good. in particular, I found the quality of the components (plug caps etc.) to be good and a lot better than some of the cheap replacement sets such as Bosch. Shame, that, Bosch used to have a good reputation, but the set I bought for a V8 previously were utter shite. OK, they were cheap, but that doesn't excuse it - I'd rather have paid more for decent leads that didn't fall apart.
However, Magnecor are not the only good leads out there and they are more expensive than most. LR's own OE leads are good, Champion triple silicon are not bad either - so you pays yer money and takes yer choice - if you've got spare cash, the quality of magnecor is good, if you're on a tight budget, then you can buy cheaper leads that will still work.
In the old days, I used to use NGK resistor caps and copper leads. The NGK caps were excellent (ask any trials rider), but I don't know if they're still available. They also don't suit carbon-core leads, and copper leads seem to be frowned upon now.
Reply to
Austin Shackles
Carbon core leads quench residual voltage spikes better than resistor caps - which seems to help not fry the coil driver in the control circuitry on ECU controlled vehicles. My SIIa is happily running with a new set of copper leads (another 100' roll left on the shelf) and NGK resistor caps (reasonably wasy to find in the local motor factors here).
Reply to
EMB
I think the actual product from both Bosch and Champion must vary by country - my experiences are the exact opposite of yours Austin. I'll never use another set of Champion leads (they fall apart) but fit Bosch to every vehicle I find that requires them.
And on the subject of spark (or lack thereof), the bloody Monaro went back for a refund after an intermittent misfire proved elusive. I'm currently using my employer's (I think you get to buy it as a VXR8) car which has been mildly breathed over to give about 395kW. It's scared the bejeezus out of me, is a huge amount of fun, and eats rear tyres at a frightening rate - I think I'll have to go and buy something sensible that won't cost me my licence. Is a P38 really as full of leccy gremlins as rumour suggests?
Reply to
EMB

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