Advice pleeaase! what can i do to make my v8 more fruity!!!

[UncleThunderpants]

I have a stock sd1 v8 in my mk1 escort (done by myself that i'm chuffed with) have been on the road for 2 months now but need more oomph! Have put bak needles in the su's (my only mod) and had to use mg manifolds as space was very tight. As with most folks budget is reeaal tight, so what i want to know is this... What are the cheapest mods? What cam do you guys recommend? i dont mind a bit of a lumpy idle if the cam makes more power (its a manual box) i would try to aviod milling down the spring seats if poss, but could do that for the right results. Has anyone tried a particular cam they could recommend? Any advice is greaty appreciated!

[katanaman]

You will get a 100 different answers to this one as everyone goes about things in different ways but here is my answer anyway.

Your limited by your carbs a bit but mostly your headers so going for a mental cam is pointless. I would recommend a Real Steel Hurricane cam, carb setting up and that's about it. Going bigger in the cam will need better heads, inlet and headers to get the full benefit of it not to mention beefing up the bottom end to take the revs all of which are ££££. You could also buy a couple of books on flowing heads and do some port work and gasket matching which will see a few more horses for the cost of books and gaskets. The above assuming everything else is working properly should see you hit around 190-200bhp for under £200.

[ChrisJC]

Also get the Des Hamill (sp?) book on Rover V8's. That's quite a thorough look at what can be done.

Chris.

[Eliot]

Or get yourself a cuppa and take a read through these pages which explains all the things you can do:

http://www.mez.co.uk/TuningTheRoverV8-intro.html

[UncleThunderpants]

Thanks lads for your advice, there is certainly a few things to think over and a bit of research to do but know i have a much better idea how to start. I was so fizzed up getting the car together i havn't spent any time on the motor yet! If anyone else has any views, they're all welcome! Thanx again!

[x.l.r.8]

what sdi are we talking about, a late 9.75:1 engine or something much earlier. If you can think about increasing the comp ratio if your down in the 8's, tin gaskets will keep the compression down, an easy 214 cam will require little modification other than possibly some valve guide shaving. The Carbs work well although very crude, the 40 DGAS conversion allows a better street motor. if your pulling the heads off then a bit of releaving around the ports goes a long way, then you need to ensure a good spark, more fuel and air in a smaller space needs a better ignition to ignight the stuff. After that your spending a LOT of money.