Hi people ,
I am currently researching a 2.0l or 1.9l Rover K build the idea is to construct a reliable 240BHP and 180Lb/ft engine using top quality internals, i have currently Scholar engines and VGK racing options, anybody want to share on getting the best out of the rover K whilst ensuring reliability all your ideas and experiences would most welcomed here.
Thanks
240 bhp and reliability is a tall order in a K series …
120 bhp/litre in a naturally aspired street engine is pushing the boundaries of the best manufacturers in the world let alone a dated Rover engine.
Good luck tho… I’ll be mighty impressed if you achieve both criteria 
I’d talk to those on here that have campaigned a high output K, namely SeanB, Azrael, Evosal. They could give you an honest appraisal of whether the juice is worth the squeeze. The law of diminishing returns certainly applies and you do already have a pretty high output K. I guess it all depends what you want aNd what you want it for,…oh aNd how deep your pockets are obviously!!!
I’ve had both Scholar and VGK engine blocks over the years, but always with a DVA head.
As far as the head goes you will need valves at the larger end of whats possible and pretty serious cams to get the power/torque figures you’re looking for. As long as the hardness and porosity is ok on the head you shouldn’t gets any issues regardless of power outputs.
When it comes to reliability of the bottom end you need to look at balancing everything to the best you can afford. Steel cranks are better than a standard crank but a balanced standard crank is probably better than an unbalanced steel crank. Forged con rods are better/stronger too. Pistons and liners will come with any 1.9 or 2.0 block so no need to worry about specifying those. Things like the crank pulley deserve attention too as lightweight undamped ones can let the alternator introduce all sorts of extra stresses on the crank.
Ultimately, I reliably get close to the figures that you’re looking for but no matter what you’re enemy in this game is wear and for the large part revs = wear. So yes, 9000rpm+ is easily possible with a 1.9 but don’t expect it to last as long as something limited to 8000rpm for example (the 2.0s cant rev as high due to the longer throw of the crank so piston speeds are still very high). My race engine comes apart every year and gets checked over and refreshed but I honestly couldn’t say how long it would last in a roadcar application.
By no means an exhaustive answer, but just a few things to think about. I’ve no experience of other engine builders but it’s well worth a chat with the Almighty Dave Andrews as he has a lot of experience with not only K series in general but also the Scholar and VGK products too.
Thanks jfk benja and Azrael, I am spending a great deal of time looking into all the options price wise the 1.9l seems to give a good torque/� jolt to the engine and allows me to keep my current balanced crank,i am allready running a dva non ported head .
Azrael …what are you running in your car ?and what outputs are you getting ?
Mr Wardroper at scholars whisperedto me that scholar are thinking of machining a billet block to try something new on the engine.
I’ve got a VGK/DVA 1.9
I get around 240bhp at 8000rpm and a bit less than 170lb/ft at peak torque. I can and have got a few more bhp in the past when I was prepared to rev towards 9000rpm but as mentioned previously, experiences tell me that the exponentially increased wear rate just isn’t worth it.
nice so you shift up before 8000 ? seems logical
scholars is quoting me �1800 for a 1.9 block using my balanced crank they are expecting around 165lbft
…the only thing not done on my engine(other than a billet crank) is big valves and jenvey TBs they say this is not cost effective for the 10-12 hp extra with these 2 options at around �1200 !!so they are steering me towards the 1.9 block with a strip down to check the rest.
what do you reckon the 1.9 will give me ?
i thought 10-15hp and 15lbft across the rev range?
Don’t shoot me down in flames pls ,but have you got to stick with the K for a reason ? Ie. Class racing etc…
If not ,have you considered a transplant?
Not body organs of course
No worries, it’s a fair question - Yep I’ve considered it! but I have to stick with the K to stay in the roadcar classes in my Championship. If I were to transplant the engine it would put me in the Specials class where everything else can be 500kg, If I then super/turbo charge I’d need to be getting an awful lot of bhp to be competitive… but this isn’t the thread to get me started on non-homologated cars in saloon racing.
CrazyH - I’ve only ever run my engines on ported/big valveheads so I don’t really know what you’d gain by not doing the same. I would think a very useful gain in torque throughout the rev range is the least you could expect, so maybe more area under the curve than ultimate figures, but your chosen cam profiles will dictate a lot of that. A good exhaust manifold makes a huge differance too.
I think Jenvey throttle bodies are well worth a look though, even if it’s just for the improvement in reliability and throttle response.
Azrael,
Thks for the info,looks like i need to look up my facts on the big valve option, scholar says no more than 6hp more on new valves but does not say about the torque spread.