several issues

[73series88]

did you lap the valves
mine was sounding like yours with kinda low compression
did a hand grinding on the valves to get a good seal
and its run great since then
adjusting the valves wont help with a valve thats not seating well.
aaron

[albersj51]

Thanks, Aaron! I haven't really touched it. Never heard of hand lapping...are you just gently sanding the valves with sandpaper to give a more even surface to create a better seal? Im assuming you have to pull the head to do this, right?

[albersj51]

Nevermind, just looked it up. It does require the head to come off and "griding" the valve in the head using lapping compound. May be a little beyond my abilities.

[mongoswede]

Nevermind, just looked it up. It does require the head to come off and "griding" the valve in the head using lapping compound. May be a little beyond my abilities.

the rover 2.25 engine is actually a pretty simple engine to work on. Pulling off the cylinder head is also pretty easy given that its a pushrod setup so there is no timing belt or chain to worry about. The intake/exhaust manifold will have to come off and you should drain the coolant as well. Remove valve cover and ubolt the head bolts. The head comes off pretty easily. A few simple tools and you can hand lap the valves too. Find a manual or someone with experience who can guide you through and I think you'll find that it looks a lot more intimidating than it really is.

[Terrys]

If you don't want to lap your valves, take the whole head to an automotive machine shop, have them grind the valves and seats, and depending on how old, or many miles, It may benefit from new guides.

[albersj51]

Thanks guys! I may give it a go. I've got the green bible and haybes manual, plus ny girlfriends dad is an old school hot rodder so it may not be a bad idea. I may also do a wet compression test to rule out the rings, but im pretty confident its the valves.

She ran well before (first Rover) to me. Since i am taking her down to the frame in a month or two it may be a good time to do it.

Any idea what a shop would charge to do all the grinding if i put in new valves, seals, etc myself? It may also be worth thinking about a recond 8:1 head.

[Terrys]

Any idea what a shop would charge to do all the grinding if i put in new valves, seals, etc myself? It may also be worth thinking about a recond 8:1 head.

A reconditioned 8:1 head is just someone else's old 7:1 head, done over, so skip the middleman and have yours done. Some shops still knurl valve guides, which will save you some money, but new guides aren't expensive. Valves aren't cheap, so if you're having new seats (hardfaced with stellite) have your old valves ground and lapped to the new seats. Labor to do one last spring for me was $245, which included grinding the surface .010, punch out and replace guides (I supplied the guides) Bore out and set new seats (They supplied) Grind seats. I lapped in the valves, and reassembled. The machine shop can supply you with button stem seals, but LR didn't use them until S3.

[SafeAirOne]

Thanks guys! I may give it a go.

Just a suggestion...If you buy (and use) an inexpensive vacuum test gauge first, you won't have to guess what's wrong.


EDIT: Disregard! I knew I was getting a sense of deja-vu...It turns out I already suggested this back in post #21 of this thread.

[albersj51]

Mark,

Not ignoring your advice; i only had 2 days between business trips so i wanted to get the compression done first. Im going to keep testing when i get home. Thanks for the advice!

[bmohan55]

[QUOTE=albersj51;60070]Thanks guys! I may give it a go. I've got the green bible and haybes manual, plus ny girlfriends dad is an old school hot rodder so it may not be a bad idea.

Don't underestimate those "old school hotrodders", all the mechanics here at the plant are that way and one Saturday (on company time) I brought in the head and they redid all my valves for the price of lunch, while teaching me a lot. They thought it was a cute little motor!