How much wear will v8s tolerate?

[clive P62]

Spent a couple of hours today taking a few bits off the spares engine before it goes.
Removed rocker shafts for a look see and thought I would keep timing cover.
Just had to take a picture.
Goes to show how much wear these great engines will take.
The engine was quiet and the oil pressure when I measured it with a independent gauge was as workshop manual says it should be.
Clive.

 

[PeterZRH]

Quite a lot. Like many American designs they don't so much as fail as eventually drop so much power that the car barely moves.

 

[harveyp6]

They can run OK but they still need everything replaced when they're taken apart. The good thing is that they rarely need boring or grinding.

 

[clive P62]

My first p6 i bought as a stolen / recovered project but it wouldn't start.
Found distributor not turning.
Removed timing cover and found nylon gear sheared, off a old engine for a laugh I fitted chain and gears.
Car started but very noisy with oil light staying on until 2000 rpm.
Once fully stripped it had 16 very bent pushrods and shell bearings/ crank shot. did take some pictures but can't find them at moment.
Thing is it still ran
Clive.

 

[GRTV8]

That timing chain reminded me of mine when I pulled the front cover off.
You don't notice the drop in performance over time , but once all the new stuff goes back on , the old girl really lifts her skirts and boogies.
Lots of smiles coming up for you.

 

[SydneyRoverP6B]

Provided the engine is serviced at regular intervals, i.e. oil and filter changes every 2000 to 3000 miles (3000 to 5000 km), it should see at least 180,000 miles (300,000 km) before requiring a complete rebuild.

The standard factory fitted timing set could be replaced every 60,000 miles (100,000 km) if you wanted to, and the factory camshaft will have seen better days around twice that.

As Peter said, the engines will keep going, stay and nice and quiet, just lose power.

Ron.

 

[RoverAlex]

They do indeed take a surprising amount of abuse they seem to tolerate it. My poor old Range Rover 3.5 I declared 4/5 years ago that the bottom end was knackered. It has been my daily drive for coming up to 3 years! One quite remarkable thing is that (admittedly it gradually got down on power) the cam wear was so bad that the lobes were more or less flat. Got to the point where it wouldn't actually start. Poor thing but I'll keep driving it until it breaks - it's on 156,000 miles on the original engine.

 

[clive P62]

Similar thing on my nada when i first picked it up many years ago.
Drove it from Chelmsford Essex to Heathrow (about 85 miles ) running rough and wouldn't get above 50mph?
Took almost 2 tanks of fuel to get home!
Camshaft had 6 completely missing
lobes .
Clive .