Top hat liners?

Brian N

Active member
May 7, 2004
35
0
erie, pa
Wow, 1500 for a sleeved block? That seems a reasonable price... Rebuilt heads and a gasket set... Better than 5000 for a long block.. And thanks for all the info! This is for the 2004, and yes the 1995 still runs like a top but the floors have cancer..
 

KyleT

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2007
6,059
8
39
Fort Worth, TEXAS
I'd run based on the cam info on their site

I just tore down my 4.0 that I bought from them about 8 years ago. Every piston had the ring gaps in line. No attention to thrust side. This is in addition to using cosmoline as engine lube and leaving out all of the dowel pins in the short block.

These are NOT the people you want building an engine for you.

Oil pump dowels? Iirc there was a tsb or something on limited engines warranting that.

And aren't hey car cannibal? Related to the place that didn't pay people for trucks?
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,796
364
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The level 2 bit or the rockwell bit?

Either. Level 2 means nothing. I understand if they want to keep their specs to themselves but at least an rpm range or a dyno graph showing torque at real world Rpms. The way they use the word Rockwell shows a misunderstanding of the concept. Did they get a b scale 80 that is a higher number than the oem c scale 20? Does it even matter?

I suspect they build an engine that rocks at 3000 rpm and higher, the kind of Rpms a rover almost never sees, but without specs other than meaningless buzzwords and the experience I've had with one of their short blocks leads me to think they have no idea what they are doing.
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,796
364
-
Oil pump dowels? Iirc there was a tsb or something on limited engines warranting that.

And aren't hey car cannibal? Related to the place that didn't pay people for trucks?

Bell housing index dowels and cylinder head index dowels. Along with the oil pump dowels
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,796
364
-
Yeah I was kind of pissed but forgot about it until my recent piston ring discovery. That's amateur stuff. I figure everyone in Oklahoma has been in some kind of ag class where a Briggs motor was disassembled. Guess I was wrong


I machined the snout on my crower and it cut like butter. I really doubt the material is measurably harder than oem
 

jymmiejamz

Well-known member
Dec 5, 2004
6,008
361
35
Los Angeles, Ca
We had a customer supply a motor from (I'm pretty sure) Cannibal V8 and when it came back for an oil change the head gaskets were pouring out fluid. FWIW, they used studs, which I think are meant to be re-torqued.
 

p m

Administrator
Staff member
Apr 19, 2004
15,642
867
58
La Jolla, CA
www.3rj.org
I suspect they build an engine that rocks at 3000 rpm and higher, the kind of Rpms a rover almost never sees
Not to hijack the thread - my rovers see 4k rpm every day on every freeway on-ramp, and then 3k as long as the they are in the left lane. I'd say more than 40% of their use by time is at or over 3k.
 

robertf

Well-known member
Jan 22, 2006
4,796
364
-
I guess I've been driving my 5 speed too much and forgot how the automatics behave
 

adriatic04

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2007
2,506
2
cleveland, oh
Not to hijack the thread - my rovers see 4k rpm every day on every freeway on-ramp, and then 3k as long as the they are in the left lane. I'd say more than 40% of their use by time is at or over 3k.

ditto, at highway speeds I can almost guarantee mine will sit at 3k. 2700 is around 60-65 if my memory serves me correctly.
 

turbodave

Well-known member
Nov 26, 2008
325
3
KY
We had a customer supply a motor from (I'm pretty sure) Cannibal V8 and when it came back for an oil change the head gaskets were pouring out fluid. FWIW, they used studs, which I think are meant to be re-torqued.

I'm now at around 12K miles after I fitted a new top-hat block and used the ARP's, including countless short runs and still running the stock temp thermostat (I'll change it one day lol)..
I pulled the valve covers and attempted a re-torque at 500 miles, but they were all good so never touched them again. Engine uses no coolant, and the only (engine) leaks are from the damn filter housing which I can't figure out the source of...
I've also never found a need to physically re-torque the ARP's in any other engines I've built with them - but have always checked after several heat cycles...
I'd suspect something mickey mouse elsewhere in that particular motor you descirbe. Poor quality gaskets, heads that weren't machined, block deck that wasn't verified for flatness etc...
 

seventyfive

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2010
4,280
100
over there
I've also never found a need to physically re-torque the ARP's in any other engines I've built with them - but have always checked after several heat cycles...
I'd suspect something mickey mouse elsewhere in that particular motor you descirbe. Poor quality gaskets, heads that weren't machined, block deck that wasn't verified for flatness etc...

I've done about 5 or so head gasket jobs, at the shop, using studs. We instruct the customer to come back after 500 miles for a free oil service and we check the studs. Never needed more torque.

I have 10k miles on one of my trucks, studs and cometic multiplayer head gaskets, and the torque was fine.

Not saying they don't need checked, just saying I'm yet to encounter a situation where they needed more torque. Now on a tweaked forced induction engine...I'm sure the gaskets settle a bit.

I've said it before, but unless the threads are chased, cleaned, vacuumed, and the hardware is installed correctly who knows why studs get a bad wrap.......seems as though studs are the very first thing purchased in almost every single other application EXCEPT with discowebers? I'm not saying do something because everyone else does it, but sometimes there is a good reason everyone else does it.

Turbo dave, where is your leak at the front cover? Can you snap a picture.

But back on topic, top hat liners are expensive but may be worth it depending on what your ownership intentions are. If you're looking to keep the truck for a long time or looking to stay with rovers then a top hat investment is worth the piece of mind.....you can always slap that engine into another truck.
 
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seventyfive

Well-known member
Jan 3, 2010
4,280
100
over there
ditto, at highway speeds I can almost guarantee mine will sit at 3k. 2700 is around 60-65 if my memory serves me correctly.

My green truck, gears and 36's, sits at 2700ish at 70 mph. Off highway I regularly bounce the tach. Engines are no different than our bodies....walk or sit too much and you get fat, lazy, you leak too much, and your top end gets coked up. :)
 

xalty

Well-known member
Oct 28, 2018
51
13
Illinois
Outside of keeping the engine cool and running good oil, anything else to prevent dropped cylinder liners?
nice bump.

liners slipping by themselves is pretty much a non-issue and happens mostly to really late engines. overheating hard enough to break a liner loose is usually accompanied by cracked cylinder walls.

that’s why top hats are designed with o-rings to trap water inside a leaking cylinder wall and not vent combustion gas into the coolant.

slipped liner = mostly harmless

cracked block = needs rebuild
 
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markwemple

Banned
Sep 9, 2019
301
17
Maryland
Reason I asked, is that I've looked into this as I just bought an 03 that just had a "factory spec" t-stat installed. DOH! So I'm installing a 180 along with a zirc fitting front axle, as a start. Other than coolant tanks, I haven't found any mention of cooling system weaknesses, and the only preventable thing I've found that could cause a slipped liner is over heating. I'm also going to run synthetic diesel oil.

Along with this, it appears that just having the top hat liners installed in a disassembled engine is about 4k, making an LS look tempting.
 

Swedjen2

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2018
594
127
California
"Reason I asked, is that I've looked into this as I just bought an 03 that just had a "factory spec" t-stat installed. DOH! So I'm installing a 180 along with a zirc fitting front axle, as a start."

You mean zirc fitted front drive shaft.

" Other than coolant tanks, I haven't found any mention of cooling system weaknesses, and the only preventable thing I've found that could cause a slipped liner is over heating. "

For some light reading, take a look at this thread -
Damn Throttle Body Pre-Heater Gasket Again
LINK - https://discoweb.org/index.php?threads/damn-throttle-body-pre-heater-gasket-again.66943/

It's near the bottom of the technical discussion forum page and one of the longer threads of late.

Along with this, it appears that just having the top hat liners installed in a disassembled engine is about 4k, making an LS look tempting.


Well, that's another kettle o' fish.
BTW, I saw an East Coast Rover D-90 at the shop I use near San Jose, Ca. Probably some Netflix/Apple/Google guy who cashed some stock. Anyway, that one has the LS Corvette motor and GM powertrain (not sure about the transfer case), but it looked like it came from the factory that way. Best looking D-90 I've ever seen, winch and all.....that the owner says will never go off-road. Just up to Tahoe on freeways for winter fun, most likely.