820i "Replacement Pistons"

[BrianMcDonald]

Hi just joined, June 2015. Have had a Rover 820i since November 1994 ( Same one ). It was first registered May 1994. Have really enjoyed this motor for 21 years and do not want to get rid if I can avoid it. Still runs extremely well although it did develop a blown head gasket and started to loose oil quite badly. General condition quite good considering that it has been used literally every day of it's 21 years life, but has only done 102,000 miles. So just lately had to start thinking of overhauling the engine, had the top completely refurbished ( New valves , valve guides, hydraulic lifters etc, Head skimmed and new timing belt ) but when it came to pistons for this model was told they are now unobtainable. Tried to see if I could find a set of new oversized ones but ran into a brick wall. None available. Is there anyone out there who can tell me if I you can still buy oversized pistons for a 1994 2lt 820i 1998cc model? And if so WHERE? Hope someone can help !

[CHR15E]

Welcome to the site.

That's a long time to have owned the same car.

I have no experience on sourcing the pistons myself. Though it may be worth looking on http://www.rovertech.net/ some of the guys on there are very knowledgeable with the T series Rover engine. Mostly upgrades and modifications so that might help.

Unless anyone else has an ideas?

[BrianMcDonald]

oversized pistons is a bit extreme I would have thought.

Is there a choice of rings instead ?

Not meaning to patronise, but have all the honing marks gone ?

If you can still see them then I would think that there is no point in doing this sort of work.

Perhaps fitting oversize rings or even turbo pistons and rods if you are doing it anyway but when going the whole hog like this I personally think its best to just fit another engine.

granted you have already done the head, which is what I would do, but when it comes to the bottom end forget it.

I think I have some turbo pistons and a set of Honda V6 pistons of which I think are the same depth but larger in circumference I even think the pins are the same.

In terms of over sizing I assume this is done in 000ths of an inch where the pistons are notably larger by about a millimetre or so.

Do you know the dimentions ?

My advice is not to do the bottom end and source another engine if its that bad. (although you are not actually looking for advice)

I've got a a turbo head which I had the work done some time ago on one engine, I've save it but the bottom end is long gone.

You may even find that the block you have no longer shows the number clearly. As its cast and not stamped and so there is nothing to show that it is original along with many others out there, unless of course your oil leaks started early and preserved this area

The vehicle was six months old when i bought it so i think the engine is authentic. The oil leaks started about 8 to 9 months ago but were getting worse by the week. And as for the honing marks i'm not sure as the engineering company which did the head work checked the bores for ware and their suggestion was that it was sound but if i could pick up a set of oversized pistons then they would be able to do the bottom end at a later date. Which is why i am trying to locate a set of afore said pistons. It's just me being thorough and wanting to have the complete engine done with bottom end rebore and crankshaft reground. But it will have to wait until i can find pistons. Which is why i decided to join this site, hoping for help and advice.

[BrianMcDonald]

Welcome to the site.

That's a long time to have owned the same car.

I have no experience on sourcing the pistons myself. Though it may be worth looking on http://www.rovertech.net/ some of the guys on there are very knowledgeable with the T series Rover engine. Mostly upgrades and modifications so that might help.

Unless anyone else has an ideas?

Thanks "CHR15E" for the suggestion about the web site i will certainly try it. As for owning the car for such a long time, fell in love with it at first sight ( only kidding ) but no i was impressed with it and it has served me extremely well over the years. If they where still making them i for one would advocate them to anybody as a good buy. Didn't really want to get rid when the head gasket went, so thats why i decided to spend a bit on it. But as i said THANKS for the reply.

[traineefarmer]

I would agree with Paul on everything there except his choice of dinner.

In my experience, I doubt your engine would need anything other than a gasket set, a head skim and the valves re-seating. New guides and new lifter are unnecessary unless you knew of an issue before the rebuild.

As for the bottom end, crank seals aside (although these are pretty reliable too) the T series is very long lifed, even a turbo will see 150k without terminal wear. Only thrashing and neglect will kill them.

I'd say that with you having the car this long, you have probably cared for it well and being a NASP the bottom end will be "like new".

Of course, I cannot see your engine, so I can only speculate, but I have a horrid feeling the garage is trying to lift your shirt and often that is an indicator that corners may be cut on the rebuild too.

Sorry for my negativity on garages, but most of the work on my coupe has been undoing bodges by cowboy mechanics.

As to your original question, I have done a few part number searches and it does look like a lost cause trying to find NASP pistons. They were fitted to early LR discoverys so if you really want to go down this road it may be worth a call to a LR dealer, but I have seen prices of £250 each.

Best of luck getting the car back on the road.

[BrianMcDonald]

Thank you gentlemen for all the advice, Have done all of it before and have already had the oil leaks done, and car back on the road " running like a dream ". So all i'm after is weather it is possible to get a set of pistons and if so where from. Clutch was replaced at 97000. But would still like to get a set of pistons for a good set of engineers to finish the job, the way i want it done.

[traineefarmer]

You can't say fairer than that.

I think that the land rover route is the best possibility for finding some.

[traineefarmer]

I think any O series derived piston will fit, but these are going to be no easier to find.