K Series for or against
 

I'm still not 100% on my engine choice. The favourite was looking to be the later Duratec all alloy block, but as has been metioned, its not a direct fit to the MT75 so would need an adaptor.

So I was thinking about other engines also needing adaptors and I got to thinking about the K series 1.8. I know Chris briefly touches on it in the good book, but what are the pitfalls?

I hear its meant to be a light engine, but how compact is it?

I know its plentiful, therefore bound to be cheaper and easier to get hold of than the later Duratec.

Tuning wise, well its been used for a long time in race trim, so parts and 'goodies' should be easy to get.

I presume a bell housing or adaptor should be available.

Or am I missing something, is there a RWD G'box that suits it?

Any models to look out for, or any to avoid?

And please, I have heard the usual headgasket horror stories, but from what I have read, its not a fact that its an inherent design fault, its more of a symptom of other issues.

Anything else that is in its favour, or anything that goes against it being fitted to a Haynes Roadster? (I'm sure there has been discussions about the K before but I bet its been deleted)

And finally, anyone actually using one?

Caterham used them for years and years so I don't see why you can't put one in a roadster. There's even a turbocharged version if you want to go nuts, and you could probably pick that up cheaper than a duratec.

Also, do duratec's require aftermarket ecu's etc to work, I'm pretty sure the k series doesn't.

Another thing in the k series favour is that it can be made to run very well on Weber dcoe (twin sidedraught) carbs.

The head gasket will only break if you don't look after your engine.

Basically I think it comes down to budget, K series is plentiful and cheap, Duratec isn't.

Lotus use them as well,do the mods to it before you fit it to the Roadster.
I would be a rich man if I had £50 for every head gasket I have done on them!

I reckon you could charge more that £50 for changing a head gasket, and be very rich.


What are the mods needed?

Personally, I think the K-series is a great engine *if* you can find one that's been well maintained. It's poor maintenance that general leads to the dreaded HGF. Also, Rover made modification of the life of the engine to improve the resistance to HGF.

Caterham used to do a bellhousing to mate it to a type-9, not sure whether they still do - occasionally they come up on eBay but at reasonable money (they were about £250 new). There's a company called Frontline who also do a bellhousing which is primarily targetted to people who want to do K-series conversions for MG Midgets - I guess there's no reason why you couldn't use that in Roadster. Again though, quite big cash.

Thanks for the info guys.
Just been reading up online, looks like it may be the engine for me

I would not get out of bed for £50,and the last one I did was an MGF and definatley not £50.
Mods,skim and pressure test head,modified gasket,replace liner seals and measure the height on all cylinders to make sure they are all the same.
New bolts and there is a modified and strengthened lower plate for the bolts.

I have heard of one that has over 100,000 miles and never had a gasket,all he did was nip the bolts now and again with no problems.

Sorry Jezzer I personally think they are crap !

They run good when they are working and have good power output for their weight :) ..................................BUT in the the past three years ive known about 4 of my friends own k series engined cars and only one of them got away with not having a blown head gasket :eek:

Many people say its down to lack of maintenance but all of them were well looked after and one of them was owned by a mechanics sister it was driven slow and very well looked after and it still went!

Even with 1 head gasket change budgeted for a year, I reckon it's STILL cheaper then fitting a duratec.

And the other little trick was drill small holes in the thermostat flange to stop airlocks!