New k-series book by Iain Ayre and Rob Hawkins

[ppo]

Anyone seen this book in the shelves yet:

Rover K-Series Engine: Maintenance, Repair and Modification
by Iain Ayre and Rob Hawkins
Crowood Press
ISBN: 9781785003936

Should have been published last month and I pre-ordered it, but it hasn’t arrived yet.

[Geoff.F]

Crowood Press show a Publication Date of 10th April 2018 (Today) so you may have to be patient.
Geoff.F

[mowog73]

I too pre-ordered a copy many weeks ago and am waiting impatiently for the order to be filled.

[ppo]

Thank Geoff. Hope they don’t change the date again.

[Rob Bell]

Rob, I am pretty sure, is a motoring Journalist who I met back in the day playing around with various air filters. Not sure I know Iain? Hopefully they've been in touch with the various tuning gurus (Dave Andrew's opinion is always worth hearing IMO).

Interestingly, I've been chatting to Lindsay Porter, who is currently keen on writing a book on the MGF - so there is plenty of interest from the industry in our aging sportscars!

[Keith Williams]

The next time I have an order in at Crowood, I will get in a couple of these books in to add to our regalia stock.
This will probably be in late June as there is another Roger Parker book planned to be out then for the F/TF

[nigelandjo]

Rob is indeed a freelance motor journalist. Wrote the article and took the photos of our 2 TF 85ths for MG Enthusiast last year.

[Rob Bell]

Who has got one? I heard that Mykel has got a copy and thinks it is a good read...

[ppo]

I got mine too. Only had a quick look through.

[mowog73]

I received mine about a week ago. I've skimmed the whole book and read about a third so far. Its pretty good but there are several places where I would have added more detail and there are a few things that I don't agree with either. I do like how they talk about the positive attributes of the K-series. They do talk about its achilles heel but in the same breath they say how the issues has been solved. At the moment I'd give it a thumbs up.

[Mykel]

I indeed have received mine and read most of it. Mark is absolutely spot on in his comment, some things do lack a bit of detail, but that’s what you would expect from a book this size.

Like Mark, I do not share all the practices described. In particular I’m no friend of skimming heads, as usually one in serious need of taking off - say - 0.1 or 0.2 millimetres due to indentations is usually scrap anyway. Also I have neither experienced any issues with flat liners (as long as the head’s hardness is not affected) nor with re-using the standard oil rail. Imho there are a lot of urban myths around as to the “usual things to to” to make a K-series more reliable, and these are repeated in this book.

Anyway, there are interesting approaches and even new ideas, like checking the oil pressure relief valve for example. I advised a friend to do this as his warning light came on infrequently but regularly, he removed the valve piston and smoothed it down slightly, now the light stays off.

All in all a good read, some reassurances and worthwhile hints in the right direction when it comes to tuning. The KV6 section is also quite interesting, as I had never liked into that before, although some of the photos in that chapter seem to be mirrored for no apparent reason. In particular I liked the “Who likes the K-series” part a lot, where the authors look beyond the MGR rice bowl and it’s amazing in what cars this engine had been used.

[Rob Bell]

Thanks! I'll have to order a copy - I haven't yet checked to see whether the Register book shop has it listed yet...

[Keith Williams]

Thanks! I'll have to order a copy - I haven't yet checked to see whether the Register book shop has it listed yet...

Not yet ... I will get some in maybe late June when I order in the new Roger Parker book if it is out on time.

[TommyLes]

Thanks! I'll benefit a lot from these weight loss pills and have to order a copy - I haven't yet checked to see whether the Register book shop has it listed yet...

Not yet ... I will get some in maybe late June when I order in the new Roger Parker book if it is out on time.

Cheers for the review, Mykel. I was on the fence about getting it, but I ordered a copy a few minutes ago after reading your post. Looking forward to reading it.

[talkingcars]

Hi Tommy and welcome to the forum.

James

[Phil Jay]

Hi guys,
I just received my copy and have read most of it with interest. On the whole it seems a good read, though I agree with Mykel about some of the content.
Overall good and glad I got it, though it made me realise what good value Roger Parker's book is.
I also loved the authors poke at the failings of the Porsche Boxster engine. Funny isn't it how some people always seem to knock our own products, but if it's made in Germany (no offence Mykel), they believe it's bomb proof, when that isn't always the case - i.e. BMW's recall of a huge amount of cars due to a major failure that has already claimed a life! Can you imagine the outcry if that had happened to MG/Rover?

[mowog73]

The book talks about things to do to make the engine more reliable and they talk about the cooling system. One thing I am surprised that they don't mention is how to improve cooling/water circulation in the engine and cylinder head.

Anyone who had taken the cylinder head off will noticed that many of the coolant passages in the head are partially blocked off by casting flashes. A few minutes with a Dremel tool and carbide-tipped bit can remove the flashing and significantly improve coolant flow.

[Bazzajay]

Anyone who had taken the cylinder head off will noticed that many of the coolant passages in the head are partially blocked off by casting flashes. A few minutes with a Dremel tool and carbide-tipped bit can remove the flashing and significantly improve coolant flow.

I haven't heard of this suggestion before, it seems eminently sensible to me. It's something I shall look into if my HG goes again. Thank you Mark.

[Rob Bell]

The moulding flash in the coolant channels are often horrific to look at - and certainly no harm smoothing these off.