VVC engine mounting

[oilyhands]

I know that there is a different offside engine mount for VVC engines when they are fitted which lower the engine in the inlet side, is this to clear the HCU unit on the head or to clear the VVC plenum? The Xpower engines have a VVC plenum but no HCU as they use a conventional K16 head, do these have the modified offside engine mount or do they fit with the regular mount?

Oily

[SLR No.77]

Dave, my understanding was that the VVC engine had to be lowered on the inlet side purely because of the plenum height allied with the taller head, IIRC didn't the VVC plenum also have a small amount machined off the top to increase the clearance further? I don't recall any mention of the HCU.

Clearly this doesn't definitively answer your question though!

Stu.

[SM25T]

On my 2002 VVC the silver aluminium plenum *just* clears the underside of the bonnet. Only just.

[timb2117]

With you SM25, '05 K series 1800 VVC picture below....If Linford Christie raced on the "B" of bang (yes I am that old) then this is on the 
"J' of just fitting :)

[SM25T]

I have put a self adhesive rubber strip along the highest side of the plenum to stop it wearing away the u/s of the bonnet louvres

[oilyhands]

Thanks for the input chaps..

Oily

[revilla]

There are (at least) two different shapes of manifold, one of which has the top of the plenum fairly close to parallel with the top of the cam cover, and the other of which has the plenum chamber much more "rolled outwards", lowering the outer edge and creating quite a bit more clearance on the bonnet.

Here's one of the more common, higher outer edge ones:

And here's one of the less common, lower outer edge ones:

 

 

As you can see, there's quite a difference. I'm fairly sure the difference is in the lower manifold part rather than the plenum piece as on both of those engines, the face between the plenum and gasket look pretty much parallel to the top of the plenum. It doesn't correlate cleanly with EU2/EU3 either (all my engines are EU3 but built from parts, so there could be EU2 bits in there!). The one engine I've got which has the lower outer edge has the IAT sensor port cast off rather than blanked, suggesting it was a later EU3 manifold, but I've got another engine with a cast off port that has the flatter, higher shape. All of the earlier ones, with drilled and threaded IAT bosses fitted with blanking plugs, are the higher shape. So I guess it was changed on very late EU3s, but I'm not 100% sure.

[oilyhands]

I guess it is a suck it see moment..

Oily