is it possible at little expense to place a rover v8 into a book chassis using a type 9 gearbox?
Darren from GTS tuning said once that a rover v8 will fit a book chassis. Plumbing it in and routing the steering column etc though, would be Rather
Interesting I expect.
As for mating to a type 9, I have no idea.
I and the other two builders I know who are using the rover v8 are starting with a +4" wide chassis.
I doubt a type 9 box would last very long you would need either t5 or a rover lt77/r380 box on the back of a v8
As blueshift says, routing steering column may be interesting. My chassis +4" and engine compartment is quite tight as it is.
See my pics in archive
Particularly : http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=2003_1217Image0024.JPG
Wouldn't bother with Type 9 - stick with LT77 or if you're rich, get an R380.
I have plenty of footwell space with the +4 and that extra 2" a side widens the seat availability!
ATB
Simon
[Edited on 8/2/05 by Simon]
hi thanks for all replies!
the fact is that i want to replace the pinto that is in the car at the moment for something with a bit more grunt at little expense so i thought about
the v8 for the more grunt and the sound factor, could anyone suggest anything else that would fit without to many mods to existing chasis / car
replies much appreciated.
4AGE? not that I know much about them. at all. but they're not too huge afaik
ive heard the 4age engine is very expensive and only a little bit better than the zetec or 16v vauxhall is this true?
4age is quite a bit smaller and easier to find room for with a decent sized sump than the vauxhall and the zetec. however, if you got a pinto in there
with a sump on it then all three will fit ok..................in which case it's not the cost of the base engine which is the worry, but the cost
of getting it running in the car.................in which case the 4age and vauxhall will be cheaper because most will have a distributor on them,
giving some basis for an ignition system, so you can then run carbs for fuelling. the zetec never had a distributor so you have to solve the ignition
before you can do anything else.
The 4age is a very neat, light and compact engine, the vauxhall is quite heavy and rather bulky, the zetec slightly less so..................the
choice is yours!!
PS Cheapest option for decent power and fun is without doubt a bike engine!!!
quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
PS Cheapest option for decent power and fun is without doubt a bike engine!!!
quote:
Originally posted by DOEHEAD2
hi thanks for all replies!
the fact is that i want to replace the pinto that is in the car at the moment for something with a bit more grunt at little expense so i thought about the v8 for the more grunt and the sound factor, could anyone suggest anything else that would fit without to many mods to existing chasis / car replies much appreciated.
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
PS Cheapest option for decent power and fun is without doubt a bike engine!!!
I'd have to disagree NSDev, if you can fit the Rover V8 in then you could buy three V8 engines for the price of a bike engine of similar power output. Mine only cost me £175 with all ancillaries and this has turned out to be a genuine engine which is in excellent nick and ready to run without any work to be done. Okay for the V8 you also need a gearbox but I got a good 'un for just £130 making it £305 all in.
As for fitting it in a standard book chassis, I can see how it might be done but you'd have to use tubular exhaust headers to enable you to make some room for your steering link. You would also need to get the engine quite far back which would eat up some footroom due to the wider trannie tunnel. This all said I'd say it's very do-able.
Here is a link to some photo's of my chassis when I was at the engine fitting stage.
[Edited on 9/2/2005 by craig1410]
do i need any special gearbox adaptor flanges for vauxhall to ford box or 4age to ford box?
I agree, my engine as standard will put out 155BHP (SD1 on SU carbs) but with a pair of K&N filters, my 3" bore straight through twin
side-pipe exhausts and a new camshaft it will easily break 200BHP and still be a reliable big lazy V8 rather than a tempramental highly tuned buzzy
engine. Obviously I'll need to get the carbs jetted to suit the changes but that's easy enough with SU's. The camshaft kit will set me
back a few quid (est. £150) but it's still well under the price of a bike engine.
At the end of the day the BEC vs V8 argument has been done before and it's swings and roundabouts and ultimately ends up a personal preference
issue but you can have major amounts of fun with even a 155BHP V8 and probably too much fun with a 200BHP V8!!!! 
Cheers,
Craig.
And Craig, don't forget the torque.
My new brum brum has about 400nm and pulls away in second - in a car weighing 1700kg.
Imagine 200ftlb (nm?) in1/2 ton. Should be able to pull away comfortably in third or fourth
ATB
Simon
Simon,
You are quite right, the V8 should be able to produce the best part of 280NM which in a 600Kg car should feel like the hand of God at your back...
I can hardly wait.....
Cheers,
Craig.
And it'll sound better than a bike engine too! (just to prove I'm not biased!)
ive recently been offered a cheap 2.5 v6 duratech from scrappers, i can only assume from all the talk on the forum that the duratech will fit into a book chassis can anyone tell me if this is correct before i waste my money?
I dunno if you guys have enything with the GM 60 degree pushrod V-6 on that side of the pond, but it's a good alternative to the Rover. It comes in at about 350 lbs. and with a few bolt-ons will give you 200 HP/200 ft. lb. A valve spring change will make it rev to 7K, and it's quite compact.
Yeah, but it's got a couple of things missing.
One cylinder on the left and one on the right
ATB
Simon
I wouldn't mind the V6 engine out of a Metro 6R4 though!!! It is based on the Rover V8 with a pair of cylinders chopped off and has some serious
power potential (410 BHP+ IIRC)
Craig.
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
I wouldn't mind the V6 engine out of a Metro 6R4 though!!! It is based on the Rover V8 with a pair of cylinders chopped off.
there was an article on this recently in pcc, the early 6r4 engine were bsaed on the rover v8 block but by the time it was fully developed it had lost
all its connections with the rover unit..
Ned.
I remember a rallycross programme on BBC (when they used to show it 
) where one 6R4 had been fitted with a turbo (maybe 2).
He had to be very careful not to floor it on the rough corners 'cos he used to tear the wheels out of the tyres... and the tyres were bolted to
the rims... 
David
It's a myth that keeps cropping up. The 4WD system in the car was developed using a cut down RV8, but the V64V engine is in NO way related, in fact it owes more to the DFV than any other previous engine.
The original prototypes had the V8 with two cylinders lopped off, but were found to be lacking in power and the idea was scrapped. A new engine was then designed for the 6R4 and, I think, was the basis for the engine used in the Jaguar XJ220.
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
I remember a rallycross programme on BBC (when they used to show it
quote:
Originally posted by gazza285
The original prototypes had the V8 with two cylinders lopped off, but were found to be lacking in power and the idea was scrapped. A new engine was then designed for the 6R4 and, I think, was the basis for the engine used in the Jaguar XJ220.
Yes funnily enough I just bought a book from David Hardcastle about the RV8 and he explains the details of the 6R4 development using the RV8 engine.
As you say, it was originally used for development purposes and then a bit later the full RV8 engine was used again for a few projects.
According to this book the V6 version of the RV8 produced over 240BHP which still isn't bad for a 2.5Litre V6 from the mid 1980's...
Cheers,
Craig.
Rumour has it (and I don't know if this is actually true) some Honda engineers had a poke about in the prototype and couldn't believe the
way that Rover had almost literally hacked a couple of cylinders off and made the V8/6 run so well!!!
That's British Locost Engineering at it's best!!!
PS Our 6R4 being re-shelled - CLICKY!
[Edited on 18/3/05 by Ferg]
Yes that was mentioned in the book I read. Apparently they did "literally" cut out two of the middle cylinders and then welded the block
back together. It then needed a new crankshaft and camshaft made up but all the other bits and bobs such as rods and pistons etc were all RV8
items.
Quite clever really IMHO!
Craig.
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
Yes that was mentioned in the book I read. Apparently they did "literally" cut out two of the middle cylinders and then welded the block back together. It then needed a new crankshaft and camshaft made up but all the other bits and bobs such as rods and pistons etc were all RV8 items.
Quite clever really IMHO!
Craig.
quote:
Originally posted by Ferg
PS Our 6R4 being re-shelled - CLICKY!
Simon,
Nice idea - have you heard the sound of the BRM V16 engine?? WOW!!
Here's a link to my website where you will find the BRM engine sounds amongst others:
Engine Sounds
Enjoy!
[Edited on 19/3/2005 by craig1410]
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
Have you heard the sound of the BRM V16 engine??
quote:
Originally posted by Liam
You've got a 6R4!!!! Can i come and see it and play with its diffs?????!!!!
Try the onboard sound from my link above. It's probably only 1 or 2 feet away... 
That sound makes the hairs on my neck stand up....
Craig
(As in slightly insane giggling!!)
Any chance you can get a soundbit of the Napier Railton to put on there too
Looks like I'll have to practice welding ally.
For my next project........
Anyway Craig, is it not time for an update on your (web) site (locost) build as last pics seem to be your bonnet/nose etc cut in half?
ATB
Simon
Yes I'll post an update tomorrow night with a bit of luck. Nag nag nag...
I'm actually just in from the garage having spent most of the day working on headlight brackets. I think(!) that I have made brackets which will
place my headlights and indicators in the correct position for SVA. I just need to check that my front wings won't foul the headlights under full
lock, full bump. Once that's done I can finish my wiring. Once that is done I need to fit the engine bay side panels which should allow me to
fully fit the nosecone before fibreglassing the two halves together. Same with the bonnet. There are loads of other little jobs to do but I should
still make the tail end of the summer if I keep at it...
Catch you later,
Craig.