Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

[sam.pej]

After considering replacing my 2 litre Pinto with a Ford V6 I'm now wondering about putting in a Rover 3.5L v8. Does anyone know how easy it is to fit? Where can I get engine mounts to fit, will the steering column need altering, how will the wiring change and is a hydraulic clutch going to be a problem? Any suggestions or thoughts appreciated.

Paul

[Dane_Rescueman]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

If you have a Pinto, why not just fit a Vulcan 2.1 Pinto. They are very tractable and can put out as much power as the stock Rover 3.5. You would not need to modify anything then!

[djj_engineer]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

The V8 is a very different animal to a 4 cylinder. It make the Cabrio a super car to drive. Mine will start in 4th with no trouble and 3rd is good for 0-85mph. You need to alter the steering, wiring and there is ahydraulic clutch.
ring me 01352 771183

[danny_nelson]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Hi Paul, I hope you got my emails okay.

[sam.pej]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

I have a V8 and first task is the engine mounts. Does anyone know where I can get engine mounts for a Rover V8 and exactly where to attach them to the chassis? Does anyone have photos that would help.
Thanks
Paul

[sam.pej]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

I now have the engine & gearbox. Marlin are supplying me with the engine mounts, so the next thing is a new radiator. Can anyone suggest what radiator to use with a Rover V8 that will fit in the limited space left?

[greyV8pete]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Hi Paul. I have recently sorted the fuel injection on my Rover 3.9i V8 powered Hunter. As it is now running leaner it is getting hotter. The factory fitted rad is a 3 row crossflow type approx 14"x14" core which is struggling to keep things cool enough. I usually have the heater on full up the windscreen to help! The way I would go for a new rad is an Aluminium one. They give about 10% more cooling than the copper type. Have a look also at the following link www.britishv8.org/MG/EvanAmaya.htm It shows a Howe Racing alloy rad in an MGRV8 which is the same engine as mine. It looks as though it would fit in a Cabrio if the filler neck was removed! Some V8 owners have fitted an extra radiator under the front apron with an air scoop! Either way remember that you are trying to loose 3,500ccs of heat! Good luck with the project.

[sam.pej]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

thanks for that Peter.

[greyV8pete]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

No Probs! Just another though and that is re cooling fans. I fitted a Kenlowe series 2000. It kept blowing fuses due to high current at starting. I now run with 40A fuse to stop this. Kenlowe now advertise "Power Boost" for this range. Guess they have put a dropper resistor in the circuit to reduce current and an override switch to apply full speed when it is already running, giving lower initial current surge. Main problem with these fans is that the motor (5" diamete) blocks about 10% of the cooling area of the rad core. I am planning to pull mine forward about 1/2" with a rubber circular "rim seal" to capture the outer edge air whilst now allowing some cooling air to enter the otherwise "dead" centre part of the rad core. Suggest you do this anyway when building up your system!

[sam.pej]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

thanks again Peter. I've just lifted the V8 in place on its new engine mounts (which work fine - thanks Marlin!) only to find the rear of the rocker cover fouls the brake servo unit (Ford Sierra). Any ideas on a smaller servo unit? Paul

[copperleaves11]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

A possible smaller servo would be a metro unit as used on some sportsters. However this may require changing the master cylinder also.David

[greyV8pete]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Hi again Paul. The servo from my old 2.0 GL Sierra would definitely not have fitted into my Hunter engine bay as the diameter would be too large. I have been told that the servo fitted to my Hunter is a version that is almost unobtainable now. I don’t know the exact car that it was for originally but a Metro sounds familiar. Even with this smaller servo fitted there has to be a cut-out made in the edge of the bonnet and adjacent top of the side panel to accommodate the large outer flange.

Although these numbers are of no use to Ford parts department mine has the following cast on the outside: Ford logo; 23 on a round raised circular boss; 311691 and K 0236 in raised cast letters. The servo has an aluminium tag with the numbers L47CT and LBDHZCO14A4 stamped on.

The flange conecting master cylinder to the servo unit has 8 mm studs at 70mm pitch. I remember when fitting new parts to my Sierra master cylinder some years ago that there were both Girling and Bendix makes fitted. I think the 8 mm studs are Bendix and the Girling are 10mm but maybe it’s the other way around?

I have a very early Marlin build manual (from the time when I was going to build a Cabrio) and that says the servo and master cylinder to use is from a Mk IV Ford Cortina also for the clutch to use a 0.75” master cylinder with remote reservoir, but this info may well have been superseded by the time that the Hunter was produced.

One final note. I have always felt that the brakes on my Hunter need a lot of push on the pedal to stop but as things improve after they have been used heavily a few times to warm them up the braking effect is much greater. I guess that maybe the pads (all round) are too hard for normal road use and keep meaning to look into this a bit more. It does also make me question if this is the trade off for a smaller servo piston diameter! Peter.

[sam.pej]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Hi again Peter. A bit of late night browsing I see! Thanks for your info. I had wondered what effect a smaller diameter servo might have.
Cheers
Paul

[greyV8pete]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Paul. I have taken a couple of photos of my servo installation but they will be too large a file size for the forum. Phone me on 01392 446928 and tell me your email address and I will send them as attachments. Peter.

[chris_cussen]

Re: Putting a Rover V8 in a Cabrio

Its easy to reduce the size of a picture. If you want to make it half the size (which reduces the file size to 25% the original) open it in Paint, click on Image then Stretch/Skew and put 50 into the two boxes in the Stretch group. Use Save As and store it as a jpg.
More sohpistcated packages will give you more ways of doing it.