Rover V8

[blakester]

I don't recall seeing any posts regarding Rover V8 swaps although this seems to be (semi) popular with cars such as MGB.

Does anyone out there have any insight or experience with this?

 

[SDuncan]

I don't recall ever hearing about one through the board. I'm sure the problems that would present themselves would be similar to doing any V8 swap. A lot would depend on the geometry of the engine too.

 

[Jeff Scoville]

I do recall the idea being discussed several times on the old boards.
The more it was discussed, the less likely it seemed possible.

 

[Bill Blue]

I've read of several attempts; it is simply too wide.

Bill

 

[lemansvk]

The Rover V8 is of course derived from the alloy GM V8 motor of the Alpine era, from which the Repco-Brabham F1 motor was also derived. It was measured by Garrard (sp) for the proto-Tiger (as were many) but rejected as too big in the wrong places.

My understanding (probably flawed) is that it wasn't necessarily the block size that caused rejection of some of the engines - for some it was the ancilliaries, like distributor, which caused problems.

Cheers, Vic

 

[64beam]

Hi Forum,

It really depends on the person doing the conversion. If they set their mind to the job at hand, anything is possible. As alot of us have seen from experience, Ebay seems to get the half finished abortions for sale on their auctions when things go wrong.

Regards, Robin.

 

[V6 JOSE]

I knew a couple of guys in Canada, that tried to install one of these light V8's into their Alpine. They found that it was too long, along with the distributor being in back, which posed a lot of problems. In the end, the little Ford small block produced a lot more power, so was the obvious choice.

Jose

 

[Bill Blue]

Well, if the problem is the distributor, that's no problem these days. Guys are using the Mega Squirt ignition to light off everything, using the Ford EDIS module.

Bill

 

[Wombat]

In he book 'Tiger, Alpine, Rapier" by Richard Longworth he mentions the Rover/Buick V8 as one of the alternatives considerd for theTiger, but it didn't fit. But hey theres a challenge.

 

[Barry]

Both the Buick 215 and the subsequent Rover engines have a front mounted distributor, so that is not an issue.

A short deck SBF V8 (221-302) is about 22 inches wide and is a tight fit widthwise in the Alpine engine bay. The information I have lists the comparable width of the Buick 215 as 27 inches.

Even if the Buick / Rover engine could be made to fit, which seems pretty unlikely, you would have an engine with 30% less displacement than the SBF and little in the way of aftermarket parts support.

 

[serIIalpine]

Don't quote me but I remember reading somewhere that the Buick V8 weighs less than the Alpine 4 and something like 200 lbs less than the Ford V8.

Eric

'62 SerII

 

[Nickodell]

Of course, if it's power you're after, you could always install this Rover engine.

 

[blakester]

Just exploring all options before prying open the wallet to start a conversion. The V6 seems the way to go in terms of ease, performance and asthetics.

That Rover is a looker though.

 

[Nickodell]

Bugger, nobody asked what model that Rover was and what engine it had. So I suppose I'll have to ask someone to humo(u)r me and ask me.

G'wan, you know you want to

 

[jamesncantrell]

When I did my Alpine V6 conversion in 1985, I had a Buick aluminum V8 and measured it pretty carefully. My conclusion was that it was too long. I remember thinking about putting in a remote electric water pump but decided against it. The weight was an attractive thing except it was way lighter than the stock Alpine motor !

 

[Bill Blue]

Okay, Nick, I'll ask. Is that the one that has the Merlin?

Bill

 

[alpine_64]

Bill .. think gas.. think turbine.. and rover ran a turbine car at LM as well. and while we are at derailing this topic why doesn’t everyone post a tenuous link to some other engine they want to talk about...

 

[lemansvk]

Bill .. think gas.. think turbine.. and rover ran a turbine car at LM as well. and while we are at derailing this topic why doesn’t everyone post a tenuous link to some other engine they want to talk about...

Michael,

I seem to recall that there was a n Alpine on Ebay in Melbourne last year that had a 1.8 Turbo Nissan engine in it - did you ever see it?

Cheers, Vic

 

[alpine_64]

Michael,

I seem to recall that there was a n Alpine on Ebay in Melbourne last year that had a 1.8 Turbo Nissan engine in it - did you ever see it?

Cheers, Vic

vic,

That car was on e-bay 2 years ago.. bought by a club member, sorted and then appeared on ebay again. Car is sorted and engineered now.. mean tto be presentable and fast, not my cup of tea though