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rover v8 into lwb siera
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:44 pm
by known 2
as the topic states has it been done, and does anybody know if it will fit.
would like to do this conversion on mine, maybe using the rover auto as well?
what are peoples thoughts thanks.
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:58 pm
by alien
i think its way too much power and way too heavy....
however if its a "cos i can" thing - then theres a ton of info on v6 commodore conversions which might help.
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:06 pm
by Kitika
The old rover 3.5 V8's are full alloy and had twin sidedraught carbies so should be lighter than the cast iron commo v6 junk and with the sidedraughts should be alright on angles. As for driveline you'd have to upgrade pretty much everything i reckon. There was a vitara a few years ago in 4wdmonthly with this conversion in it but I'm not sure what gearbox it used. If you had enough time and money to throw at it I reckon it could work as the motor should fit between the chassis rails but I don't think it'd be engineerable.
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:25 pm
by mrRocky
You would never get it rego'd in w.a.
and the rover v8 is pretty piis poor when it comes to performance why go to the trouble, it would be much easier to use a gen3 out of a ss or the like, if your going to that much effort dont use a junk motor like a rover.
Plan on chopping hell out of the inner gaurds and rear mounting the radiator as well as remaking the trans tunnel bracing the chassie and recessing the firewall. A v6 is hard enough to do and you will get to a stage where you realise your better off finding a donor 4x4 and grafting a sierra body onto it instead at which point it becomes more rover/hilux ect... than sierra.
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 8:52 pm
by alien
you know, you could be totally awesome and make a V4 engine - there was a thread on it somewhere round here - it was brilliant!
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:56 pm
by flyinwall
alien wrote:you know, you could be totally awesome and make a V4 engine - there was a thread on it somewhere round here - it was brilliant!
get a v4 out of a ford transit van they came as a 1.6 and a 2.0 and the only difference between the two is the stroke
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:50 pm
by atari4x4
flyinwall wrote:alien wrote:you know, you could be totally awesome and make a V4 engine - there was a thread on it somewhere round here - it was brilliant!
get a v4 out of a ford transit van they came as a 1.6 and a 2.0 and the only difference between the two is the stroke
that makes me sick thinking about it...why would you even bother?
j20a 4cyl 97kw with an auto or even the h20a or h25a V6 out of the GV would be the better option unless you really want to work with outdated technology!!
Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:56 pm
by hillbilliywheelchair
if you want to rego it use a hole range or disco chassie then you have coilks all round and a arse end that works realy well you can also but 3 link bolt in fronts
hole randes can be had for under a grand also with roled discos
Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:35 am
by MightyMouse
Unless your thinking of doing it because you have some personal obsession with Rover V8's then there are MUCH better motors around to consider.
Even if its free the motors only a small part of the conversion cost so that's a very poor reason to start with.
There's a BIG difference between a possible conversion and a good conversion - still if its a matter of honor then go ahead.
And I'd be pretty certain that it would not be legal - if that matters.....
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:36 pm
by dmould66
rover v8 is one of the best engines ever made,used in tvr sports car, unlimited tuning potential- suzuki chasis is one of the flmsiest (i love my zooks but be ohnest) putting the two together would be ridiculous.i know it would sound cool but it would be completly unusable in any condition. the only relistic way of doing it is to put body on complete rover chassis, this has been done before and if done whell would be excelent. theres one in the book "prepairing suzuki for serios off road use". the weelbase of range rover is 100 inches about the same as my lwb vit sometimes dream about it myself
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 7:46 am
by PJ.zook
While i dont think its the best engine ever made, I think theyre a lot better than what most people here are saying.
I do agree its not the best conversion, but hell if you want to do it, do it, and post up plenty of photos.
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:39 am
by money_killer
rover v8 would be cool
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:36 am
by 1MadEngineer
just gotta think outside the square for a change! hahahaha
post 82 SD1 rover 3500 v8 have what 3speed auto?
TH180
same as early vitara auto's. mmmmmm
use the input shaft, bellhousing and pump assy from the SD1's th180 (don't forget the shaft end spacer - oops). there you have it! all bolts together!
All alloy v8 - Vitara , yeeehaaa now you can blow cv's on command.
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:14 am
by St Jimmy
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 10:49 am
by Gwagensteve
dmould66 wrote:rover v8 is one of the best engines ever made,used in tvr sports car, unlimited tuning potential
I've owned a Rover V8, and whilst it was a sweet motor and sounded nice, there wasn't anything special about it. They don't produce very much power per litre, and I'm afraid they have VERY limited tuning potential.
I wouldn't hold up that TVR used them as an example of how fantastic they were. I think you'll find that TVR continued to use the Rover V8 for reasons of parochialism and economics rather than because they were the best engine ever built. The fact they were subsequently able to develop their own engine that produced more power from less capacity
without all the years of development that Rover had put into the V8 would go some way to demonstrating there are some heavy compromises in the Rover V8.
Would I use one in a Suzuki build - acutally, I think I would, and Cj and I have spent some time bench racing just that idea - but I'm not under any illusions it's because they are a great motor.
Steve.
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 12:35 pm
by r0ck_m0nkey
1MadEngineer wrote:post 82 SD1 rover 3500 v8 have what 3speed auto?
TH180
Actually they had either a C4 or BW35 before they were released with the A727
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 7:38 pm
by dmould66
"limited tuning potential" in 66 and 67 brabhus won the f1 championships using rover v8s tuned by ausie company repco, while i agree this was a while back it shows the potential. if you find it hard to get tuning spares in oz try the uk, loads of parts available limited only by your wallet. i called it "one of the greatest engines ever" not the greatest . i base this statement on shear vollum of sales. theve been used in hundreds of different cars and trucks, im not going to list them search it if your interested. they dont produce huge power to size (in stock form) but they produce big torque low down which is what land rover liked for so long, and can be tuned to produce massive power which is what just about every pom drag racer liked for so long.
awesome looking zuk by the way, land crusher axles?
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:27 pm
by mr green
i even gave the rover a very small amount of thought when choosing an engine for my build. but being a purest i stayed the cause
as steve said they may not be a GREAT MOTOR but in a zook they might just be suited if it is incorporated into a "full buildup". they might have pretty average specs compared to a modern day engine but the combination of torque and light weight in its standard form( compared to a zook engine not a ls1) and availability is appealing to me.
also i thought someone would have mentioned overkills rover powered vit ute tow car that was engineered and on the road a few years back.
another cool car ravished for cheap parts
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:56 pm
by MightyMouse
One of the best engine ever made ? Perhaps that''s just a "minor" overstatement ?
Its certainly a matter of personal opinion but it wouldn't be in my top 100.
But hell if you want to do it then go ahead.......
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 12:30 pm
by GRPABT1
Gwagensteve wrote:dmould66 wrote:rover v8 is one of the best engines ever made,used in tvr sports car, unlimited tuning potential
I've owned a Rover V8, and whilst it was a sweet motor and sounded nice, there wasn't anything special about it. They don't produce very much power per litre, and I'm afraid they have VERY limited tuning potential.
I wouldn't hold up that TVR used them as an example of how fantastic they were. I think you'll find that TVR continued to use the Rover V8 for reasons of parochialism and economics rather than because they were the best engine ever built. The fact they were subsequently able to develop their own engine that produced more power from less capacity
without all the years of development that Rover had put into the V8 would go some way to demonstrating there are some heavy compromises in the Rover V8.
Would I use one in a Suzuki build - acutally, I think I would, and Cj and I have spent some time bench racing just that idea - but I'm not under any illusions it's because they are a great motor.
Steve.
Holy crap! Steve just admitted to contemplating useing a motor over 1.6L in a Suzuki!
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:26 pm
by v840
I can't remember who it was (I think Dozoor or Barathrum) had a zook body on a Rover chassis. I'd probably go that route, in fact I contemplated it recently as it is engineerable as a body swap, but I already had most of the parts for my build so I discarded it.
Would be pretty good for a LWB body IMO. 100" wb, great suspension setup, powerful, 4wheel discs, plenty of upgrades for the axles and the lt230 available, and so forth.
EDIT: It was Dozoor. IIRC it only weighed ~1400kgs too. Not bad at all.
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:48 pm
by known 2
ok lotsa info in here. will look into the body on rangey chassy i think, less welding and mechanical stuff to make it work.
should all start within the next month.
Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:42 pm
by mrRocky
id did similar but on a hilux chassie with a commo V6
http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/ftopic160742-0.php
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:26 pm
by c0rrupt
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:41 pm
by mrRocky
Dont ruin a lwb you will regret it - been there done that.
Make sure you wont end up with a less capable vehicle than what you start with.
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:52 pm
by alien
if i could afford a LWB i'd buy it and restore it to stock... theyre pretty much collectable now!
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:08 pm
by Gwagensteve
You say that Alien, but people don't seem willing to pay for LWB's.
VERY good point mrRocky. Putting a sierra body on a RR chassis seems pretty pointless - IMHO you just end up with a cramped, leaky, uncomfortable version on a Range rover- it would have been a better car if you'd left the RR body on it.
Cj and I have been discussing RR running gear into a Vitara, and that seems worthwhile considering the cost and time involved in ironing out vitaras running gear. The plan would be to keep the vitara chassis though. Rebodies make baby jesus cry. (all respect to Dozoor though - his did come out quite well)
Steve.
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:13 pm
by alien
Gwagensteve wrote:You say that Alien, but people don't seem willing to pay for LWB's.
like i said - "if i could afford it" =) lol
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:31 pm
by St Jimmy
alien wrote:if i could afford a LWB i'd buy it and restore it to stock... theyre pretty much collectable now!
Their hard to sell
Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:52 am
by 31zook
boner59 wrote:alien wrote:if i could afford a LWB i'd buy it and restore it to stock... theyre pretty much collectable now!
Their hard to sell
I own one... lwb full body, can't really beat it