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Oct 19, 2005 11:45:06 GMT
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Hi, I'm currently researching alternative V8 engine swap options. i.e. not your 'usual' Rover / Ford lumps. Interestingly I have found a reasonable amount of info on Lexus/Toyota lumps and some (mainly dissuasive) points on the older BMW engines but I am surprised that I have not come across more details on using old Mercedes and Jaguar engines. Does anyone on here have any experience of these or could shed some light on why they not a popular choice with kit-car builders and those looking for transplants? I would suspect it is because of their relative size, weight and lack of manual 'box options...?
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Oct 19, 2005 11:46:58 GMT
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What vehicle is it going in to?
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I like long walks, especially when they're taken by people I don't like.
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Oct 19, 2005 11:49:26 GMT
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I'm researching it generally for a magazine article so it'd be the usual suspects really- Capri's and the lot. Anything where generally people plump for a Rover V8.
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Oct 19, 2005 11:51:09 GMT
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Lexus V8 has a strong following in Australia ,.. mainly because they are strong and light. I'm suprised not more people in the UK are using them.
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Oct 19, 2005 11:54:22 GMT
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but I am surprised that I have not come across more details on using old Mercedes and Jaguar engines. Jaguar have only recently gone over to 8-cylinder engines. I've heard they're great, but obv. not exactly in plentiful supply for transplant. Old 6-cyl XK & AJ6 engines, whilst silky smooth and with enough torque to uproot oak trees were never hugely powerful (for their displacement) & require alot of tweaking to get proper power out if them...
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Last Edit: Oct 19, 2005 11:55:30 GMT by arthurbrown
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V8 transplant optionsDarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Oct 19, 2005 11:55:50 GMT
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Availability I would've thought... Not that many cheap crashed Lexii in the UK I don't think? The VW W8 intrigues me, wonder what that would fit into...
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Oct 19, 2005 11:56:04 GMT
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Yeah, I have found some amazing Lexus engine conversions- mainly from Australia as you say. Hopefully some of those will make the article with the owners' permission.
The BMW seems to fall down on it's engine management being rather complicated but runs well on standalone but on the Merc and Jag front I've drawn a blank thus far!
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bryn
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,913
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Oct 19, 2005 11:56:48 GMT
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Expense is a limiting factor in all of those you mention. Good engines they maybe in their originally intended location, but management issues and tuning parts availability come into play when swapping a motor. Production figures for the small block Ford and Chevy motors, as well as the Rover, mean that spares such as blocks and even simple service items are plentiful. For the money when you line a Jag motor up against a SBF, you'd have to be seriously dedicated to choose the Jag for a performance route... Good luck with the article ;D
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Volvo, Buggy, Discovery and an old tractor.
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RetroMat
Posted a lot
Column Shifting!
Posts: 3,444
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Oct 19, 2005 12:08:29 GMT
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Quite alot i would suspect, i attended a lecture yesterday about the new Bentley Flying Spur which the chief engineer was presenting. He brought a car for us all to look at. The W12 is amazingly compact it looks like it would go where most 1.6/2.0's would fit. W12 Polo bread van any one ;D ;D ;D
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Last Edit: Oct 19, 2005 12:10:01 GMT by RetroMat
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V8 transplant optionsDarrenW
@darrenw
Club Retro Rides Member 74
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Oct 19, 2005 12:13:42 GMT
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Quite alot i would suspect, i attended a lecture yesterday about the new Bentley Flying Spur which the chief engineer was presenting. He brought a car for us all to look at. The W12 is amazingly compact it looks like it would go where most 1.6/2.0's would fit. W12 Polo bread van any one ;D ;D ;D Cool! How heavy are they in comparison though? W12 Polo might understeer a touch
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Oct 19, 2005 12:14:34 GMT
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Oct 19, 2005 12:19:54 GMT
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Just trying to find out how much a modern Jag V8 lump would go for at a breakers but I imagine the cost would be prohibitive and I'm not too sure on the 'box options. I have found that you can buy a whole LS400 for about £1500 though which seems pretty good.
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Last Edit: Oct 19, 2005 12:22:51 GMT by aaronm3
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Oct 19, 2005 12:25:28 GMT
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don't forget the Audi V8 Quite wide but still faily compact.... It`ll fit in the Quattro bay and the B3 (80/90) audi bay fairly easily. Theres a guy on the Syncro site called PoloV8..... Bet you cant guess what hes doing with some Vag products ;D ;D BMW is a decent motor as is the Jaguar, the same block is used in the Mustang, Landrover and New Aston Martin so you can get RWD Manual Transmissions for them, problem is the torque they produce..... Slushboxes cope better Merc V8 really hasnt changes that much, even in the latest ones..... I would love to do a proper merc..... throttlebodies, ZF Dogleg box and shorter gearing Its got phenomenal grunt ;D just needs gearing properly to have some decent fun with it My 500 was 430Nm torque...... enough to break the Autobox doing full bore manual upshifts ;D I dread to think what you could get out of it on proper injection/ignition ;D Cheers Dom
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Oct 19, 2005 12:44:40 GMT
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People aren't using the Lexus or BM V8's for the reason that they don't make the right noise.......
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Oct 19, 2005 12:50:10 GMT
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Thanks Dom, the Audi V8 was on my list but it seemed that it was still pretty costly so I'll check out this PoloV8 chap.
Sounds like the Jag would be very expensive though- can't see too many retro rides having Aston gearboxes! :-)
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Oct 19, 2005 18:21:25 GMT
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Oct 19, 2005 18:28:20 GMT
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Cheers, so what V8 are you running?
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Oct 19, 2005 18:58:02 GMT
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At the moment I'm running a Rover V8 in the Celica.
I did consider the Lexus V8, problem being though is that to ensure it had all the ECU's, harnesses, sensors etc, you really need a whole car - which were still fetching big money when I started the project.
TBH the Rover, old tech as they are. still fits the bill. Cheap to buy, loads of tuning stuff, light, compact, simple.
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Oct 19, 2005 18:58:24 GMT
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Buy it and don't worry................ There will be another broken one along in a minute
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Oct 19, 2005 19:29:59 GMT
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A weak point on a TVR? Surely not.
Flat plane cranks don't really do it for me anyway. Sure they sound nice bouncing off the rev limiter on a mountain pass somewhere, but most of the Ferrari's, TVR's etc with FP cranks I've seen, are stuck in traffic with me, and don't sound much better than my Hotpoint washer dryer on 1200 spin.
This opinion may have something to do with fact I can't actually afford any cars with a FP V8 ;D
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