which engines?

[agnoraan]

I recently bought a Classic Replicas Viper to have some fun with whilst I put together my other car, which is likely to take a couple of years to build. The Viper has a Rover V8, five speed & Jag suspension. In the past I've always had high performance cars with loads of torque & horsepower, (normally they run around the 400-660 hp). The Viper drives really nice & has adequate performance, but not earth shattering by a long stretch. I'm tempted to put one of my small block Ford engines into it, along with a four speed toploader, as to me the right engine for this type of car is a Ford V8.

What engines do you guys run in your cars & if it's Rover powered would you consider fitting an American Ford V8 engine into it & if not why not?

Am I going down a slippery slope again chasing more power, or is it best to be content with good road manners & sensible fuel economy? I thought it might be an interesting discussion as to why we choose the engines we do.

Cheers....Nige

[catsx11]

.

[Wynterburne]

My Hawk is one of the 14%, Rover 3.9, LT77D gearbox and Jaguar rear axle. The engine has had a Stage ll conversion (whatever that is) but includes different heads, cams, pistons etc, it has Mallory ignition and an Edelbrock carburettor. BHP I don't know but it seems to go pretty well and has been very reliable.

As I cheated and bought the car just after it was built I didn't really choose the engine. The first two years were spent thinking I should put a Ford in it as that is what they used originally, they do sound different and you can get more power out of them for less money.

My view is leave what you have alone, keep the money and time for your real project and enjoy the simplicity of Rover motoring!!

But if you really want to do it, do it properly, like this - https://grrc.goodwood.com/festival-of-s ... LhPXHKX.97

Happy Easter to you all.

regards
Richard

[Paul Blore]

Hi Nige,

An engine swap is a complex and expensive exercise and would probably waste good money that you could over wise spend on your build. DaveW replaced the Rover engine in his Hawk with a 289 and it cost far, far more than he anticipated.

There is a lot of rubbish spouted about heavy front ends on Ford engined Cobras. I have a Salisbury diff, which is fundamentally the same as the Jag unit and an iron 427 big block and my front/rear weight distribution is 48% front, 52% rear. Therefore, it is highly likely that a Rover engined car with a Jag rear end would have a significant rear weight bias.

I would be inclined to keep you car as it is and focus your efforts and funds on the new build.

Richard,
As for the guy you met claiming that if he wanted authenticity, he would buy a real one, I can smell the bovine manure from here. I dont know of anyone with the available funds for a real Cobra building a GRP replica.

Paul

[David Large]

My car is part of the 59%

I have a 4 litre Rover: 235 bhp, 250 ft lbs torque, MGB GT V8 axle and diff, LT77 gearbox and I like it.

I would not spend a lot of money trying to change it by putting a different engine in it, I am absolutely satisfied with it.

David

[French BRA 289]

My car is part of the 59%
4,6l stage 1 by RPI. it's a new rebuilt engine,less than 1000 miles today. i'm really happy. The Rover is sweet driving and sound is deep and beautiful.
i think the weakness is the clutch,more than mgb axle,which is very strong.

[Phil Riley]

Mine is in the 5%.
It's a Ford 351 Cleveland delivering 402bhp @ 6,000rpm and 411ft/lb torque @ 5,000. Salisbury Diff is a 2.88 LSD.
At the time (about 7 years ago) it was cheaper to ship a rebuilt engine from the US, than have my old Cleveland (which was installed during the factory build back in 1987) rebuilt in the UK. It was dynoed by Ken Coleman at EDA before I installed it.
I believe the Ram is close to 50/50 with a Cleveland up front.
If at some stage I buy a Hawk (been on the cards for many years), I'll go for the 5% option.

[clive]

I too have the Ford/Jag combination and my axle weights, with full fuel, are 440 kg front and 515 kg rear.

[Roger King]

Interesting - hadn't realised Ford/Jag was so rare. Is this still the case, I wonder? It would also be interesting to know what gearboxes are used.
My old car was (and still is, sorry Rod) 289/Jag, with a T5. The reincarnation is pure hardcore - 5-bolt 289, T10 and Salisbury (Jag casing) axle.
But still not mobile. Still, the engine went back in again yesterday, this time with a correct date-coded Hipo intake instead of the nice gas-flowed Edelbrock. And bolted to that ally-cased T10 instead of the toploader. Mmm, Cobra porn.

[Migge]

RV8 and Ford Cosworth diff 3.64, a rare 3.36 on the shelf. Probable the only one with this combo?