Mx transplant

[dreamshack]

We finally got the engine this week after many letdowns and hiccups, so we began test fitting today, it goes in, sort of... No sump or oil pickup, anti roll bar, exhaust manifold on the steering shaft side etc... But all those things are part of the fun of the build.




http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6080.jpg




http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6107-1.jpg



http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6094.jpg



http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6096.jpg

[chevy-stu]

Rover V8 ... woohooo ....

Still trying to plan a day or two to get down there with the Chavrolet for a few small jobs...

[dreamshack]

just give me a shout when you are ready Stu, a lot easier now I have a small army of staff:)
Well the gearbox is also in the Mx5, I wish the engine was a easy a job. The rear differential also is attached to the gearbox in an Mx so extra mounts to make, and it looks like the only way to get the engine low enough and keep any meaningful oil capacity is to delete much of the crossmember and spaceframe the front end to give some integruity back.

[verysideways]

Can you not notch the sump and maybe "low profile" the crossmember?

[dreamshack]

yes the sump will be notched, but it is still so close to the crossmember that it would suffer from awful windage - the crank would probably be running in oil... As you say, taking all we can out of the crossmember too and hoping for the best. Anton is coming down today, and we will have a talk. The main problem is the height of the rover plenum, I can shave and tig it back up a tad but no too much Maybe a bit of a bulge in the bonnet?

[verysideways]

If you can possibly avoid it i'd stay away from shaving down the Rover plenum. I've seen some 'tests' which a few people did on a variety of Rover V8s (i've owned a few in a variety of cars) and it's not good.

Any chance of building a crossmember which goes around the sump? Effectively build a box around the sump and then weld that into the cut in the crossmember?

Current crossmember:

}---------------{

New idea:

......._____
}---|..........|----{
.......--------

(ignore the dots, just there for spacing)

Do you see what i mean? Not perfect, but may mean you can keep a decent sump capacity without worrying about windage or resorting to an accusump or dry sump?

[dreamshack]

Sounds like good suggestions. Anton came down yesterday and we decided also that a bit of bonnet massage is in order;) That should make the rest of it relatively easy. I have messed with rovers a lot too, and agree on the plenum, any serious messing seems to buggar it right up. Only improvement over standard is when you bin the AFM if you run Megasquirt, any other messing seems counterproductive. Funnily enough I am awaiting another donor vehicle for a customer project any time now, an old SD1 with a rare factory twin plenum ...

[Fiona]

What's a plenum? :confused:

[dreamshack]

about 200 quid

[verysideways]

:D

A plenum is effectively a chamber where air collects after being cleaned but before going into the engine.
Not many cars have them because they have some drawbacks but the Rover V8 works best with a plenum as it creates a larger amount of inlet turbulence which helps with the mixture burn (a Rover V8 weak point due to the simplistic design of the inlet manifold).

The twin plenum Mark is talking about is a performance enhancement to the standard design. Rare as hens' teeth.

[dreamshack]

just shows Fiona does not listen, bloody boat obsessed river pikey - In one ear and out of the other! I painstaikingly explained all this to her when we built the sebring EFI. She obviously dumped that info from her head in favour of stuff like curtains and soft furnishings. And she has two rover v8 engines in her boat too so you might think she would take note!!!! BTW Fiona, can you send me pics of the carbs on your boat so I can find the replacements and get them up to you. If they are SU they will be tall and shiny and not marked (unless they are very early ones), Strombergs look shorter and should be marked as stromberg.
Oh, I may have a skyline to go look at too, it is pointless going on with that nissan engine, I ran it for half an hour on Saturday and the blue smoke didnt go away...

[Fiona]

Here you go, I started a new thread.

http://www.petrolheadnirvana.com/torque/showthread.php?p=33581#post33581

[spiritof'76]

I have a plenum................... hope that helps ;)

[dreamshack]

here's the twin plenum, donor vehicle for another customer build starting some time this year when all other bits are sourced..



http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6258-1.jpg


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6255.jpg


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6261.jpg


And here is the donor vehicle


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6242-1.jpg


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6244-1.jpg


http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r365/dreamshack/DSCF6248-1.jpg

[chevy-stu]

What's happening with the rest of the SDI ? Is it just an engine donor ?

[dreamshack]

engine, gearbox and rear end. I am not sure what is going to happen to the shell. It would make a fantastic Pro street car though...

[Butters]

There's something kind of cool about the low slung Vitesse!

Like that. ;)

James.

[dreamshack]

MX5 engine mounts have been made and welded in, the crossmemeber was almost totally deleted in the end, so a big job to do there with reconstruction and making sure we keep the geo right! All the really tough bits are done now, and the engine actually fits at last and is sat properly in the bay. the plenum is going to hit the bonnet though, so i am thinking of powder coating it black, sanding back the flutes silver (it's quite a pretty thing) and having it in a small cutout in the bonnet instead of a power bulge.