Autobox for use with Rover V8 ?

neither are of anys serious longterm use for a dragster. You can't buy uprated components such as high stall convertors, manual valve bodies or decent shifter for them. The best autobox you could use would be a chevy TH350 bolted up through an adapter plate. This gives you a wide range of secondhand boxes, spared and convertors that are suitable for drag racing. A high stall convertor will allow you to leave at higher RPM, rather than idle.

I don't ebelive theres an adapter kit commerically available but they do crop up on ebay or Eurodragster occasionally.

Going to that trouble to fit it behind a Rover is easy in theory and a better option than any Rover box, but it's a bit of a false economy as a Rovers very expensive to tune for decent power anyway. You maybe better biting the bullet now and finding a Small Block 350/TH350 combo. Should be cheaper to tune, give you more power/torque and allow you to launch harder it harder with an infinite range fo convertors available.

Probably not want you wanted to hear but the Rover's had it's day really.

Gents,

Thanks for the feedback.

Perhaps I should have made myself a little clearer, this is somebody elses project I'm on the edges of and I'm equiring on their behalf.

The car is intended to be more like a point and squirt RWYB toy rather than a serious race car. As such nothing wild is planned. Pretty much stock everything and likely footbrake launching.

My own longterm project is a RED that will run methanol injected SBC and transbraked long glide. I have the chassis and some of the parts already and the whole thing is laid up for long term storage until I can accumulate enough disposable income to finish it...

Jon

SBC350 & TH350 all in will cost less than getting £250 bhp from a rover.

been there and done it myself, started with a Essex V6 slingshot, wanted more, put a Rover in it, wanted more, sold the slingshot now run a big block altered running mid 8's.

I had ported heads, full race cam, offy intake, holley carb stock stroke and should have been about 225 bhp, managed 12.01 @ 115 or so. My friend was running 11's with a stock 305 in his altered with a 650 holley on it. He built his race engine whilst running the stock block, then just swapped them over.

If your mate buys a rotten but running later model Chevy Camaro with a 350/TH350 combo, he'll have everything he needs to get going, prob for less than £500. Sell the axle, interior and screen on ebay, weight the rest in. Plus as you run a SBC, you can sell him your bits when you upgrade or change your set up ?.

Why not come and run with the Wild Bunch, both your cars should be suitable even those long car with the engine in back.

thats good going with a Rover esp with a glide. I reckon you might have gone quicker with a TH350. Rover doesn't have the torque really for a 2 spd.

I estimated my manual box was costing me at least a second if not more on a run. 4 hearchanges, even if each gearchange was 3/10ths thats 1.2 seconds, but was fun off the line.

yes that is the one, the axle was the weak point it was a C series axle (austin westminster)
it would break pinions regularly I wanted to fit an 8 3/4 Chrysler axle as it is a little more compact than a 9 inch Ford but I decided I'd had enough and sold the lot

Not 100% easy, but 727 Torqueflite is possible. They were fitted to 83-85 Range Rover which will supply you with the convertor, adaptor plate, gearbox front housing and internals etc. You'll then need the tailshaft and housing from a 2WD applictaion to fit.

Obviously plenty of upgrade parts, shfit kits etc for 727 if you need them.

Russ

Steve runs a Liberty 5 speed.