Twin Plenum Vitesse restoration
Discussion
Duke Thrust said:
Will do a proper update soon, in short I've managed to get hold of one of the seven Rovercraft twin turbo 4.5 engines. A whole load of bespoke parts including inlet and exhaust manifolds, Motec ECU, JE pistons & rods and a whole load of other nice bits.
Will have to use a TVR spec Tremec T5 and modified Costworth tail shaft, custom prop to the Quaife LSD.
I'm liking the sounds of this !! Will have to use a TVR spec Tremec T5 and modified Costworth tail shaft, custom prop to the Quaife LSD.
Top job !!
Great looking car
lexspace said:
Duke Thrust said:
Will do a proper update soon, in short I've managed to get hold of one of the seven Rovercraft twin turbo 4.5 engines. A whole load of bespoke parts including inlet and exhaust manifolds, Motec ECU, JE pistons & rods and a whole load of other nice bits.
Will have to use a TVR spec Tremec T5 and modified Costworth tail shaft, custom prop to the Quaife LSD.
I'm liking the sounds of this !! Will have to use a TVR spec Tremec T5 and modified Costworth tail shaft, custom prop to the Quaife LSD.
Top job !!
Great looking car
Sounds rather fun
Yamahadivvyrider said:
Stunning looking car.can that engine be supercharged?
Instead of turbo charging? Yes, it's got large combustion chambers and a CR of 8.5:1It'd not be a Rovercraft twin turbo though, so not as cool/rare.
Incidentally, the Rovercraft TT is not to be confused with the somewhat agricultural Janspeed draw-through SU carb setup, very different.
The nice thing about this (for me at least) is that it's one of the seven TT Rovercraft engines back into an original Rovercraft car.
Brilliant stuff Duke, I've seen the Janspeed setup and as you say it is fairly agricultural, yet from what I've seen received amazing reviews in the motoring press. This Rovercraft setup should make the car an absolute animal. You can't help but think it's more what the Vitesse always should've been.
Tremec T5 and Cosworth tail-shaft off to Competition Transmissions to have the housing machined to accept the larger bearing and output shafts.
Intercooler and pipework mocked up (I'll give the intercooler a clean and a coat of the special automotive radiator paint)
Not much space and I still need to fit the A/C condenser in:
Intercooler and pipework mocked up (I'll give the intercooler a clean and a coat of the special automotive radiator paint)
Not much space and I still need to fit the A/C condenser in:
Oil cooler (essential with the turbo's making so much heat)
New lines fitted:
Engine in
Not masses of space, but it does fit:
Still loads to do, all the intercooler and inlet pipework, I need to fabricate a gearbox mount, install the loom (which I've re-made already), pressure test the fuel lines and probably lots more.
New lines fitted:
Engine in
Not masses of space, but it does fit:
Still loads to do, all the intercooler and inlet pipework, I need to fabricate a gearbox mount, install the loom (which I've re-made already), pressure test the fuel lines and probably lots more.
What a superb thread, great to read. I think cars left to family members who clearly have the knowledge required to put everything back together and can fully appreciate the emotional link from one person to another, really, genuinely deserve being put back in the way you have demonstrated.
I've never been a fan of these cars, however, I sincerely respect the level of work, the quality of finish and the fact you've enhanced the car in the ways you have - I love the brake conversion and the addition of the diff - they will probably make the car significantly more enjoyable to drive.
Keep going and thank you for sharing - what a terrific thing to pass on from one member of the family to another.
I've never been a fan of these cars, however, I sincerely respect the level of work, the quality of finish and the fact you've enhanced the car in the ways you have - I love the brake conversion and the addition of the diff - they will probably make the car significantly more enjoyable to drive.
Keep going and thank you for sharing - what a terrific thing to pass on from one member of the family to another.
ManOpener said:
Can you tell us a bit more about the Rovercraft twin turbo motors? I've had a bit of a search around but can't find much on the interwebs about them.
They're very rare and hence there's not much about them out there. From what I've managed to research there were up to 7 engines made, production was very short as Simon Law (one of the two brothers that owned Rovercraft) was killed at the Brighton Speed Trials in a single seater powered by one of the engines.One engine made it into a TR7, one into a GTD40 and one into an SD1, the others I'm not so sure about.
They used a completely bespoke twin plenum intake as well as exhaust manifolds which must have cost a fortune to cast. Rovercraft forged 4.5 crank, low compression forged JE pistons & rods, steel rockers, big injectors, MoTeC ecu, custom grind cam, custom intercooler etc etc.
Depending on boost they will produce from a very lazy 400 bhp to a frantic 700 bhp.
I've seen a couple of twin-turbo ebay jobs advertised as the Rovercraft system, but they've turned out to be home-brew specials, impressive nonetheless.
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