Rover 3500 V8 power unit.
Discussion
What is the possibility of dropping a rover 3500 V8 into my S3C. I have one from an old 1972 Rover P6B. I am considering rebuilding it over time, can anyone offer any ideas. I know that I can mount a five speed box from the SD1 as the bell housing is the same. However not sure what mods would be required and is this engine similar (which I assume it is) to the 4.0 ltr rover engine used by TVR. Everything on this engine is mechanical, twin SU's, fuel pump and so on. Any advice ideas would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Aqua
.
Cheers
Aqua
.
only one bit of advice you need .. don't let steve heath put you off! 
I'm all for people moddifying their cars .. as you say TVR did the same thing .. allegedly strengthened chassis but there's debate over that, and they had rear discs but to be honest there's nothing wrong with the 9inch drums. I would have thought you'd be ok with anything up to around 250bhp, just make sure you change anything that looks on it's last legs and you'll be fine.
have fun
I'm all for people moddifying their cars .. as you say TVR did the same thing .. allegedly strengthened chassis but there's debate over that, and they had rear discs but to be honest there's nothing wrong with the 9inch drums. I would have thought you'd be ok with anything up to around 250bhp, just make sure you change anything that looks on it's last legs and you'll be fine.
have fun
The engine is similar but a very old version. You will need to check for bonnet clearance as the SU carbs are quite high. The manifolds are a tight fit as the V8S chassis was widened in the engine bay to take the V8 engine so it could be an extremely tight fit. The Exhaust system would need to be changed. The V8S sends the pipes forward and then under.
Propshaft might need changing/modding. Fuel system will need modding as it is high pressure compared to the low pressure one in the carbs.
IIRC that engine actually produced less power than the 2.9 you already have in as it is not near the same spec as the V8S engine. From that point, you are not going to encounter any real problems with the chassis, suspension or brakes but the real question is why?
Propshaft might need changing/modding. Fuel system will need modding as it is high pressure compared to the low pressure one in the carbs.
IIRC that engine actually produced less power than the 2.9 you already have in as it is not near the same spec as the V8S engine. From that point, you are not going to encounter any real problems with the chassis, suspension or brakes but the real question is why?
shpub said:
IIRC that engine actually produced less power than the 2.9 you already have in as it is not near the same spec as the V8S engine.
Indeed... 160 BHP I think from the 3.5.. you'll get a good 170+ out of the 2.9 V6 with a little effort. I suppose the real advantage is the exhaust note..?
shpub said:
I don't think it is as high as that. The old P6 engines were around 135/140 mainly due to a low CR.
Twas a long time though
I'll dig the figures out.. 161 at 5200 rpm I think, I was looking this up for another purpose the other week..
Edited to add:
Not "official" figures I'll grant you but:
www.gbclassiccars.co.uk/rover_p6_3500.html
>> Edited by M@H on Thursday 6th May 11:11
Well I intend to rebore and change the mechanics, new cam, fuel injection. These modifications surely can release more BHP. Of course the gain in the sound is a bonus, my old V8 turns heads and it has a standard exhaust on! Just how much BHP is possible from these engines? The block is Aluminium are the V8's?
From what I have read on pistonheads the V6 is limited on BHP gain.
On the chassis were the early V8S not really modified? except for disc's. Anymore info much appreciated.
Cheers
Aqua
From what I have read on pistonheads the V6 is limited on BHP gain.
On the chassis were the early V8S not really modified? except for disc's. Anymore info much appreciated.
Cheers
Aqua
By the early V8S... we are talking of only a few cars because the problems quickly showed themselves. In the bible it says early cars but by that I effectively meant the first one or two made. The production cars effectively all had the V8S chassis. They had exactly the same problem on the Wedges and the V8 cars were widened etc to take the Rover V8 engine. I am sure given enough time and money it can be fitted but TVR modified the chassis for the V8S engine. The wheel track was also increased which is why the handling is much better - info straight from Peter Wheeler while sitting in the pits at Brands many years ago.
If you are going to play with the mechanics, add fuel injection and all those other things, you would be better off buying a V8S in the first place as there is with any modding, a lot of engineering to be done. The 72 P6 V8 engine is quite an inferior version of the engine though, so again you might want to do some serious research on it as it might not be as straight forward as you think. Yes it is ally like the ones TVR used in the V8S but the engine underwent a lot of development between 1972 and 1990. Certainly, the heads would be not be the bigger valve ones, the compression ratio will probably be lower and so on. The price difference between your S3 and a V8S may well be less than the cost of the bits needed to do the change.
If you like that sort of thing and want to do it for the pleasure, then fine go ahead but I would also check with your insurers first as they may insist on a brake upgrade as well.
In summary, if you are thinking this is a cheaper way to a V8S then I doubt it will be. If you want to build an S3 with a Rover V8 for the fun then it can be done but don't underestimate the amount of work needed. If you had an S4, then a lot of the problems go away.
>> Edited by shpub on Thursday 6th May 13:52
If you are going to play with the mechanics, add fuel injection and all those other things, you would be better off buying a V8S in the first place as there is with any modding, a lot of engineering to be done. The 72 P6 V8 engine is quite an inferior version of the engine though, so again you might want to do some serious research on it as it might not be as straight forward as you think. Yes it is ally like the ones TVR used in the V8S but the engine underwent a lot of development between 1972 and 1990. Certainly, the heads would be not be the bigger valve ones, the compression ratio will probably be lower and so on. The price difference between your S3 and a V8S may well be less than the cost of the bits needed to do the change.
If you like that sort of thing and want to do it for the pleasure, then fine go ahead but I would also check with your insurers first as they may insist on a brake upgrade as well.
In summary, if you are thinking this is a cheaper way to a V8S then I doubt it will be. If you want to build an S3 with a Rover V8 for the fun then it can be done but don't underestimate the amount of work needed. If you had an S4, then a lot of the problems go away.
>> Edited by shpub on Thursday 6th May 13:52
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