Engine transplants for a cerb anyone done it?

[Pesty]

I still think Cerberas' are one of the best looking cars and keep my eye on the sales from time to time.
I couldnt help notice this

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/663234.htm

Is it a big job to put a yank V8 in there?
Are there other options?

[Pesty]

Just found a thread about it all on here never mind. Having a read of that

[kevin63]

There is one around with an M3 engine in it too.

[Omerta]

There are a few LS Cerbera conversions done or going on - if you look at the posting history of myself, Brummie, diycerb, and shpub you'll pick up everything that's been said on the subject.

I'm the slowest , having been at it off and on for over three years now. Here's the latest work-in-progress...

[Gazzab]

It is a speed six and the chassis is different to the v8 cars, so makes it a different Challenge.
Seems a grand over priced.

[Erich Stahler]

Omerta said:

There are a few LS Cerbera conversions done or going on - if you look at the posting history of myself, Brummie, diycerb, and shpub you'll pick up everything that's been said on the subject.

I'm the slowest , having been at it off and on for over three years now. Here's the latest work-in-progress...

Hi Omerta, interesting picture, so your going to route the exhaust headers forwards as in a Tuscan Challenge car then? how are you planning to route the rest of the exhaust system, out the back or along one side of the car under the door?

Is your Cerb going to be road legal or purely a race car? as I hear TVRs don't really comply with most of the NZ governments regs.

[julian64]

Omerta, what are you using to bend that pipe?

Am current TIG welding headers for a Chevy 350, but my bends don't look as pretty. .

And why do you need to put a longitudinal seam down some of those curves?

[Storer]

Omerta said:

There are a few LS Cerbera conversions done or going on - if you look at the posting history of myself, Brummie, diycerb, and shpub you'll pick up everything that's been said on the subject.

I'm the slowest , having been at it off and on for over three years now. Here's the latest work-in-progress...

That is going to be one warm Cerbera engine bay with all that exhaust in there. Is there not room for the exhaust to exit in the same way as existing AJP engined cars? Have shpub, Brummmie, diycerb used the same type of routing?

[GreenV8S]

Looks like a work of art, but isn't access to the plugs going to be rather difficult / impossible with the exhaust on?

[The Ringmeister]

kevin63 said:

There is one around with an M3 engine in it too.

I remember that being built in RT Racings workshop years ago (2001)did it ever get finished? i have mentioned it to a few TVR people but no one seems to have heard of it. I seem to think it was going to have a SMG semi-auto box.

[AlVal]

http://www.pistonheads.com/members/showCar.asp?car...

this guy, no?

[V8 GRF]

Steve Heath has an LS1 in his Cerbera. Saw it at the Griff Growl looked a rather nice job

Pic here

Steve Heath

[kevin63]

The Ringmeister said:

kevin63 said:

There is one around with an M3 engine in it too.

I remember that being built in RT Racings workshop years ago (2001)did it ever get finished? i have mentioned it to a few TVR people but no one seems to have heard of it. I seem to think it was going to have a SMG semi-auto box.

Yes it has (sort of) got finished, I was talking to Richard yesterday and it seems as though he has done a hell of a lot of work to the car and was quite successful with it too, it has now gone down South and is having the interior re-furbished, the owner is said to love it, don't know about the gear box though.

[Omerta]

Yes it is different to the other conversions, but I am building a race car for Targa NZ (a 5 day rally run on tarmac stages between Auckland and Wellington, www.targa.co.nz) so we have different objectives and compromises. I didn't want to compromise exhaust flow by having an immediate bend after the the exhaust port exit and being unable to have the length of headers possible this way. Having said that, it doesn't seem to stop Brummie making monster numbers!

It used to be impossible to get a late model TVR on NZ roads, but the laws changed in May this year and now there is a way, albeit with a certain amount of red tape.

Sadly my fabrication skills aren't up to what you see in the pic so I would have to ask the man with the welder about the seam lines. The tube is 1 3/4".

Peter - yes it is tight for plug changes but should not be impossible. A good reminder though, I haven't actually checked!

Regarding heat, we'll have to see how that goes. It may be necessary to get some extra air flow if things get too warm.

[flyingdutchie]

I am going to do a ls transplant early next year at Steve Heath/Dave Wallis.

I got interested reading how Steve managed to do a transplant reusing a lot of the Cerb's parts. Also he makes the car very maintenance friendly. The conversion of Brummiewedge, for example, is the most expensive one I think. It is THE Corbera. But then he changed gearbox, complete exhaust, dif ratio and a lot more.

My 6 litre LS2 is already ordered!

[Brummmie]

Really like the look of that exhaust, but 1 7/8ths is the new black with big power manifolds on these things ! are you going 2x 2.5" after this where are you going to get them through? The seam on the elbows is to get the really tight radius, its two pressed pieces. I got really tight bends from Micron ( who are no more ), my manifold was in fact an Aston Le Mans car in kit form, which i adapted to fit, they were hydroformed so one piece.

[Omerta]

Brummmie said:

1 7/8ths is the new black with big power manifolds on these things ! are you going 2x 2.5" after this where are you going to get them through?

Targa has a maximum Kw/Tonne ratio so monster numbers aren't in my immediate future. Even as it is I'll need to add weight or run a restrictor to be within the rules.

Undecided whether to run them into a single fat pipe into a box at the rear or 2 x 2.5". There's not a lot of room either way and the hoooge McLeod scattershield doesn't help, but at least we've got the collectors up front.

[diycerb]

Looking good Don , YHM

Rich.

[tinker-27]

flyingdutchie are you going to put a ls2 onto a t5 ? even in std trim they make 450ftlb,a t5 will not last, it may cost more up front but save time and money to use a proper gearbox and clutch, if you have the power you will want to use it after all !!!

[< FORZA WEST]

I too will be starting a heart transplant next year. in the early days planing of how to attack it but I shall forcing in with a slight mod or two to the chassis a BMW M5 V10 lump with the SMG3......A little twisted but with the limits take off and enhanced DME we should see 600bph+

A large wing maybe needed