Fitting a 4.6 Injected engine to a TR7

[Hugh Keir]

Hi Guy's,

Have had a new TR7 shell sitting doing nothing for the last 30 years and have set about building it up.

I bought a 4.6 TVR engine with Tremec gearbox to slot in the hole.

How easy is it going to be to fit the engine right back against the bulkhead and make the heater inlet work?

Thanks

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Hi Stinkfoot,

Many thanks for your post, I did not get a notification of your post, will see if I can reset the rules.

I used to know Mike Gibbon pretty well when I was rallying a TR7 V8 30 years ago, interesting to hear he is still on the go.

I used to make subframes with the correct bracketry for the engine 2" back, it was the exhaust manifold that was the hard bit. At the time I built my own from a bunch of bends that, I think, Janspeed bent for me.

I found somebody selling a standard one with engine brackets, so went for that.

When fitting the engine, I pulled the short lever extension from the TVR Tremec gearbox




I found that I could move the engine back about 1 1/2" before the inlet plenum touched the bonnet catch bracket. I also had to turn the top of the plenum round so that I increased to clearance, not sure if this will be a pest for the wiring later on, so might need another solution.

Here is a picture of the shell with it’s engine bay painted.




Will post more as I go.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Hmmmmm, was not expecting all the negative comments regarding TR7's.

Here are some pictures of my TR7 V8 rally car from 30 years ago.

For all those doubters about whether they handled well, last time I looked, I still hold the record for the fastest sportscar at Fintray Hillclimb, that record was set 30 years ago.

[Hugh Keir]

300bhp/ton said:

That looks great. How's your current TR project going, you got the engine in yet?

Yup, got the engine and box in.

The TVR propshaft fitted using one half of a Jag 4HA universal joint on to the 2HA TR7 axle.

I ordered exhaust manifolds from Maniflow, when ordering, I explained that the engine was 2" further back than standard as per the last of the Works rally cars, the guy said that would be no problem since he had built the manifolds for the Works TR7's. I thought this was a strange comment since the ones I was aware of were built by Janspeed.

Guess what, the manifolds do not fit and now he wants an extra £50 + VAT to fix his mistake, really pissed off about this, since it took ages to muck about and take photographs to show exactly how the manifolds were wrong.

On different subject, I am needing some help to fit a new diff ratio in my TR7 axle. Does any one know of a good diff builder that can fit an SD1 diff in there for me?

I will post some more pictures soon.

Thanks

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Guy's you obviously have strong opinions on TR7's, perhaps a separate thread discussing the good and bad would be more appropriate.

Making the TR7 handle well is a straightforward proposition within the limits of the un-sprung weight of the Salisbury rear axle. The fact that my rally car, which I built from scratch, was quick on Tarmac and Forest stages proves the point.

I have to make a belated thanks to CCC, Car and Car Conversions that published a series of articles around 1980 from Dave Bulman titled "TR Techniques" that got me going, starting with how to seam weld and how to manufacture an integral roll cage into the car, all the way through to suspension and brakes.

British Leyland were also very helpful when it came to supplying the parts required to make the car go well. The change to fully rose jointed suspension transformed the way the car handled and is part of what I have fitted to this current car build.

I had hoped this would be a project build thread where points of technical interest could be discussed populated with pictures of the build progress.

Please can we keep the conversation on technical points.

Thanks

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Here are a couple of pictures showing some of the progress.

Engine fitted in the hole minus exhaust manifold on the drivers side.



Here is a view of the front of the engine showing the serpentine belt part number 7PK1260 that fit's when there is no power steering and no A/C fitted.



Here is a view of the Tremec gear lever position sitting in the centre of the hole.



Next job is to pull the back axle and fit the petrol tank

Edited by Hugh Keir on Saturday 16th June 12:37

[Hugh Keir]

Flares&Chestwig

Yup, will get the rocker cover sorted out.

300bhp/ton

I have a new Works radiator that was fitted when BL were rallying, it coped revving the nuts of the engine with up to 8000 RPM in the Forest albeit it was on the limit for keeping the engine cool.

tr7v8

Sounds like you have it licked, not a very easy thing to get right.

dycecooper

Sounds good John, need to get a similar fan set-up to your one, really don’t want to be stuck with overheating issues.

Next job is to send away the back axle to get a 3.45 : 1 crown wheel and pinion plus the LSD I have had sitting around for 30 years fitted.

Going to fit a works disc brake set-up to the axle at the same time, will post some pics up of the bells, need to look out the discs and calipers.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Hasbeen,

Thanks for the contribution.

Clearly the standard distributor and fueling is suspect on these cars.

I ordered the exhaust manifolds with Lambda ports, I have the TVR ECU and engine wiring loom which needs narrow band lambda input.

Think I will fit wide band Lambdas to see what the air fuel ratio is before deciding on whether to fit a more sophisticated engine management system.

Got the back axle out of the car but been on holiday and busy for the past few weekends.

Will need to get my finger out to get the axle away for its 3.45:1 diff and disc brake set-up fitted.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Steve,

I bought a couple of these exhausts for a friend and I sometime in the 80's, been sitting in my shed since.

What is the name of your company?

Here is a picture of the bells that I will be fitting to my axle, going to get it off to get the LSD, 3.45 diff and bells fitted by Salisbury Transmissions.

[Hugh Keir]

Steve w said:

S&S Preps

Yup, am pretty certain the exhaust is one of yours.

Doesn't look the quietest, but am expecting it will look nice under the rear bumper.

Flares&Chestwig

Will keep posting as I go.

I have been looking for a gear lever for the Tremec T5, so if anyone reading this has one, please get in touch.

I am also looking at making an electronic drive for the standard mechanical speedo since the gearbox has no worm gear in it. This might also help those with different diffs and tyre sizes get their speedo working right.

I am going to buy a small stepper motor and see what I can make of it.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Found the brackets for the calipers tonight, the backplate needs to be removed and replaced by the brackets.

The logic was that you could quickly change the half shafts and discs by unscrewing the 4 bolts holding the half hafts in place.

The calipers have handbrake levers, but a hydraulic handbrake might just be a better option.

[Hugh Keir]

Dug some stuff out of my garage today.

Here are some pictures of handbrake calipers that go with the Vented and Non Vented discs.







Here are calipers that don't use handbrake levers, would not be legal though.

Edited by Hugh Keir on Saturday 15th September 20:59

Edited by Hugh Keir on Saturday 15th September 21:07

[Hugh Keir]

Here is a better picture of the calipers with the handbrake levers.

[Hugh Keir]

Got my rear axle back from getting re-built today

Spec is now LSD, 3.45:1 diff ratio and works rally spec vented disc bells with caliper brackets fitted.

[Hugh Keir]

Tried my 9" x 13" Magnesium Minilites on the rear to see if they would clear the rolled arches, but sadly they are a no go.

[Hugh Keir]

Am liking the look of your back axle.

I did something very similar to my rally car back in about 1982, but did not manage to find room for coil overs as long as yours.

Brakes looking good too

[Hugh Keir]

Ian,

The wheels in the picture are 9 x 13", but I have a few other sizes, the biggest ones are 11" x 13"

Think I will fit 15" Minilites, will go for as wide as I can get under the rear arches with maybe 7" at the front.

Update

Going to get the first of the Corsa power steering bits back from the machine shop this weekend.

Just got the bits from the Steering Wheel to the back of the Corsa to trial fit, if that goes well, I will sort out how to incorporate the collapsible lower column to the bottom of the Corsa motor assembly.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Marks6 said:

Hugh,
Can you advise where you got the rear brake hats, brackets and clappers for your 7?
I'm building up a track only version and while the standard drums might be good enough it would be better to have a little more power over the rear wheels.
Cheers!

I had the top hats copied from some works ones, the works ones were a cast steel, bit strange when the front Bells ( Top hats ) were made from alloy and they had a much bigger job to do.

The calipers and brackets were bought from BL Motorsport, I have a number of two pot calipers without hand brake levers plus loads of pads, they are a Formula 2 front caliper CP2383

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

oronero said:

Hugh, I have owned for nearly 16 years an old TR7 V8 rally car that needed re-shelling when I bought it, the previous owner had also owned it for several years and also never used it...could it be one of your early cars...the number plate is UDH ##R ?

It had period 'FG rallying' stickers on it and a lot of period factory parts...Alloy AP 4 pot vented brakes on alloy bell mounts, Bilsteins which were adjustable up front, magnesium Minilites, Jaguar 4HA axle with inboard suspension mounts, special loom and a works dash with the 'Sun' rev- counter.

It was a red shell that had a blue and white sides, though not painted like the 'works cars'...does it ring any bells?

In fact if anybody has any info on the car I would be interested to know, thanks. P

I am sure I have seen your car somewhere lots of years ago.

Adjustable Bilsteins were not a works spec and the inboard rear brakes are not something I have seen before.

Mike Gibbon who owned FG Rallying had access to all of the Works stuff, although your car may not have been built by him.

Cheers

Hugh

[Hugh Keir]

Yup,

The top links being inside the cabin on a 5 link rear axle is the works set-up, as is the jacking points locating in the cage.

If it is a works shell, most ( Safety Devices) had the floor dropped to create clearance for the drivers / navigators helmet.

Not heard of David Lisle though.