Morris Minor Owners Club

do'es any one have problems with this conversion ? or had problems with this if not great if you have tell me wot (nicely) ho! yeah this will be a 3.5 rover lump running a 40 dgas webber with t 400 chevy box mated to a volvo axle

No problems if engineered properly. You will have to hve a new chassis with new front suspension and steering.

The success of any conversion is how it is done!

Unless you are transfixed by V8's then go for a Ford Zetec or Duratec. They need far less radical engineering and can be tuned way beyond the Rover V8. They are smaller physically ,so you will not need to drive from the rear seat, have slim g/boxes, room for your feet, and they weigh about the same if Zetec or less if Duratec.
We are running a 308bhp supercharged Zetec, soon to become over 400bhp on a standard (but strengthened chassis) rack, front swivel pins and trunnions. Once we have experimented with the suspension set up, to get the handling right and the power down, we'll see how the 'old' stuff will perform. We know its fine with 200bhp as we have run the traveller for about 8 years as a road track car, and nothing has shown signs of wear except for the tyres and brakes.
V8's do sound geat but are not needed for power. If you want a V8 and power go for an LS1 motor rather than the ancient Rover unit.

It really depends as Jonathon says - do you just want the V8 sound, or some real power?
Rover V8's are long in the tooth, and their cylinder head design restricts performance. Think about 200 hp as being a reasonably affordable state of tune for a 3.5, and around 250 for a 4.6. Turboed or supercharged ones do make big numbers, but you have to spend a bit (perhaps about the same as a tweaked zetec). The advantage of the Rover unit is it's light weight (relative to size - same as an MGB or Ford Pinto unit), but they are physically large. Anywhere you can slot a Rover V8 you can put a small block chevy (which you can extract huge power from). The Chevy LS series of V8's combine the light weight of the Rover with serious power - 350 hp as standard with 500 around the corner with mild tuning. One of these will cost from around £3k as a complete package.
You really have to decide what you want from your car, but in my opinion I would buy one already running, and then personalise it, as it is not a cheap build. I've just recently refurbed my series 2 (rover 3.9) to a good standard, and am still working on my LS powered one, so I can speak from experience on costs.

Pete

Many thanks chaps, but v8 has to be the sound,althought have ran small block chevy in our fuel altered. so to with welder in hand this will be next years to do as with the mild roof chop
many thanks again to all

hi just spoted this on ebay Item number: 140333523906

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0333523906

A weekends work and you have a runner
Seriously though, a project like this may save you a load of dosh and time - depending if work has been done to a good standard.

Pete

stoney1313 wrote:do'es any one have problems with this conversion ? or had problems with this if not great if you have tell me wot (nicely) ho! yeah this will be a 3.5 rover lump running a 40 dgas webber with t 400 chevy box mated to a volvo axle

Gimmie a shout pal and you can come round and have a look at mine.

Im only down the road from you. Junction 19 M5.

Be nice to see two round bristol area!!!

thanks for the link, but i'll stick to mine and yeah I'll take you up on the offer mate to have a look many thanks to all

Im hopeing to have a minor with a "V" before too long and im only in swindon so we will have to do a "V" run sometime in the future!

That sounds super sweet guys, looking forward to it (V) run

hi, have you felt how heavy a small block is ? the buick/rover is 3/4 of that weight, and you only want to use the 4 bolt mains otherwise you may pour your money down the drain

Should be on the road tomorrow, got my MOT so looking to get some more miles under my belt!

Gimmie a shout if anyones local and fancies a tyre kick.

super sweet mate !! will give you a shout mate as need to look at yours