Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi Guys,

Ive decided after a lot of thinking to just go with my dream idea of fitting a rover V8 in my minor.

Can anyone tell me what needs to be done to the car to fit such a beast.


Im hoping someone on here has done this before or knows what kind of work im looking at.



Thanks.[frame][/frame]

First thing - check your insurance premium

I think you'd be better off selling your Minor and buying one that already has a V8 fitted if you want a V8 Minor

A massive amount of fabrication is needed, including making a whole new seperate chassis and working out how to bolt the body to this. This requires a huge amount of engineering skill, welding, metal fab, coachbuilding skills knowledge of suspension set ups and making different parts from different cars work together. Plus, you will lose historic status, suffer the ignominy of your car having a "Q" plate, like a kit car, as it is a new conversion, you will have to pay tax on the car forever more,and probably at the higher band of tax (£200 plus), plus the £400 BIVA nightmare test to put the poor car through.

Sorry to say, but if you have to ask how to fit a Rover V8 to a Minor then I'm afraid you do not have the skills to do the job, so I would say do not attempt this as without already having acquired the skills and knowledge then, I'm afraid, you'll end up cutting up a perfectly good Minor and it will end up being scrapped.

From a recent thread on this board about "how many are left" we should be saving the cars we have!

You make it sound so simple (and attractive) CJ! I agree------not an easy conversion - and apart from the engine/gearbox swap there's the rear axle, the suspension and the brakes to think about! Far better to upgrade the existing engine if you want a bit more power - or go the Zetec route for a more adventurous project. Of course - with fuel costs as they are - diesel engine conversions are beginning to look very sensible!

I agree with BMC, better off going the modified A series or Zetec route. The Rover V8 was OK in its day but that day has long since passed, and although fairly light, does not give very good power for the capacity. I think the 3.9 in standard form on injection is only around 190 bhp, the torque might be good but the power isn't. You can easily get waaay more than this with a supercharged Zetec with a much more straight forward engine swap, or even get someone to do it for you (now who has a supercharged Zetec that was banned from here ).

Like CJ said, if you needed to ask, you probably don't have the skills to do the conversion properly, sorry!

Martin

Okay, so would it be an idea to take the 1098cc engine i have and rebore it?[frame][/frame]

Have you been reading old American hot rod mags?
Cubic inches aren't the be all and end all of more power, better breathing and higher compression will give you much more "bang for your buck"

As has been said already it is far easier (and cheaper) to buy one already done and then adapt it to your tastes. Unfortunately there aren't really that many around, and even less for sale. Ebay is your best place to find one as they do crop up from time to time.
A tweaked 4 cylinder does make sense these days, but it'll never have the sound
It all depends on how much cash you are willing to spend.

There are plenty build threads on V8 minors if you look.


Pete

rather than rebore a 1098 why not go for a midget 1275 engine?

Decide on a budget first! Only 'rebore' your engine if it's badly worn/smoking/burning oil. Reboring a 1098 engine won't make any appreciable difference to it's power output. The 1275 is a good starting point for more power - but decent power does cost money........and tends to burn more fuel.

i cant see this needing too much fabrication to fit a v8... http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=37476

rossrox wrote:i cant see this needing too much fabrication to fit a v8... http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=37476

Good idea- buy a car that has already had a frame built for it that can take a V8. Otherwise the fabrication and engineering skills required are way beyond current skill levels.

or if you've got money to burn, you could look at putting a cross flow head on an a-series. on a 1275 would probably be better than on a 1098. Minispares do an 8 port 'Arden Head' which you can put quad carbs on, only trouble is finding a 4 branch manifold for it! they're mighty expensive though. £1500ish just for the head!

A 1275 bored to 1340 or 1380 with a 7 port head is going to give excellent performance without much of the complexity.
(The 7 port head uses existing available 3 branch exhaust systems).
If you go that route you can run the 1275 as it comes, together with the 3 branch zaust (a massive improvement on power) , and then decide if you need to spend the extra thousands getting the additional extra oomph.

I have to admit that a top spec Arden 8 port head is a beautiful thing. A friend of mine had one on his hillclimb mini and you could look through the carbs and see the valve heads... He then fitted smaller carbs for better torque, and you could only see as far as the valve stems.. it's a different world to the usual A-series stuff!

also on the market second hand are Minors with Fiat 2 litre twincam engines - these come up maybe as often as V8 Minors - so not every day. It is well worth getting a sorted car compared to doing the work on a standard car. Not only does it save a small fortune but it also saves all the time - you can drive it instead of work on it for a year. If the conversion was done a long time ago it ought to pre-date the latest DVLA points system that can give a Q plate for changing engine gearbox and axle.

A guy on this thread selling a V8 Minor project:

http://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/vehicl ... nted-33831

Okay, Ive been looking at some other options.

Ive been told a Subaru Flat 4 engine with fit nicely, from what i've looked up it's normally in the Impreza range.

Any thoughts?[frame][/frame]

depends on whether you have the skills to do it or not...

Budget here? If you have the fabrication skills any engine can be used http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=32242
If not but you want something special and quick, either buy second hand if you can find one... or speak to JLH http://www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk/ Or go for a standard conversion, ie 1275. If you want something special but dont yet have the skills, do the research and take the time to gain the knowledge whilst driving round the standard minor, learning about her as you go. Then maybe in the future..

Start it as a rolling resto, i sure wish i had!!! As A'N'A said any engine can be used, but deffinatly do the research so your not disapointed.

I am taking it slow at the moment, so much to do....

Next thing on my list is to work on a disc brake conversion, but i'm just trying to get it all planned out in my. [frame][/frame]