Engine

Thanks Chris. 
Its more an interest thing but it does compute when you consider the costs of rebuilding a classic engine

Found it - HERE. Beautifully done, but I do still have that little nagging thought - "Why?"!

Chris.

Delurking on the subject of engine transplants, I bought a copy of Classic and Sportscar to help pass the time on a train journey last week. There's a piece in it by Martin Buckley, who's rebuilding an Austin 3 litre and installing the engine from a van den Plas 4 litre R as a variation on a period theme. Quite a good article, but I can't find it online.

Sounds like the MGB has a Rover M16 engine from a Rover 800 or possibly the later development which was the T series. I occasionally had an R800 when I worked for the firm and they were always very flexible and amazingly economical? 40mpg was not too difficult to get in this big car. From memory there wasn't a joint Rover / Honda engine, the cars usually had one or another. The 2.0 litre 800s used the engine above, the 2.7 V6 was a smooth but thirsty Honda. The 2.0 might fit a crab as it was as Snoopy says developed from the O series which in turn was developed from the B. The 800 was also a narrow car to comply with car width restrictions imposed by Japanese regulations that affected the joint 800 / Legend project. That lack of width may mean there is a more compact engine arrangement that could help the crab converter. Lesser known fact is that the 800 also took the O series in a fairly short lived 820 base fastback.

I wouldn't put a different engine in myself but I find it fascinating to see what others do. Wasn't there a landcrab with V8 in Australia built by BMC BL?

Nick

There are details of the V8 on Tony's Austalia 1800 wbesite. It was part of the P76 development programme and mounted a Rover 3.5 V8 in a north-south arrangement. This is just begging to be recreated by someone with oodles of skill. Members can access the magazine articles and read about it in the July 1973 edition of Wheels magazine.

Nick

Nick is quite right to mention the Australian V8 Austin 1800. This was a mock-up vehicle that was intended to demonstrate what BMC thought would be the optimum configuration for a large car to compete with local products from Ford and GMH. North South V8 engine with 4 litre capacity, front wheel drive, and hydrolastic suspension were the key design points. The engine was a Rover 3.5 with a modified single-plane crankshaft to give a 4.2 litre capacity - it became known as the "Viber8". The transmission was a Borg Warner 35 with custom castings and drop gears so as to drive the normal 1800 drive shafts. The whole front of the car had to be reworked with a new firewall, suspension displacers positioned vertically, and 4 inches added to the length of the bonnet and front guards. It also had a different steering column and rack. Its performance was reported to be outstanding, but when costed against conventional rear wheel drive, was noncompetitive and so the idea did not go any further than the demonstration vehicle. I asked Barry Anderson, what became of the car. It was last photographed in the mid 1970's about the time of the factory closure. It is said that the car was supposed to be shipped to Rover UK but no one would pick up the cost. Most of those who were involved say that the power unit eventually made it to Rover, but the body was broken up - it not being rotodipped and did not remain roadworthy for very long. So, if anyone in UK could ask at Rover if they have it, some information about its location would be much appreciated in Australia. 

Tony