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Rover
V8 power for your Scimitar may be a fine
way to get a little more oomph but it's
personal.
More insurance,
less weight, more power, about the same
economy, more moving parts, quite a
struggle to fit. It's your choice.
Peter Freemans V8 Conversion
write-up
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Mine
is a 6A and there are now three
6A's in Newcastle with V8's, we
did have a 5A but the car died -
its V8 is now in one of the other
6's.
My engine is out of a '67 P6 so
its a bit tired. All I have
done to it since it was fitted
over ten years ago is fit a new
cam and new lifters.
The other two cars have more
tuned engines, one has the 3.9
engine with 270 BHP at the rear
wheels and has been clocked at
153 mph
( at Brands ).
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The
only mod you need to do to the
engine is to fit a P6 water pump
to line up the pulleys.
My car does not have power
steering but Chris Burrow can
advise you on that fitting as his
has.
All
three have the SD1 box and SD1
prop but two of the bolt holes at
the diff end have to be redrilled
as the Rover fitting has a square
fitting between the holes ie the
holes are equal distance apart.
I rotated the old gearbox
mounting plate 180deg around its
rear bolt fixings and drilled and
tapped new fixings to the rear.
The SD1 5 speed box with its
mounts now drops onto the plate
but needs a spacer to lift it
slightly ( about 1" ) (
understand that ? )
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The
engine mounts need to be rotated
until they are square with the
chassis to take the Rover
engine. If you can get P6
engine brackets the engine mounts
stay where they are length wise
along the chassis - if SD1 engine
brackets they are further back on
the engine. You will need a
remote oil filter, mine is fitted
between the engine and the
nearside chassis, on the 5A he
fitted it in front of the
radiator on the offside.
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All
of this is fairly straight
forward, your problems start
with the manifolds - you will
need to get some made or have the
P6 Rover cast manifolds modified
( the SD1s would be harder
to fit ). The mod is simple in
that the flanges are cut off and
refitted at an angle which will
allow the rest of the exhaust
system to be mated but being cast
you will lose some power against
fitting stainless tubes.
The nearside is not a big problem
but you have to avoid the
steering rack on the offside.
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My
manifolds are not very good
quality and I intend replacing
them when I find someone to do it
at a price I can afford.
You will also have to lose some
of your footwell space but only
on the drivers side. I cut away
the footwell vertically at the
seam next to the
clutch master cylinder and
squared off the area
behind the engine. Last
big problem is the gear
change.
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 The
SD1 change extends too far back
for the Scimitars. I
managed to find a change
mechanism from a XJ6 which uses
the same box with the gearlever
bolted straight onto the box,
with this the gear stick is in
the same place as the original.
XJ6 manual changes are not easy
to find, I believe the Sherpa van
also used the same box with a
similar change to the Jag's but
not so refined.
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The last problem I had was with
the clutch, the old master cylinder would
not pump enough fluid to clear the clutch
and neither would the Rover master
cylinder so in the end I fitted a 5A
brake master unit which has worked very
well ever since. The slave cylinder
is I think the same as the one on the 6
anyway.
The Scimitar radiator seems to handle the
heat without a problem but I have
modified mine and plumbd it as per
the 5A ( 1 outlet at top offside of
rad ) with the same 5A header tank.
I have also fitted adjustable ride height
shockers as the front of the car is a lot
lighter with the V8. Don Pither
told me that you can swap the lower
wishbones from one side of the car to the
other to lose some of the height - this
does not affect the camber at all but how
much it drops the front I'm not sure -
you might still need adjustable seats to
level it off anyway. I also fitted
adjustables to the rear and have the car
a little higher than normal.
It handles much better with the V8, the
balance front to rear is much better.
I have also fitted a Jag SU electric fuel
pump but had to drop the output pressure
a bit.
My car and
Chriss are running on the standard
SU carbs but the fast one has a four
choke Weber fitted and also a modified
gearbox for a faster change ex
Morgan I think.
Would I do
it again ? bloody right I would - with a
6 anyway - not so sure about the 5 or the
coupe although other people have.
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