MarkieB Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 I seem to recall there's been [not so] idle speculation here as to putting a rover V8 into a mini watching the French version of Top Gear [Turbo it's called] there's a place in Annecy [Haute Savoie] called Lazareth who make custom motors, they seem to have managed to fit a rover V8 into the front of a mini, as well as into the back of a twingo I didn't start recording in time to see the engine compartment of the mini, although here's a bit of video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 I seem to recall there's been [not so] idle speculation here as to putting a rover V8 into a miniwatching the French version of Top Gear [Turbo it's called] there's a place in Annecy [Haute Savoie] called Lazareth who make custom motors, they seem to have managed to fit a rover V8 into the front of a mini, as well as into the back of a twingo I didn't start recording in time to see the engine compartment of the mini, although here's a bit of video i used to do a lot with minis and i seem to recall seeing a rover V8 transversely mounted in a mini clubman through a maxi gearbox wasn't very neat but impresive none the less mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted December 16, 2006 Share Posted December 16, 2006 There's a guy on the Megasquirt forums who has a taste for putting V8s in minis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 You need to see Spag's torque-steer "test" video - Holy torque-steer, Batman! :blink: The guy is an engineering superhero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twizzle Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 You need to see Spag's torque-steer "test" video - Holy torque-steer, Batman! :blink: The guy is an engineering superhero. When i had my own company restoring minis some time ago i new a lad who cut a rangerover up an fitted it to mini pickup saw it sat in a field in sway (newforest), i beleive it was called club foot (see if i can find photo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSi110 Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Back in the 80's, Street Machine magazine (anyone remember that?) ran a feature of a guy who put a small-block 5.3 litre Chevy V8 into a Mini Clubman. From what I can remember (the magazine is somewhere in my study) the bulkhead took the place of the front seats. Then some other guy took it a stage further and put a (Rover or Chevy; can't remember which) V8 into a Fiat 500 PLUS 4-wheel-drive. Moving some way off the subject, another British eccentric (John Dodd) built a Reliant Scimitar-type body around a 27 litre Merlin V12 out of a Spitfire (or a tank) and used it regularly on the road. He put a Rolls-Royce grille on it and the motoring press thought it was a secret RR prototype being tested. They took him to court; John Dodd drove what became known as The Beast into London every day to attend, regularly breaking down as the Merlin hated sitting idle and got too hot. He, and The Beast, mysteriously disappeared. The car and John resurfaced somewhere in Spain, scaring the life out of the locals and hot-hatch brigade. Top Gear tested it many years ago with that twit Steve Berry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twizzle Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Back in the 80's, Street Machine magazine (anyone remember that?) ran a feature of a guy who put a small-block 5.3 litre Chevy V8 into a Mini Clubman. Found some photos not very good though, V8 mini van and club foot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrode Finger Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 I remember that, it was in Eastleigh about 10 years ago. Was for sale at the time for about £750, i looked at it, but decided it was really rough and needed a reshell. Seemed to go well though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twizzle Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 I remember that, it was in Eastleigh about 10 years ago.Was for sale at the time for about £750, i looked at it, but decided it was really rough and needed a reshell. Seemed to go well though. A lad on highstreet got hold of it for £500 found out it was only rear wheel drive then tride to sell it to me for £600 it had rangerover running gear but the front prop had to be very short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted December 18, 2006 Share Posted December 18, 2006 Paul Macartney had a black Ford Pop with a Jag V12 engine in. The engine came so far inside the vehicle, that there were no front seats. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Ok this whole mini thing got me thinking, i like the v8 to princess gearbox package as it make it compact..................... Now my random and maybe senseless thoughts for this morning are.................... What if you had to weld the princess diff lay the whole thing longitudinally in a chassis or frame and connect both shafts to a pair of live axles in a very SWB.................. It could make a very tidy and compact offroad only machine with v8 power................ Will the box handle it......................hmmmmm Pinch me as i might be still half asleep....................... Grem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MogLite Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 What if you had to weld the princess diff lay the whole thing longitudinally in a chassis or frame and connect both shafts to a pair of live axles in a very SWB.................. It could make a very tidy and compact offroad only machine with v8 power................ The original engine/transmission on MogLite was going to be similar - but Honda/Rover V6 with the FWD auto box, and its diff welded. Alas getting the gearing acceptable is tricky without a dual-range transfer box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diff Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Ok this whole mini thing got me thinking, i like the v8 to princess gearbox package as it make it compact.....................Now my random and maybe senseless thoughts for this morning are.................... What if you had to weld the princess diff lay the whole thing longitudinally in a chassis or frame and connect both shafts to a pair of live axles in a very SWB.................. It could make a very tidy and compact offroad only machine with v8 power................ Will the box handle it......................hmmmmm Pinch me as i might be still half asleep....................... Grem Yes it would work well. The gearbox would survive very nicely because it would be 'protected' by the ratio of the diffs in the axles. In very simple(and approximate) terms, if you had 3.54 diffs in the axles, the normally front wheel drive gearbox will effectively see 3.54 times less stress in the same conditions than it would do in its normal configuration. Different size tyres and use will affect this a bit though. The down side of this arrangement is that it would be like driving in permanent low range, with no high range for the road. Many years ago, one of the magazines featured an old series landrover with a mini engine and box fitted between the seats in place of the original landy gearbox.(no engine in the engine bay!) It worked well - but slowly. Regards, Diff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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