240 General: 240 with rover V8?

[LankyTim]

Has anyone done or seen a 240 with a Rover V8 conversion? Im thinking of tracking down an SD1 V8 with a 5 speed manual box and fitting it to my 240 estate and binning the 2 litre engine. Looks fairly straightforward. Any thoughts?

[Clan]

seen one with a small block chevvy V8 but why do you want to fit a rover unit? They are not that powerful in standard form certainly less than a 2300 volvo turbo unit which would be an easy swap ...

[Rich 264]

Seen a few over the years, imagine it's quite straight forward with the rover engine being so compact (for a V8 anyway!). The ones I've seen the engine sits very snug low down and to the rear of the engine bay, just where you want it.
I'd like to do it myself "one day", it's a light weight engine so should improve the handling, easy to get parts and tune up, and easy to work on. Ideal replacement for a PRV in fact! (which should have been a 3.5 V8 originally, why didn't they save their development budgets and fit the rover???!) I think it's worth nearly 200bhp out of the box and can easily increase that with some heads and a cam, you can choose twin carbs, or Lucas rip offs of either the k-jet or hotwire injection systems, or an aftermarket system. Theres plenty of websites and specialists for the Rover V8 if you want to research it. Heres a few:
v8tuner.co.uk
v-8.org.uk
v8register.net
v8engines.com
Lund engines used to have a good website but now i can't find it!

[JIM C]

I remember reading an article about fitting american big V8`s into Volvo`s in the states. I would try a search looking in the states. There was a GLT estate for sale on ebay with a V8 a while back. I think a V8 in a 240 would make an ace car.

[LankyTim]

Ive considered a yank V8 but they are too big and heavy and would upset the handling, theyre also much more expensive to buy. A Rover V8 would be easier to track down in manual form, will be lighter than the existing B200 lump and is physically smaller than a yank V8.

Ive got a spare B230 turbo engine in the garage and would bolt straight onto the gearbox but it just wouldnt be the same as a V8. I had a Rover P5 a few years ago and it just sounded awesome! A carbed V8 would be easier to install I image as it would be mostly fabrication work as opposed to ECUs and wiring- which I hate to mess with!

[JIM C]

They fit Rover V8`s into Volvo Amazons in Sweden. I had a V8 MG a long time ago and still miss the burble of a V8. Would be a great project.
All the best.

[john h]

I see the attraction. My last project was a Scimitar fitted with a 4.6 EFi Rover V8 (TVR spec) & T5 manual box.

Some comments:

A fantastic engine in it's time, the Rover is showing it's age now. The head doesn't breath well, even with tuning work it's basic design is restrictive. That's why forced induction (turbo or supercharger) is needed to get real power from the Rover. And the Rover 5 speed box is too weak for much above 200bhp.

Ignoring low compression Land Rover 3.5 V8s (90bhp!!) the standard Rovers V8s range from about 150 - 210 bhp (depending on capacity/spec), but all above 160bhp will be electronic fuel injection as standard.

If you want, say, 180-200bhp in a 240 the Volvo 2.3 turbo really is the sensible choice. A Range-Rover 4.0 or 4.6 will match it for power and torque but be much more work to fit and use a lot more fuel.

If you want serious power - 250+bhp - I would look elsewhere... either to the US or Europe.

The old Ford or Chevy small blocks are not as heavy as you'd think, and tuning parts are dirt cheap from the US (Chevy in particular).

If you want more, the more recent Chevy LS is the same size/weight as a Rover and makes 380bhp out of the crate... and will do so for 200,000 miles, unlike a tuned Rover engine!

The recent US modular Ford V8 is obtainable cheaply, and very tunable, but I don't know much about those.

Manual boxes are not too difficult, the Borg-Warner or Tremec 5 or 6 speed can handle pretty much everything south of 450bhp.

Or you could find a crashed, manual BMW 540i and transplant all the oily bits and elecrtronics... 286bhp.

Let us know how what you decide and how you get on!

John

[LankyTim]

Nah... Rover V8s are cheap to buy and if I put mega power though the car everything will need to be uprated, brakes suspension e.t.c Ill proably have to change the axle as it is. Id also have to modify the tunnel to fit an American box. I believe a Rover box will fit without modification.

Im just a cheap git really!

Saying that if a good Yank V8 and manual box came up...

[LankyTim]

Could anyone tell me if the rover V8s sump will need modifying? My 240 is at a body shop so I cant take a look at the engine cradle. Might have found a tuned SD1 V8 and manual box...

[prisspringle]

i'm looking seriously at the bmw v8's so much so i'm bidding on some on ebay, so far there farly solid but theres next to no point in n/a tuning them as thats a large money pit and supercharging/turbocharging is limited to 12psi due to the block, tho its possable to sleeve them and drop the comp with pistons and you can see the rest will be losts of smoke.but with nearly 250bhp and likewise for tq from the 3l and best part of 300 bhp from the 4l who needs forced induction! tho 400bhp is around 8psi with a certain sc kit hee hee

chris