Transplant time

[cheese]

the Hunter project has finally borne some fruit in the shape of a 13B rotary motor and box
now for the fun bit of constructing mounts and figuring the general layout
a few friends have said it's a waste of a motor putting it in a Hillman Hunter,so what's the view here.
Just curious /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[aeronca65t]

Here in the 'States, we have cars we call "sleepers". This would generally be an ordinary or bland car with a killer engine.
The idea is: someone pulls up next to you at a traffic light. You look like you are driving your Mother's car until the light turns green. Then your car leaves the other guy in the dust.
Your car would make a pretty good sleeper....but the idea is to make it look as standard as possible. Don't put on fancy wheels or a giant exhaust pipe or any other "giveaways". For the best effect, it should look like Granny's Hillman.
A friend of mine had an old 4-door Ford Falcon sleeper. It had a 5 liter engine, four-wheel disc brakes, Koni shocks and lots of other go-fast parts hidden under a very ordinary exterior. Very slick it was.
By the way, although the car would be peppy on the street, I'm not encouraging you to use the car for all-out street racing. Racing belongs at the track or drag strip and folks who race on public roads are morons in my view.
I have no idea about the actual fitting of a 13B to your Hunter. I had an American version of the Avenger many years ago and it seemed as though the transmission tunnel might be a tight fit for the Mazda trans, unless you cut up the tunnel a bit (or move the engine/trans forward quite a bit).
G'luck.

 

[huck6]

The Subaru WRX was a pretty good sleeper until they slapped silly spoilers and bigger than necessary scoops on it.

I always dreamed of pulling away from a Mustang or hopped up Honda in "mom's" Impreza.

 

[waltesefalcon]

I say go for it. It will be well worth it when you look in your rearview mirror and see the expersion on someones face whose doors you just blew off. I have actually thought about putting a Wankle in one of my spitfires a time or two.

 

[piman]

Hello all,
I'm sure I won't get much agreement here but I hate the idea of putting one manufacturers engine in a different car. If you like a particular car because it's features are what you like, why make it a nothing car by messing it up with a strange engine.
I understand the thinking behind 'Q' cars, and have a couple myself by utilising the high performance engine from a different model of the same manufacturer. Or just by straight forward performance modifications.
Mongrels are not my thing at all.

Alec

 

[cheese]

I can see your point Piman,but with Hunters in mint condition as mine is fetching nothing more than scrap metal money over here,i really have nothing to lose and everything to gain by executing this feat.
the external and internal features of the car i like very much,just not the ones under the bonnet.

i wouldn't even consider doing this to any of the Vauxhalls
as you cannot improve something which is already perfect.

 

[Eric]

[ QUOTE ]
Hello all,
I'm sure I won't get much agreement here but I hate the idea of putting one manufacturers engine in a different car. If you like a particular car because it's features are what you like, why make it a nothing car by messing it up with a strange engine.
Alec

[/ QUOTE ]

So I'm assuming you wouldn't want to own such mongrels as Cobras, Tigers, early Lotus Europas, current Lotus Elises, Allards, early TVRs, any Morgan, etc?

 

[pmenhusen]

In the states, the warring camps are "purists" and "rodders". The purists want their cars to be as close as possible to what rolled off the assembly line, even to the extent of taking a wax pencil to reproduce the markings on the frame. Rodders tend to disregard the historical value of cars, and have been known to take a complete original car and perform a radical custom. There has now emerged a third camp called "restomod". A restomod involves little or no modification to the original design of the body and interior, but modifies the drive train and amenities to modern standards.

My personal feeling is that the treatment for each car should depend on the rarity and/or historical significance. At the street rod show that I attended over the weekend, several entries had a photo album showing the build-up. Without exception, each build-up started with a shell that came from a pasture. If you're willing to start from scratch, you ought to be able to build what you want. The only street rod that I had misgivings about was a '41 Lincoln Continental. While the quality of the work was outstanding, I would have preferred to see an original V12 under the hood. However, the street rod configuration makes it much more reliable and easier to find parts for when needed. This is critically important to those of us who like to drive our old cars to car shows out of town.

Good luck on your engine transplant! Please post pictures of your progress.

 

[rovernut]

Cheese.............You go for it............A little like a Rover or such these cars even in mint condition do not fetch much more than scrap MG/Triumph money so you might as well keep the car and transplant the motor and then have some fun with it............THEN watch how many people ask you what it is and where can they get one...........GO FOR IT /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/canpatriot.GIF /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

 

[piman]

Hello Eric,
that is a completely different situation, the manufacturer chose to buy their engines from a manufacturer who could afford to produce their own engines, not something that small car manufacturers can do. (The Sunbeam excepted) By the way you forgot Bristol, and to my mind the earlier Bristol with their own six cylinder engine was the last real Bristol. Aston Martin, at one time considered that route, driven by accountants, thankfully common sense prevailed and the kept making their own in house engines.

Alec

 

[78Z]

I like the idea. Go for it! Let us know how things go.

 

[Roger]

Transplant all you like. Hunters weren't great when new, and all they have since acquired is age, and scarcity.

 

[Super 7]

I'm not much on rotaries personally, they seem to have a difficult time going as far as piston engines without being overhauled, although the weight is light.

Have you considered another 4 cylinder/5 speed maybe from a Japanese truck? Piman might be happy if you got a take out from somebody building a Tiger copy.

Don't forget to upgrade the brakes though.

 

[cheese]

Considered the four cylinder,V6,V8 option,only to find someones beaten me to it.
To my knowledge nobody has ever attempted a rotary swap into a Hunter.


Now watch me get proved wrong!

 

[trrdster2000]

Cheese, always like the style of the Hunter. Worked on convertable many years back. Always thought that either they copied us or we copied them on the 55-56-57 Chevy. Give it a go and G'Day. Wayne