71 TVR Vixen V8 Conversion

[JoeO]

Greeting fellow TVR forum members... Happen to notice not much going on in TVR forum land and I'm pretty sure behind the scenes things are happening..

Sooo... I thought I'd post activity related to the restoration \ V8 conversion for my 71 Vixen..

Its going slow but progressing.. The V8 (Ford 302 roller) has been rebuilt (aluminum heads - its my understanding the 302 with these heads weighs 60 lbs less than the original 6 cylinder)..

Currently the chassis is at Bent fabrications for some mods (engine and differential (Jaguar Xj12) mounts)... Tim has also fabricated the headers too..

Cheers
Joe O

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hey, Joe (Hmmm... someone ought to write a song to that)

Very interested in your project. As it happens, this weekend a bunch of British engine conversion folks are going to be here in Townsend, Tenn. this weekend (starting today) for an informal gathering. If you're available and would like to check out some great samples of V8 and V6 shoe-horning, come on down! We'll be at the Talley Ho Inn until Sunday.

And if you're not already onboard, the British V8 website is a great resource - link to the thread of the meetup is here: http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?10,65571


Mickey

 

[JoeO]

Hey Mickey, thanks for the heads up... I won't be able to attend.. Sure wish I could... Would be very interested in learning of any online coverage.. I've been to the British V8 website and have been very impressed with content and efforts \ results of the member contributions. Some are simply amazing.


Cheers
Joe O

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Well, just in case you missed it, the next "official" gathering will be in St. Louis, June 3-7.

If you're ever down this way, let me know.

Mickey

 

[Grantura_MKI]

Are you using the heads to secure the motor to the chassis?

 

[JoeO]

Hey Grantura_MKI... Yes, using this method opens up the bottom some for additional clearance... Feedback from Tim Chiles of Bent Fabrications - common for off-road tube chassis...

I've also seen where these are available for backside of the heads.

Fortunate for me, Tim was available to help out on my project..



Cheers
Joe O

 

[Grantura_MKI]

Good luck with that.

 

[JoeO]

Good luck with that.

WOW Grantura_MKI... don't know what to make of your post regarding my response (head engine mounts)... First impression (perhaps very lasting).. a bit snarky.... Not something I would expect among fellow enthusiasts... Maybe this site is not something I want to be a part of...

Happy to just hang out \ be a part of the Triumph Experience site... Over there I've always experienced great camaraderie among fellow enthusiasts.


Joe O

 

[EricG]

A Tiger friend of mine did the same front mounts to get header clearance and I thought it was a great idea. It is a tight fit on a TVR so keep up the good work and keep posting photos and info about these rare cars! Eric

 

[Grantura_MKI]

Not what I meant.
This is a GREAT forum.
Under racing conditions this my work. But as a road car, the heads are not the best for hanging motor mounts.
I do like to see early cars under there original motor.

 

[JoeO]

I stopped by the shop today (Bent Fabrications) to drop off the engine... Tim has the differential mounts in position.. (I was incorrect previously... its an XJ6 diff not XJ12)..

Cheers
Joe O

 

[JoeO]

The engine - Originally the plan was to use stock exhaust manifolds reversed (sides swapped).. Come out top front and down under.. Now the plan is to use custom headers..

Cheers
Joe O

63 Triumph TR3B (undergoing restoration)
71 TVR Vixen (undergoing restoration \ V8 302 conversion)
72 TVR Vixen Driver (Alternate weekend beer runner)
11 BMW Z4 sdrive35is (Primary weekend beer runner)

 

[Grantura_MKI]

It named a Salisbury diff.

 

[pdplot]

Pretty awesome looking engine. It looks like you're doing the conversion right. Many of them are unsuccessful if not dangerous. Everything has to be beefed up and the differential ratio has to be lower numerically. I had an MG TD conversion that kept the original 5.125 differential. The motor raced and the car went nowhere.

 

[HealeyRick]

That's some nice header fabrication. I ended up with some Sunbeam Tiger manifolds to get enough clearance in my Healey. I'm sure you'll see a big horsepower gain over those log manifolds.

 

[JoeO]

Pretty awesome looking engine. It looks like you're doing the conversion right. Many of them are unsuccessful if not dangerous. Everything has to be beefed up and the differential ratio has to be lower numerically. I had an MG TD conversion that kept the original 5.125 differential. The motor raced and the car went nowhere.

Hey PDPLOT.. oh yeah for sure.. don't want anything even near dangerous!

 

[JoeO]

That's some nice header fabrication. I ended up with some Sunbeam Tiger manifolds to get enough clearance in my Healey. I'm sure you'll see a big horsepower gain over those log manifolds.

View attachment 60824

Wow... really nice looking HealeyRick! Is that Tremec transmission? I have a standard 5 speed and bought a White lightning street rod edition shifter to move it up... Else I would have had to go with a Cobra style shifter.. Would have liked to source a Tremec but the budget needed to go for higher priority items..

I see you were able to keep the oil filter positioned on the block.. not sure I can.. we'll see...

 

[JoeO]

Stopped by the shop today... removed all remaining parts off the chassis. Getting ready to send it out for media blasting (plastic).. We really want to get it down to bare metal to inspect for any issues (already found one crack that will need to be repaired)..

 

[JoeO]

It named a Salisbury diff.

oh yeah.. for what ever its called its got to take on what I believe the TR6 diff would have had a difficult time doing.. :rolleye:

 

[HealeyRick]

Wow... really nice looking HealeyRick! Is that Tremec transmission? I have a standard 5 speed and bought a White lightning street rod edition shifter to move it up... Else I would have had to go with a Cobra style shifter.. Would have liked to source a Tremec but the budget needed to go for higher priority items..

I see you were able to keep the oil filter positioned on the block.. not sure I can.. we'll see...

The Tremec is a Ford Motorsport T5Z that I bought new. When I set the motor and transmission in the car, I placed it so the shift lever would come out of the original location in the tunnel. Fortunately, it all worked out from there. It has a Tri-ax shifter with a 289 Cobra-style shift lever.