• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

BMW or other Modern engine-What would you use?

Share this page

steveg said:
I'm wondering if these other 6-cyl engines sound reasonably Healey-like when attached to the Healey exhaust system.
Click to expand...
You'd want to go with a larger exhaust with the M motor. I think my M coupe has 2 1/4" or 2 1/2" pipes.
 
Here's the big problem with putting an in-line 6cyl motor into a 100...... it's too long. That's why the 100-6 was made longer than the 100, and the 100-6 /3000 bonnet is also much longer. The factory tried to put a 6 banger into a 100 and so they made a couple of BN3s. The body was essentially a 100 stretched at a couple of places and used the new 2.6 liter 6 cylinder motor. They had to make the front suspension into a removable sub frame so they could get the engine into the car from below, because it could not be slipped in from the top. How do I know this? I visited the Healey Museum in Holland last month and I saw one of only two BN3s known to exist. The other is in Australia and I believe it's owner is Patrick Quinn.
If I were going to put a V-8 into a Healey, I would make it a Ford V-8 because the distributor is at the front. But, I would never put a V8 into a Healey. No room for the headers and exhaust pipes. Too much heat....too much weight.
In addition to being a racer of a true vintage Healey race car, I am also one of those "nasty boys" that have a 1961 3000 street car with a Nissan 6 cylinder motor and 5 speed out of a 1978 280Z. Fits very nice and looks good. Because this engine/tranny combo is about 200 lbs lighter than the stock setup, it makes the car handle way better. Isn't that what driving a sports car is all about?
 
Thanks for that info! I was taking measurements off of the 1960 3000 in my garage because i had no idea the front was longer...they look the same, so i assumed they were the same dimensions. What do they say about assumption...oh yeah, nevermind. Anyway, good stuff. Im glad that this forum is open to such modifications when a healey has already lost it's original components due to previous molestation!

Perhaps a modern turbo charged 4 banger could be fun? Shall we open up a new topic of conversation? Suggestions for a nice 4 cylinder that could be or comes turbocharged from the factory?
 
Then there's a mazda 20b. 3 rotors and people are running major boost on them. Less than 2 liters can get over 700 hp.
 
There is another choice that, to me, is so perfect I'd like to do it myself. Gary Hodson put a Chevy inline 6 in his Healey.... it is 1" longer and 1" narrower than a Healey 6 (easily dealt with)... then he had a Healey valve cover sectioned to fit and it looked to most to be a Healey 6 since the intake and exhaust are on the same side as the Healey. But, it was 5 liters (yes... 5 liters instead of 3) and was dyno'd at 300 hp. What could be better?...looking like a somewhat modified Healey (it had Webers) but with more than double the power and sounding like a straight 6. Regrettably, Gary had tuning issues and took it back out before resolving them....he put in a modified Healey engine. I still think about doing that project with an EFI setup like I have in my car.
 
We have a couple of 100s out our way with 4-cyl, dual OHC engines. I think one is a Mazda and one says Cosworth on the cam covers.

Then again, we have a Dodge V-12 in a bugeye around somewhere, too.
 
As far as the size difference between 4 an 6 cylinder Healeys, it's in the door length and wheelbase. 6 cylinder front shroud and fenders fit the 100.
A good choice might be the BMW 3 series 1.9 engine with the 5 speed gearbox. Used in the first Z3 cars. Plenty around and bullet proof. Similar evolution between the BMW and Austin-Healey roadsters.
Have fun!
Bob
 
I stand corrected. The 6 cylinder cars were not stretched to accommodate the 6 cylinder engine. I knew that. However, the bonnet was lengthened to accept the longer motor and the radiator was relocated forward. That required the new bonnet have a raised portion at the front to clear the new radiator position.
Back to the core question. The biggest problem with engine swaps into the Healey engine bay is the ability to get it in and out through the bonnet opening. When I put a Datusn 280Z motor into a 3000 back in the 1990's, I had to install the engine first and then assemble the car around it. Why? Because, at that time, I used the stock fuel injection system and the intake runners and exhaust system could not be installed, or removed, unless the shroud was off the car.
 
Back
Top