1972 Rover P6 2300TC - Saab B234 Turbo

[sowen]

Thanks for the comments

The v8 engine and gearbox has been yo-yoing in and out over the past three days now, but I'm getting somewhere with it at last. I knew I needed to trim the towers back a little to give clearance for the exhaust, but I didn't expect I'd be going this far



The area will be fully seam welded and boxed in, and I plan to add a strengthening box in the wheelarch to make up for the missing metal, then possibly a strut brace or something similar attaching to the steering box and steering idler. I've also cut the passenger side to match, and now I have what looks like enough clearance for making a set of tubular manifolds. All this to push the engine back 2-3 inches so I can fit a bigger radiator and some pulleys for the blower . The head on the drivers side is still catching on the clutch master cylinder mounting bracket, so I'll modify the bracket to turn the master cylinder away from the head, and I'll look at moving the whole engine and gearbox forward about 1/4-1/2 inch to relieve the tightness around the rear of the engine.





Just by chance I had a spare remote oil filter adapter with the inlet/outlet exiting to the side and front so I don't need to trim any of the front crossmember either , although it does mean that I'm stuck with using the old style pre-serpentine front cover, unless I can modify one of my spare serpentine covers to clear



I didn't realise before, but I could mount the radiator on the guard that sits between the bumper irons and move it forwards up against the slam panel for even more clearance ;D

[Seth]

Nice to see this moving along.

Why is the V8 such a tight fit? Is the shell different to a V8 P6?

[sowen]

Mar 16, 2010 22:25:31 GMT Seth said:

Nice to see this moving along.

Why is the V8 such a tight fit? Is the shell different to a V8 P6?

It's a tight fit because I'm putting the v8 in the same position as the 2000 engine which sits further back between the towers, unlike the p6b where it sits ahead of the towers. The basic shells are almost identical, well, this shell was almost identical to my old p6b donor. It simply gives me more room at the front to do as I want, and should I get an LS1, I'll know there's more room for it to fit

[stealthstylz]

Does it come out with the gearbox attatched? Remember to leave clearance to get to bellhousing bolts etc if it doesn't.

Matt

[sowen]

Mar 17, 2010 10:21:30 GMT stealthstylz said:

Does it come out with the gearbox attatched? Remember to leave clearance to get to bellhousing bolts etc if it doesn't.

Matt

Yeah, the whole engine and gearbox come out as one lump. That way I can line the gearbox mounts up to get the engine located exactly where I want it quickly and easily.

[sowen]

I've almost finished plating in the footwell now, just need to finish seam welding the last plate then it all can be painted:







The clutch master cylinder bracket has been modified to turn the master cylinder round to clear the cylinder head by cutting the top flange off and welding it back on:





The two towers are nearly complete now. I've plated the areas I've removed with 2mm steel to regain some of the lost strength. I'll swing the engine in again before boxing in the upright angle and lower part above the suspension tie rod mount:







Getting there now, just the whole engine bay looks a bit of a mess . It may need stripping back and respraying now.

[sowen]

I haven't had as much garage time as I'd hope to get recently , but the v8 is back in place so I can start making the headers ;D

I started by bolting my flanges to the heads, then by trial and error, I ground down four of the bends so that they point diagonally down where they meet the heads and tuck in underneath the heads and run close to the block. Each bend was then put in the vice, and the flange end bashed with a big hammer to square the end to match the rover v8 rectangular exhaust ports and point towards the centre to clear the chassis rail at the rear and give clearance for the engine mounts up front before being welded in place:







It is a lot more difficult doing this because the 2000 engine mounts are still in place, and sit right where the exhaust ports 5 and 6 exit the heads so I can't fully build up the headers and fit them all in one go . I've made the decision going by the space I have to fabricate the headers in 4-2-1, and within reason keeping all the primaries similar lengths. I've ordered some more stainless 180⁰ 2" bends to make the secondaries so I can finish them off.

The only remaining problem is the starter motor where it hits the rear tie rod mount on the drivers side. Either I need to shorten the tie rod to match the standard v8 installation, or relocate the starter lower down

[10mpg]

Looking good as usual, where did you get the tubing from out of interest, they look like a really good starting shape to fab headers from?

[sowen]

Mar 27, 2010 23:43:24 GMT 10mpg said:

Looking good as usual, where did you get the tubing from out of interest, they look like a really good starting shape to fab headers from?

Solid Fabrications Ebay Shop

I can't fault the tubing and the price so I keep going back for more

[sowen]

I've made a start reinforcing the front suspension damper mount and tie rod mount. A few years ago I bought a set of weld on reinforcing brackets to sit either side of the damper mount, a known weak point of the front suspension, and finally got round to fitting them.



I decided that I could improve on it and add a 2mm thick box section between the damper mount and the steering box in the inner wing to stop the chassis rail from flexing:







They just need to be fully welded in place and painted, then I can refit the suspension, finish reinforcing the tie rod mounts in the engine bay, then respray the engine bay all ready for the 2000 engine to go back in

[sowen]

More welding and painting done today

The drivers side bracing in the inner wing has been fully welded in place, primed and painted:





Then the passenger side:





Loads of clearance for the steering side rods on full lock:





Then I turned my attention to the engine bay and the suspension mount reinforcing. Using 2mm steel plate, I cut a small square, and put a bend diagonally across so it fitted flush above the suspension mount and welded it in:





I then cut a 1/2" strip of 2mm steel plate, and bent it to follow the remains of the original reinforcing upright, tacked it ip place then welded it on both sides:





Next I cut two strips of 2mm steel plate to go vertically on the front to close the reinforcing box section in and welded them in place:









Lastly, to finish reinforcing the suspension mount, I cut two plates and filed a cut-out for the suspension tie-rod to clear.



The two plates were then welded over the base of the suspension mount close as to the bolt holes as I could get them, then the whole area cleaned up and painted:





Now I can continue prepping the engine bay for the respray at last

[tonybmw]

Are these known weak points or are you just going for a belt and braces approach

[sowen]

Apr 6, 2010 17:28:56 GMT tonybmw said:

Are these known weak points or are you just going for a belt and braces approach

Belts and braces ;D

It is a known problem for p6's used on rough roads with heavy duty dampers for the lower damper mount to break, and the factory optional weld on brackets, although an improvement, did not fully rectify the problem, as the chassis leg is reported to twist. In the engine bay, the extra welding was done to help stop any flex in the area of the steering box and suspension mount where I've removed the original factory strengtheners. Probably just a little over engineered now

[sowen]

I put some primer on where I'd gone down to bare metal:





Then I sprayed it satin black:







Now it has all dried, I've been slowly reassembling the engine bay, and generally trying to keep it as tidy as possible unlike before where I'd made a bit of a mess chopping and changing stuff :







I got thoroughly bored of the engine bay so I dug the front valance out, and did the final bits of welding, then filled, smoothed and primed the panels:













There's some more work to do around the joins and wheelarch lips to get them ready for some coats of blue. I've also decided to go with the series 2 plastic grilles as they seem to suit the look I'm going for better. The heater is going to be stripped down and taken back to bare metal then resprayed when I get bored of working directly on the car. The 2000 engine just needs dusting off then it can go back in ready for the exhaust system to be built again with the extra muffler in place, then I can get on with the bodywork now the weather is getting better

[rob0r]

Contender for car of the year surely. Will we be seeing this at RRG'10?

[sowen]

Apr 20, 2010 11:20:45 GMT rob0r said:

Contender for car of the year surely. Will we be seeing this at RRG'10?

Depends on whether the car is finished (on the road at least ) and if I'm dragged into working, but I would love to take it round the track

The 2000 engine is resting on it's mounts, ready to be bolted down tight and plumbed in so I can get it mobile again. I've got some more blue paint and have sprayed a base coat of blue onto the front valance air dam:





For a change of scenery, I've cleared out the boot, tidied it up a bit, attacked a few small patches of rust, welded up the hole in the floor, added an access hole to get to the de dion tube and diff oil fillers, enlarged the battery tray and re-sprayed it satin black to match the engine bay:













The boot needs another coat or two of paint to finish, but it's taking forever to dry now it's gone cold again . A small plate will be screwed over the diff access hole to finish it off then once it's all dried I'll line it in carpet to finish off

I've got a little work to do on the rear of the boot floor behind the valance as it still has some crash damage to sort out and the twin exhaust tailpipes don't quite clear the valance well enough, so the valance is currently being slightly re-worked to make it symmetrical so both tailpipes fit the cut-outs the same each side

[10mpg]

I'm liking the progress!

The new front valance is really growing on me...

[tonybmw]

Great work

[montythemole]

Loving that nose! This is looking so right now, bet you can't wait to turn wheels in anger?

You keeping any Rover badges on? Think without it you may well get mistaken for a yank tank by the general public (good or bad?!).

Must get off my and fuel up my P6 and charge the battery!

[nutter81]

ive just read this whole thing and its fapping amazing what insperation I'm having naughty thoughts about my dolly now