Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Following on from the discussion about Jaguar V12 engines in cars usually fitted with the XK straight six, has anyone here owned a car fitted with a non-original type, size, and/or make of engine?

I think the only significantly modified car to grace the driveway of OCC towers, was the Mk3 Spit fitted with the engine from a 2500S saloon. That went very well indeed. The car still exists, albeit with a puny 1500cc engine from a later Spitfire.

RJ
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[roverdriver]

Although not a major alteration, our 1959 Rover 90 had a Rover 100 engine in it when we bought it. It has now been re-engined with another 100 engine when the previous one reached major worn-out stage.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[BigJohn]

I had a Perkins 4203 in a Series 2A Land Rover in 1981. It shook like a wet dog on tick over, but would pull a house down.

[Keith D]

My Austin A40 has been running with a BMC series 'B' 1620cc engine in it for the last forty odd years very successfully! (Instead of the Austin 1200cc it was built with) It has made the car much more usable in 'modern' traffic. I used this car as everyday transport from 1972 until the mid nineteen nineties.

Unless a person was very familiar with the two engines, I doubt whether the difference under the bonnet would be noticed. The only serious difference that stands out is the full flow oil filter.

Keith

[badhuis]

The big question should always be: why?

To get more power/torque for not much money is the answer for the Hillman Imp. Nice as the original engine is, it is fairly hard (expensive) to tune and get "proper" power.

On the Imp forum there is a long discussion about what modern engines can be fitted. Weight is important here as the engine sits behind the rear axle. Car engines mostly are too heavy and/or bulky.
Various motorcycle engines have been tried and are sometimes successful but usually they do not have enough torque for the weight of the car.

At the moment someone is successful in getting a BMW K100 engine mated to the Imp gearbox. The BM engine has enough torque, more power and about the same weight as the Imp engine, so this looks like a winner.

I am actually thinking in getting a cheap s/h K100 (these are giveaways for a few hundred), drive the bike for a few months and then install the engine in a Clan. In a much lighter shell, that should be fun.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[badhuis]

[Ellis]

I have written about this in a previous post that I have an ex Landrover Discovery 200tdi engine in my 1962 Series 2a Land Rover.

It has transformed the vehicle but any modifications are easily reversible to return to the original 49k mile 2286cc petrol engine.

In the days of my youth engine swaps were commonplace and in the case of Ford cars quite straightforward. A friend had a Consul Corsair 1500GT engine in his 105E Anglia, for example.
Another popular one was a Wolseley 1500 or better still, a Riley One Point Five engine in a Morris Minor.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Rick]

[Emmett Jenner]

My 1972 Saab 99 would usually have a 1.8 triumph derived single-carb 8v engine. The conversion was originally carried out by the previous owner and then over the last 5 or 6 years I've been gradually refining the setup. It had problems with the engine backing into the bulkhead when accelerating, it had huge overheating problems, problems with fuel vapour getting into the cabin, problems with exhaust smoke in the cabin. Essentially what I got when I bought the car was a concept and through lots of work, thinking and research I've eventually got it to the point where it drives well.




So currently it has a 2.0 16v turbo from a later Saab 900. It has had 3 variations of fuel injection systems fitted... and I mean 3 completely different systems. The most recent was the Motec M800 with the individual Bosch coils on each plug but I've sold that ECU now and I'm going to fit the 4th completely different fuel injection system. I've finally settled now on the ideal configuration after years of trying various things.

The last time the car was running the gearbox self destructed (as a consequence of incorrect assembly) the layshaft lost some teeth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBRXwPQe24






I've built a new transmission for it. There is an engine block waiting on an engine stand and it's in pretty good shape. I'm just having trouble finding the time to slap it all together.

[minormatt]

[lowdrag]

Never owned such a beast but I do recall the Austin Healey Fright (Jaguar 3.8 E-type engine in a Frogeye) and Jeff Jago put an American V8 in a sit-up-and-beg Popular in about 1970.

[Dipster]

[Ray White]

I had the ultimate wolf in sheep's clothing; an Austin A30 with a 1098 engine taken out of a crashed A40 Farina rally car. Compared with the insipid 803 cc original, this one took some beating. I tried to improve the brakes and suspension but without too much of an improvement so I learned to drive within the limits of the car.

I loved it.

[Richard H]

Similar to Keith and his A40 Tourer, my A40 Somerset has an ex-Wolseley 1500 B series fitted in place of the original 1200cc engine, complete with SU carburettor, electric fuel pump, alternator and negative earth.

I've never driven a standard Somerset on the road, but my car, although no roadburner, is able to keep up with a lot of modern traffic and the engine is much stronger than the original, and easier to get parts for. So, it's a thumbs up for me The engine conversion was a big factor in my decision to buy the car in the first place!
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Richard Hughes

[47Jag]

I put an Austin Healey 100 engine in my A70. Went very well but the brakes weren't up to the performance. Neither was the gearbox come to think of it. I can't remember how many layshaft clusters and 1st. gears I replaced. I had two gearboxes....One in the car and another getting rebuilt.

Art