I suppose I should'nt encourage this sort of thing, but a colleague that works in the same building has a Rover V8 engine complete with Toyota steel 5 speed that he wants to unload.
I suggested he use it for a mooring, so if anyone is interested, send me a PM and I'll put you in touch.
Location, Melbourne Eastern Suburbs

hehe reminds me of the rover me and my mate dragged in his gemini, it was bloody loud and had a blow off valve, but was SLOW as

Yeah---I agree. Up until the latest Honda derived mechanicals, Rovers were an ill designed, pre - ark (Noah's that is) over weight, pommy heap of crap. You might conclude that I'm no fan,---and you would be right. Give me a VG 30 TT any time.
That said, I understand that it is in reasonable condition for a Rover, and also that the asking price is very negotiable.

the rover V8 engines are actually not a bad thing, and they're bloody light... And they always seem to have a nice exhaust note. They're pretty narrow too and will fit into many place the VG30TT couldn't even dream of.

Who's that guy who wants to drop a Holden V8 into his 120Y? this would be a MUCH better alternative.

Seems like a few people here have no idea what a Rover V8 really is. It has a huge following and is light, powerful and very very reliable. Sure the cars themselves were heavy and had questionable styling (i.e I don't much like them) the engines were / are fantastic and have found their way into many a special conversion and formed the base of many successful sportscar lines (not to mention the Range Rovers).

Anyway - I'm eventually replacing my a12 motor with a 4.4L Rover v8. In standard low compression 8:1 form with 30 year old technology it puts out 220HP and mountains of torque from the same installed weight as a cast iron 1.8LT 4cyl engine. i.e. fantastic power to weight from high reliability for low cost.

I've never ever seen a turbo rover v8 so someone's got their lines crossed. There was a special TR7V8 triumph with a twin turbo Rover v8 motor putting out about 600HP on tiny amounts of boost and doing 3.5Sec 0-100kph back in the 70's but apart from that they are as rare as rocking horse ####. The twin turbo special was being built as a Le Mans competitor but never ran because of funding trouble.

NOW TO THE POINT.

I'm looking for a CELICA/SUPRA gearbox and bell housing adapter to fit my rover v8 so if you can let me know the details of the guy selling the gear that would be great.

*puts hand up* um that would be me. i have thought about putting a rover v8 in but they are impossible to get hold of in christchurch . thats why i am putting either a 253 or 308 in my 120y.

Karl

Quote: What's wrong britishcarfreak? couldn't bring yourself to say Leyland or P76? In standard form though they've got 192bhp. Good choice though, the Aussie engineered and built version of the pommy engine I've got that combination in a 240K coupe. They have their problems with block rigidity and have puny little ports, but you certainly can get them to go. There 's a bloke up here running a P76 shortened 11" in the wheelbase behind the front doors and converted to 2 door with a wild 4.4l Leyland V8. man it was fast, and he was absolutely spectacular to watch. unfortunately he blew the engine a few months ago and has since been driving his second race car - a 120Y coupe with twin Webbered FJ20. I think he's planning on rebuilding the P76 with a quad cam Lexus V8.

I think the Castlemaine Rod Shop lists the Rover/Leyland V8 to Supra 5spd bellhousiing.

talking of Rover V8's and spectacular drivers... any Aussies or Kiwis out there who've ever seen a Targa Tasmania highlights package should remember Mark Parsons awesome TR8! He's always a standout performer.

I can't believe I'm agreeing with britishcarfreak!

datsun120ycoupe, did you see the ad on ozdat classifieds for the 120Y with 253V8? I think it was in Melbourne. Not sure if it's still on there, but he may be someone to have a chat to about the swap...

Seems like a few people here have no idea what a Rover V8 is.
In fact it is the Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac alloy V8 designed about 1952 and used in those cars until about 1960. They stopped making it when light thinwall iron castings became available---they were little heavier than this engine and cheaper to make.
Rover needed a better, newer engine than the 6 cyl IOE engine (a throwback to the 1930's and well past its use by). Rover just purchased the manufacturing rights and all the tooling from GM and went into business.
I can understand that British Car Freaks may regard this as the ultimate in modern technology, but believe me, 3.8L V6's and 308 C.I. V8's are far more modern and user friendly

actually 89mm, the holden/buick 3.8L V6 is an older engine than the old Holden red 6cyl motor...

you're right about the rover being based on the buick 215 though, but I think they dropped it because they were having quality probs with their casting process.

Rover have done an awful lot of development with their V8 over the years though, and they are good engines.