So my buddy picked this up for free the other day and never looked under the hood. He thought it was like an '80 TR7 - and I have no clue myself; it has no paperwork with it and for all I know it could be as old as '70 or so. So far as anyone I've asked so far knows, a Triumph like this did not come with a V8 motor, except for a TR8 model, and I think this is a small block Ford engine - the one person who mentioned the TR8 did not seem to think they came with a Ford motor. The intake under that rotted piece of plywood is a really low clearance, aluminum 4bbl - this is a tiny car, it must have hauled some ass in it's day. I'll have to check out what transmission is in it, too, I never even looked at that myself. Anyways, I'm not 100% on what this engine is, if anyone knows for sure that there's something worth saving I'd like to know before he swaps it away for who knows what - could be this is a Mustang muscle motor or something.
that looks kinda like the aluminum olds motor-similar to the aluminum buick v-8. somethin like 215 cubes. then again, it is not unheard of for the tr7 guys to swap in a tr8 drivetrain. judging by the fan and pulley set up, I would guess at a stocker. if you could get your buddy to brush the plywood off the intake, I could tell you for sure- but in the "motor shot" it looks like bare nekkid alooneymum right next to the cast iron exhaust manifold.- any ford guy is gonna yank some aluminum heads off a small block before he parks it for more than 30 minutes!
The aluminum block Rover V8 is derived from the General Motors 215 c.i. aluminum V8 as used in Buicks and Oldsmobiles of the early 60s. Check and see if the block is aluminum. The way the distributor is poking up out of the block makes me think it is the original TR8 engine.
looks like a 215 to me.If it has a stick trans you could sell the whole mess to the mgb conversion guys.I've done the conversion and it'd be nice to have most of the pieces in one place.Dan Lagru (sp) has anything you would ever need for the 215.That came from both buick and olds,the buick version looked like a nailhead and the olds looked the motors still in use today.I've had both versions of the motor,i have the motor mounts to put one in a vega............
Yeah, I was in a hurry to come home and just grabbed some shots and went, I should have knocked that wood off there. I just figure I should make sure it's not something I'd actually use in a rod before it dissapears -
Single 4 barrel manifold was one of the swaps to get rid of the dual 2 barrel carbs on the original. 215 Buick from Offy or Edelbrock was common.
Oldsmobile had a twin turbo set up for those in 1964.-and it used alcohol injection to keep it cool-they sold it as "rocket fuel"!! ha! groovy itty bitty bastards. would mork out pretty good in a hoodside car...or polished up without hoodsides. not nailhead good lookin, but not mod motor ugly,either.
FWIW TR8s used the Buick 215 aluminum block engine, and were never all that fast by today's standards. That's probably why someone held onto that car in the first place. A regular TR7 is pretty unloved (well, except by me British cars are my guilty pleasure)
shit. I will own a tr6 and a tr3 before I die. hell, they are even light enough my wife can push me around in the back yard while I make motor sounds. there is just something fun about driving along, touching the asphault, or looking UP at the bottom of semi truck trailers. but yeah- I would imagine the motor would not be a screamer, but I would imagine a couple hundred horsepower would not be impossible to drag out of them. and again, polished aluminum motor. set that in the long line of 350 chevies and see who the cute chicks wanna hang out with.
Not to derail the thread...BUT...I used to have a TR6. It had its problems, but when it ran it was really great. My friend's dad had a TR3 in the garage he was gonna fix up 'someday'. You could *totally* put your arm out that car and touch the ground! I actually saw a TR8 on a used car lot in north hollywood this last year. It's been a loooong time since I've seen one for sale like that! If I found the right deal on a TVR, I'd definately take a look. Those cars have grown on me. I'd like to hot rod one
we built a tr6 for a doctor pikes peak style-cammed the little six,header,twin s.u. carbs, tube shocks, overdrive for cruising...that little booger hauled ass! my old boss is a lurker here ( I think Daddio) he had a kick ass tr3 he let me cruise for most of the summer I built my cutlass. I was a skeptic, but turned up hooked! was lacking power, but damn, you would have sworn my ugly ass was james dean driving it. parking was never an issue,either. it fit nicely on most of the sidewalks in Austin!
Ahhhahahaha!!! yeah a TR3 is gonna get you noticed, even here in LA! Yeah those are some narrow-ass cars!
I talked to a guy at a local orphan car show who had a TVR with the Rover. He stated that there was damn little from a Buick 215 that would fit the Rover 215. Just a word of warning before you all head out to the junkies to search for Land Rovers and such... Cosmo
A buddy of mine put a chevy 307 in a tr7. never did take it out on the road much because he kept ripping the exhaust off it. later shawn
When I was in high school, like '68 or so, a guy in town had a TR4 with a solid-lifter, Hilborn injected 327 Chev and Muncie in it. He drove around without a hood, becuase he would have to squirt gas down the open injector holes to start it up. To say it was impressive leaving the local A&W is an understatement. "Before I die" I'm hoping to put a potent 3-liter-ish 6-banger into an early chrome bumper MGB/GT or maybe a GT-6...
Try and find out more about that TR8. A lot of 7,s were converted to 8 spec by installing the Buick/Rover 215 or 3.5 as we know them. A factory one however is a rare piece and worth a good buck or two. Some good advice here on British Sport Cars......http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/comics.html
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