Featured History Crazy shit at the junkyard

Not that hard to find Landie V8's here; Range Rovers don't suffer poor upkeep from lackadaisical owners very well.

 

Rover made improvements to the GM version of the engine when they bought the manufacturing rights. They are a nice lite reasonably compact engine. If memory serves me The aluminum heads from a 300 Buick (one year only ?) (I think 1965) are very desirable for them and the 300 crankshaft. The Rovers grew to 4.6 Liters (280 cu in) and can be made to go to 305 with the right parts. Depending on the year of manufacture they came with both carbs and fuel injection. The biggest problem with the Rovers was that the cylinders in them were known to leak due to thin aluminum walls surrounding the liners when they got to 4.6 liters. Many people thought they were buying an engine with a blown head gasket only to find that it was a cylinder problem. There are a couple of British/Australian websites with info and there was/is a company stateside that specializes in parts for them. They do also have replacement cyl liners. AND..........they also had a turbocharged version of the Olds F-85 in 62/63...........so technically you could have a Hamb legal car with a turbocharger.

 

Man that hideous HEI distributor

 

What about the Cosworth Vega, they were pretty quick cars. HRP

 

As mentioned, it's an Olds 215. It appears to have a Mopar style alternator, but, if it has the factory alternator bracket, you absolutely should grab it, as they are a one-year only ('63) part and not exactly easy to find.

 

This is a shot of one of my $300 piles of 215 basket cases. The red one is a cast iron 300 engine that I have not checked yet. Also there is a pair of the one year only aluminum heads for a 300 that I put on the 215 below.




In a separate buy a later Rover with the twin SU's. So far I have found low compression in a couple of the cylinders, so it at least needs a valve job.



This is one I put together from the pile. It had a 20 minute run in after I rehoned the cylinders. The next time will be when I can drive it to load the rings.
The Ruby body is going back on today.

 

I see Power -Twist link belt, or similar brand.
FYI That stuff is designed to run a certain direction.
Yours is backwards. It should be run so that the crank pulley actually pulls the inside of link into the pulley so there is no belt slippage.
Most brands have a directional arrow on them.

 

Thanks for the heads up Pav8427. That is good to know. I have not run it in this configuration and just used it to get a belt length and alignment for the alternator.

 

You beat me to it. Jerry Titus was building a CanAm car and had a Traco Buick V8. He was going for the lightest weight and looking build a GoKart type chassis so the height wouldn't change making the skirts and fans work better than they did on the Chaparral. Chassis stiffness was controlled by sliding different thickness tubes within the main tubes. To begin the project he bought one of Shelby American's 3 Cooper Monaco cars. Robbed the parts they wanted and took the rest to the local landfill. As with all valuable vintage racers all 3 have been restored and race today - will the fake car please stand up ...........

Adoption by Rover

• Acquisition: In 1965, a Rover executive in the U.S. discovered the engine was available and recognized its potential. Rover was looking for a modern, compact, and powerful V8 to replace its aging six-cylinder engine.
• Improvements: Rover purchased the rights and tooling for a relatively small fee. They improved the engine's production process, which solved many of the issues GM had faced.
• British icon: The engine was first used in the 1967 Rover P5B and went on to power a vast array of famous British vehicles for nearly 40 years. It was known for its excellent power-to-weight ratio and distinctive sound

 

I need that gear indicator on the column. Is the car being parted out?

 

You pay the shipping both ways? Sure!

 

Funny, that was the first piece I noticed too. It would look good on a variety of cars.

 

I actually have the indicator. What I need is the plate that covers the back of it.

 

I had the Buick version in a 62 Special while stationed in Germany back in the 60s. Ran ok but used water as fast as I could pour it in!

 

I use one on my Pontiac with a Hydramatic. It is pretty.

 

Without the rear end, transmission and rear slicks, the barren body was all that was left.

Hello,

On August 7, 1960, in Wilmington, CA if one was driving by the frontage street leading away from Lion’s Dragstrip West towards the ocean, (or East towards the Lion’s Dragstrip location) an unusual site would have crossed your vision. All of these years later, I still can see the final result of our (Atts Ono and myself) half a day of work in stripping the whole 1940 Willys Coupe that was sitting on a trailer in his backyard.

The aftermath of our accident was loaded and brought to his house as it was closer to Lion’s Dragstrip. We spent most of the morning taking the parts off of the remains as per my brother’s request. What remained was the outer pristine shell and a slightly bend front bumper still attached.

When my brother was trying to put out the flaming interior and keep control of the Willys Coupe, he finally decided the extinguisher was not going to do it and decided to jump out. It did not matter how fast he was going, but he knew it was slower than going through the finish line lights. So, he jumped. Our friends coming back on the return road saw the whole ball of flames and resulting crash. They said it was approximately 60 mph, but he had on his helmet and rolled over several times to a stop.

After Atts Ono and I finished taking apart the left over Willys Coupe, we trailered it to the closest junkyard in Wilmington. The manager did not want us to drive into the compound, but realized it was going to be a fast resale, as soon as we gave it to him. So, he had lifted the coupe off of the trailer and dropped right inside of the main gate and it sat there in all of it glory as a red primered Willys Coupe.

Jnaki

As we drove away from the junkyard, it was a sad moment with all of the future ahead of us, just stopped. The rest of the day was spent moving all of the parts into our own backyard garage as our mom was away visiting my brother in the hospital.

We moved everything from the trailer, into the garage and covered all of the parts under a large canvas tarp. Our mom could not lift the large wooden door. So it was in a safe location until we decided what to do with the left over parts, including the complete 671 supercharged SBC motor on a rolling engine cart.

Yes, we could have harvested the pristine red primered hood, fenders, doors, bumpers, and trunk lid for resale, but that part was too sad to see the end result of our hard work... YRMV

 

The bloke who was instrumental in designing the Repco Brabham V8 was Phil Irving. An incredible Aussie engineer, who worked for Velocette and Vincent HRD in the UK for a period. He also designed the aftermarket Repco crossflow head that I am using on the 1948-vintage 138ci I6 in my FED. I'm reading his autobiography at the moment - incredible period for engine design.

Cheers,
Harv

 

"Well, that's one of the worst engines ever made. It's an old aluminium V8 with a Lucas electrical system and Whitworth bolts".
- Mater, Cars 2.

Cheers,
Harv