Buick/Rover aluminum v8 to 914 conversion Options

[streetrover]

Hello everyone! OK, I've got an empty 914 in my driveway and a 4.0 liter Rover engine in my garage. A Buick 4bbl intake is en route as is an Edelbrock carb. I've got lots of questions about clearance, most notably about the distributor. The Rover engine came stock with a "crankshaft angle sensor" and individual coils. It'd be great to use this instead of the distributor but I don't know if I can run this ignition system without the "computer" that also controls the fuel injection. If I need to go with the distributor instead that's fine but then how do I overcome clearance restrictions? I would REALLY love to talk to someone with this conversion completed!!!

Thanks,
Bob

[Cheapsnake]

Hey Bob, just sent you an email before I saw your post here. Yup, the dizzy is going to be the clearance issue with the firewall (don't even think about a belt driven water pump). The megajolt jr. setup seems like a very good option to get away from that problem. Right now, it looks like I can just clear the firewall by moving the engine back 3/4" - 1", referenced by the tranny mounts. I'll know in 2-3 weeks when I finally drop it in.

Beyond the dizzy issue, you're going to have to carve up the front engine shelf to clear the balancer and if your alternator is mounted high you're going to have a hit with the firewall. I ended up fabbing a down-low bracket. I think there's a way to make the stock engine mount bar work but I ended up fabbing my own simply because I didn't like the idea of welding on a casting.

Jrust is also doing a Buick conversion so Jamie, if you're listening chime in. And yes, post some pics of your progress.

Tom

[streetrover]

OMG !!! Thanks to everyone! I've been a 914World member for fewer than 24 hours and already I'm reinvigorated and filled with new ideas! As I mentioned to Cheapsnake this project has seemed so overwhelming and I've felt completely alone until now. Tomorrow I'm going to try to post a few pix. In the meantime I've got a question. Is the Kennedy Engineering adapter plate and flywheel my best bet for this conversion? I need to know this soon as I want to bolt engine and trans together and stick them in the car to get a better feel for clearance than a measuring tape will allow.

[Cheapsnake]

OMG !!! Thanks to everyone! I've been a 914World member for fewer than 24 hours and already I'm reinvigorated and filled with new ideas! As I mentioned to Cheapsnake this project has seemed so overwhelming and I've felt completely alone until now. Tomorrow I'm going to try to post a few pix. In the meantime I've got a question. Is the Kennedy Engineering adapter plate and flywheel my best bet for this conversion? I need to know this soon as I want to bolt engine and trans together and stick them in the car to get a better feel for clearance than a measuring tape will allow.

Yup, Kennedy is your best bet and your only bet since Renegade no longer does the Rover. They'll get you everything you need and are great to work with. I've got dimensions off my engine/tranny setup that I'll email you. They'll help you get a vague idea of the placement required to clear the firewall. In the end, I think you'll find, as Jamie and I did, that a 1" -1 1/2" move back is going to be required. You could possibly just squeeze it in with a relocation of the brake proportioning valve and throttle cable and severe cutting of the front shelf, but then access for maintenance would be iffy. The move back is not such a bad thing, the CV joints are OK with it, you'll just have to cobble up some new tranny mounts.

Let me qualify my condemnation of a belt-driven water pump. I was talking about the stock engine mounted pump and pulley and extended crank pulley which would require a whole lot of moving back to clear the firewall. Actually a remote belt-driven pump is a very viable option as long as you can use the balancer's single pulley to drive the water pump and the alternator. I simply cut the pulley and impeller out of my stock pump and am using the housing as a plenum for a remote pump. Jeff's idea of fabbing up elbows for the water inlets is also a possibility and might gain you a slight amount of clearance. I went with an electric pump just for the sake of simplicity but I'm still not sure that was the best choice over belt-driven. We'll see this summer.

Looking forward to your pics and I hope to have some ready to post in the next couple of days.

Tom