rover v8 in mini clubman

[roger mcnab]

hi all
any ideas on how to convert a cable shift to a rod shift as there seems that no rod shift
s are available anywhere for the austin 1800 box no mk3s were sold in australia or princess types either
any ideas or parts would be a great help
cheers roger

[MadMatt]

Hi Rodger, we have mad an Alloy V8 ontop of an Austin1800 gearbox (about 35 years ago)
pics on photobucket but for some reason they`re not allowing to share them anymore
however we fitted a T4 Turbocharger to ours as well
the "rod-change" system we sourced from a very late model 1800 from Ireland
some very nice guys over there heard we were after the mechanism & sent it all to us free of charge
it`s a clever system but the legs inside the box needed one of them slightly elngthened to make it work
i`ll see if i can post a pic of our car somehow
cheers
Matt
in Murarrie, Bne

[MadMatt]

https://ibb.co/jsxsf7

[roger mcnab]

hi mad mat
that sure is one wild looking unit a pity that the gear shift is so hard to get i will probably have to design a system of rods and linkages to suit the lay out it should be reasonably easy once i get the engine finally located and the gear stick located then it will be just a matter of getting it all sorted and making the bits
i just have to lower the engine a bit so it clears the under side of the bonnet then i can work out the gear shift unless one turns up
if i can get the son motivated i might get some pics up
cheers roger

[timmy201]

https://ibb.co/jsxsf7

[tintoptom]

That looks awesome!

Must have been great fun?

[Daveislandblue66]

This is how you do it.

Dulux body paint optional.

2003_0817_135733AA.JPG

2003_0817_135719AA.JPG

[roger mcnab]

daveislandblue66
that sure is busy and very tight for space well mine is not injected and is a bit further to the drive side so the drive shafts will be the same length
i have figured out the gear shift and now have to draw it up so i can make up the 3 link rods and bits to join it up
i will have a removable front but separate bonnet but still a long way to go as this was a shell with no suspension or sub frames so a lot of hunting for parts also clubmans are thin on the ground here and the different parts are like rocking horse teeth like the door handles and burst proof door locks but i have some good suppliers who seem to find the bits the door handles need to be replated but there is a place that can do them but at a price as they are dicast
but thats life with minis i hope to get some pics on soon
cheers roger

[Daveislandblue66]

Not my car, but one that was at a show back in 2003. The engine was quite literally 'thrown in', whilst it was a feat of engineering I doubt whether it survived. The body shell was painted in yellow gloss using a brush.

On a different note, I have a friend that has a Mini van with a Rover V8, though this is rear-wheel drive, so a very different animal. And done to a higher standard.

2002_0505_142432AA.JPG

[mab01uk]

You may have seen this one before......but you have to admire the engineering skills and its practically all British Leyland parts, transverse mounted engine and front wheel drive just like proper Mini's !
More here:
http://reocities.com/MotorCity/factory/2760/Viku2.html

Rover V8 3.5L engine on transverse Austin Princess fwd gearbox for the Mini Clubman V8








"Plan included fitting the engine transversely like the original Mini layout, finding a suitable gearbox/diff and mating everything together. Gearbox is originally from an Austin Princess. It is of Mini design, located underneath the engine. Surprisingly the Rover V8 block and Austin Princess gearbox fitted pretty easily (?) together with only a few adapter plates. Flywheel is a combination of Range Rover and Princess parts. The clutch is a combination of late model Rover clutch plate and Saab turbo diaphragm. A new final drive was specially designed and machined for this engine, ratio is around 2,7:1. The engine is tilted backwards about 10 degrees. Carb is a 390 cfm Holley which also needed modifications to gain bonnet clearance. Engine is rebuilt and fitted with a hotter camshaft. Owner Viku Perala from Finland, fabricated one-off exhaust manifolds with stainless steel and mild steel tubing. His Mini has "only" a single exhaust because the dual would not fit and he wanted some stealth effect… Well, the exhaust note is hard to miss !!! Cooling is taken care of with a Mini 2-row super cool radiator and a specially made auxiliary radiator. Surprisingly enough suspension components and suspension pickup points are all ORIGINAL. Furthermore, bulkhead is also original, no cutting was required !!! Like you see in the photos, the package is pretty tight but everything fits. What is even more surprising is that this car does not feel over engined. It runs just about the same way an original Mini does. Only difference being the extra torque....."

[roger mcnab]

hi mab01uk
this was the start of all this project it looked great and i thought that i could do this but slightly different not much but different when i ever get pics up the differences will be seen
cheers for now roger

[roger mcnab]

well its been a while still no pics got a lot on the phone but loading them on this site is hard as i do not know how to do it if some one here in aus has a mobile i can send them the pics for them to put on for me
should be getting the manifold for weber 500 carb next week its been a hard save to rake up 400 aud got the altenator mounted the other day soon need to tackle the exhaust headers this will be interesting the front will be a snack but the back will be a night mare but not impossible
next big expense is the passenger side suspension which i need to buy as the car was only a shell used mini parts are scarce here and new is not cheapbut to fit the radiator i need to have it in place to check the room do not need the wheel to hit it
fitted the drivers seat today its out of a ford laser that i dismantled some time ago it was a 3 door model the seat has a lot of movement and makes it easy to get in the back
need to get a sheep skin seat cover made for the rear seat so all will be same
well cheers for now roger
ps a slogan out here was( moking is not a wealth hazzard )

[timmy201]

Hi Roger, I will send you a message with my number

[roger mcnab]

hi guys
look at tea 20 with rover v8 and see this tractor it is amazing
after messing with l h tank trying to fit it on r h side i gave up and decided to make one my self $20 aud later and tracing flat out line on sheet cut with angle grinder cleaned up with flap disc ready for bottom to be welded up
will use fittings from old l h tank and after a lot of welding will have one r h tank all flat angles will be out of sight just as well
happy welding roger

[roger mcnab]

to day i finished making a r/h fuel tank for the mini it looks good when in the boot but a bit different out of the boot i tried to make a l/h tank fit but it would not sit right because the shock housing was in the way so i went and got some .9 mm sheet and cut it up to resemble a fuel tank
the resemblance ends past the flat side which is the same as the normal tank getting the filler spout in the right took some thought but it came together i have it tacked together and now it goes to be tig welded and presure tested all fittings from old tank
cheers roger

[timmy201]

Here are some photos from Roger

[Maddog]

Tim, thanks for posting Roger's photos!

Roger, this is epic!! Keep the photos coming now please?! I have loved the idea of doing something like this ever since I first read about Viku Perula's car maybe 15-20 years ago - the ultimate sleeper GT Mini. If only I had the skills to undertake such extensive mods... All credit to you!

I would love to know how you persuaded an engineer so that he is willing to sign off on this. I don't believe it would be possible in Tasmania. You must be lucky enough to live in a more liberal state of Australia.

Cheers
Maddog

[roger mcnab]

hi maddog
he said it had to tick 4 boxes 1/ a pcv valve 2/100mm ground clearance 3/ no more than 10% heaver than original engine 4/ collapsible steering column
so thats what i am doing i am cabinet maker not an engineer i just sit there until a light comes on and do it not always good but angle grinders cut mistakes
easily
i am changing the engine location now 12 mm forward 60 mm down do not want it to look like a hot rod
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi i will have another go at telling what the pics are about maybe 3rd time lucky twice the site has said that i am a robot here goes
1/ body no front
2 / engine on 1800 g/box on s/frame
3/ engine on s/frame rear
4/ engine on g/box with template for alloy plates for sandwich plate and bell housing yet to be welded on
5/ front guards on
6/ engine and s/frame fitted to body
7/ same as 6 ignore radiator
8/ bell housing before welding
9/ engine in car yet to be lowered for more clearance slam panel has been cut away since
10/ engine with out front
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi had a busy couple of days i needed to lower the engine down some more so out with the angle grinder with cutting disc and cut both sides and front of the sub frame then cut the rear engine mount bar from between the towers and lowered it down to the top arm mounting hole then welded it back in
i then made a bar to bolt to the front mudguard mounting holes next will be to put the front back on after the engine unit is installed to check air cleaner height
then will rebuild the sides to link the rear sub frame with lower front engine mount bar and the front mount so i can cut the middle of the front bar out to give clearance for other parts
will put more pics up soon
cheers roger