Reply to "George, tell us about your motor..."

> Rover V8s are common here and are found in all
> sorts of small cars they were never meant for.

I've heard them described as the small block Chevy of England.

> I've often wondered whether Rover 4.6 engine would worth putting into a
> Pantera.

Well, it would certainly be lighter and smaller than the 4.6L Ford that
a few have swapped in. Kennedy makes adapters to bolt up to the ZF
bellhousing and the flat top Rover valve covers are similar to 351C Boss
valve covers:

http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/dan-tr8/tr8_6

The big drawback to the Rover V8 is head flow. Rover never did much to
those old Buick 215 heads which were a bit restrictive even on 215 cubes.
The 1964 Buick 300 cylinder heads I'm using have bigger ports and valves
than anything Rover ever offered but even ported they flow around 210 CFM
on the intake side (compare to the 330 CFM my C302B heads flow). That's
fine for the 325+ HP I plan for the TR8 but not the 550+ HP I want for the
Pantera. My Pantera engine will be all aluminum like the Rover V8 but will
still weigh around 100 lbs more than the Rover (but 150 lbs less than an
iron Windsor or Cleveland) as it's based on a much stronger race block of
larger displacement capability:

http://www.bacomatic.org/gallery/Fontana-Engine-Builc?page=1

I've heard abou the Wildcat heads and intake for the Rover but they are
very pricey here.

> It was the Rover V8 (in a Triumph Stag) that introduced me to the lovely v8
> rumbly noise. It's part of the reason I bought a Pantera.

I've seen them installed in kit Cobras as well.

> Anyhow, the following links may be useful, if not you will at least find them
> interesting.

Thanks, I've bookmarked them.

> These two are both less than 30 miles from me.

On my previous program, I used to travel to England. I wanted to see
if I could look up a couple of those palces but never found the time.

Dan Jones