ROVER SD1 V8.

MajorPayne
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri 23 Apr 2010, 03:00

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by MajorPayne » Fri 23 Apr 2010, 03:10

Hi Gavin,

Maybe you can help me. I've got Rover 2.6 SDX. Busy restoring it to use as towing vehicle. Want to do a Lexus V8 conversion. I need help with the suspension and brake system to upgrade the braking. Do you know what rear suspension will work on the Rover??

User avatar
Gavin RS
Posts: 1116
Joined: Wed 22 Aug 2007, 16:37
Location: Randpark Ridge Randburg South Africa
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by Gavin RS » Mon 26 Apr 2010, 15:14

MajorPayne wrote:Hi Gavin,

Maybe you can help me. I've got Rover 2.6 SDX. Busy restoring it to use as towing vehicle. Want to do a Lexus V8 conversion. I need help with the suspension and brake system to upgrade the braking. Do you know what rear suspension will work on the Rover??
Hi

Nice conversion with the Lexus, at least the Rover has space for it to fit

Front brakes you can addapt a Jag XJ6 or XJS setup with the 4 pot calipers and discs, will need machining etc for fitment. The rear you can use rear discs and calipers from a Ford Sierra/Sapphire or similar and make up brackets to fit to the caliper to the diff .

Suspension you can do what I did and fit new GAZ rear adjustable shocks and front adjustable GAZ inserts with matching springs with 30mm drop.
To modify the rear suspension set up is not easy as it is a live axle with trailing arms and watts linkage however believe it or not the rear setup on the Rover is pretty good as std and they do handle well although they have lots of body roll

I have used the original Rover axle but have uprated the trailing arms and watts linkage with proper seamless tubing with a bigger diameter and fitted fully adjustable rose joints and poly bushes throughout.I have also changed the mounting location of the torque tube so my propshaft angle is correct with the lowered suspension.

I am going to source a spare Rover diff and send to transaxle in Natal to have them make an LSD for it. The std Rover crown Wheel and pinion is reasonably strong so should handle a Lexus V8 without a problem.

You must just check on the ratio of your rear axle as their are 3 different ratios on SA built cars.
3.23-1, 3.7-1 and 3:08-1. the 3.7 and 3.23 are the most common. my car with the V8 and manual box has the 3.7 and the auto has the 3.23 ratio. being a 2600 yours will probably have a 3.7 ratio

If you can find a used Rover Vitesse rear axle form the UK it would be great as they had an LSD and a 3.08-1 ratio. unfortunately the Vitesse was never sold in SA.

Cheers

Gavin
1984 Rover Vanden Plas V8 (Historic Race car)
1986 Rover 3500 Vitesse (UK Import Ex London Police Car)
1983 Rover Vanden Plas undergoing conversion to race car.
2009 Ford Territory ST,
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Auto, daily driver

MajorPayne
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri 23 Apr 2010, 03:00

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by MajorPayne » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 19:41

Hi,
Sorry man you lost me there with the LSD??

Spoke to MG Rover the other day, they say the Jaguar MK2 suspension will fit all round, looking now for Jaguar XJ6 front and rear suspension. Know the rear axle is good, want to upgrade to disks and to get wheels for it is a mission nobody sell 127 PCD rims.

User avatar
Gavin RS
Posts: 1116
Joined: Wed 22 Aug 2007, 16:37
Location: Randpark Ridge Randburg South Africa
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by Gavin RS » Wed 28 Apr 2010, 16:08

MajorPayne wrote:Hi,
Sorry man you lost me there with the LSD??

Spoke to MG Rover the other day, they say the Jaguar MK2 suspension will fit all round, looking now for Jaguar XJ6 front and rear suspension. Know the rear axle is good, want to upgrade to disks and to get wheels for it is a mission nobody sell 127 PCD rims.
Hi
LSD = limited slip diff.

I think MG Rover are feeding you the wrong information about Jag suspension fitting into an SD1.

The SD1 wont take any of the Jag suspension without major engineering and modifications. The front of the SD1 has McPherson struts (Jag has upper and lower wishbones etc which certainly will not fit the SD1)

SD1 rear has is live axle and torque tube with trailing arms and Watts linkage and coil springs. (Jag has independant rear suspension with 2 coil springs and shocks on either side. Inboard brake discs all mounted in a cradle) definately not just a bolt in option. Major work to adapt to an SD1, propshaft will also have to be made up.

I would leave the Rovers suspension alone , just fit bigger vented brakes to the front and do a disc conversion to the rear, fit decent shocks and springs all round with some new polyeurethane bushes and you will have an awsome set up and the car will ride and handle better than new.

It is going to cost you a large sum of money to buy the Jag suspension and then still find someone that will even attempt to do the conversion probably at great cost, not worth the time and money in my opinion.

Regarding different wheels for the SD1. Lynton from Superlite SA (Niche Rims)will be able to supply alloy rims no problem. I have fitted a set of 5 spoke Superlite Bathurst 15x7 inch wheels, they get blanks from Australia and machine the correct pcd, the offset of the Rover wheel is 40mm and the backspace is 130mm, all I did was give them the pcd and back space and they supplied me the wheels and fitment was perfect.

Another rim that will fit is the Jeep Grand Cherokee, they have 16inch and 17 inch or bigger if you want. the offset is almost the same and they are 127pcd

Regards
1984 Rover Vanden Plas V8 (Historic Race car)
1986 Rover 3500 Vitesse (UK Import Ex London Police Car)
1983 Rover Vanden Plas undergoing conversion to race car.
2009 Ford Territory ST,
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Auto, daily driver

User avatar
Gavin RS
Posts: 1116
Joined: Wed 22 Aug 2007, 16:37
Location: Randpark Ridge Randburg South Africa
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by Gavin RS » Thu 17 May 2012, 16:44

Hi Guys

Been a while since I had any news on my Rover. Time and money as we all know. done quite a lot since my last update so i wont go into too much detail.

A few more very recent updates.

I have been driving the car around now for a few weeks to find any issues that can appear when everything is new. Had a few leaks and some electrical issues but nothing major which was great.
i decided to change my tappet covers again. the blue is nice but I thing a wrinkled black finish looks classy so sent my spare set in to be powder coated then had the tops faced on a surface grinder, nice machined finish so no polishing necessary.

Changed a few things on my centre console now all switches and starter button works, just need one extra switch for a fan overide which i will fit shortly.
Picked up a nice classic steering wheel from Piston ring Ford day for R50, fitted to car for road driving so i can keep my suede steering for the track only, also fitted a quick release to my steering which is cool.

The electric water pump and controller works very well I must say, glad I bough the kit.
I also bought a full Edelbrock calibration kit for the carb, comes with everything, took me 5 minutes to change the metering needles to make the carb leaner, made a difference to performance straight away, must still try the main jets and a few things as I thing I can still go leaner, the 4Bbl carb is an awsome piece of kit, starts easy, no flatspots like a Holley and the second stage comes in nice and smooth, well worth the money i spent on it.

The side beadings on the car are almost all off, unfortunately they were glued on so the paint was damaged. I have made up my own vinyl stripes which i will fit to hide the damaged paint as I wont be re spraying the car for sometime, (more money)
I managed to get the seat mounting lower which has helped the driving position, also fitted the alloy foot rest on the clutch pedal side, definately makes a difference for the track.I must still sand the floor and paint it but that will come later.
So far I have been trying to drive the car hard where ever I have a chance and apart from excessive wheelspin (no LS diff as yet) it goes very well and with a 3.7-1 ratio it feels quite quick through the gears, brakes are good with the 4 pot upgrade and the handling is awsome, easy to power slide and this makes me think that once I am on track and in a corner with the back out it will be hard to overtake me as the car is so long he he he,

I still need to do wheel alignment and play some more with shock settings and springs, I need to drop an inch lower but need to modify the mounting on the diff torque tube so my propshaft angle is correct.

I will be doing some proper detailing and finishing off soon.

Well so far so good now I need to get it on track to see if it is going to be ready to race.

Image

tapet covers were blue. now black.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
1984 Rover Vanden Plas V8 (Historic Race car)
1986 Rover 3500 Vitesse (UK Import Ex London Police Car)
1983 Rover Vanden Plas undergoing conversion to race car.
2009 Ford Territory ST,
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Auto, daily driver

User avatar
72XYGT
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sun 15 Apr 2007, 18:52
Location: King William's Town Eastern Cape

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by 72XYGT » Thu 17 May 2012, 18:25

Very nice Gavin. If it is not too much of a problem could you post a pic of the magwheel again I would like to see the lettering on it. Can you also tell who was the manufacturer.
I got a similar set and checked today it was made by Smith Wheels.

Daan

User avatar
gordini
Posts: 5363
Joined: Tue 08 Jan 2008, 18:16
Location: Where the whiner in the recliner is....
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by gordini » Thu 17 May 2012, 22:23

Nice Gavin and welcome back. I love the standard look on the car.. 8) 8) 8)
In my old age...
i drink a tripple,i see double and i act single..



From Malmesbury

User avatar
Gavin RS
Posts: 1116
Joined: Wed 22 Aug 2007, 16:37
Location: Randpark Ridge Randburg South Africa
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by Gavin RS » Fri 18 May 2012, 08:54

Thanks Guys

Hi Daan.

The wheels are from Superlite Australia.
A friend of mine Lynton lomas is the Superlite agent in SA and he brought me in a set that was undrilled. The Rover has a 127 x 5 PCD and I could not get anything in SA. Lynton had the correct PCD drilled, fitted steel inserts and they fitted perfect. They are called Bathurst replica's after the Ford Falcons that race with them in the 70's.. my wheels are 15 x 7 inch, He also had them in 8 inch which look awsome as the spokes curve outwards. see pic of mine and the 8 inch.
these wheels are a bit expensive but if you look at the load spec and weight carrying capacity of each rim you will see that the spec is almost double what most other mags in SA are rated. they wont bend so easy in pot holes as the local mags

A Fairmont with the 15 x 8's whould look awsome.

I remember Smiths wheels doing a very similar wheel in the 70's / 80's
Image
Image
1984 Rover Vanden Plas V8 (Historic Race car)
1986 Rover 3500 Vitesse (UK Import Ex London Police Car)
1983 Rover Vanden Plas undergoing conversion to race car.
2009 Ford Territory ST,
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.6 Auto, daily driver

User avatar
72XYGT
Posts: 1954
Joined: Sun 15 Apr 2007, 18:52
Location: King William's Town Eastern Cape

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by 72XYGT » Fri 18 May 2012, 09:13

Wow, the one for the rear look nice. I agree a 15" would look better on a Fairmont. Also with 15" you have so much better options on tyre sizes.
Thanks for the info Gavin.

User avatar
gordini
Posts: 5363
Joined: Tue 08 Jan 2008, 18:16
Location: Where the whiner in the recliner is....
Contact:

Re: ROVER SD1 V8.

Post by gordini » Fri 18 May 2012, 10:59

Nice rims that, i bought an original set of Bathursts from Rassie and refurbished them.Looks magic now. I will take pix and post them during the day.
In my old age...
i drink a tripple,i see double and i act single..



From Malmesbury

Post Reply

Social Media

     

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests