So what engine would YOU use?

There is very little difference in weight between the 1600 and the 2 litre engines - I don't have the figures to hand but I have carried plenty of both types around the workshop. The 4 cylinder is a one-man lift, the 6 cylinder needs help from my wife......

I don't think I've ever "Pottered" in anything, certainly not any of my Triumphs. Having comrehensively thrashed both Heralds and Vitesses over the years, Heralds are far more fun on twisty roads. The big engine hung out over the front makes the Vitesse want to go straight on. Not knocking it, it'a a fine car, but I feel the small Triumph chassis is just better suited to the 4 cylinder engine, which is after all what it was designed for. The big six is (IMHO) more fun in the big saloons, Cheers, Bill.

What you need is an Alfasud.

Triumph sixes are a one-man lift. I'm tripping over one in the workshop right now 8-( (and a Rover V8, and the's Alfasud boxer)

You sound like a big boy. ;-)

While I'm a fan of boxers, you're not serious that one would be an easy fit in a Herald?

Goodness me, no ! They make an interesting trike, with built-in footwarmers, but that's about it.

Although I do have this crazy plan to put Alfa 75 V6 running gear (transaxle and all) in a spaceframe under something entirely inappropriate, like a Daf 66 or a Herald shell ...

Alfa Twin Cam?

What's the situation with RWD configured gearboxes? Cheers, Bill.

In news:Z6LId.44$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net, Bill Davies decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I fitted an Alfa Twin Cam to a Talbot Sunbeam in the early 90s using a bodged up bellhousing and a Ford Type 9 box.

All the more recent RWD ones will be transaxles but there *should* be lots of ex GTV and Guilia ones out there considering the solubility of the bodies.

A

: Having comrehensively thrashed both Heralds and Vitesses over the : years, Heralds are far more fun on twisty roads.

I agree completely. I used to drive places in convoy with a pal of mine: I had (have) a 13/60 convertible and he had a Vitesse 6 convertible. On straight bits he could whizz past me, but as soon as the road got at all interesting I'd leave him behind easily. I drove the Vitesse a fair bit myself, and it was never as much fun as the Herald.

Ian

I'm sure I have seen one in a Sunbeam Alpine, but unfortunately never bothered to find what it drove through. Nothing struck me as odd in the cockpit though, so it may well have been mated to the original Rootes gearbox. Either that or I was being even more unobservant than usual.

Ron Robinson

have to be a very early GTV.. they were transaxle after about 73.

Yup, pre Alfetta...

...however if nose weight is what kills herald handling a transaxle might be just the thing ;)

This might be getting a little beyond the cheap "drop-in" alternative engine I was thinking of :-) Herald handling is fine and stable, right up until power is lifted off mid corner..... that's something you simply learn not to do, or there are some basic suspension mods which deal with it quite effectively. The problem comes when you hang an extra couple of cylinders ahead of the front axle as in the Vitesse. A transaxle would distribute a proportion of the weight towards the rear, but it wouldn't get around yhe amount of weight carried outside the wheelbase - I'm struggling to remember what they taught me at school about polar moments, but that was a very long time ago. Cheers, Bill.

I've had the tape measure out and I'm afraid this looks like a non-starter. The BMW 1.6 M40 I measured is too tall to go in. Even when it's tilted over at an angle as in the BMW (3 series), it's a couple of inches out. The problem is the sump. This is fairly flat along the rear of the engine, but then drops into a deep reservoir at the front. The Triumph doesn't have enough clearance in front of the steering rack for this sump reservoir to fit into (as it does in the BMW) and the engine's too long for it to go behind. The only option would be to make a new sump with the lower bit at the back. The feasibility of this depends on the position of the oil pump and whether its feed pipe can be redirected. I'll have a look when I have the time as I still rather like the idea.

Certainly things like the good ol' B series had a variety of sump shapes and oil pump pickups for different applications.

Could be the same with this BMW donk.

Try a post to

If the sump is steel, it would be easy enough to alter. And the pickup may be a pipe which could be made up out of copper or similar - I'm afraid I've no knowledge of this engine personally. I'll also ask my brother - he's intending fitting one to a Riley 1.5. ;-)

It's possible.

I'll drop the sump first to see what it's hiding. AFAIK, this is engine is an M40 type (has a timing belt instead of a chain). I've no idea how different a non-M40 one is or what year they changed.

It's in two parts, with the problem bit in alloy. As you say, altering it shouldn't be too difficult.

Does the Riley have a longer bonnet than the Minor? If not, he'd be in for a struggle. The Minor's engine bay is surprisingly short, front to back. I checked and this BMW engine is at least two inches too long.

Same as anything. It's just a slightly-larger diff housing and you'd almost certainly need to change the Herald diff anyway to avoid smashing it with the extra power. The gearbox casing does stick forwards, so it might be a problem for the rear seat. At least the Herald petrol tank wouldn't be in the way. Needs an electric speedo though and the propshaft tunnel would need to have a gear linkage fitted down it too.

Front gearbox Alfas are now pretty rare in the UK, and a suitable engine might be going for a premium.

The real fans of big engines into Heralds/Spitfires seem to be the Dutch. The TSSC mag was always having pictures of some madly thunderous Spitfire, with chassis rails that resembled either Godzilla's monkey bars, or (if they hadn't beefed them beforehand) a pretzel.

Just a leeeetle :)

In my ignorance I'd always assumed the Vitesse with the expensive back end would be the handler - you live and learn :)

The transaxle would fit almost entirely within the wheelbase if it fitted at all, and if the twin cam is too long there is always the V6.