Why would anyone want a Classic car?

Ben Blaney ( snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I'd imagine it'd be a car to drive sedately?

John Redman ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmailREMOVETHEBLEEDINOBVIOUS.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

(Of the Dolly/Stag lumps)

No, it isn't. Saab bought the V4 from Ford.

sharing many

The only V4 unit I'm aware off that SAAB ever used was the Ford unit (as developed for the original Transit Van) when SAAB were required to discontinue their 2 stroke unit.

Are you saying that SAAB were / did develop a new V4 unit ?

Thought the 16 valve had only one cam?

IIRC, the Ford V4 in the SAAB was from the Taunus and completely different to the Transit V4. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Total clap-trap.

substantial

No problems what so ever in fitting the Rover V8 engine into the Stag, many have been fitted, the problems come when you start trying to market the vehicle.

I've never measured it but I *suspect* the Triumph 'slant 4' block would have fitted into the P6 with ease - quite why anyone would want to though....

And just were do you think that Triumph would have gained the extra production capacity from, true they could have discontinued (say) the Dolly range or perhaps the 2000 range....

IIRC, the SAAB V4 was a German Ford unit, unless there's a more recent one I've not heard about.

It quite liked being hurried. ;-)

I had mine for three years or so in the '70s. Its only major problem was tyres. They were a unique size for a car, although 15". So expensive and wore out quickly as only available in crossplies.

I don't think it's anything to do with originality, which doesn't seem to bother Landrover people much (apart from Series 1s, perhaps). It's just that petrol engined ShiteOldLandies, unless tax exempt, are practically worthless. Sticking even a grotty diesel engine in one instantly adds 600 quid plus to the value. A friend is spending huge amounts fitting a Perkins Prima (non-turbo) engine from a Maestro van into his Series 2. While he'd probably argue that it's a better engine than the one from the 90, he'd have jumped at the chance of avoiding messing with adaptor plates, etc.

Oh, what a civilised newsgroup this was for a while.

Ian

As a matter of interest, back in the seventies a friend of mine fitted two Daimler V8s in line into an E-Type, giving it a 5 litre V16. Haven't heard of it for years, doubt if it still exists.

Geoff MacK

I don't think he failed to miss what you meant, Adrian.

Ian

Presumably it was Ford that was making Andy sic.

Other than the fact that cylinder heads can warp and / or crack, I don't, and I don't think you do either.

No I won't stop showing up your total lack of knowledge (or anyone else's), just as you wouldn't with my lack knowledge of PHP etc...!

Detailed differences IIRC, the problem was with the basic design, unlike flat fours V4's tend to be a most unbalanced arrangement - hence the use of a 'balancing' shaft by Ford.

fitted two

Haven't heard

Was he an ex-army tank engineer by any chance ?!...

;-) But a better unit than the UK Transit one?

The "car" V4 (Taunus or Corsair) was quite different to the "van" version. However the van kept it in service for much longer, and the variations came and went over time.

The obvious difference was the infamous timing gear. Initially iron, it was changed to fibre to make it "quieter", which was also much cheaper (Ford's real reason). It never went into the car, because it was simply too unreliable if run at high rpm for long periods. They weren't perfectly flat, made worse by age and oil spray, and they tended to wobble. This stressed the inserted steel bearing bush, which then worked loose - at which point the terminal wobble stripped the teeth off.

The crankshaft was also made from fired china clay and snapped like a twig if abused. Vans later gained the better metallurgy of the car crank.

Distributor drive shafts were also quite long and tended to whip around. This beat the bearings to death, leading to unstable timing.

Until they made the York diesel, this was the nastiest engine Ford had ever made.

No - they used the German Ford V-4 which wasn't the same as the UK one as fitted to the Transit. etc.

ISTR reading that the Triumph/SAAB engines were designed as modular units so near any layout was possible. Of course at the end of the day this didn't happen.