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v8 into a Series 3 does go...But

Just fitted a Rover V8 into a series 3, taken from a series IIa donor. The conversion generally went well, taking note of areas of the IIa conversion that could have been done better.

On removing the Transit diesel that the previous owner had put into the SIII (which is for sale if anyone wants it), we noted that that the SIII in fact had a SIIa gearbox fitted, which we took as a bonus considering the slightly better reliability over the SIII gearbox, but rendered the clutch we had bought useless.

However, the V8 hadn't been in the SIIa long, and the clutch still looked pristine so we used that and the cover.

Getting to the point... All things in and the clutch simply will not bite fully. It seems that the clutch mechanism will not release enough and the clutch bites right at the top and slips when fully released.

We have tried to adjust the clutch mechanism to allow it to release as much as possible, with marginal improvement only.

Bearing in mind the two gearboxes, bellhousings etc are the same, we are just a tad baffled.

Anyone experienced this before or have any thoughts?

Darren, Ed & Tom. S1, SIIa, SIII & 110.

Reply to
DarrenC
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ohhh yeah,

first time i put a daihatsu 2.8 in, took ust two days to put it in, new clutch everything, bolted everything up nice and snug, really did a good job and really pleased with ourselves, until,,,,,,,i tried to move it,

fired her up , clutch in, selected first and let clutch out slowly and,,,,,, nothing. well i say nothing, but there was a bit of drive right at the end, tried everything to sort it, but nothing would work.

had loads of thoughts, like sit landy on bricks and put it into drive and it would bed itselfe in.

welding two lugs onto the release arm to push the clutch in a bit more, ( but seen as its not meant to have lugs welded on i would refrain from that one)

drive as much as it would to jar whatever was wrong.

but i couldnt do anything to sort it.

we removed the engine, convinced id not done something, but upon inspection all was as supposed to be. so i just put it back, and hey presto it worked like a dream.

so im sorry i cant be of any help, except that the same happend to me and , well, kinda corrected itself the second time in.

hope you get something sorted.

how did the engine go in, did it fall in or did you have to force,ease,pry,it in.

i did notice i had upset the spiggot end bush the first time which i corrected.

other than that ive no idea.

keep us informed.

andy

Reply to
dave

Did the clutch pressure plate have a pad (a round circular disc in the middle) on it. I seem to recall one needs it and one doesnt. If it had it on it, it may be putting slight pressure on the cluch causing it to slip, like putting the clutch pedal down slightly. Have a look at:

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to see a pic of a clutch with the pad on it.And here a pic without the pad:
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my website but one I foundSomeone else will probably correct me!!! Richard

Reply to
Richard

pic is near the bottom on the second link

Reply to
Richard

The engine went in fairly easily, with only the last 1/4" providing some resistance, which I didnt think anything of seeing as my 110 V8 on which I replaced the engine in December 04 was exactly the same. I think its remove the engine and make sure the release mechanism is working properly etc and as you say, hope it sorts itself out as yours did.

Otherwise, we removed it from the donor, cut the required areas of the bulkhead and had it in and running in just over 2 days, with the most difficult part being the new exhaust we obtained from a conversion specialist.

If there's enough interest we have some photo's I could put on a web page.

Interestingly, the conversion was going to be either a daihatsu 2.8 or the Rover 3.5, plumbing for the 3.5 as we have the knowledge of the rover unit and considering the fact that it will be doing only about 1000 miles a year, fuel does not really matter too much.

Thanks for your advice,

Darren.

Reply to
Darren

Richard,

Many thanks for your advice, it did indeed have a collar on the clutch diaphragm. The thing is, we've put it on an identical gearbox to the one it came off. We're going to take the engine out again and check everythings ok and will probably take some measurements while we're at it.

Darren.

Reply to
Darren

Hi, Let us know how you get on/what you find please. Was it working ok in the donor LR or was it 'slipping' as it is now? Richard

Reply to
Richard

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