Engine rape - justifyable?

[jakebullet]

If I ever get the land rover done the next target is my 2.8 capri. Which has a fairly worn out engine (& everything else). The obvious answer is 2.9 cosworth yo! power, but is it right to engine rape? Is it more acceptable if the 'doner' is knackered in some other way?

[dollywobbler]

If a donor is absolutely rotten/broken, then I don't have a problem with it. It's when perfectly good cars are broken (usually Metros) because some idiot just wants to make their crappy little car faster (usually 1-litre Minis) that I get upset. Or maybe it's just because I always prefer the donor car to the one that's receiving the engine... (Citroen BX 16v over a Pug 205, Scorpio over a Capri [sorry], Metro over a Mini).

[autofive]

i'm not sure that a 2.8i to 2.9 24v swap is worth the hassle involved, but if the 2.8 is dead then why not, no real harm done, next owner could easily un-modify

[M'coli]

i'm not sure that a 2.8i to 2.9 24v swap is worth the hassle involved, but if the 2.8 is dead then why not, no real harm done, next owner could easily un-modify

The next owner of the donor car may find that a trifle difficult!

[Albert Ross]

My rotten Scorpio BOB died and donated it's innards to a Sierra P100..... Tranny twin wheel axle and wide body conversion too........... I hope it goes well!

[oman5]

i'm not sure that a 2.8i to 2.9 24v swap is worth the hassle involved

 

 

oh yes it is, a stock 24v is pumping out around the 200 bhp mark with plenty more available if you play with it. it was detuned to this by cosworth as ford didn't have an autobox strong enough. what was a capri 2.8? 160bhp when new?

The 24v was enough to push the lardy grandad scorpio to 140 mph + and it gets there quickly. 0-60 in 8 secs with an auto box with a damn site more torque than the standard cologne.

It has the same basic block as the 2.8 cologne, the hassle is just going to be getting all the electronics wired in- and I'd also put an MT75 gearbox in (or a cosworth T5 if you can find/afford one) as the type 9 will self destruct pretty quickly. it wasn't on top of the job with the stock 2.8.

Given that frogeye scorpios are pretty much worthless and they have the slightly more powerful BOB 24v, why not?

its an absolute gem of an engine that will happily see off 200,000 miles, relying on large capacity and excellent breathing to give its reliable bucketloads of power

[autofive]

i'm not sure that a 2.8i to 2.9 24v swap is worth the hassle involved

 

 

oh yes it is, a stock 24v is pumping out around the 200 bhp mark with plenty more available if you play with it. it was detuned to this by cosworth as ford didn't have an autobox strong enough. what was a capri 2.8? 160bhp when new?

The 24v was enough to push the lardy grandad scorpio to 140 mph + and it gets there quickly. 0-60 in 8 secs with an auto box with a damn site more torque than the standard cologne.

It has the same basic block as the 2.8 cologne, the hassle is just going to be getting all the electronics wired in- and I'd also put an MT75 gearbox in (or a cosworth T5 if you can find/afford one) as the type 9 will self destruct pretty quickly. it wasn't on top of the job with the stock 2.8.

Given that frogeye scorpios are pretty much worthless and they have the slightly more powerful BOB 24v, why not?

its an absolute gem of an engine that will happily see off 200,000 miles, relying on large capacity and excellent breathing to give its reliable bucketloads of power

 

2.8i capri was indeed claimed to push out 160BHP, but the same unit in a mk2 granada loses 10 bhp - maybe ford claim 10 bhp from the cappa exhaust downpipes. (BOA: 195 BHP and BOB: 210bhp i think, both figures from ford)

 

200,000 miles? are you serious?

or do you mean 200,000 in total, after renewing the timing chains and tensioner several times (and paying out a wad of cash on gaskets in the process)

 

so to recap, pulling out the 2.8 (including injection wiring edis etc), gearbox (and associated electronic guff), exhaust system

 

buying a BOA, or BOB (that you know is a good engine and including all the associated wiring etc),

buying an 2wd MT75 and mounting bracket (or making a different one fit), and assuming theres no tunnel modifications required,

playing around with exhausts

playing around with powers steering pump and belt positioning

playing around with prop

possibly changing the timing chain/s and tensioner, and buying gaskets for the job.

 

i would prefer to turbo a 2.8, making about 200 bhp (according to turbo technics), and preserving and enhancing the originality of the car.

[Formula Autos]

If you're going to all that sort of bother /\ /\ /\, why not go the whole hog and make a Perana replica?

 

OK, it's the 'wrong' Capri to be doing this to (should really be a Mk1), but it would make a hell of a car and the engineering for it's already been worked out by others (such as Will Holman from Practical Classics/Retro Cars, who had a yellow MK1 Perana replica and detailed its build in these mags).

 

The same amount of hassle, with a better* end result.

 

*Debatable. It would sound nicer though.

[RedSparrow]

An old favourite, I'm sure there was a longer version of this before...?

 

I asked in another thread - if it's possible to put an 1800 b-series into a mini why hasn't it been done more often?

Obvioulsy it's not as easy as an a-series but even so.

 

-Edit - someone has just explained it. A bit.

[jakebullet]

>so to recap, pulling out the 2.8 (including injection wiring edis etc), gearbox (and associated electronic guff), exhaust system

 

Er, the 2.8 hasn't got any of that. It's mechanical injection, so no harder to remove than any other old style engine. None electronic gearbox too.

Turbo has it's appeal, but the parts are rather unobtanium, plus I'd still have to find a usable 2.8 to go with it as mine is very tired.

 

Still, at current progress rate I've got a few more years to collect the required bits.

[ashmicro]

I did this very swap on my 2.8 Crapi, for the same reasons too. I went for the BOA as I was told that the electronics were a lot easier to deal with. My "helper" on the job was certifiable lunatic & legendary bike tuner Scott Bell (who said "Ford engine? Auld load of bollocks. Rover V8, that's what you want).

 

I don't know for sure if the car my BOA came from was knacked (I just bought the engine, already out). Someone told me years later that the Scorp it came from had been crashed.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Engine rape can never be justified. If a car says 'leave my engine in' then that means exactly that, no excuses.

[wackywacerwill]

Engine rape can never be justified. If a car says 'leave my engine in' then that means exactly that, no excuses.

Here here.

 

Just spotted this on RR http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=pfsw&action=display&thread=129418 any good for ya?

[Bren]

I would go for a 302 ford - rover v8 in standard trim is not much more powerful than cologne , and costs a fortune to tune.

 

Parts for small block ford are cheap and easy to obtain.

[Albert Ross]

Just a thought.... easier to fit, similar looking, and might need not many extras...... Possibly utilise your current injection kit... 4 litre Ford Exploder engine. Worth a look. Might offer a decent torque upgrade if nothing else.

[Guest]

I'm going to go against the tide here and say that I think putting a different engine into a Capri isn't a great idea, just rebuild the 2.8, I'm no expert but I doubt it'll be very complex or expensive. Then you can just get back to enjoying driving it, instead of having this thing with no engine sat around gathering dust once you lose enthusiasm with doing the electrics or whatever. If you fancy a quick 2.9 engined Ford just go buy an XR4x4, they're a lovely drive.

[Father Ted]

^^^

WHS

Whilst the idea of chucking in the Cossie donkey at first seems appealing, how confident are you with regards the electrics, fuelling and the ECU? If the answer is "Errrrm" then I would leave well alone and get the original donkey fixorated.