Cockneys, their transport and Miss Lette.

[garethj]

When I sometimes think about owning one of these fine Fairways, I wonder about the sense of changing the motor for a Terrano with turbo.  I think the standard engine makes about 70bhp and the Terrano must be about 90bhp so still not a tarmac terrorist, but enough to hold 70mph with the occasional visit to 75.

 

If your ears can stand all the rattles it doubtless makes

[Justin Case]

 

Cockaknees in Enfield, nah mate, you got it all wrong Billy boy.

Not bleedin' likely now mate, like bleeding Lower Edmonton isn't bleedin' posh enuff so they 'ad to call it bleedin' Edmonton Green like, now they're all swannin' abaht in bleedin' taxis ennit.

 

BTW Nice buy and sounds as if everything went smoothly, so a good day out, too:) 

[Cavcraft]

In an ideal world I'd drop a 2.5Di out of a Transit in it, they're may favourite diesel engine of ever. It does need more poke though. Desperately needs it.

[Junkman]

Well, in an ideal ideal world, you'd drop a 6.75 litre Bentley Turbo in it, no?

[purplebargeken]

I guess it was designed for a specific purpose and that was bimbling about on the roads of good old London Town. Top speed of traffic would be about naff all. She was pretty peppy away from the lights but that was about it. They are lost on motorways and even A roads to a degree. Laden with bodies and luggage would see the speed readings change from MPH to Snail Per Hour.

 

I guess the handling would also be limited due to what is really quite an old fashioned agricultural design/set up. It is a heavy old beast and taller than you think. 

 

There is a big old engine bay in these, so a lump transplant wouldn't be too difficult to achieve I suppose but suspension and braking would need a complete overhaul and upgrade as well obviously. I'd love to have the skill/knowledge/ability/workshop facilities to even consider something like that but all I have is a council lock up, a generator and some spanners. Oh and a nice rubber kneeling mat. I'm bolloxed then. 

 

It would be very cool and interesting to see an engine upgrade for the taxi. I reckon you should go for it Billy. Just get the locks sorted first though. That way you could post by broom back. I won't say that I spent 120 mins looking for the bastard thing this evening. Ooops. 

[Cavcraft]

LOL. I haven't used the broom yet, Ken, I have a sneaky way around that. It's still great fun to drive but I really am going to avoid bypasses and motorways where possible. That said if I'm not in a rush it's actually quite relaxing!

 

Christian: No! Bollocks to a Bentley engine, it needs to stay diesel powered!

[Alusilber]

There are fuck all Metrocabs left anyway (with good reason!). I'd love to see someone break one for the Ford bits, and weigh in the rest.

Still some around in my manor. Probably won't be long till they're all replaced with Pug or Merc pseudo-taxis though.

[ChinaTom]

There is a chap somewhere on the Norfolk / Lincs border that keeps lobbing Terrano donks into XJ40's. No, I have no idea why. It's just that kind of place I guess. I wonder therefore, whether the opposite can be done. If a Terrano engine will fit in the taxi, by Western Norfolk logic, a £300 3.2 XJ40 could yield a bit more poke for you. And cost you no more in fuel if you are getting 25mpg from the expensive black pump, you could be getting 24 mpg from the cheaper green one.

[Cavcraft]

Now that would be fun if it worked out cheaper!

 

Some on line digging though has seen a right result. Seemingly these 2.7 Nissan lumps are veg oil friendly, so I cleared Tesco out of their 2x5 litres for a tenner oil yesterday. I also visited my ace local Indian food supplies shop for a 20 litre drum.

[cort16]

Is it the gearing or the engine that causes the lack of speed? I wonder if you can change the diff or something to make it a bit leggier.

It looks like the one fitted to the Terrano is just this engine with a turbo. I bet it would make a mega difference

[garethj]

Is it the gearing or the engine that causes the lack of speed? I wonder if you can change the diff or something to make it a bit leggier.

It looks like the one fitted to the Terrano is just this engine with a turbo. I bet it would make a mega difference

 

One of Trigger's road tests has got all the info about gearing and whatnot, I don't thing they're revving very high at speed, it's just the barn door shape and the autobox must contribute a lot to the fuel, manual taxis are much more economical even at constant speed.

 

Is the compression ratio of the Terrano engine the same as the taxi?  If so, it could be a simple conversion.  Usually the compression is lower for a turbo engine.

 

Some taxis had a turbo fitted to lower exhaust emissions, I believe they didn't make any more power but I couldn't find any accurate figures.  When you consider the cost of other motoring icons like a 2CV, Beetle or Mini, the taxi seems a bargain.  Don't give me any of that horseshit about the taxi being slow and rough to drive, you could probably out-drag a 1200 Beetle or 2CV with one.  And the race would already look like it's filmed in slow motion

[purplebargeken]

Sniff, sniff, sniff....... fish? No. Onion Bahji? No. Chips? Ahh, Cavette!

[dollywobbler]

I'm up for a race if we can find a venue and a Volkswagen!