Which engine?

[Six-cylinder]

Mrs6C was out this evening and somehow and my figure slipped onto eBay!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305931210042?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20240304162621%26meid%3Dc303c60458c043f4ad17c1762a20c25a%26pid%3D102020%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D20%26sd%3D405378720266%26itm%3D305931210042%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2332490&_trksid=p2332490.c102020.m5276

This 1947 Jaguar 1 /2 Litre with a broken engine caught my eye. I love the fact the body is done. I had a friend who had a 1.5 Litre and it was underpowered and slow. Also the engine would be very expensive to rebuild so my thought is fitting a more modern engine. It needs to be cheap  and I am thinking  petrol, 150bhp with plenty of torque is enough.

Anybody have any great ideas?

I had to go to the station to collect Mrs6C so no alcohol was consumed to make me do anything daft!

[eddyramrod]

MX5?

[Six-cylinder]

3 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

MX5?

I was thinking 6 cylinder.

[Zelandeth]

Tricky one.  Not a huge number of pickings really that are both set up for non-transverse installation and are likely compact enough to fit.  Looks like that front end is pretty narrow.

The ad is also hopelessly vague..."Engine needs attention" could mean just about anything from "it needs a complete rebuild" to "it needs recommissioned."

If it fit I'd say sod modern...Rover IoE out the P4 would suit the car I think...

[eddyramrod]

Or the 3.0 Volvo 960?

[AnthonyG]

Some sort of BMW 4 or 6 that’s not one of the new crappy ones. Maybe whatever was fitted to a E36 323/325? 

There’s bound to be rotten ones still out there that would make good donors. 

NA/NB Mx5 engines would need to be revved a lot to lug that body around, I think there was a 2 litre four in the NC which was also used in cars like the Mazda 6 and Mondeo Mk4, that might do the job. 

Edit: ah, you want a 6. Well, what’s in that Carlton estate? That’s freshly* rebuilt. 

[Missy Charm]

Big-block V8 with external drive 6-71 blower, collector headers, dual quad-carbs and more chrome than a Mod convention.  

[fatharris]

Piss off the purists and put an L series diesel in there

[Six-cylinder]

It is not as heavy as I was expecting quoted at 1350 kg.

[Rustybullethole]

xk6 wouldn't look out of place imho. 

[AnthonyG]

4 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Piss off the purists and put an L series diesel in there

Perkins for the win. The Belgians put them into Volgas to use as taxis, they would be ideal for this. 

[Six-cylinder]

7 minutes ago, fatharris said:

Piss off the purists and put an L series diesel in there

But I would hate that, I remember selling a young Maestro Diesel and the dash jumped up and down. 

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, Rustybullethole said:

xk6 wouldn't look out of place imho. 

Very heavy

 

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

Some sort of BMW 4 or 6 that’s not one of the new crappy ones. Maybe whatever was fitted to a E36 323/325? 

There’s bound to be rotten ones still out there that would good donors. 

NA/NB Mx5 engines would need to be revved a lot to lug that body around, I think there was a 2 litre four in the NC which was also used in cars like the Mazda 6 and Mondeo Mk4, that might do the job. 

My 1988 BMW 735i had a nice engine. Rather a lot of power for the old girl.

[Mr Pastry]

You would have to consider the axle ratio, and choose an engine to suit.  I think that rules out a lot of modern units.  A 6 cylinder Triumph with overdrive box is fairly traditional in style and shouldn't be too costly, if there is enough length in the engine bay.  Or even a 4 cylinder TR4.  

[hairnet]

volvo 5 pot

a series enough to pull it along?

[Rustybullethole]

Just now, Six-cylinder said:

Very heavy

 

Ah yes. Bm 6 pot lighter no? 

[Six-cylinder]

2 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

You would have to consider the axle ratio, and choose an engine to suit.  I think that rules out a lot of modern units.  A 6 cylinder Triumph with overdrive box is fairly traditional in style and shouldn't be too costly, if there is enough length in the engine bay.  Or even a 4 cylinder TR4.  

I like that, 2000cc a bit underpowered at 95 bhp and a 2500cc quite expensive.

[Lankytim]

The answer is always 2l pinto and Sierra box.

[Six-cylinder]

2 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Ah yes. Bm 6 pot lighter no? 

I would guess the BMW is lighter, but don't know for sure. It took 4 good men to carry a Jag engine out of my kitchen where I had built it over the winter.

[Talbot]

How about a mercedes benz M103 engine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_M103_engine

Looks the part, is 150-180hp, can be had with basic engine management, lowish reving and high torque.  Are quite cheap as they almost never go wrong.  A rotten donor car would be ideal, and there are still many around.  Leave it on it's original auto box and hope the diff ratio is close enough to not be an issue.   Custom prop, custom engine mounts.

[Mr Pastry]

2 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I like that, 2000cc a bit underpowered at 95 bhp and a 2500cc quite expensive.

It would be terrifying with 95bhp in it, it was only about 60 originally.

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, Lankytim said:

The answer is always 2l pinto and Sierra box.

Yes not a bad idea and I could pretend this Jaguar was built in an earlier Ford era.

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, Mr Pastry said:

It would be terrifying with 95bhp in it, it was only about 60 originally.

Good point, well made!

[Six-cylinder]

 

3 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

It would be terrifying with 95bhp in it, it was only about 60 originally.

3 minutes ago, Talbot said:

How about a mercedes benz M103 engine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_M103_engine

Looks the part, is 180hp, can be had with basic engine management and they are quite cheap as they almost never go wrong.  A rotten donor car would be ideal, and there are still many around.  Leave it on it's original auto box and hope the diff ratio is close enough to not be an issue.   Custom prop, custom engine mounts.

As Mr Pastry says..............

[Talbot]

de-tune it with a hugely restrictive carburettor?  You'd still have all the smoothness and some low-down tractability of a 2.8/3.0 engine, but it could be limited to say 75hp for a period authentic* driving experience.

[AnthonyG]

10 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

There’s a lot of brown clothing worn in this photo. So, despite the third man wearing what appear to be prototype combat trousers, I’m going with the year of our lord 1983. 

Also, man #4 should have really got a new facial hair style in this era as he looks disturbingly like Peter Sutcliffe. If he’d been driving a Rover P6 around Yorkshire he would have stopped quite a bit. 

[reb]

11 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I would guess the BMW is lighter, but don't know for sure. It took 4 good men to carry a Jag engine out of my kitchen where I had built it over the winter.

Is that Nicholas Lyndhurst second from the right?

[somewhatfoolish]

Volvo B30? Spares off the shelf, loads of torque, durable enough to last until the heat death of the universe. E6 out of a Landcrab? Loads of torque, lack of terrifying amounts of power due to comedic bore/stroke ratio and asthmatic breathing, not ridiculously heavy.

[Mr Pastry]

1800 B series is probably the easiest and cheapest and most boring option, cheaper than a Pinto, and maybe a bit lighter than the Triumph.