[alistairk]

Thought it might be of passing interest to a few of ya.

back on the road at last and scaring pedestrians, other road users and the driver alike... passed the MOT and first thing I did was waste off a set of rear tyres. Been pulling clumps of rubber "chaff" from the wheel arches, must have been four handfulls in one arch alone lmao

Doesn't look "harmful" does it?

Thats a 5.7 litre Chevy V8, Comp cam, Crane pushrods, Holley carb, custom tuned length stainless headers, roller timing, blah blah...

Had a little bit of a tidy up since the photo.

 

[Haynzee]

sorry, ive just come

 

[Fenix]

FILTH!!!!

I love that. Awesome

 

[graham16v]

That is the mutts nuts!

 

[Cupatea]

Doggies Dingles.

Good to see a bit of an old skooler

 

[alistairk]

Nice to be appreciated, I'll tell the old girl

I've had the car years and it was a 1600 when I got it... drum brakes on the front, the lot. Very different now...

Its just as mental to drive it as it sounds like it would be.

I need one of those stickers that you see on trucks that says "Caution - Rear Wheel Steering"

 

[Orange Peel]

I assume it goes quite well then

Got any facts and figures about it?

 

[dathers]

That is well cool!
Keep it looking just the way it is,no body mods!
Maybe a nice set of shiney chrome period wheels,wire wheels maybe.Did the 5.7 fit ok,what drive-train set up have you used, i.e. gearbox,rear axle/diff etc?
And dont be one of theese who sell there project as soon as its complete,what a waste!
Dave

 

[Cupatea]

Nice to be appreciated, I'll tell the old girl

I've had the car years and it was a 1600 when I got it... drum brakes on the front, the lot. Very different now...

Its just as mental to drive it as it sounds like it would be.

I need one of those stickers that you see on trucks that says "Caution - Rear Wheel Steering"

I like this.

See, it doesn't matter what the car is, if you love cars that much and you want to get it how YOU want it, its all worth it no matter what anyone says

 

[Brian_S]

That is just great!

Nice lump, and nice car!

 

[Colonel K]

that is frappin ace!

 

[alistairk]

facts? nah,
myths & guestimates? yeah.

Its about the same size as a Vectra, a mate of mine's been spreading it round that its 400 BHP but I don't think so. I reckon its about 400 lbs/ft of torque though. The action is very much down low, but the diff is a low ratio one (3.93:1 from memory) so the combination of these makes it leap like a scalded cat when you touch the pedal. Top end is thrashy, but the cams trying to pull more air than the heads will let it, they're stock. A decent head job should let another (wild guesstimate) 50 - 70 BHP out of it, but I don't have the cash for that just now. They bolt off easy enough so its an afternoons work when its time.

Its not been on the rollers yet but it feels like a brutally strong curve from tickover (1200 RPM on this one with that cam set) through to the point where your ears bleed (about 5500 RPM). That would extend upwards with better top end breathing (heads again).

Thats why I'm coy on the BHP numbers, you need RPM to make BHP and the heads start to strangle it before it comes off the cam at the top.

Still, not bad for a first attempt.

 

[MWF]

I remember when you mentioned some details about it last year, one of my favourite MIG cars

 

[LEE69]

I love it.
get a video clip of it up somehow.

 

[alistairk]

Did the engine fit straight in? Almost. Was there space for the exhausts when it was in? no. Was there space to get the transmission up to it? no. So it had a new transmission tunnel fabricated, and that was the first reason to go for the custom stainless headers (that and they look damn cool - they really glow when its up to temperature). The steering column wants to be just where the driver side header is so I had one made up with enough space to slide the column through. This means you have to remove the steering column to get the exhaust off...

The trans is a Chevy TH350 with a B&M ratchet shifter, damned thing has a lockout on neutral which is a pain in the bum in traffic. Never mind, I'll know next time.

The rear axle, front brakes, suspension, ball joints etc. are all Ventora ones (beefier but similar size to stock) and the lower front wishbones were machined out to take the heavier duty stuff. The lower rear trailing arms were made up with CDS square section thick wall tube and poly bushed. The uppers are stock with poly bushes but they're not the ones which would twist...

Needs a carpet and a console or pod for the Autometer dials to finish it off inside

 

[alistairk]

from behind (oo-er!)

 

[LEE69]

Mad.....

I think ¥ will pm you do buy it

 

[MK1GTE]

Sheer class. Will you be taking up the strip at all?

 

[alistairk]

Hoping to get to the pod in a couple of weeks. I want to trailer it down just in case of any misshaps. Oh, and the fact that its so noisy I'd go mad in there on a motorway. Unfortunately my towing car is off the road as the MOT was up in March and needs a couple of jobs I neglected because I was getting the Victor finished.

I am thinking of selling it due to dire finances and other projects. One of which has an even larger engine than this one...

 

[Haynzee]

ok how much... gen me