Arrrival Parts Chassis Engine Surprises Paint Assembly Interior Test Drive Shows Vendors

Surprises: There were such a large number of modifications needed to fit this engine into this car that it would be difficult to show examples of all of them. The heading of "surprises" is a bit of misnomer, as we were not really surprised by any of these developments... Custom milling was required to set the fly wheel the correct distance from the engine, in order for the starter to engage. Alignment pins had to be set in the fly wheel to mount the pressure plate correctly. Then, the fly wheel had to be re-balanced. Exhaust was a dilemma from the beginning. This particular engine was only made by Buick for three years (Rover purchased the design and continued it for over 20 years.) Finding original manifolds would be difficult. Hedman makes headers for the Rover but they were the angle wrong for this particular setting. Block-hugger headers hit the large-capacity low profile oil pan. Both Rover and Triumph exhaust systems were too close to the custom motor mounts to work. It finally boiled down to a choice between systems from a 215, a 300 or a 340. We ended up with a 340 exhaust system (from Ebay).

In order to install the starter, the bell housing had to be cut out. We fabricated a fiberglass patch to cover the hole.

It was necessary to make a custom-fit pilot bushing.

The original motor mounts did not fit, so custom jigs were needed to create proper mounts.

A word about U-joints: Three broiling days were spent over the 4th of July attempting to replace four U-joints. Spend the $100 for a press. We tried to press them out with a big vice...Buy the press. It is worth it. Okay, let's start painting - - ->