Adam: there used to be a thing - and I employ the word 'thing' advisedly - called I think the Swandean Special, a RR Merlin with 4wd, dk where they got the gearboxes... Don't think it ever went especially well.
Why on earth didn't you try to buy mm's special? Just the thing I wd have thought, got a bit frisky at 70, made a lovely noise, could climb the Chrysler building idling in third... don't mess about sticking engines in hopeless modern Euroboxes, big world out there.
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What about a Vauxhall Omega? Lovely car. I had a V6 for nine years before I got my Accord. Not sure how much you would pay for a late model 2.6 or 3.0 litre, but I think insurance costs would deter you.
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Adam
Come here boy
< slap >
NOw then
Lets get to the point. Your focus is pig ugly and has no street cred of *any* kind. Quite rightly you have the urge for a V6 burble. Now write 1000 times.
"I Adam will buy a car that looks good, has street cred and was built for a V6 - not a stewpid ugly focus saloon."
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Indeed - I did my rally driving course in a G3. The prize for the top pupil (me of course) was a drive around the rally course in a Sierra 4x4 cosworth.......
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Adam
On your budjet (and mine for that matter) I would FORGET trying anything too clever with converting a normal 4 pot to 6 or 8 pot.
I suspect from what I've gleened about you that you don't have the means to do a servicable conversion yourself, and probably would have to pay through the nose to get something reasonable done - a figure that would quite frankly be prohibative for a man of your means.
Hence I would investigate what PU said and consider getting a cheap but nice car that's got a standard V6 or V8. The Rover SD1 is the obvious 'classic'that springs to mind.
Now I don't know at what age decent classic car insurance would kick in at but you may be close to, if not at that age now.
I spend the best part of my youth learning a lesson that, once mastered, I was then too old to take advantage of. Where cars are concerned, the most cost effective route to what you want is to ideally buy it in the first place, rather than buy something that is so far removed then try to customise it to your specification.
Ie, if you want a V6 or V8, then buy A v6 or V8. If you wan the Rover 3.5 vitesse, then buy it. Don't aspire to a 3.5 Vitesse conversion from the 2.0 SD1.
Alternitively, the older Rover 800s may be worth looking at. I don't know about the 827 etc. The other one to look at is the Ford of similar age.
If you want to go further (insurance dependent) the you could look at some cheap Jaguar XJ40s. You'll get anything up to the V12! NICE
H
--
Hugo
\"If it ain\'t broke, don\'t fix it. If it is broke, blame someone else!\"
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A Rover is at the end of the day a rover (counjures up imadges of old men with string drving gloves and the constant site of an aa truck towing you away).
Get a V6 mondeo £3500 ish, fit some nice aloys and sort out the interior to your taste. Cheap to buy service and insure and capable of 120 mph b4 the limiter kicks in!
paul
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A Rover is at the end of the day a rover (counjures up imadges of old men with string drving gloves and the constant site of an aa truck towing you away).
Disagree, sorry.
The Rover SD1 is set apart from the what was produced alongside it and after it.
A well looked after SD1 would do Adam very well. As to whether he would want one, that's up to him. Should he go down this route he would do well to look for a good one in terms of bodywork and basic mechanical condition.
A friend of mine had the 2600 on an S plate. He ran it for years on a shoestring, but eventually had to let it go when keeping it on the road proved prohibative.
H
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1) Yes it would be possible - you can fit a 3.0 V6 intoi a 205 and the 2.8 VR6 into the MK1 and MK2 Golf so i see no reason why you couldn't fit the ford V6 into the front of the Focus
2) You probably wouldn't need a new gearbox - there are lots of firms who would produce a conversion plate to mate the V6 up to your gearbox. Keeping your gearbox rather than the V6 one would give better low down acceleration at the expense of a little top end speed.
3) It all depends on how much you can do yourself but even if you did none of it i would imagine you could get it done for less than the £5k budget of buying a different car. You would of course need to uprate brakes and suspension too.
4) Yes!
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Friend of mine used to put all manner of large engines into very ordinary cars,2 that stand out were,MK1 Escort with a 3500 Rover V8 auto and a HB Viva with an American V8 which from memory had 'Oldsmobile Rocket'emblazoned on the rocker covers.Strangley enough all his conversions were really well done and nicely engineered.Then he discovered women,drives a VW Sharan now with a diesel engine.
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Did he live around Bristol?Saw a MK 1 there,circa late 80's,with a Rover V8.The car was red I think.Strangely the quarter lights had been converted to open.
BTW from 105e on any Ford g/box will fit any Ford bellhousing,possibly excepting Probe.
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A lot of the older cars mentioned were RWD, so the drive train was there to accept the conversions.
I don't know how a front wheel drive focus would cope......
Although as BH says, the golf comes in VR6 form.....
Adam, it all depends what you want to achieve. Do you want a V6 or V8, or do you also want to be original?
H
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You can also squeeze the VR6 into a Lupo - but it's a bit tight!
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There's a "nice" V8 Bedford CF on E-bay. It has a bed in the back. The taste filter on this site won't allow me to paste the number but you could always have a gander.
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Wow - a lot of replies. I'll try and address them all. This will be long so bear with me
Firstly, Dave - I am of course referring to the old Vectra and not the wonderful one you have (which I actually kinda like but could never afford). Am I back on the list?
The idea of retriming the interior never occured to me but there's the potential would be quite good and as you say N_C, much cheaper than an engine conversion.
Getting someone to do it wouldn't be a problem - they're not a backstreet garage but actual proper motor engineers who just fix our cars because they're Dad's mate but that's by the by. They're still going to want paying. And the parts would still need to be bought.
Avant - you're far from boring - especially suggesting a Xedos 9! Believe it or not, my mate and I were talking about these last week saying how so far ahead of their time they were. I'd never actually considered one but looking on Autotrader, they seem awfully rare and very far away. E.g. There's not a decent 2.5 (I'd have to have the 2.5) within 200 miles of my house. Also, do you think it's me? I mean I like them and they look pretty nice but bits of it look like Dad's and I'm not sure I could live with it despite it being a superb car. How do they drive?
Lud - the Swandean Special? I'd love explaining what that was down the pub - and then showing everyone in the carpark!
Fullchat - "However the creation of such a beast takes someone with the requisite skills in fabrication." - Nooo - don't shatter the dream - I was hoping it'd be along the lines of "Right then - lets slot this here V6 into this here engine bay.....start her up. Job's a goodun'"
Robbie - Omega. Keep coming back to these as it fills all the criteria BUT I'd be a 21 year old driving an Omega. But then, I wouldn't care because I'd be looking at a 3.2 which, incidentally, I can insure for £1600 which surprised me a lot. But for some reason it would need to be auto.
RF. RF RF RF RF RF.
"I, Adam will buy a car that looks good, has street cred and was built for a V6"
That's the best you're getting. I draw the line at "pig ugly". ;-)
I'll be honest H - I like the Rover SD1. I like it and I like even more the sound it makes. BUT, I would never have one. I just isn't me. I know I'm missing out on the wonderful noise it makes but I just don't think I could ever have one. I know that sounds ridiculously narrow minded but I just can't explain it. Plus the fact I'd love a car either the same age or just a touch older (Probably R - S reg tops).
By the time I get to your post b_h, I've pretty much talked myself out of it. Of course, I'd neglected to think of the brakes etc with my whim which of course would be another cost. But a VR6 in a Lupo? That would be fun.
And finally, H. I don't really care about originailty. Well - I mean I wouldn't be happy driving around in a really common car and seeing as I (clearly!) don't care about what people think about my car choice, I guess that makes it original! Whatever car I got would be my sole car for everything including nipping down the the shops so I think it's probably best sticking to V6's.
Thanks to everyone (and those I haven't mentioned) who's replied. I really do appreciate it and if nothing else, it's provided you with a nice Sunday morning chuckle. I'd never thought or retrimming anything so can anyone who knows anything about it post something up. What's involved? What's the scope? What are the costs involved?
Again, thanks for taking the time to reply,
Adam
P.S. I'm ignoring you on purpose PU ;-)
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Actually Adam they say that the VR6 lupo is great in a straight line but is woeful around corners as it just wasn't designed to have such a heavy engine in it. However a tweak 1.8 20V turbo is a different story all together!
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Mornin' Adam - missed this yesterday, but you are a seriously crazy boy !
With the requisite skills, many engines can be coerced into many cars. I seem to remember a Reliant at Oulton Park with a 3.5 Rover engine in the front, and a Hillman Imp with the same unit in the back.
To talk to some people who have actually done these things, try calling in on Wigan Motor Club - they meet at some pub in Upholland - i'm sure you can google them
Give us all a laugh - phone your insurance company and ask how much more your premium would be if you installed a v6 - be sure to come back and let us know !
Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Actually Adam I have a sneaking suspicion that we are all colluding with you in a scheme to neglect yr last-minute cramming before finals or whatever they have these days.
I know it's irksome when people say this sort of thing (boy do I know!) but it's for the good of yr soul. Nose back to grindstone young man.
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Firstly, Dave - I am of course referring to the old Vectra
Adam, you're forgetting I had the previous shaped Vectra as well. In some aspects I preferred the dash in that to the current one.
Am I back on the list?
::makes note to also not send a birthday card as well::
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A Rover is at the end of the day a rover (counjures up imadges of old men with string drving gloves and the constant site of an aa truck towing you away). Get a V6 mondeo £3500 ish, fit some nice aloys and sort out the interior to your taste. Cheap to buy service and insure and capable of 120 mph b4 the limiter kicks in! paul
E320 straight six. 220BHP Leather. Air. Quick or lazy......you choose...A1 condition......54k miles........FOUR Grand!
vbr.........MD.
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