Other Cars (British & British-Inspired)

Hi all. First post here. I have been researching extensively on the matter of Rover v8 swaps. I am restoring a TVR and the rover is appealing to me for a variety of reasons. However, I've found the matter of selecting a particular rover engine to be difficult. The 4.4 looks appealing because there are so many available. Though, it's not actually British made as I understand, and I can't find anything about anyone having megasquirted one, fitted a gm engine management system, or any other good way to tune it. So I guess my question is this: what are the preferred rover engines to look closely at for a swap into a car? Which is easiest to work with? I'm not worried about which has the highest output potential, but is there any one or two particular rover engines that are used for most swaps? Also, is there a source I am missing that lays this out? This site is a fantastic source and I've found tons of little details that are helpful while searching through but I haven't found much discussion on the selection of engines.

Also, what is the deal with flywheels? I get the impression that some common flywheel fits but I can't actually find what it is from.

If you’re comfortable with fitting an aftermarket control system such as MegaSquirt, a 3.9 or 4.2 liter would probably suit you well. You’d discard the air flow sensor, but keep the plenum with its integral throttle body and also keep the fuel rail and injectors and… most everything else. 4.2’s are pretty scarce, but 3.9’s are plentiful, in my opinion there’s not too much reason to prefer one year of 3.9 over another IF you’re fitting a MegaSquirt. Instead, buy based on condition. (It’s best to buy a complete and running one if you can, of course.)

3.9 was phased out in favor of 4.0 and 4.6 liter variants with a similar induction scheme except visibly different because their plenums were slightly boxier and painted black. Those were known as GEMS engines… GEMS is the name of their control system… they don’t seem to be popular for swaps because many people prefer to have a distributor…

Later 4.0 and 4.6 engines came with a much larger/taller induction system. Those are commonly called “Thor” engines. Their induction system isn’t easy to package and it’s engineered for lower RPM operation… so people typically fit some alternative induction system.

Original LandRover flywheels are scarce. Easiest solution is to choose an aftermarket one from d&d fabrications.

Thank you.
Your mention of the intake height brings up another problem. I can't find any aftermarket intakes that are lower. I'm worried the hood on my tvr is too low for such a tall intake. Are there any solutions?

Rover Engine swap.
You didn't mention which TVR model that you were looking to swap an engine into.I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it might be a 2500M If in fact that is the case I'd strongly recommend the Ford 289 or 302.289's were put in Griffiths and Tuscans.The 289 is a fairly light weight hi power engine with a narrower V than the Rover engine.Not to mention that it's been done many times.
Cheers

2500m indeed. I'll have to look in to the 289s. I like the idea of the Ford engine but most options I had looked at were just too heavy. I refuse to swap an engine heavier than the 2500 tractor engine!

I am seeing 425 lbs for a 302 with aluminum heads. Not sure if that's with a carburetor or FI manifold though. I was expecting about 400 lbs from a rover 4.0. 425 could be feasible. I do want to stay true to the TVR history/culture.

John,
The shortest setup that I could come up with for a Stag to Rover engine conversion was the factory Buick 215 4 bbl manifold.
The carb mount was machined 0.500" if I remember correctly. Then the Edelbrock AFB carb was used for it's lack of height. Finally a Holley Hi-Tec air filter was used with its mounting flange milled off. Worked well with no issues.
Cheers
Fred

Offy single plane is lower than OEM. 4BBL is easiest to find.
Good Luck, Art.