kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
I am about to fit a Daimler 250 V8 to my '64 Spitfire. I am having a BMW 6 speed gearbox currently mounted to the engine and I have been advised to fit a Datsun SSS differential, which I have managed to find. Has anybody fitted a Daimler V8 to a Spitfire and if so can you give me any advice? Dick
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kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Jim, I have just had the BMW gearbox fitted to the Daimler motor and will collect it tomorrow. The engine is out of the original car ( This was a Datsun 1400 motor). The body work needs a lot of work as it has not been looked after over the years. I will load pics as and when I do stuff.
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roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Dick, My hemi is a "little" bigger,but should prove interesting, to compare notes. This being a 6.1L, Gen III mopar into 74" Jensen Healey. Good Luck, roverman.
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DiDueColpi Fred Key West coast - Canada (1365 posts) Registered: 05/14/2010 03:06AM Main British Car: I really thought that I'd be an action figure by now! |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Come on now Art.
We don't talk about size in polite company. Cheers Fred |
kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Although I was promised the engine & gearbox back on Saturday it wasn't ready! Is that a surprise or what. I will get back to you all as soon as I have some pics ready. Dick
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djw090 David Witham Warwick UK (115 posts) Registered: 06/12/2008 11:20AM Main British Car: MGB 1974 and MG ZT 160 turbo 2005 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
How did they fit the gear box to the engine? Did they make a custom bell or just some kind of engine back plate?
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
I think it's way cool that you're using that engine. Looking forward to some photos.
JB |
kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
I'm not sure that size counts - because it is a Daimler!
However the way we are fitting the BMW gearbox to the Daimler motor is first off making a new backing plate, changing the starter motor to a Toyota Hilux as it is smaller than the original Lucas starter, making a new fly wheel and fitting the Toyota ring gear. A BMW clutch is then fitted to the new flywheel along with the smaller BMW bell housing. I hope to get the motor back by Friday (hopefully this Friday 6th). I will post some pics as soon as I can. Dick |
kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Hi Guys, I finally got the Daimler motor back today. They fitted a Toyota Hilux starter motor, Toyota ring gear and a Luk clutch assembly onto a newly machined aluminum fly wheel. The Hilux starter is considerably smaller than the Daimler Lucas one and the ring gear is a smaller diameter. This means he was able to machine a smaller back plate and make a smaller custom built bell housing. The gearbox is a 5 speed BMW 325 model.
I have had to take off the oil filter to place the motor, so I will in time need to modify that part. I will also need to shave about 4mm off the bottom lip on the chassis to allow the motor to drop done a bit further. It looks like the S.U. carbs and air cleaners will sit about 75mm, 3 ins, proud of the bonnet, so a modification might be required there. This is my first attempt at attaching photos and I have placed 3 on the system - I hope it works. Cheers Dick |
kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
No success with loading pics, can anybody give me any pointers. I've tried loading off my windows pictures and directly from my Nikon camera and nothing seems to work.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2011 10:13AM by kick. |
mgb260 Jim Nichols Sequim,WA (2461 posts) Registered: 02/29/2008 08:29PM Main British Car: 1973 MGB roadster 260 Ford V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Dick, They have to be in jpg format and can't be too large. Looking forward to the pics. Very cool little motor!
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kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
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roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire/ NO size
Dear Curtis, inch by mm, I have offended a brudda of the north by mentioning SIZE, DiDueColpi ? Please remove all dimensional/bragging allegations from this webbsite, lest "someome" feel, measurably challenged ? Cheers, roverman.
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Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Russ Carpenter is the acknowledged maestro of Daimler V8 tuning. He is developing a road kit for the Daimler 2.5 V8 with fuel injection and a supercharger aiming at 200+ bhp with standard compression ratio. Contact russcarpenter@btinternet.com
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BlownMGB-V8 Jim Blackwood 9406 Gunpowder Rd., Florence, KY 41042 (6468 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 12:59PM Main British Car: 1971 MGB Blown,Injected,Intercooled Buick 340/AA80E/JagIRS |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
I have to admit, pulling 200 hp out of an engine that (physical) size using a blower does seem a bit... well, the word underwhelming seems to come to mind. It really does look good though.
JB |
roverman Art Gertz Winchester, CA. (3188 posts) Registered: 04/24/2009 11:02AM Main British Car: 74' Jensen Healy, 79 Huff. GT 1, 74 MGB Lotus 907,2L |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire/starter motor ?
This dinky giant IS so coool ! I could use one to start- my HEMI ! roverman.
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Bill Young Bill Young Kansas City, MO (1337 posts) Registered: 10/23/2007 09:23AM Main British Car: '73 MG Midget V6 , '59 MGA I6 2.8 GM, 4.0 Jeep |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Dick, it really looks good. How much clearance between the pan and the steering rack do you have? I'd think you'd want to get the engine down just as low as possible in the chassis both to aid in bonnet clearance as well as for handling. Getting 200 hp from 2.5 liters isn't too bad, especially with the rather low stock compression ratio as I remember. If you have to open a hole in the bonnet to clear those carbs, then you might as well mount a supercharger like Jim did and really look the part of the "Blown Hemi"
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kick Dick Allwright Johannesburg (9 posts) Registered: 04/28/2011 10:41AM Main British Car: 1964 Spitfire Daimler 2.5 V8 |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
Thanks for all the info guys. But one thing at a time. I have mounted the engine and gearbox and made special plates and mountings for the Datsun diff. I'm told that the Subaru diff is exactly the same. I'm now busy modifying the hangers to accommodate the Datsun wheel hubs, brake drums and the Datsun drive shafts. I hope the photos give a better idea as to how I am doing things. It is a slow process as I am trying to do everything myself with my own equipment.
8350: Shows front right engine mounting - not painted. 8351: Shows right engine mounting - I used the original Daimler bracket. 8352: Diff mounting - the unpainted plate is what I have made up. 8353: Rear diff mounting - note the painted bracket I had made up which supports the spring and the diff spring mounts I made. |
Re: Fitting Daimler 250 motor to a Spitfire
WELL WELL
That is interesting, I did this swap back in the mid 80's in a Mk 4 Spitfire, it was road registered and was used for classic racing! Daimler Dart motor and flywheel, using Dart box/bellhousing cut midway through the front bearing and adapted to the Saloon Triumph gearbox with STAG input shaft machined down to suit, with tailshaft shortened using O/dribe rear casting. Oil lines diverted to a front filter. Starter was standard, Alternater was Spit, turned round so it is in front of engine/belt. GT6 Radiator. Even with the distributer shortened it still stuck through the bonnet(Brace modified) The Holley(390) also was through the bonnet. It was fast, especially with cam, head porting and nitrous, went through plenty of diffs and axle universal joints/yokes, gearbox never failed. I will dig out some photos and load them shortly. Cheers Kevin Gill Wellington New Zealand |