Triumph Sports Cars

I tried to get Joe to do a "How it was done" also. I e-mailed him and asked if I could get information on his rear disk brake conversion with not to much help (because of liability fear), but understood. At that time I congradulated him on a very cool conversion.

Don Watson was more help than I could ask for in the rear disk brake conversion! Thanks Don.

I have been emailing someone out here in Newark, Ca in the bay area, that has installed a Nissan 3000 GT V6.

Photo below. He was interested in a rotisserie engine stand and saw that I made a rotissarie from Bills plans.

This engine may spark interest, I'm sure he won't mind this photo posted. I asked him to start posting and do a "how it was done".

Thanks guys, I have looked at a few pictures of gt6s with v8 and v6s along with a sptifires on this site. It seems possible. My dad has been street rods for 30 years and I have seen him change engines several times. Way I see it is if one person was able to do it without destroying the car and my goal is to have a car I enjoy driving, automatic, why not go for it. So I would like anyone not should i do the v6/v8 automatic combo, BUT HOW TO DO IT? Also Does the frame have to be cut if you set the transmission above the frame?

David, you could set the transmission above the frame but you'd also have to raise the engine to keep the driveshaft phasing in alignment. That would both lead to a lot of hood interference which somewhat spoils the clean look of the car, but also raises the center of gravity which wouldn't do anything good for the handling. If I was doing the swap, I think I'd take some careful measurments and locate the postion of the firewall on the frame, mark that well, and then remove the body. I'd then weld in some temporary bracing from the front section to the rear to hold the alignment when the center area was trimmed out to fit the engine and trans then weld in the new frame structure and mount the engine and trans. Then you could remove the temporary braces and reinstall the body, trimming that as necessary in the firewall and footwell areas. That would get the transmission located down low enough to keep the balance and driveshaft alignment good and also keep the pan area clear for future maintenance. You stll need to consider a change at the rear though, the stock axle is not very strong and the gear selection is horrible with an automatic. You also would well off to get rid of the rubber joints in the rear axles, much torque and they will destroy themselves in short order anyway. I've heard from Spitfire racers that the rear axle from a Nissan /Datsun 240Z fits pretty well. Check with the Triumph Spitfire racers about this one.

What is so bad about the triumph6 in a GT6? The motor is quite solid-although it needs fuel injection to be a great and reliable runner. I fuel injected my son's for a total cost of about $500 and it runs great all seasons. We left the stick alone because the frame rails are toooooooo narrow for an auto tranny to fit. It runs very well and shifts easily.

Quote:

What is so bad about the triumph6 in a GT6? The motor is quite solid-although it needs fuel injection to be a great and reliable runner.

How about power to weight ratio? There's a lot of iron in a GT6 (Vitesse) engine, yet it only displaces 2 liters. With respect, no matter how well you tune the EFI system there's still something to that old adage: "there's no replacement for displacement". The 3.4L GM V6 (for example) is lighter than the Triumph six, yet offers seventy percent more displacement. Some of the other engines mentioned in this thread are even lighter.

That said, Scot, I don't dispute that your work with EFI is noble and worthwhile. If it works well for you and your son, more power to you! I'm curious to hear more about that work.

what is wrong with the gt 6 drive train , lets start at the front rad is too small needs to be 3 times bigger
the engine is a good engine but for street use 200 hp is about max (our s had between 240 and 250 hp at 8600 rpm but idled at 1000 rpm not very streetable. the trans in racing would go through 3 out of 4 sycros in a race weekend if the gear box lasted.at all. the drive shaft and axle ujoints are too week for a stock eng torque and the stub axeles and axles get the boobe prize for being almost as week. If you want to see why I know this this is a picture of a triumph vitesse (gt 6 sedan) built to compete in the under 2.5 ltr trans am racing around 250 hp with a top speed at the track of 155 aprox mph . thats what is wrong wiyh the gt 6 drive train.
mark thompson

If you ware wiling to go with a GM Ecotec motor you may get lucky and find a totaled Solstice or Sky somewhere. It is a aluminum motor and should have a smaller auto trans (not sure how small) They put out a good amount of HP and would be better for a even more light weight car.

I just picked up a Rover 4.0 with an automatic transmission and transfer case. The auto transmission is rather skinny. Wouldn't that fit between the rails of a Triumph?

I don't know if there is a proper tailshaft for that version of transmission, one that will take a slip-yolk of a driveshaft.

So, a v8 WOULD upset the "factory balance"; it's too damn light!

I just found this thread, so sorry for coming into it late.
Another option for an automatic is a GM 4l30E. Overdrive in 4th. This tranny came on Cadillacs, Isuzu's, and BMW's. Fabled German engineering, designed in Detroit, and built in France. :0)
You can find it with a GM V6 bolt pattern on the bell housing.
It got a reputation as being weak in the Isuzu Troopers. That car should have had the 4L40E I think.
The pans are still wide for a Spit frame rail and mods will be needed. It isn't as wide as the others though.
Here is a PDF spec sheet:
[www.unofficialbmw.com]

I'd suggest forgetting a V6 or V8 conversion (V6s are nasty, heavy, complex and don't have the vibration-free balanced nature of a straight-six, and a TR6 just isn't a TR6 with a V8) and do one of the following:

- Rework the existing straight-six engine
- Drop in a BMW straight-six (it's been done, there's a TR6 somewhere with a BMW S54 3.2L straight-six from an E46 M3)
- Drop in a Toyota/Lexus 2JZ straight-six
- Drop in a Nissan RB-series straight-six

Four-cylinder engines tend to sound dull - the Honda S2000 motor is one exception, mind. Just as long as it revs freely, growls as it does so, and (ideally) pops and bangs on the overrun... Alfa Romeo engine, anyone? There's a 156 in every scrapyard round my part of the world... mind you, I'm on the far side of the Atlantic from most of you, it'll be much harder to get an Alfa motor over in the US!

I believe the honda engine requires you to use the honda factory dash. Google Minx with s2000 motor and you will find a guy putting one in a hillman minx. Awesome build. An RB motor is an engineering work of art, you can get massive power from those, as well as supra engines. The RBs get gobbled up pretty quickly here by people putting them in old Zs. That makes for a beast of a car, a few bolt ons and you have 450 hp. Theres one on youtube that will walk away from a hennessey viper like it has my grandpa driving it. Theres an MGB on youtube with a supra engine on it, maybe you can get in touch with the guy for help, i think hes in Arizona? But a straight 6 would look perfect in there.

Whatever engine and trans you select, consider most automatics will have too wide a lower pan to clear the frame rails without some modification and reinforcement. That Spitfire/GT6 frame is pretty narrow in the transmission area. The original 4 speed is pretty small and couldn't drop out from the bottom, has to come out from the interior side.

placing a 1993 chevy S10 V6 2.8 in a 80 spitfire, after ive converted it to a carb setup, (old school) from the trottle setup, with a T5, hoping not to make any mods to the firewall, ive read that the oil pan has to be modified? in what way?

Are you still there ? I'm not on a rant, so maybe I can address your original question ? How about an automatic transaxle ? Lot's of them out there. You might want to look at those with a rigid mounted torque tube, between the engine and t-axle. Porsche 924/944 ? 928= too large, for your app. I suspect Jim Nichols(this site), knows of many more potentials. Come on clan, let's focus here. Good Luck David, roverman.

There is an Australian lockout (for RWD)and cover for the Subaru Impezza/Outback AWD transaxle. Used in Beck Porsche Spyder mid-engine. It could be used in rear drive with Torque tube like 61-63 Pontiac Tempest, but seriously I would widen the mid section of the frame and use a 200R4 with Speedway Motors adapter to 60 degree V6. I would then use the Toyota IFS diff in the rear. I have done a article on this site. [forum.britishv8.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2012 02:20PM by mgb260.