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motormouth
Kris Palmer
Mpls MN
(63 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 03:13PM

Main British Car:
1972 Triumph TR6, Olds F85 V8, TR8 5-speed 'box Olds 215 V8

Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: motormouth
Date: November 14, 2007 06:59AM

Is anyone out there running a V8 Alpine? My brother lives in CA, has an open garage stall and has been talking about a British roadster. He always liked the Alpine's looks, though he'd rather have more power and a more robust sound than the 4 makes.

I've got him intriqued by my 215 TR6--and I have a spare 215 stroker.

Specifically, I'm wondering if the 215 goes easily into the Alpine engine bay to produce an aluminum-8 Tiger....

Thanks for any thoughts.

Kris Palmer, Minneapolis


NixVegaGT
Nicolas Wiederhold
Minneapolis, MN
(659 posts)

Registered:
10/16/2007 05:30AM

Main British Car:
'73 Vega GT 4.9L Rover/Buick Stroker

authors avatar
Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: NixVegaGT
Date: November 14, 2007 08:14AM

Is that your stroker on ebay? That's a really good deal for the bottom end. That's about cost. I'm surprised nobody jumped at it yet.

I had a friend whose dad had a Tiger. It was really nasty. TINY car. The 289/302 is about 2" thinner. I'm pretty sure the length and height is similar though. If the frame rails are similar to the MGs it's going to be a squeeze. I think that would go a long way to building really nice weight distribution. I think it would be pretty hot!


rficalora
Rob Ficalora
Willis, TX
(2764 posts)

Registered:
10/24/2007 02:46PM

Main British Car:
'76 MGB w/CB front, Sebring rear, early metal dash Ford 302

authors avatar
Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: rficalora
Date: November 14, 2007 04:28PM

There's a great comparison of the common V8 swap motors on the newsletter portion of this web site... [www.britishv8.org]. Based on that, the 215 is 2" wider & 1" shorter than the ford 289/302.

No matter what the difference is, I have to believe the Ford 302 would be way easier if you're talking about a Sunbeam Alpine since the 302 is a later variant of the Ford 260 and that's what went into Sunbeam Tigers. It's not uncommon for Alpines to be converted to 289's or 302's so you can probably find more info on that swap. This one looks particularly nice as an example... [www.britishv8.org]. There are a bunch of Tiger's listed there too.
Get Your BritishV8 T-shirt by clicking here


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4582 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: Moderator
Date: November 14, 2007 09:04PM

This might be a good question to get-the-ball-rolling on our Sunbeam message board. Someone's got to break the ice! (I know we've got Sunbeam-owners surfing our site... I get lots of e-mails from them.)

Kris, you might want to ask specifically about steering modifications because that's one of the big areas where Tigers differ from Alpine's. If your brother doesn't want to mess with steering issues, I think he'll find it hard to complete a V8 installation. There are, however, kits available for bolting the narrow Ford "Cologne" 60 degree V6 into an Alpine. (They leave the Alpine steering intact).


NixVegaGT
Nicolas Wiederhold
Minneapolis, MN
(659 posts)

Registered:
10/16/2007 05:30AM

Main British Car:
'73 Vega GT 4.9L Rover/Buick Stroker

authors avatar
Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: NixVegaGT
Date: November 15, 2007 08:58AM

Interesting... I was going to continue this but I'll post it in the Sunbeam board. LOL!


hoffbug
Tony Hoffer
Minnesota
(323 posts)

Registered:
10/15/2007 05:25PM

Main British Car:
Olds 215 EFI

Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: hoffbug
Date: November 16, 2007 09:55PM

NixVegaGT Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is that your stroker on ebay? That's a really good
> deal for the bottom end. That's about cost. I'm
> surprised nobody jumped at it yet.
>
Nic. The stroker engine belongs to BOB. He is the guy that I went in on the parts lot with to get my 4.6 block.


motormouth
Kris Palmer
Mpls MN
(63 posts)

Registered:
10/23/2007 03:13PM

Main British Car:
1972 Triumph TR6, Olds F85 V8, TR8 5-speed 'box Olds 215 V8

Re: Anyone run a 215 Alpine?
Posted by: motormouth
Date: November 21, 2007 12:43PM

Hey, Thanks for these ideas and sorry for the sluggish response. Wife and I are taking some time this week to venture back to Philly for my 25th HS reunion and trying to clear out the schedule for that has been crazy.

I hadn't considered steering difficulties. I'll hone in on that and will also flip over to the Sunbeam page.



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