After years of casualy looking for a blown engine - my search for a Wade supercharged Rover V8 on Loot finally gave one result. Local too, so I just had to go and have a look. It was love at first sight! No sooner had I said "I'll have it" was it going in the back of a van and on its way home with me. Madness!
Just what I wanted... a Rover V8 (I was familiar with them) and a Wade RO34 supercharger on top. The fact it had been a running combination was a bonus.
Weber 500 carb was also included with the engine deal - jetted for use with the blower too, so nothing needed to be changed here.
We couldn't wait to get it fitted... so we pulled the carb and scoop off just to make things a little easier to handle.
Nearly there now... Oil cooler for the auto gearbox hung up with tape out of the way. All a bit tight on the back of the supercharger at this point!
That's a lot of engine to sqeeze in there! Not much room round the back now! Once the gearbox had been pulled up, the engine dropped right in.
No going back now! The engine was finally in and looked pretty good. No sooner was it in the bay than I wanted to hear it running.
I decided to stick with the ZF 4 speed auto box on the back for the time being, but I have the option of 4 or 5 speed manual if it's not what I want.
Only when I sat in the car did I realise just how much of the engine was going to be poking out of the bonnet. The answer was a lot!
I took out the stereo and replaced it with a V8 tacho and matching boost gauge - both mounted in a hand-cut aluminium blanking plate.
It was all change for 2009... I removed the supercharger, replaced the bonnet and resprayed the car satin black. Even without the blower, there's plenty of performance from the 3.9 V8 and it's easier to drive - you can see the road for a start! - it handles better and stays cooler in traffic. Good enough for me!
