V8 SE5 Scimitar - Fitting the engine and Gearbox

Clearly cutting of footwells is involved!!!

Tom:
"I made a template to ensure plenty of room would be left for the engine, and an extra bit to clear the manifolds. The position was determined by the front pulley, fitting behind the steering rack. On a suggestion from Sam, the fibreglass was cut around 3 sides and folded in, and riveted in place using Ally sheet, prior to being glass fibred over - I was going to remove the Alloy plate, but I left them in situ.

"SAFETY NOTE: Around the manifolds I left bare Ally to prevent any risk of fire overheating etc, and give maximum clearance.

"The transmission tunnel needed some cutting to raise the height locally, which I was not expecting. The engine / gearbox mounts had to be fabricated mostly from 3mm sheet, but the gearbox mount also used bar/plate - lets just say it is sturdy...

"The gearbox mounting is completely different style and position (further back) for the LT77 gearbox, so I used the original 4 mounting bolts at the front linking to Chassis centre cross member at the rear.

"The LT77 (early Rover SD1 5 speed) or R380 (later, found on MGR V8, TVR's etc) are both suitable but you will need a Sherpa type shift linkage to get the gearlevel into a suitable position. Apparently Jaguar used the Rover gearbox for a time and made a very refined short shifter, but they're rare as! See below for example of difference between short Sherpa shifter (fitted) and SD1 shifter adjacent (not fitted)."

See "Other" page for important extra jobs you'll need to tackle...

Here's some useful info from Steve Jenkins re Autoboxes and Scimitar V8 conversions.

Steve:
"The ZF 4HP22 is a common box, fitted to Range Rover, Jaguar, BMW, Volvo among others.For a straight swap use the LDV [sherpa type] V8 ambulance and police riot van type. Bell housing matches and has a propshaft flange out put. Later boxes electronic so may make things more awkward? If LDV not available then mate the Jag/BMW box to the RR bellhousing. If you use the range rover box you need to remove the transfer box and fit the tailhousing off the Jag/BMW. It fits in between the the chassis rails ok. You need to make new chassis brackets and mounting plate. I modified a SD1 auto mounting bracket and rubber mount, but maybe you could modify/use the jag mounting.

"Couple of items to 'overcome' The range rover/LDV sump is very deep, so little ground clearance. Either modify the sump and oil pickup or use Jaguar/bmw sump. Bell housing is bulky so I have had to modify the top of the tunnel in that area so this may affect heater installation...not got to this yet. Because of the extra bulk of the box selector linkage may not fit as is...not got to this yet. Dip stick/filler needs think about, but comes off the front of the box sump and is central so options for that either side.

"Worth noting:- do not rev the engine excessively with these boxes in 'neutral', it can cause damage. Only rev engine in park e.g. servicing the engine etc."