
Eventually I've got around to finding somewhere to take some decent shots of the new motor as well as some shots of the install as well and how it fits (just). Unfortunately I didn't get any of the injection pump in the tank but I think the people who wanted to see that have seen it in the flesh already



(spot the missing bits!)

ECU and relays live under the drivers seat

Intertial cutout and some wiring wondering in the footwell.

Gap between rad & engine

Clearance to filter...

And underneath...comes off a treat!

Manifold fits ...tightly on this side

AFM, coil, various other bits on LHS turret & inside wing

Crossover pipe underneath, LHS bank exits through/behind subframe, RHS has to loop around under it to avoid steering gear

Single box in the middle

Crossing over the axle. I think it's might be a Sprint sports exhaust, or at least components of.



Area under rad, and rad support, appears to have been fab'd by the owner - couldn't get a good look though.

Ground clearance? WE DON'T NEED NO STEENKIN GROUND CLEARANCE!

Sherpa short shift linkage (2cm between throws, lovely! Bit brutish though!) with Dolly top stick welded on!


Eye up lads, trouble's just rocked up!
The engine is so far clearing about 25mpg on average, with high 30s on a run - not too bad at all. I expect it'll settle down a bit when I get it running spot on.
It's quite heavily silenced so is very subtle at idle and around town yet when it climbs above 3000 it suddenly starts bellowing and screaming, even more so as it breaches 5000 - in the cab you certainly know it's there though, even when rolling along. Definitely an engine that sounds better under load than free-revving.
Anyway, so far the going's been good - just been bedding it in as it hasn't done many miles as a V8 and waiting on parts - still have no cooling fans, despite them being ordered.
There is a short list of things to do but there's nothing major.
Best recorded 0-60 on the G-meter is 5.80 seconds dead at the moment - a slight improvement over the 5.83 seconds I got before. This is on the very dubious cheap tyres mind and in the slightly less than tractive conditions. We did a side-by-side comparison with my neighbour's 3.2 Audi A3 with Haldex and superb box and the Sprint was quicker through the gears but aerodynamics started getting in the way at higher velocites.
Audi had the edge in the corners though by miles, the Sprint just fishtails! More handling mods required!
Once it dries out, I get some decent rubber and get it cooled I'll start wringing its neck for those extra few fractions - will be interesting to see how it goes. Getting used to the gearchange took some time, occasionally 2>3rd is hard to get but there's about 7 adjustment points on the linkage, so after fettling that it was much simpler.
I'll post a small project log over this Easter which will be when the next stage begins.....eyes are on a progessive nitrous oxide kit amongst more handling/braking modifications!
Oh and noticed it's got 4 Alpine speakers and a motorised rear aerial too - so just need a headunit now...Not that I could hear the bloody thing

If anyone wants to know anything more about the conversion, or wants more shots, shout - there's a lot I didn't put up!
