Mk2 Escort Van - V8?

[Kevin Mk2]

Guys, I keep getting this little voice in my head telling me my Mk2 Van wants a V8 donkey under the bonnet. Not for the sake of going fast, just something a bit special for shows etc, with a nice growl.

 

Do any of you have experience with such a project? I've heard of people dropping Rover V8s into their Escorts. What would be a good engine to use?

[Escort Mk1 4 Door]

3.5 rover v8 on twin 175 su's would be good

 

not only that but i have a complete on with all aux ready to go sitting spare from a series 1 v8 conversion i was going to do

[mossy]

My best mate has a 3.9 v8 turbo in a mk1 van. Took lots of work by the previous owner but it goes alright!

[XjamesX]

I think Tom's (SebringRS) dad has a Rover V8 in his Mk1 escort so he might be able to chip in with some advice on this

[theloudboy]

Popeye on here has a wicked V8 engined escort.

Sorry don't have a shot of his engine bay.

[willsy]

Popeye on here has a wicked V8 engined escort.

Sorry don't have a shot of his engine bay.

 

Don't worry, Popeye will have lots

[garyv6100e]

have you thought of a 302 small block ford more powerful and cheaper to tune rather the rover V8

[Kevin Mk2]

Thanks for all your replies.

 

@Escort Mk1 4 Door. Sounds interesting. How little money would you need to part with it?

 

@Mossy. Sounds like a lot of fun.. Too much fun for me, I'd probably kill myself.

 

@XjamesX. Guess I'll drop him a line at some point.

 

@theloudboy. That is a thing of beauty. Think I'll PM him, maybe he can offer some pointers.

 

@garyv6100e. I like the idea of keeping it Ford, but the 302 seems a little out of my league price wise. Plus I'm not that keen on tuning it for power.. although if it is able to pull off from the lights in a cloud of smoke (tyre smoke that is ), that would be a bonus.

[turnover]

If your buying a rover v8 try to get one from one of the later tvr,s as they are anything from 230 to 340hp

[Escort Mk1 4 Door]

erm well id like £200 tbh

 

its all there bar:

needing a few ht's leads as there but snapped and poo,

oil and filter needs changing as not sure how long its been in there (plus it fell over in the back of the van and oil went every where)

and the water pump shafts been cut down so there no massive spear to atatch the fan too

 

can get pics it beside my car atm double wrapped in big plastic bags

[Vista]

Popeye's car is stunning and is the perfect example of how such a conversion, with the right skill and / or funds can be done properly. There are far less examples of good conversions out there than bad ones though. Personally, I think a V8 is too big (and too heavy if you're referring to a cast iron V8 ford block) for an Escort. Especially when you can get similar (or better) performance from turbo charged (or in extreme cases naturally aspirated) 4 pots.

 

There was an example of a mk1 V8 van on eBay earlier this year and I thought it looked pretty awful (just my opinion though) with major compromises made to the interior to get the engine and box in place.

 

If you want to be different, how about looking for a modern lightweight V6 and turbo / supercharging it?

[Mad Mex]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-302-V8-E ... 1c2b820ed9

 

or if your feeling flush...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-GM-LS ... 19d5a0bc2f

 

but tbh i agree with Vista, v8s are a bit too big and heavy for escorts as a general rule, though the LS engine above is very light for what it is...and 700-750hp is fairly simple to acheive from these engines afaik

 

screaming 4 pots for escorts.... big V8s for capris