Rear engine Rover V8 Parts?

[62PanlVan]

I'm trying to figure out what parts are needed to put a Rover(Buick/Olds) aluminum V8 into the back of a Corvair using the Corvair transaxle. I've contacted D&D Fabrications (they build Buick/Rover engines) and Kennedy Engineered Products and neither of them have Corvair adapters. Saw a bellhousing adapter for sale on line, but don't want to buy it if some of the other necessary pieces to the puzzle aren't available. From what I've found out so far, I've made a list of what I think is required.
1. Bellhousing adapter (used to be made by (KEP).
2. Reverse rotation camshaft (Isky?)
3. Reverse rotation distributor gear?
4. Reverse rotation starter? (Can an electrical shop change the rotation?)
5. Is the Buick/Rover flywheel modified to take a Corvair clutch or is a custom flywheel necessary?

Are some or all of these parts available somewhere, or extremely hard to find?

[whenim64]

The late Bill Ableson had a treasure trove of new Buick/Olds 215-V8 parts, all of which was sold years ago on behalf of his widow after Bill’s passing.

Well, almost all. This one part remains, mostly because I cannot state with any certainty its exact application. But my guess is that it is one of the things you’d want when building a reverse-rotation 215-V8, because that’s what everything else was.

[cnicol]

I'm trying to figure out what parts are needed to put a Rover(Buick/Olds) aluminum V8 into the back of a Corvair using the Corvair transaxle. I've contacted D&D Fabrications (they build Buick/Rover engines) and Kennedy Engineered Products and neither of them have Corvair adapters. Saw a bellhousing adapter for sale on line, but don't want to buy it if some of the other necessary pieces to the puzzle aren't available. From what I've found out so far, I've made a list of what I think is required.
1. Bellhousing adapter (used to be made by (KEP).
2. Reverse rotation camshaft (Isky?)
3. Reverse rotation distributor gear?
4. Reverse rotation starter? (Can an electrical shop change the rotation?)
5. Is the Buick/Rover flywheel modified to take a Corvair clutch or is a custom flywheel necessary?

Are some or all of these parts available somewhere, or extremely hard to find?

All are extremely hard to find, the most difficult is the RR camshaft. These days, CNC being what it is, you might be able to have one made from billet. RR distributor gear-set can be made by gear machinists. Jim Briggs had some made 15 years ago and that's where I got mine. I'm sure the sets he had made are very long gone.

I think my car has a modified Buick or full-custom flywheel and I installed a Corvair 140/180 pressure plate. The setup uses a stock Corvair starter.

Since you have an interest, I'd suggest you pick up that adapter, if it's reasonably priced. You can always resell and they're very rare to find. Note there were different adapters for MT and AT. Jim's is AT, mine is MT.

While using the Corvair transaxle simplifies that part of the conversion, reversing the engine is not simple because of the rarity of parts and there are some potential durability issues, mostly involving the distributor gears. You will need to create a distributor oiling system and you will need to create an accessory drive system (belts, pulleys, brackets). You will need to use a Corvair RR alternator fan. All pistons are flipped 180-degrees.

If you have the budget, a Porsche transaxle of the right ilk does not require reversal of the engine so all those issues and parts go away. As I understand it, there are still available 215>Porsche adapters.

My conversion has been mostly trouble-free and it's been together since 2010 and has traveled about 10k miles.

[62PanlVan]

Thanks for the information.
The bellhousing is advertised as being for 3 or 4 speed transmissions, but I'm wary of the reasonableness of the price ($600.00 ?) since the same seller also has an ad for some misc. Corvair parts priced at $2000.00. I've seen some KEP V8 to VW adapter kits advertised for about $650.00 that included the bellhousing and flywheel. I'm not anxious to buy the bellhousing and not be able to find the other necessary parts or have to try to engineer and have fabricated a flywheel and distributor gear. As I understand it, Porsche transaxles are expensive and require fabricating inner lower control arm mounting points, making the whole project more complicated and time consuming. I like the light weight of the Rover/Buick V8 (I had a Triumph TR8 for awhile) and the idea of a GM orphan engine in an orphan car. But if the parts to make it happen aren't available, maybe I'll have to look into other options. I've seen some mentions of the Chevy 4.3L V6 being a little heavier than the Rover V8, but lighter than a SBC V8 and easier to reverse the rotation. But then finding an adapter bellhousing would be necessary. Which circles back to the possible necessity of a Porsche transaxle. Guess I need to do some more research.

[chris]

Yes, research isn't a bad idea. Who knows, you might come up with a clever solution. Using a 4.3 V6 also has the appeal of being shorter than a V8.

[jimbrandberg]

As long as we're talking about it, last year a fellow offered me a Tempest with an aluminum V-8 for practically nothing. I got all jazzed about a mid-engine thinking I would not need to change the rotation but would have to adapt a bellhousing and such to the front of a 4 speed transmission, get an input shaft figured out and things like that.
I sort of cooled off and decided the 66 convertible I had was too nice to cut up. I also got to wondering about corrosion and such within the V-8 cooling passages.
The Tempest is still there and should I start to warm up again, what parts would I want to be looking for? Like a Crown kit or a Kelmark kit? Where could I read up on it?
I've never been a big water cooled V-8 or V-6 sort of a guy but the idea of an aluminum one gets me excited.
The Tempest is a rope drive and a Powerglide,

I did do a little work on a rear engine 327 Corvette in a '62 a few years ago. It's sort of a long story but it's what was left of the black one that was in Hot Rod magazine in 1964. Skip Huth from Saint Paul took a new '62 Monza and a new engine to build it. Those were the days, it was the golden era.

Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com

[martyscarr]

As long as we're talking about it, last year a fellow offered me a Tempest with an aluminum V-8 for practically nothing. I got all jazzed about a mid-engine thinking I would not need to change the rotation but would have to adapt a bellhousing and such to the front of a 4 speed transmission, get an input shaft figured out and things like that.
I sort of cooled off and decided the 66 convertible I had was too nice to cut up. I also got to wondering about corrosion and such within the V-8 cooling passages.
The Tempest is still there and should I start to warm up again, what parts would I want to be looking for? Like a Crown kit or a Kelmark kit? Where could I read up on it?
I've never been a big water cooled V-8 or V-6 sort of a guy but the idea of an aluminum one gets me excited.
The Tempest is a rope drive and a Powerglide,

It's my understanding that there are 2 different bellhousings for the 215, one was for the 3 speed of that time, and later they made a dual pattern bellhousing that also fits 4 speeds.

3 speed on the left, dual pattern on the right

2Bells.jpg (59.39 KiB) Viewed 82 times

A big car Saginaw will fit the dual pattern bellhousing, and you can then use the Tempest differential with the larger ring gear. You'll have to fabricate some sort of bracket to attach the rear lower control arms, like this V8Registry member did:

If you're interested I would join the V8Registry (only $10) and start asking questions on their forum

HTH