'55 Standard 8 - 660cc Turbo

[2002gimp]

Here she is from the advert, a 1955 Standard 8




My favorite angle, who decided folks didn't need a boot lid?


Not an epic road trip story, but here, have a few pics taken with a phone from the late 90's

Headed out from mine 40 mins late, in the wrong direction to drop something off for my mates business. Couldn't complain, he was kind enough to lend me his time and truck.

Finally set out the right way, 2 hours late.

Lots of driving dull roads



Some stupid faces




A nice bridge



Onto the truck - winch was broke, so 3 of us had to push her up there!



Home at 12:30, no pics cause I was both knackered and the amount of noise we were making unloading was clearly upsetting the neighbours!

But there we go, she's home and I already love her...

[2002gimp]

Thought i'd best get started sorting the engine before I do anything else, I want to get it on the stand and have it running before it goes in so I know the wirings right.

Seperated the engine from the box and hauled it onto the stand


Looks quite big up there, its really not,.

Here's the box, just to show comical sizings, thats a normal car battery, an extension reel and the flywheel for reference


Twincam 12!!!


And here's where the magic happens, tiny little turbo, my finger shows how small it is, that's the rotor housing behind it. Aw, look at the little actuator...


Now I know very little about turbo's but i'm guessing 24mm is'nt the largest available

Anyways, that's where i'm at, i'm hungry so i've come inside. Next job is to start pairing down the wiring to seperate whats needed to run the engine from the crap that turns lights on when you open a door etc, fun!

[2002gimp]

I stripped all the tape from the loom, this was not a good idea, it went from a neat loom to this



The fact that, most things share an earth and wires interconnect meant as soon as I tried sorting it, it tangled horribly.

I pondered over this for hours



Before deciding to cut most of it and start over, at the end of play today I have most of the wiring done from the ecu to the engine plugs.



This makes me happy, though I do feel i'll be insane by the time i've finished tracing the wires across from the diagram...

[2002gimp]

Right lets get this in



Almost there




Fits reasonably well, wider than the old engine mind. Pulled it back out, thought whilst i'm at this stage I would cut out the rotten tunnel, unfortunatly its thst crusty I have nothing to go buy, so will have to create my own repair panel ;D





Gearbox in the rightish position



Engine will sit at the right angle and fit lovely once an inch and a half is taken off the sump



Its finally happening

[2002gimp]

Its in........ ish

By that I mean the engine and box now sit exactly where I want them.

40.26 cubic inches in its new home



Clearances







Notice in the above pic the dizzy sits on the back of a cam, this effectivly took my 3cyl engine to 4cyl in length, not ideal

Remember before I needed to mod the sump to sit the engine level, about 2 inches I said, well no, turn out I took most of it off

From



To



Cut 2 inches off like I said, it wasnt enough at all, ended up taking it pretty much back to the windage plate, no pic of that though, have a first cut pic instead



The pickup hung low, so cut and welded that







Lastly i've sorted half the tunnel and my handbrake issue in one, whilst having a move around I found the tunnel i'd cleverly cut from the Capp, this holds the remote selector and contains the handbrake, which is currently unbolted, but you can see the cutout. This fits perfectly between the seats

[2002gimp]

I'd love to give you teh epic updates involving engine mounts, wiring, random fabrication and test drives, but as i'm currently getting so little work time I can only show you my sump

Its taken me 3 nights to make, it now sports a nice deep bowl that fits around the subframe,i reckon i'm prob just over 1/2 litre down in capacity, but i'll be running a remote oil filter and cooler so that should give me that back

Anyway, pics

All welded up


Ground welds back, think i'll leave it like this, no point making them flush and risking leaks


I put this baffle in, don't think I really need it as the bowls so deep and narrow, but better safe than sorry


Right side mount, I had to cut down the original mount as it surrounds the oil filter, I extended it forward to meet the original, mounting point



No pic of the other side, i'm not kneeling in the rain, this side again has an original cut down mount as it carries the clutch cable, this extends down to a bit of box welded to the subframe, simple, at least it would be if I could fit my hand in the gap.



And finally an excuse for slow progress, workin in this weather under a gazebo that barely covers the car

[vwcamber]

I really think you should stop and make it back to normal

;D

[vwcamber]

Awesome work

[broon]

a gazebo? bloody luxury!

Attachments:

[substandardhotrods]

mines out in the open on axle stands, progress has been slow here too recently.

looks ace though man!

[2002gimp]

Today marks the day the engine and box sit proud in the car all by themselves!

One very industrial box section gearbox crossmember has been made and welded in, meaning all the jacks and timber have been removed.

Next job it to look at the prop I guess, then remake the tunnel, then the joys of wiring.

[owen]

If your suzuki props the same size as min you can cut and shut them, the outside diameter is the same as the ten, but the suzuki prop is thicker material, i went to local exhaust supplyer and routed threw until i found a piece that the prop was a tight fit in. Cut the gearbox end off tens prop then cut the suzuki one with extra tube to sleave over. hammered one end half in tacked it then lined ujs up and hammered other end in. ive been upto 60mph upto yet without a wobble. the exhaust tube was same thickness tube as the tens think its 2.5mm or 3mm thick

[substandardhotrods]

good work!

i had a prop custom made by bailey morris for my 8, top notch work and it wasnt that pricey

[2002gimp]

I started the tunnel today, first up was to extend the bit cut from the Cap downwards with a little steel, then bolt it to the remote selector, this gave me its position, so I tacked it in, happy, I then seamed it.



Next was to cut and bend some sheet to make the forward part, this was offered up and tweeked



Happy, I took it to the bead roller and put a few ribs in, unfortunatly as it was bent I couldn't get any in the top.

I welded it in, like a tit I cut it to butt weld and this wasnt ideal, yeah the most part was welded good, but I blew a few holes etc so I made some trim pieces and plugged them in, they might be seamed at a later date.

[2002gimp]

Finished the rear part of the tunnel today, its finally complete.

Once its all one colour and the welds dressed i'd be happy to roll carpetless, i'm not mind.





Also cut both props to get the diameters andwall thickness, by some amazing chance, despite being built 40 years apart, they bothhve the exact same prop dimensions, happy days