John Dixon
Well-Known Forum User
Finally got the VH45 mounted yesterday 
Fitting it into a scrap car at the moment.
Several initial problems with the dry sump pan, we'd initially made one that was minimum depth (28mm) with a 1" tray down the centre but that fouled on the steering rack so made a dummy with no tray and will now put a small well either side of the rack for the scavenge pickups. There is about 3mm clearence over the rack now which is plenty as the engine is solid mounted.
Leon at Alunox is making up the exhaust manifolds and reckons there's loads of room the get the required 4x 1m long 44mm diameter pipes in there. I've no idea how, but he's the man when it comes to making manifolds so I'm quite prepared to take his word for it!
Engine mounts (thanks again Leon) are pretty straightforward and we used the standard gearbox rear mount (with the rubber removed). We could possibly have moved the box 1/2" further back and made a new mount but it's not worth the hassle of modding the prop and shifter linkage etc to be honest. Had it been 2" I might have done.
Good news with the intakes is that it looks like there's enough room to get the throttle bodies and a resonable runner length in there. Calcs give either 29, 19 or 14" as ideal runner lengths tuning for 5000rpm and it looks like 29 will go using a cross-over system.
Biggest headache is going to be mounting the dry sump pump. The pump its self is quite small but with fittings attached is suddenly huge! Think will have to move it forward then fit a smaller, thicker radiator. Not ideal having all that weight out front but can't see another option at the moment - there's not enough room in the old intercooler spots to get two small ones that will do the duty.
Will post up some pics when I get them.
Fitting it into a scrap car at the moment.Several initial problems with the dry sump pan, we'd initially made one that was minimum depth (28mm) with a 1" tray down the centre but that fouled on the steering rack so made a dummy with no tray and will now put a small well either side of the rack for the scavenge pickups. There is about 3mm clearence over the rack now which is plenty as the engine is solid mounted.
Leon at Alunox is making up the exhaust manifolds and reckons there's loads of room the get the required 4x 1m long 44mm diameter pipes in there. I've no idea how, but he's the man when it comes to making manifolds so I'm quite prepared to take his word for it!
Engine mounts (thanks again Leon) are pretty straightforward and we used the standard gearbox rear mount (with the rubber removed). We could possibly have moved the box 1/2" further back and made a new mount but it's not worth the hassle of modding the prop and shifter linkage etc to be honest. Had it been 2" I might have done.
Good news with the intakes is that it looks like there's enough room to get the throttle bodies and a resonable runner length in there. Calcs give either 29, 19 or 14" as ideal runner lengths tuning for 5000rpm and it looks like 29 will go using a cross-over system.
Biggest headache is going to be mounting the dry sump pump. The pump its self is quite small but with fittings attached is suddenly huge! Think will have to move it forward then fit a smaller, thicker radiator. Not ideal having all that weight out front but can't see another option at the moment - there's not enough room in the old intercooler spots to get two small ones that will do the duty.
Will post up some pics when I get them.
