Okay, which one's better? The sleek black ragtop that you see here or the menacing yellow road/race car which appears above? I guess it would depend on the driver's mood... Do you want to hammer sideways around your favourite stretch of road at devil's pace, or cruise along at the legal limit with the wind ripping through your hair? It's a tough decision.
Both of these cars come from Ian Wilson's Triumph Rover Spares in South Australia. So it's only reasonable there are some similarities between the cars.
But their roles are quite different; Ian competitively races his yellow beast as well as driving it on the street, while David just drives his black beauty whenever he can.
This is actually David's first car, and having owned it for around 3 years, he says he'll probably keep it for ever! He also drops the figure of A$44,000 which has been spent so far. Sourced in America, the factory TR-7 2 litre convert was imported to Australian shores in general a state of ruin.
It wasn't long though before he had a friend massage the panels and drown the car in thick layers of 'Diablo Black'. The American specification bumpers are slightly different to the Oz spec ones fitted to Ian's yellow car, plus there's also an aftermarket rear spoiler and fuel filler cap. The interior was fully re-trimmed in black and a Momo steering wheel, gear knob and seats were put in place. David says the seat is a bit of a squeeze to get your butt into but once you're in, you're well and truly in.
Accompanying this is a 1990s upgrade sound system comprising a Pioneer 6-stack CD changer, 150W 6 inch door speakers and a pair of tweeters.
Next it was off to Ian's workshop for a sorely-needed mechanical make-over. To satisfy David's horsepower needs, a warming of the 2 litre engine was tried, but without enough success. So it was decided a route similar to Ian's race car would be the best option.
A Rover 3.5litre V8 engine was dropped into the space previously occupied by the four-pot; a job which involved fitting a specially made front sub-frame, a Rover SD1 bellhousing and clutch system, and little else.
Extra power came with a 20 thou overbore, Hepolite 9.5:1 pistons and an HS30 cam (0.470 inch lift and 270 degrees duration at 0.050 inch lift). Fuel/air induction is via a Holley 390cfm 4-barrel carb which flows into a Edelbrock Performer intake manifold. The factory Rover electronic ignition system is capable of sparking the combustion process up to around 5800rpm.
Extraction of exhaust gas is improved with the fitment of custom exhaust headers and a twin 2 inch system with dual Super Turbo mufflers. The exhaust note lets it be known there's eight cylinders, but it isn't excessively flamboyant.
The standard TR-7 gearbox is still in place, and although there is the odd protesting clunking noise, has managed respectably. An Australian Holden VL Commodore differential is now found between the rear wheels; it was chosen due to its relative lightness and ability to handle good torque. Its centre is a standard LSD with a 3.45 ratio. Since the Commodore is as common as muck in Australia, readily available DBA (Disc Brake Australia) slotted and grooved discs were attached. The ever-safe Volvo front discs have been interchanged with DBA items, and are used with stock Volvo calipers. Mintex front pads are fitted while the rear has Bendix metal pads.
Keeping the car in the proverbial driving bundle is a set of K-Mac strut top hats to adjust geometry, while the car sits on a lowered suspension package. The wheels and tyres fitted to the car are plenty big for its relatively low mass. Simmons 17x6½ and 7½ inch rims surrounded by 205/40 and 235/40 Kelly tyres fill the front and rear guards respectively. Fitting this much rubber under the car meant both the front and rear panels had to be lipped and slightly flared.
On the other hand, Ian's car has most of its flare under the hood (nice switch eh?!).
Sporting the aforementioned 3.5 litre Rover V8 conversion, the swept volume has swollen to 5 litres with an in-house stroker kit. This combines both a longer throw crankshaft with taller rods and T6 dished pistons. A compression ratio of 9.9:1 means high grade fuel must be used.
As shown here, a 65mm Rangy's throttle body is bolted to a late-model Discovery intake system (which has quite a large plenum chamber). But recently, a swap to a dual 57mm inlet throttle body (running with synchronised operation) was performed. Ian suggests that this actually gave no torque increase anywhere in the rev range. To aid cylinder flows, ported 'big valve' '84 Range Rover SE heads with 1.4 and 1.63 inch Pro Flow inlet and exhaust valves are bolted to the block.
A fairly mild cam grind creating 511 thou lift and 225 degrees duration (at 0.050 inches lift) enables the engine to rev cleanly from idle to 6000rpm, while the rest of the valvetrain is made up of Crane valve springs, retainers and 1.6 ratio roller rockers.
Australian Haltech E6A programmable engine management has been thoroughly tried and tested on this car. It controls fuel delivery with 1995 Mitsubishi Magna injectors fed from a Discovery rail and boot-mounted swirl-pot system. Ignition is also controlled by the Haltech unit, which works with the engine's locked dizzy, Bosch coil, Accel leads and NGK BP6ES plugs.
Also in common with the black car, it retains the standard TR-7 5-speed 'box but uses a beefier 10 inch clutch and much heavier pressure plate. The third in a line of tried-and-died diff set ups is currently managing without hassle. It uses Romac full-floater hubs, 28 spline axles and a later-model VS Commodore 3.45:1 LSD and housing.
Volvo 260mm vented X-drilled discs and calipers are fitted to the front end while X-drilled V8 VS Commodore brakes adorn the back. A V8 VS booster and carbon/metallic pads fill out the brake specs.
Being a sometimes track car, heavy duty 250lb/inch and 200lb/inch front and rear springs have been fitted, as have adjustable Konis. Adjustable spring platforms at the front vary ride height from race-car-low to gutter-jumping-high. A standard rear sway bar remains in place but a fatter 25mm bar is fitted to the front to reduce body roll. Oversteer seems to be the car's main tendency, but Ian is now so used to the car, he can hold a power oversteer for what seems an eternity - and not think anything of it!
The 225/60 rear tyres are slightly narrower than on David's car, but are stickier overall due to their softer compound. When we photographed the car, it wore Yoko A008-RS fitted to Globe 14 inch alloys front and rear but Ian has recently changed tyres to Dunlop Formula Rs. He says that they have made the car a bit jiggly on the road but the cornering grip is better. Traction at wide open throttle is still a major issue through...
Now that we've established she's quick, how much power does it actually punch out? Its dead-easy 146kW at the wheels is no joke, especially when there's widely available strong torque.
So next time you're contemplating running a TR-V8 from the lights, ask yourself - are you feeling lucky?
Contact:
Triumph Rover Spares
+61 8 8384 6933
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