Repowering the V8 250

[trymes]

Tim,

I don't know what you mean about low gearing, as my car in 4th-OD turns 3,500 RPM at 80 MPH, which is certainly more relaxed than my MGB in O/D or, of course, the 1.5 without O/D.

Do you still have your 2.6 Riley?

Tom

[Christopher Storey]

May I suggest you have a rethink or at least a touch more research, at the time of introduction only the very best engines achieved 100bhp/litre and they were mainly small 4 cylinder, the Coventry Climax V8 of 1961 only developed 186 bhp and that was a F1 engine, their 1947 2.5 V8 made 264, I suggest as a production engine it was pretty good

I'm not sure what the reference to 100 bhp/litre is all about. No production Daimler ever came near that. Similarly, what is the reference to " their 1947 2.5 V8 made 264 " meant to refer to ? It is certainly not a Daimler, and nor is it a Climax, and there was no Climax production V8 of that or any other era . Perhaps a touch more research is called for?

[Ian Slade]

May I suggest you have a rethink or at least a touch more research, at the time of introduction only the very best engines achieved 100bhp/litre and they were mainly small 4 cylinder, the Coventry Climax V8 of 1961 only developed 186 bhp and that was a F1 engine, their 1947 2.5 V8 made 264, I suggest as a production engine it was pretty good

I'm not sure what the reference to 100 bhp/litre is all about. No production Daimler ever came near that. Similarly, what is the reference to " their 1947 2.5 V8 made 264 " meant to refer to ? It is certainly not a Daimler, and nor is it a Climax, and there was no Climax production V8 of that or any other era . Perhaps a touch more research is called for?

The 1947 V8 should be 1952, 264bhp and it wasn't a production engine, the references were to show the performance of the Turner V8 compared to the ultimate normally aspirated V8's of the era. 100BHP/ litre in the 60's was the aim of a competitive tune from a production engine, as can be seen in my post the CC 1.5l F1 FWMV8 only just over achieved that. Except for Ferrari the Turner V8 performs well against the engines of the era whether 4,6 or V8 engines in their production form.
Climax references, http://www.lotus7register.co.uk/climax.htm yes I do my research.
Ignorance is bliss but it is not a good place to quote from

[Christopher Storey]

Ignorance is bliss but it is not a good place to quote from

Oh, how comforting to know that we have another omniscient in our midst

[chicaneuk]

Has anyone successfully turbocharged the 2.5 V8?

[Ian Slade]

If they have I suspect it would be in a boat, I have doubts that there is enough room to successfully fit turbo chargers in the two Daimler vehicles it is fitted to. There are some TVR's that had the SP engine fitted rather than the Ford 289 engine that possibly have the room to do so, by the time turbos became popular the engine was out of production, it wouldn't surprise me that Russ Carpenter had a look at turbo charging the engine but not for drag racing. The earliest modified saloon in racing I remember to be fitted with a turbo was the Complan Mini 1.3s with a power output of between 140-180bhp in the early 70's, fragile but enormously quick.

[tjt77]

Tom..the V8 with man/overdrive has a 4.55 diff.. the overdrive brings it to the equivalent of a 3.77 diff I think ( same as 2.4 jag)
sold the Riley 2.6 last year.. it went to uk and is up for sale again there..
as regards suitable engine conversions.. in USA there is plenty of choice.. there is one for sale with a small block chev installed in ventura (find it on Los angeles CL.. I personally checked out that car when it was for sale in apple valley a few yrs back..sans engine and trans....its v solid for an ex uk car..but ratty round the edges and generally scruffy...oddly I have an almost identical condition ex UK car in same color..which is low mileage and runs and drives sweetly )
I've seen them with ford 302 installed also ..much more accessible as its narrower than the daimler engine.
having just pulled apart 3 daimler 2 1/2s to build one decent one I'm not impressed.. its an inherantly weak engine ..and as posted before..very costly to rebuild.. the cam and lifter design is beyond idiotic..and bearing surface area far too small.
Im limping along with My majestic major conversion (using tremec 5 speed) .. I'll go with a rover on the next one i think.. best common sense and bang for the buck.. both the 4.2 and 4.6 range rover engines have formidable torque and will pull tall gearing making for a relaxed gait..all one needs is the common 3.45 ratio axle from Mk2 jag auto.. Ive been told a dana 44 diff will fit (many ratios possible).although there are some hardware differences..
cost v common sense:- starts @ about $5k +++ to rebuild a 2.5 daimler.. v around $1,000 to acquire and 'freshen up' a 4.2/ 4.6 rover engine.. the 4.6 most common of the two in junk yards here in Ca.. 140bhp V 200 +bhp at much lower engine speed.. bigger displacement is the way to go for more power and less stress.. it light and compact too.
I'll add :- Ford 302 weight is similar to the daimler 2 1/2 .. power and reliability V cost are hard to beat..and you have double the capacity.. plus known reliability and a myriad of affordable tuning options to get you 400hp +