Price on an AJP8?

[Esprit]

Hey there guys. Looking at pulling the TR7 off the road and spending a couple years rebuilding her from the ground up. A V8 Conversion is going to happen through all this and wanting to do something different (and completely out of left field) what sort of price would you be looking for for a 2nd hand AJP8 (4.2 or 4.5) with all ancillaries and loom? I know it'll be WAY more expensive than my current plan to build up a 5.0 RV8 from a 3.5L SD1 motor but I'm just examining other avenues before I start.
Please don't think I'm bastardising things here.... I love the concept of a flat-plane-crank V8 and AJP would be by far the cheapest way to get one under the bonnet of the '7.... is this realistic? Or would it just be cheaper to buy a Cerie instead?

Feedback please?

Edited to say:

Also thinking about RV8's what's the comparison cost-wise between buying a Griff/Chim 500 engine or building a similar-powered one up from a Rover V8 + bits? any feedback?

>>> Edited by Esprit on Sunday 23 February 10:22

[ro_butler]

Maybe the idea isn't as silly as it appears at first. The reason being that cerbies (and chimeras) are so cheap now that boy racers can buy one (or people who only have experience of front drive hot hatches) so I reckon there will be a lot of crashed ones around soon.

The main concern with buying one used to be mechanical integrity (ie could the previous owner afford to run it) but you will probably find now that crash damage is now far more common than previously. Just check the breakers yards, you may be able to salvage some mechanicals.

Sadly I wouldn't imagine they will be cheap though, simply because parts are still not freely available so any that are around will command a premium.

Good luck though...

Rob.

[Esprit]

Trouble is I'm in New Zealand.... so I'd be looking at buying a motor next time im over there, or getting someone to buy one on my behalf and ship it back over here to me..... as for NZ there's bugger TVRs over here full stop, cerbie or otherwise.... mor ethan likely I'll be buying an old clapped out SD1 and going nuts on a 5L conversion as there's many people in the business of doing that.... also i guess I have to think that if the Cerbie engine goes pop... I'm in the toilet as it's not the sort of agricultural engine(like the RV8) that you can pull apart and do yourself.... however maybe a cheap G500 engine would be forthcoming from the UK, seen one or 2 for sale on this site in the past that's been within reasonable range so maybe all is not lost.

[kevinday]

I recommend you stick with the RV8, simply because of servicing and supplies issues. RV8s are reasonably common in NZ I believe whereas the AJP would probably be the only one.

[simonsparrow]

I'm also from NZ, but currently in the UK. I know a few people in NZ who are using the Lexus (Toyota) 4 litre V8. These are available from car wreckers for about $1500NZD and apparently put out about 220KW. they are a very strong engine with 6 bolt mains etc.

Not sure of dimensions etc. compared to the Rover V8, but might be worth a look.

I was thinking about taking a Cerbera back with me, but the new frontal impact laws could make that difficult (if not impossible....), along with the cost of running one. A few months of reading posts on this site has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat......

[esprit]

Yeah I know all about the Toyota V8 and yes, it's a good engine and very cheap etc but I'd rather stay away from them in preference of a Rover V8 for some sort of authenticity, I mean hey the TR8 came out with a RV8 so I should really use it..... if I was to use the AJP unit it'd just be for the shear fact that it's a hugely stonking engine.

[ATG]

might be worth having a word with joospeed ... he was talking about swapping out a Chim or Griff's RV8 for an AJP engine a while ago.