Metro KIF44 Carb on BL Sherpa Heated Manifold

O

ockyrootes

0
I wanted to fit a SU HIF Carb and different exhaust to replace the standard Zenith, and was looking around a few scrappies to see what I could find when I came across a Leyland Sherpa of around 1990 vintage.
Being that petrol models were fitted with HIF's I lifted the bonnet expectantly only to find someone had beaten me to it.. grrrr! anyhooo I quite liked the look of the reverse mounted alloy heated manifold fitted to the 'o series' engine. I came away but the thought of a long (torque'y) heated manifold (water and PTC electric heating) that would accommodate a HIF carb was eating away at me so a few days later I ordered a Leyland tool eater (2.0L) O Series manifold gasket from ebay for £1.95 and waited. When it turned up a few days later I was itching to overlay a 1725 iron head manifold gasket to see the differences, well, the O series is longer than a rootes lump so the pairs are spaced further apart, however the 2 x siamesed runners are a good match for the rootes head so I started scratching my head to see how it could be done... the pictures follow...

Manifold cut and 'adjustable length' bracket made



Trial fit in engine bay (bit of a squeeze)



Compared to Weber carb... !



Manifold infills made from 5mm wall alloy tube



Tack welded using my Mig (first time trial with Aluminium)



Fully welded by pro (Underside view)



Topside (note Dipstick hole between 3&4)



Rover Metro KIF 44 Adaptor (Not HIF44)



Hotspot welded up on Exhaust Manifold



Vizard Mod to inlet side of chambers, seats cut.



Fitted up with heat shield in place.



CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) Pattern for plenum and airbox.



Plenum realised in sheet steel.



Final fit before 'test drive' to Glastonbury festival 2016



Martin Maltas' Shiny Stainless exhaust (Note special front branch to fit with alloy manifold)



Castle Combe Rolling Road session (+25% Power 36 up to 47BHP at wheels and !)



RESULT !



The Road to Portsmouth and 1800 miles in Spain thereafter... (Trouble free too !)

 
Now that's what I call thinking out of the box, great job and a nice piece of engineering with impressive results on what it was:cool:
I recon there's plenty more you can get from your engine with a few more tweaks and mods, try by-passing the manifold so the fuel/air mixture charge is cooler and denser - that will give a few more horses:)
 
yer I think heating a manifold is for efficiency...on a Commer where it sits right above the exhaust manifold it gets plenty hot already :)
 
jimberlake said:
yer I think heating a manifold is for efficiency...on a Commer where it sits right above the exhaust manifold it gets plenty hot already :)
Click to expand...

On the standard setup the carb gets a bit too hot from directly connected exhaust heat - so keeping it at a steady 100 ish degrees by water heating allows the setting up to be simpler, as it does not have to cope with varying temps :)
 
Panky said:
Now that's what I call thinking out of the box, great job and a nice piece of engineering with impressive results on what it was:cool:
I recon there's plenty more you can get from your engine with a few more tweaks and mods, try by-passing the manifold so the fuel/air mixture charge is cooler and denser - that will give a few more horses:)
Click to expand...
The Dyno operator told me that he got valve bounce at around 5500rpm so I may change the cam and springs for a few more revs. I'm thinking of using the cam from a standard Hunter (Iron head) as it has a bit more overlap and lift than a Commer. I reckon I can change the cam in situ by radiator removal. The head will have to come off again for the cost of a gasket to change the springs. I don't want to lose the bottom end torque so small steps....
 
makes perfect sense...probably more water cooled manifold :).

loving this thread. Can't wait to get mine on a dyno..unfortunately its only done 100 miles since rebuild and probably wont be moving more a couple of years now with a new baby coming.
 
It's the rear safelybelt issue... Need 3 pointers in there so creating a plan at moment to do that...quite a big job when you get in to Welding frames etc.
 
The Hunter cam sounds like a good idea, when new it produces 57 bhp with a single Stromberg on the low comp engine so with your mods it should be considerably more:cool:
 
It works. I used to do it lots using string with petrol engines to change valve stem seals.
Now I've only got diesels, I don't even need the string! Just as well as there's no spark plug holes.
You wont need the special valve spring compressor either. Just cobble something up out of a strip of steel, and use one of the rocker bar studs to lever down with. Sorry I didn't take any photos when I was doing that a few weeks ago.
IMHO using compressed air is not such a good idea, as the piston will be down the bottom, and a moments failure can let the valve drop into the bore.
 
jimberlake said:
It's the rear safelybelt issue... Need 3 pointers in there so creating a plan at moment to do that...quite a big job when you get in to Welding frames etc.
Click to expand...
Makes you wonder how the Commers' originals owners managed to have family holidays with the kids.............
Come to think of it, how the hell did my parents manage to get my 3 brothers , me and a dog plus all our luggage for a fortnight down to Cornwall even year in a Cortina estate with, yep you guessed it, no rear seat belts?! Baffling
 
I remember kneeling on the back seat, elbows on the bulkhead facing forwards looking over my Dad's shoulder as he drove. I also recall us putting a freestanding wingback chair at the back of the van, facing forwards for my Gran to sit in on long journeys!
 
sam
bazzateer said:
Makes you wonder how the Commers' originals owners managed to have family holidays with the kids.............
Come to think of it, how the hell did my parents manage to get my 3 brothers , me and a dog plus all our luggage for a fortnight down to Cornwall even year in a Cortina estate with, yep you guessed it, no rear seat belts?! Baffling
Click to expand...

same here...all the way to Austria with my three brothers. I guess people used to die a lot more back in the good old days :)

not sure my missus would allow a 4 year old and a 0 year old without belts, probably get social services all over you now!
 
I've decided that it will have to be two point seat belts in the back for the kids. We'll use the bolster seat pads (?) and lap belts on these, with the belts anchored under the floor.
 
commeracer said:
Great bit of work, well done. Interesting to note the torque peak is lower in the rev range.
Click to expand...
Hi Tim, I'm glad you noticed that. It must be the extra length of the inlet tract helping. Thats why I'm thinking of changing the cam for a Hunter or Minx one, I like the torque as she drives great but a bit more higher up the revs would be good too !
 
Great work ockyrootes!
Re the carb itself: whee did that come from? also how did you know which jet/needle to use?
Cheers!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top