The standard Rover saloon inlet uses twin 1 3/4" S.U.s or Strombergs mounted back to back in the centre of the engine. This inlet works very well but a bonnet bulge will have to be fabricated. The standard air filter is rather large and will require modification alternatively pancake or K+N filters can be used. The original conversions used the standard HS6 SU carbs on the saloon inlet, with shortened carb dashpots, pistons and dampers that still required quite a large bulged bonnet. The latter inlets utilised HIF carbs on a different inlet which mounted the carbs even higher.
Later Rovers and also the RV8 were fitted with fuel injection and this system works well, however compared to normal carburation this is very complex . Quite a few extra components will have to be added and alterations to the fuel system and electrical wiring will be required. Some owners have managed to get this system under the standard bonnet but it has required machining of the manifold. On the RV8 they opted for a bulged bonnet, Because of the complexity of this system it would be best to obtain the complete unit from a donor vehicle also most of the components are only available from Rover and are very costly.
The MGB GT V8 used a pair of special 1 3/4" S.U.s mounted side by side on a special 2 part inlet that positions them rearward, between the rocker covers where bonnet clearance is at a maximum, Unfortunately this set-up is no longer available from Rover,
The Rover V8 engine was originally designed in the U.S.A. by Buick and was known as the 215, fortunately performance parts are still manufactured in America for this unit. The most readily available inlet is the single plane 0ffenhauser, which has been available for many years. This unit will require modifications for the servo take-off and temperature sender and a bracket for the acceleration mechanism. A new Offenhauser has been manufactured specifically for the Rover V8 and is known as the 7001 Dual Port. This unit is designed for street performance, it is a lower profile manifold than the single plane, giving increased bonnet clearance. It also has the same water temperature sender outlet as the Rover, a brake servo take-off and extended gasket sealing tabs.
There are two possible carburettors: the Holley and the Carter. The HolIey is the 4160 series 8007 version, which is a 4 barrel unit with vacuum operated secondaries and a flow rate of 39OCFM. This unit has proved the most suitable for road applications. The Carter is a similar unit to the Holley, and is slightly lower than the Holley this unit is now marketed by Weber who have also started to market another inlet manifold called the Edelbrock however at the time of going to press we are not sure about the height of this manifold.
On black bumper MGs a 14" low rider air cleaner can be used, after removing or resiting the central bonnet strengthener. On chrome bumper cars be very careful with bonnet clearance a very small mini filter can be possibly be used or a remote air filter will have to be fabricated.
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by Kelvin Fagan mg.maestro@mgcars.org.uk
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