Here's a strange one I haven't heard of before

Discussion in 'Other Vehicles' started by mrntd, Mar 31, 2015.

Tags:
  1. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
    Supporting Member

    Sep 30, 2011
    5,083
    1,762
    113
    Male
    Sales and Marketing manager
    Hilliard, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +1,763 / 0 / -0
  2. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

    Jun 4, 2009
    19,424
    10,031
    113
    Retired old fart
    Hooterville Ohio USA
    Ratings:
    +11,656 / 2 / -0
    Yes I remember those. I guess you aren't old enough to remember them. Quite an odd setup from GM.

    I also recall that International Harvester used a similar half a V8 4 banger in some of their Scout's. Although no trans axle & rubber band driveshaft.
     
  3. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    Yep.....

    GM did it first, but the 924/944/944Turbos/944S and 928 all had a similar arrangement for the driveshaft and transaxle, also the 4 cyl Porsches were in essence half of the 928's V-8.

    Same with the 4 cyl used in SAABs and Triumphs in the 70's, half of the Triumph Stag V-8.
     
  4. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

    Jun 4, 2009
    19,424
    10,031
    113
    Retired old fart
    Hooterville Ohio USA
    Ratings:
    +11,656 / 2 / -0
    The TR7 engine came first & was a terrible lump. They joined 2 at the crank & came up with something twice as bad. Why BL didn't use the Rover 3.5 V8 (GM 215) that they had is a real mystery to me. :eek:ut:
     
  5. Mr. Jim

    Mr. Jim Mudshark
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 22, 2010
    3,390
    1,213
    113
    North Carolina
    Ratings:
    +1,221 / 0 / -0
    BL didn't use the V8 because Rover was using them and Triumph couldn't get their hands on them until it was too late. There are factory photos that show the V8 in some of the first wedges built.
     
  6. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

    Jun 4, 2009
    19,424
    10,031
    113
    Retired old fart
    Hooterville Ohio USA
    Ratings:
    +11,656 / 2 / -0
    There was a TR7 V8 with the Rover 3.5. A few were sold here as TR8's. A rare beast for sure. There was a lot of infighting between the various British Leyland groups. It was a very bad time for the British motor industry.
     
  7. AAONMS

    AAONMS Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Jan 16, 2011
    5,027
    221
    63
    I play with trains...
    Fruit Cove, FL
    Ratings:
    +221 / 0 / -0
    One runs road racing on occasion in the Southeast in the SCCA.
     
  8. Code3_Mini

    Code3_Mini New Member

    May 8, 2014
    411
    299
    0
    Full-time Military, part-time headbanger
    Sacramento, CA
    Ratings:
    +299 / 0 / -0
    It's so strange to me that it was able to function with the half bank removed, as far as balance goes. I'm not a genius by any stretch of the imagination, but the fact that it "ran" in its half-vee configuration instead of the inline-4 or boxer/opposed 4 configurations is just crazy to me. While not something I would generally be too stoked on, the fact that it is a half-4 with rope drive would cause me to want to restore it to its original state just because.
     
  9. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 29, 2009
    12,713
    7,659
    113
    Ex-Owner (Retired) of a custom metal fab company.
    Columbus, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +7,913 / 1 / -0
    "Pontiac Rope Drive Explained

    The Pontiac rope drive system was introduced in 1961 on the Tempest. Even though the Tempest shared the Y-body platform of the Buick Special and Oldsmobile F85, this setup was used only on the Pontiac variant. In what (essentially) ended up being a short term experiment, the Tempest used a rear mounted transaxle in place of the rear differential.

    Fullsize Pontiacs of 1957-1958 were used to test ‘rope drive’. The codename was ‘XB-60′. John Delorean was the creator of the system.

    Up front, a ‘new’ engine was in place. This was a 3.2 liter 4 cylinder, created out of splitting a 389 V8 in half. It was a powerplant with inherent vibration. To counter this effect, the motor mounts were of an extra soft variety. There were drag versions of these cars with V8s as well.

    There were two transmission choices with these cars, a three-speed manual and a two-speed auto. The “Tempestorque” automatic transaxles had an early feature similar to today’s lock up torque converters. In high gear, torque was split between the converter and gears on a 60/40 ratio. This helped fuel economy through less slippage.

    The two halves of the drivetrain/powertrain combination were joined with the ‘rope drive’. This was a one piece, flexible shaft of 87.25″ (2216mm) in length on automatic cars, 82.3″ (2090mm) on manuals. The diameter was 0.65″ (16.5mm) on automatics, 0.75″ (19.0mm) on manuals. It was made out of SAE 8660 triple alloy steel. Before it made it onto the car, the shaft was magnafluxed, shot-peened, and protectant-coated. On the vehicle, it was installed through a hollow channel called a torque tube. There was an as-installed arch of 3 inches at the center of the shaft. It was held with two support bearings near the center. Because of the constant in-place curve, there was no need for universal joints.

    The shaft can be compared to a big speedometer cable. The idea behind it was to act as a torsion bar to help alleviate the Inline-4’s vibration issues.

    The rear suspension was fully independent with swing-arms. This setup was similar to a Chevy Corvair’s.

    There were advantages of this overall package. The front/back weight ratio was close to 50/50— Unheard of in most cars, even today. More interior room, due to the lack of the trans hump. Smoother ride, from the fully independent suspension.

    Some disadvantages were: The trunk room suffered due to the trans being directly adjacent. Excessive noise in neutral was common. This was due to the shaft turning at all times when the engine is running.

    ‘Rope Drive’ was only around until the 1963 model year. This goes hand in hand with the introduction of the new 1964 A-bodies…"
     
  10. RallyMini370

    RallyMini370 Well-Known Member

    Mar 12, 2012
    1,970
    1,586
    113
    Engineer
    Central America
    Ratings:
    +1,587 / 0 / -0
    Minidave beat me to it regarding the Stag V8 being 2 Triumph Dolomite engines. Actually the Dolomite engine was aahead of the times with a sweet 16V head.

    Rover also chopped off 2 cylinders of the V8 to make the V6 for the MG Metro 6R4 rally car.
     
  11. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 4, 2009
    25,021
    13,497
    113
    Burbs of Philly, PA
    Ratings:
    +14,644 / 10 / -4
    Ok all you guys sound like I should put you all in the "older then dirt" thread. :lol:
     
  12. mrntd

    mrntd Well-Known Member
    Supporting Member

    Sep 30, 2011
    5,083
    1,762
    113
    Male
    Sales and Marketing manager
    Hilliard, Ohio
    Ratings:
    +1,763 / 0 / -0
    I've seen the Porsche 4s and they look like 4s. This has a V8 block without a head and pistons on one side. It looks like something some one would put together in their garage.
     
  13. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    Yes, you're correct - the Pontiac and IH 4 cyls did look like someone took a hacksaw to the block and lopped off four cylinders....

    However the Porsche 944 4 cyl was half of the V-8 introduced in '78 in the 928, as far as design goes - bore spacings, crank journal diameters, cylinder head design etc...but being a 4 cyl they also had inherent vibrations, in this case cured by using a balance shaft ala Mitsubishi, and liquid filled motor mounts.
     

Share This Page