[Stirling]

I was looking at some Rolls-Royce classifieds yesterday and noticed that some people have converted their engine to a Chevy 350. :shock:

Is that done for reliability reasons? Or are they just trying to protect their stock engine from use?

 

[Lew]

What a sacrilege! Whoever did this is not a Rolls Royce aficionado. They must just want the prestigious look and probably is just a country Redneck! The Rolls Royce engine is a great engine, albeit a complicated one. Since the transmission is a GM unit, it may be easy to attach a Chevy engine.

 

[Stirling]

Looks like this is not an uncommon occurance, at least in the States. These guys have done a few of them:
http://www.timolson.com/Rolls Restoration/Newspaper article.htm

At least they do it right - mod the engine rather than the car so that the owner can put the Rolls-Royce engine back in if he wants to.

 

[MasterBentley]

Holy Sh*t Batman! A Chevy in a Rolls! Diabolical

I've seen my share of these. Some run like a raped ape, others just ruin the car. As for ease of swap due to the same trans, the bellhousing is totally different and NOT interchangeable. Same guts, different bolt pattern. Chevy has one bell, Buick Olds, Pontiac, Cadillac have another, RR, Jeep have another. You can use wild torque converters. They do interchange.

It's most likely cheaper to get a used RR motor and swap it for a worn out one than change to another engine. Too many issues, especially for the brakes. The Citroen belt driven pumps will solve the fluid pressure problem, but logistics add another layer of BS to deal with. For performance, a well done 6.75 V8 will kick some serious tail. I can help with that one.

Good luck
MB

 

[trev0006]

My father is ready for this conversion, thanks for the info. tires RC cars

 

[guyslp]

My father is ready for this conversion, thanks for the info.

Not trying to be snide, but I doubt that many people are "ready" for the amount of time, effort, and money that these conversions involve. As someone else once said to me, "These conversions are seldom done and even more seldom 'done right'."

The best example I've seen online was done by Berea Automotive Engineering in Berea, OH. Their page can about this can be seen here:

http://www.hotrodparts.com/rollsbentleyparts/engine_conversion.htm

I have corresponded with the gentleman who undertook this conversion (plus a great deal of other restoration work) and he said he has spent over $100K so far on this. A Shadow series, in absolutely tip-top concours condition, is not worth half that.

You can buy very well maintained/restored Shadows for around $25-30K USD these days, and the conversions cost at least $20K the last time I checked. You're better off buying another Shadow in very good condition and using your existing one as a parts car. [And, actually, you can often get more for the car parted out than it's worth intact.]