406 project/basket case - no engine - need engine bay pictures

[aerokurt]

Hello all,
Hoping to find a 406 owner who may help with photos of the engine mounting and the steering assembly in the engine bay.
This poor thing arrived here in a sad state of disorder.
Another engineless 6 cylinder Bristol. And greatly dis-assembled.
Perhaps there is one here in my area that I could visit? That would be marvelous!
Cheers for now,
Kurt

[Geoff Dowdle]

Kurt ,
I don't own a 406 but have found a photo of a 406 engine bay that might help .

Is your car LHD or RHD ?
What is it's chassis number and original engine number
Can you post a few photos of the 406 on this forum
What engine and gearbox are you planning to fit ?

Geoff

[Stefan]

Alas the number of engineless Bristol 6s will only grow as they are plundered by the 50s racers and by the ravages of time. Part or whole New engines are available from Inracing, though , as one would expect, they are not cheap.
One more economical option which you could consider is a transplant from another species. ( some might say a Morganitic union, I couldn’t possibly comment.)
I’ve seen an impressive installation of a Rover V8 done in recent by SLJ, and I’m sure the owner wouldn’t mind being asked for info.
The chassis will certainly handle more power (vide Bristols next step to Chrysler) and I think the Rover is lighter than these.
I’ve also seen a Triumph 6 cylinder and a Ford V6 installed.
Easiest to include their gearboxes, through shame to lose the lovely Bristol gearbox.
Hope that helps!!

[aerokurt]

Thank you all for the replies.
I shall post info as i make progress. It's a client's car.
Someday I'll have my own Bristol.
The owner insisted that since the heritage of the Bristol 6 is from BMW, that we should install the 1995 325is engine, trans and all the computer wiring that he sent with the car!!!!
Not no, but hell no!!!
Well, I had something to say about that.
Firstly, I had to inform him, the modern engines have no lineage connection to the original, but, the Bavaria M30 series has some connection, in that, Von Falconhausen had a hand in the design of both the prewar engine as well as the designs that were in production in the 70's.
Not to mention that they are also one of my all time favorites. So, I sold him on the idea of a Bavaria engine/trans combo using a pair of Webers and a proper ignition distributor as god intended a Bristol to have.
There will be some camshaft tuning to increase hp and raise rev limits 500rpm. Est 180 to 200 hp.
Sadly, the original trans is gone too.
We are keeping the original rear end, so an overdrive 5 speed is in order to drop revs at speed.
The photo that was posted did answer questions about the steering shaft arrangement, thank you. Some idiot chopped the steering shaft and installed a universal joint, probably to get around a chevy v8 exhaust system - butchers here - it was the same on the '52 I did!
3 years ago I was given a 1952 engineless Bristol which I successfully adapted a Triumph TR6 engine and trans into it. The original driveshaft bolted straight up perfectly!
In addition, the distributor had a cable tach drive identical to the Bristol.
I was delighted.
By next post I shall have found the chassis number.
It is lhd
I shall be more prompt in my replies, henceforth.
cheers, Kurt

[hesketh786]

aerokurt,

i have a 405 with no engine, i've read a few people installed a TR6 engine like yourself, how hard was it and could you give me a rough breakdown of what to do please - i've seen they go for the TC engine rather the PI as its a simpler and more easier engine to set up - so i've read

please help ! as i would love to get this old girl back on the roads

best
H

[aerokurt]

Hello H
That was an easier project than this one seems to be at the moment.
The Tr6 engine/trans unit went into the earlier 1952 with relative ease.
With the engine hanging centered in the compartment , looking at a
logical front engine mount position, I then measured the distance from
the rear of the engine to the front of the drive shaft. Then I measured
the length of the trans, I was shocked at how close to perfect the fit was.
So I pulled the engine back, attached the trans, leveled it back in place
to within a half inch of the drive shaft, lowered the engine, made my
marks on the frame to start fabricating front mounts.
Bear in mind that the poor thing had all of the original mountings
completely removed to put in the previous engine, so I made mounts
to suit.
As to the carbs versus injection, we have little choice as they never
brought the PI models into the States except for racing. I remember
working on a PI model at the race tracks in eastern Canada when I was
going back for summers. If you have everything necessary, pumps,
relays and what have you, then, by all means, it would be great to have
150 hp versus 104 or so, that we have here. If it was my car with carbs
then I would have put a better cam and tuning in it.

[hesketh786]

hiya Kurt,

first of all thank you ever so much for the write up on the drop in engine, i really appreciate it !

do you think the original mounts on the 405 would take the t6 engine and trans ? or would i have to get them fabricated like you

did you have to alter the length of the prop-shaft ?

I would be tempted for a PI but then it would be a hassle of getting it all wired up and set, rather than just drop in and play like the carb engine.

Yes further down the line i would be looking to increase bhp but for now i need to get her rolling !

again thanks so much

best
h

[Mike406]

hi attached pictures of my 406 which was a dis-assembled car with no engine or gear box plus a few other missing parts

this installation is using a Rover SD1 2600 carburretor unit with BW66 auto box

if you want more pics I can supply them

email me

Mike

[aerokurt]

Hi H
As for the mounts, I’d lower it in there first to see how close they are to the originals, you may find that you only need to make little adapters, failing that then fabricated mounts will be in order.
As far as power, a mild cam is all you need as the TR6 engine really responds well to that. And all you need to do to the carbs is a some mixture adjustment .
The prop shaft should be very close, you may only need to add a spacer, as I’ve found that the bolt pattern is the same.
I apologize for the late reply.
Cheers
Kurt

[aerokurt]

Hi Mike,
It looks good in there.
Yes, I would like more pictures, curious what your engine mounts look like.
And as yet I have not found the number plate. This car came to me completely disassembled, including removal of all the firewall sections. Still looking.
Cheers, Kurt

[Mike406]

Originally Posted by aerokurt

Hello all,
Hoping to find a 406 owner who may help with photos of the engine mounting and the steering assembly in the engine bay.
This poor thing arrived here in a sad state of disorder.
Another engineless 6 cylinder Bristol. And greatly dis-assembled.
Perhaps there is one here in my area that I could visit? That would be marvelous!
Cheers for now,
Kurt

I have fitted a rover 2600 twin carb engine with BorgWarner 66 box

I had the mounts made for me a friend who is much better than me at heavy duty fabricating and welding

the gearbox cross member is made of 3 parts 2 welded to the chassis then a detachable centre section to ease gearbox removal

hope this helps

[Mike406]

for info
I have installed MGF EPAS into my 406 and as the car has a Rover engine in it I decided to use the MGF switching arrangement and as the car came in bits with quite a lot missing fitted a new set of instruments.

the only issue I struggled with was how to get speed signals from the engine and road, after many possibilities which didn't work.

in the end and I found a company in Portugal would made small kit worked with the EPAS ECU
the cars not on the road yet so we'll see how it works