My Marcos came with a 2 liter Ford V4 that I
feel is not the best match for a sports car. I am transplanting a 3.9
liter rover/5 spd into mine. This basic configuration (3.5 liter and
larger V8) was used by Marcos though the 1980's on into the 1990's. The exhaust
headers are an extremely tight fit, but it can be
transplanted.
Your Volvo 3 liter (B30) is a wonderful, smooth,
tourquey engine when running properly. It is a 7 main bearing block (if I recall
correctly) and very robust, and still makes a nice exhaust sound with the right
exhaust. Your hood should have a bulge on the right side to clear the Volvo
carbs rather than the center bulge of most f the rest had. You may have hood
clearance problems with other engines other than the Volvo 6. I would look
at rebuilding the Volvo. I have overhauled a couple of these in the past, and
even with well over 100.00 miles, they had very little actual wear. A good
disassemle, cleaning. rings. bearings, gaskets, and valve job were all my old
engines needed. It is a very simple basic engine with only the water piping
being sensitive to assembly.
I don't know if this helps! - Donny
----- Original Message -----From: lxado63Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 2:29 PMSubject: [MarcosManiacs] engine alternativesI recently purchased a 1970 marcos 3 ltr steel chassis which is in
need of some mechanical TLC. It runs, but very roughly. My
preliminary research indicates that it may cost as much to
restore/rebuild the volvo unit as it would to update/swap in a newer
engine. Has anyone in the US put a newer engine/drivetrain into their
marcos with success and could offer advice? What US spec engines fit
the marcos chassis? Advice/Info is greatly appreciated.