Six-Pack 7

To drag racing fans, the name Eamon Hurley means an 8 second rotary engined bike called "Concord". To the car fraternity, particularly those unfortunate enough to own dead Stags and Ro80's, the name means something entirely different.

When he's not laying rubber down the quarter mile, Eamon spends his time manufacturing retailing and installing conversion kits enabling the V-range of English Ford engines to be dropped straight into the aforementioned cars.

While the V6 into Stag swop is still very popular however the queue of dejected Ro80 owners knocking at Eamons door for V4 and V6 conversions is getting shorter all the time. This isn't too surprising really, as there were never that many Ro80s sold in this country anyway, and those that were here Eamon reckons he's probably already converted over two thirds.

Therefore, the declining demand for the Ro80 conversion led Eamon to search for something new. He didn't have to look for too long though as he had already received a number of requests for transplant kits for the TR7. In retrospect says Eamon the TR7 conversion was a natural the engine being little more than half a Stag together with its inherent problems when not looked after properly.

The Cologne V6 available in 2.3 and 2.8 litre form in this country was Eamons engine choice for the 'TRH' conversion as its called and it differs from the other Hurley offerings in one way at least. The Stag and Ro80 conversions were simply straight replacements for the original troublesome engines, but the TRH has something more - increased power. Almost half as much bhp again in carburated 2.8 form, in fact.

As with the other Hurley conversions, the TRH is available in two basic forms. The first is the full, do it yourself kit while for a price the job will be carried out for you using brand new parts including a carburated 2.8 engine. Obviously if the customer supplies his own engine then the price will be lower and if the 2.8 injection unit is requested then this will add something extra. Eamon wouldn't recommend it though as he considers the 150 bhp of the carburated version the TR7's limit when it comes to the standard chassis and suspension capabilities.

To make the job of installation easier Eamon retained as many standard TR7 parts as possible when designing the kit. These include the radiator (which is well up to handling the job), fan, the alternator, starter motor and flywheel, which requires modifying and is available on an exchange basis.

The kit consists of the cast alloy adaptor plate itself crankshaft/flywheel adaptor, exchange flywheel, engine brackets and mounts, fan adaptor, carburettor linkage bracket, modified Ford water filler, alternator bracket, water hoses, V belt, air filter, fuel lines and full instructions. All these items are available separately if required. What you don't get though is the exhaust manifolds or system, which are available at extra cost. The manifolds are tubular affairs and the whole system produces a healthy sounding burble.

Along with the V6 conversion, Eamon recommends that power steering be fitted also. Again, a complete kit is offered which supplies all necessary parts including a modified Leyland rack, the pump itself and all ancillary items.

Eamons own V6 TR7 has the power steering fitted as well as one or two other modifications that although not strictly necessary were carried out purely for his own personal satisfaction. Being based on the outskirts of Coventry just a stones throw from the excellent - by London standards - Midlands motorway system, a long legged car is virtually a must. Even with the overdrive fifth gear of the TR7 box Eamon found that the standard 3.9:1 final drive gearing was a touch too low for the kind of work the car needed to do. This was cured by fitting a 3.08:1 Rover diff which although not endowing the car with rapid acceleration does produce 25mpg.

Finally AP ventilated discs and four pot callipers were installed to cure fade problems and stiffer springs fitted to handle the greater weight of the V6.

A brief test drive in the car showed the conversion to work well, although a marked tendency to understeer heavily when pushed was evident, so its a shame that setting the engine a few inches further back for better weight distribution would then render the conversion something more than a do it yourself job. Slightly damp conditions and heavy traffic precluded any real limit testing, but we managed a mid 9 second zero to sixty and Eamon claims a top speed of around 125 mph.