FD Victor 3.3

jim75, Apr 13, 2:51pm
Hi I have a 68 Fd with a 3.3 FD motor with twin SU carbs and a 5 speed Celica box.
I am considering re powering.
What would you do ! re bore and hot the current motor or put a V8 in there.I hear Rover V8s are great.any advice people. Thanks.
fskb, Apr 13, 2:57pm
rip it out and put a rotor in it.brap!
jim75, Apr 13, 3:15pm
hahaha .not.
rob_man, Apr 13, 4:09pm
It would handle better with the alloy V8, that truck motor is a notoriously weighty unit and those cars are renowned for being bulldozers when cornering.
The 3.3 might have the edge when it comes to sheer grunt though.
howz_that, Apr 13, 4:22pm
265 with triple waebers and hot cam etc or small block of some variety.
by_hdt, Apr 13, 4:23pm
Commodore V6 or maybe an RB30 out of a VL
edangus, Apr 13, 4:25pm
253 with supercharger would be my choice.
m16d, Apr 13, 5:34pm
O god. hotting up a 68 Vauxhall Victor.
hyphen, Apr 13, 5:48pm
oh ffs! if you don't know what to do, don't do it. In the good old days you would use the motor that was lying around in the back of the shed, like the 253 you chucked out when you 308-ed the commy, if you are new to this, forget it! go back to your playstation
flat_white_ltd, Apr 13, 5:57pm
Is the motor knackered !
if not, . can't help thinking " If it ain't broken, don't fix it "
.
.Kinda cool old cars. & hard to find original.
les6, Apr 13, 6:12pm
i had one in an old pb velox,bored to 3.6, ported head,one twin choke webber,it would make a 253 look silly!
bleetbleet, Apr 13, 6:24pm
rebuild motor then turbo.pish!lol
rob_man, Apr 13, 6:26pm
Don't forget the 20" wheels and stoopid rubber band tyres.
jonthefisho, Apr 13, 6:33pm
3.3 , give it triple carbs some
head work and a cam, it will eat a v8.
ladatrouble, Apr 13, 6:38pm
I'd rather have a 3.3 than a 202 - keep it, they are getting rare. But if you have to do it, go for the Rover or P76 V8, as mentioned they were front heavy with the 6, much better with the 2.0 4 cyl.
rob_man, Apr 13, 6:39pm
Reckon, keep it in period.
jim75, Apr 13, 7:01pm
thanks great advice.
morrisman1, Apr 13, 7:10pm
Gotta learn somehow. If everyone says "oh ive never done it before so I can't do it" then we would still be rubbing sticks together and living in caves
donz01, Apr 13, 7:21pm
Keep it old school. Spend some bucks on the head. From memory CF bedford inlet valves are bigger and work well with double Chev valve springs. Find or make some headers. Use a 390 or 450 holley Balance your crank, rods and pistons.If its all done right you should be good for around 7000-7500 rpm but I dont know if your box will take it. Mine was those specs 30 years ago and it used to break flexiplates and then chew up oil pumps on the powerglide autos that they had behind those 3.3s in the Crestas. I went through 3 of them in 2 years before changing to manual. In the first month of being manual it ate 3 factory 3.34 speed boxes then the diff. The auto obviously softened the load through the drive train. It was just finding flexiplates was my biggest problem. After I wrote it off I had no more problems.
socram, Apr 13, 8:27pm
Front end weight is the biggest issue and they are not light cars anyway.

I tend to agree with those who would modify the original, mainly because there aren't too many around these days.My own car's cast iron straight six is strangled by twin carbs, (pots 1 & 6 do not get good fuel) - but originality is far cheaper than triple Webers, plus new inlet and exhaust manifolds!
gsimpson, Apr 13, 8:33pm
Put a turbo Lotus Esprit engine in it. Motor was based on Victor slant 4 motor but has the advantage of a lot more power and aluminium block and head with 16 valves.
hotrodtodd1, Apr 13, 8:33pm
Just fit up a 350 Chev & auto & enjoy. An alloy intake manifold will help reduce weight & you can get the later model ones with alloy heads too

It wont be nose heavy as the Chevs centre of balance is further back than the old inline six, and those Rover engines just arent torque monsters. And torque is where the fun is.