I was talking with my next door neighbour today, and he has recently
transplanted a 3.5 litre rover V8 into his mk1 Landrover.

I brought up the idea of putting a rover V8 into a Spitfire, and he
thought
it would be fairly easy to acheive.

How realistic is this idea, and what would the major problems with such a
transplant?

Any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

Even the first production Spitfires had Merlins which put out over 1000HP, I
doubt that you'd even be able to take off with the puny a 3.5 litre Rover V8
up front. And the others are right - with such a change in centre of mass
the tail wheel/rear axle just won't be able to cope with the extra load -
let alone the effect on the flight dynamics.

However, if you're still unperturbed I remember seeing an article (I think
in the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club mag) about a guy that built a scaled down
Spitfire and utilised a 'hot' Jaguar V12. Remember to consider how you'll
address the issue of the air density changing with altitude and I guess
you'll need to sort out some dry-sump lubrication or something...