Steve from Cartech was called upon for the new mechanicals. A 2 litre block was purchased, as was a big valve 1800 head. Bob Sherry decided my existing, small valve head was not really good for performance. So i hunted through the phone book and eventually an 1800, big valve head turned up and was in really great condition. The shit water here in sa means that most alloy heads are stuffed after 10 years. The block took some searching to find, and finally one was found - but it was stuffed. It took a lot of work from the machine shop to get it up to scratch. I sat down and spent 4 hours deburring the block once it had been stripped, crack tested and acid dipped.
The bottom end was bored 40 thou, number 1 had to be sleeved. The rod bolts were then resized, and the pistons replaced with ACL Duralites. ACL also suplied the rings and bearings. The whole lot was then balanced. The head needed some welding here and there and was then sent off to Bob Sherry. He was cautious with his die grinder for fear of thin walls but was pleased when a final figure of 160 Hp was gained and a air speed of 301.
The manifolds were also match ported With flow figures in hand, Steve sat down on the desk top engine analyser and played with cam profiles. The best one for drivability vs power was a crow who also supplied the double valve springs.. 284 deg duration and 425 thou lift. The block had been decked and the head also refaced so compression was a bit high - especially when fitting the 1800 head. Around 10.5:1 was the final figure which meant AVGAS for fuel. The carby of choice was a 34 ADM Weber off of a leaded XF.
Overall power is 107Kw @ 6000rpm @ the flywheel. Not too shabby. Should be good for high 15's low 16's i thinks. The car only weighs 950 or so, power to weight is in my favour atleast.
As a bare block, it was etch primed, primed, hand rubbed and painted in engine enamel custom mixed to match the suspension. As too was the head. |
