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Rover V8 rebuild & auto gearbox for a Cobra kit car

Jan Harris brought her Cobra kit car to us with a view to getting it back on the road. Built by her late husband it has sentimental value and Jan wanted to drive it again. The engine was tired and required a rebuild. On top of that Jan wanted to convert it from a 4 speed to an automatic, fit a removable steering boss and get it MOT’s. A Borg Warner 35 auto box went in with relative ease, the only real modification was to the prop shaft which had to be shortened. Once we knew the gearbox worked we pulled the engine. The block went to be re-bored and the crankshaft got a grind. The engine was rebuilt with new parts where needed to a near standard specification. Its all back together now except for a sticky brake caliper.

Rover V8 rebuild Rebuilt Rover V8 Cobra Kit Car Cobra Kit Car auto gearbox conversion

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Abarth Fiat 1500 engine development

Over the past weeks we’ve been developing a new Fiat race engine for the 1500. Along with steel rods and forged pistons we’ve developed a new camshaft profile and fully re-worked the cylinder head. The head features a hemi-spherical combustion chamber but the valves are angled towards each other. This means that too much overlap and the valves will collide with each other. Both the cylinder head and the camshaft have been developed side by side in order to maximize duration and lift without causing the valves to clash. Larger inlet valves have been sourced and combustion chambers and ports have been opened up and re-shaped. The result is a massive jump from 81cfm at 12mm lift to 96cfm on the inlet and a jump from 53cfm to 63cfm on the exhaust. We will find out what difference this will make when it goes on the dyno. Last time around this engine managed approximately 107bhp at the flywheel.

Fiat 1500 race engine Fiat 1500 race cylinder head Fiat 1500 race engine 2 Fiat 1500 inlet flow comparison. Old 1.375" valve versus our new 1.47" valve

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XK140 engine built, Mira-Gomes off the Spa

The Jaguar XK140 Le Mans Replica of Joao Mira-Gomes spun a big end bearing at Silverstone this summer. We had the engine out and inspected the damage. The engine was stripped, the crank was ground and polished and re-assembled with steel conrods and all new bearings. The engine went back together with a Cometic multi-layer steel shim head gasket and was fitted back in the car. Mira-Gomes, who lives in Belgium, came over on the Eurostar to pick the car up ahead of this years Spa 6 hours race. He drove the car back to Belgium that night arriving home at 3am. The following week he competed in the support race for the Spa 6 hours with the XK140 and knocked 7 seconds off his previous best lap time.

“Just to let you know that all went according to plan at Spa. The XK went like a clock. I did 7sec better than last year. The next race will be at Portimão, mid October. Please convey my thanks to the CCK team” – Joao Mira-Gomes

Jaguar XK140 engine Mira Gomes XK140 2 Mira Gomes XK140 Joao Mira-Gomes Jaguar XK 140 Silverstone Classic CCK Historic

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Full race engine and rolling road tune for works MGA

We have built a full race 1500 MGA engine for the works MGA MBL 867 ready for next weeks Goodwood Revival. A custom made steel crank, steel rods and forged pistons and running on twin SU carburettors. This MGA is one of the earliest pre-production examples that competed as a rally car in the hands of Nancy Mitchell on all the big events of the day including the Mille Miglia. For more information on the car visit the website here.

MBL 867 MGA cck historic 2 MBL 867 MGA cck historic 3 MBL 867 MGA cck historic 5 MBL 867 MGA cck historic