Second Blog!

Welcome back!

Well, we have not had an open day for a long time, and with the invasion of our Scottish cousins, it seemed an opportune moment to do so.

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to attend. And were blessed with a beautiful sunny day as well.

This time of year is our busiest, and this year has been no exception. For reasons unknown, there has been a significant increase in engine work. So much so in fact, that we have had to re-arrange the workshop to create a dedicated engine, diff and soon to be gearbox building area.

We have a new soft-faced illuminated assembly bench, 2 additional benches with storage and awaiting delivery an automated parts washer.

Out in the workshop, we have been busy with some interesting stuff. One of the exWRC Twin Turbo cars that we now look after came in with a minor oil leak from the turbo. Downside was that the engine had to come out to do it. These kits drive really nicely, but fitting the turbos is an engine out job as is repairing the leak! Not ideal! They are also really tight to the chassis, so we fitted an engine steady bar which we made.

Another Supercharger installation, a Harrop 122 onto a 5.7 VXR. The kit came from another car, so some conversion was called for, but a fantastic end result.

Also on the supercharger front, we had a VXR500 in for a tapping/ticking noise. This was rather bizarre. We carried out a leakdown test which showed a 50% leakdown on no6 cylinder. Not good. On an FI car, probably a broken piston, given the noise. So, engine out. Inspection of the suspect piston revealed no problem at all. A check of the head revealed that the intake valve was leaking. Maybe what we could hear was the air being pumped back into the manifold?

Regardless further inspection revealed a damaged cam lobe, which turns out to have been caused by a bolt that had become wedged between the cam and the block, effectively embedded in the block. With the potential culprits found, all that was now needed was a new cam and lifters, and reassembly. Of course, having come this far, and after discussion with the customer, we elected to fit one of our “Magic” cams.

This was the first time we had fitted one to a non-intercooled supercharger. What a result! More power and a better spread of power along with a 20 degree drop in air intake temps. Nice!

At long last we now have Remote clutch bleed lines available. These should soon be listed on the website.
That’s all for now, see you soon.