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AET ENGINEERING
Started in 1974, this firm quickly made it name by specializing in turbocharged engines. One of its first successes
was Jim Evan's Ford Escort RS 2000, which produced racing winning power from their turbocharged, 2000cc, single overhead cam engine. Today, the firm is still providing
turbos and sponsoring some of the quickest racing cars in the UK
BLMC's "A" SERIES ENGINE
The heart of all Minis was the transverse 'A' series engine that started life in 1953 as an 803cc power plant for the Morris Minor. Despite its archaic
design it was strong and very tunable. It was used in most of BMC's smaller
cars, except Triumph, in a variety of capacities from 850 to 1275cc. Heading
the field was the Cooper S engines which was specially built and the one
to choose for racing.
BLMC's "B" SERIES ENGINE
During the seventies, this strong, reliable if somewhat stayed 1800cc motor powered
the iconic MGB. It started life as a 1250cc unit fitted to such cars as the
MGTF and Morris 10; by 1955 its capacity had been increased to 1489cc and
was standard fitment for the new MGA. 1958 saw the introduction of the
1588, twin-cam version, also fitted to the MGA, but the engine was not
reliable and MG reverted back to a push rod design. By 1961 the capacity had
increases to 1622cc and with a final increase to 1798cc the engine lasted
until the 1980's.
COSWORTH ENGINES
MAE Formula 3 Engine- Built in 1965, it remained poplar engine right into the seventies in the smaller Special Saloon classes and Clubman classes.
(see Gerry Taylor's Anglia) This 997cc, Ford based engine, produced around 100bhp from its down-draught head design. Engines were sold as a kit of parts and had to be assembled
by the buyer.
SCA Formula 2 engine Built in 1966, this 9777cc unit was far more powerful than the MAE, giving out up to 140bhp. The aliminium head was the first to be produced by Cosworth and this mated to the ford 116E, five bearing block. SCA stands
for Single Cam A series.
DFV F1 engine
- the Ford Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) V8 was designed by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth for the initial cost of £100,000 - it went on to be the engine which has won the most GPs, World championships and powered
most makes to take the manufactures' championship. Early units produced around 405bhp, which rose to over 520bhp from later ones. The DF inspired engine spawned a whole range of units (L,R,S,V,W,X,Y,&Z) of
different capacities and intended for different formulae. The most powerful of these being the turbocharger 2645cc DFX of 1975, which put out well over 800bhp.
FVC - Four Valve "C" series engine (Ford four-cylinder).
BDA -
Belt Driven "A" series engine& (Ford four-cylinder), BDA cylinder heads were an alloy construction, had hemispherical combustion chambers and four valves per
cylinder.
BDE, BDG
etc. - subsequent engines built along the BDA theme.
BDT
- a BDA type engine specifically designed for use with a turbocharger.
3.4 V6
- Built for international racing and used in cars such as the group 2 Capris.
Mini 850cc BDA Engine
One engine of this type came about by accident, literally! A 1300 BDA engine, fitted to
a Mini, blew up and destroyed two cylinders. The two good cylinders were cut from the engine and used to produce a two
cylinder engine by means of special blanking plates and crankshaft. At first the engine did not put out much power but when its
problems were sorted it put out 115bhp, over 35bhp more than any engine of its size.
Gordon Allen's Mini 850cc BDA Engine
Unlike the other 850cc BDA mention above, this
unit was a purposely designed two cylinder engine built for racing Minis. A specially manufacture alloy block and forged steel
crank formed the basis of this engine. Bores were 85mm diameter and the stroke 74mm, giving it 848cc. A halved, standard Formula
Atlantic BDA head with full size valves giving an 11.8:1 compression ratio was employed, and this was fed by a single 45DCOE
Weber. The engine was mounted on a Mini transmission using an adaptor plate. Early versions of the engine
gave an extra 20bhp over a standard racing 850cc A Series, this difference nearly double in the next 5 years.
Imp Engine
It was the introduction of the fleet and nimble Hillman Imp, which changed
this image. Rootes developed the Imp's 875cc engine from Coventry Climax's
745cc FWM (feather Weight marine) engine, which originally saw service
as a water pump for fire engines. Coventry Climax's own racing engines
the FWA and B were also developments of the water pump. The Imp's all
independent coil spring suspension was so good it needed little enhancement
for racing.
Formula Ford Engines
Formula Ford engines were based on the standard 'Kent' crossflow device introduced in 1967. Three
engine sizes were available; 1100cc, 1300cc and 1600cc and it was the 1600 that were used for Formula Ford. Crossflow referred
to the cylinder head which had the induction at one side and the exhaust at the other - hence the flow was across the head.
Regulations for Formula Ford engines were strict, no tuning at all was allowed and the car had to run on the single down draught
carburettor found on the GT versions of Ford's saloons. Blueprinting was the only means of gaining maximum power from these
engines; this was a process by which the engineering tolerances within every manufactured component were used to gain an
advantage. For instance, the tolerances of the crankshaft throw and the cylinder bores would be +- a few 1/100 of a
millimetre, by choosing the biggest bore and longest throw, a very slight increase in capacity could be gained. By going through
this process with every part of the engine the lightest, strongest, most balanced items could be used and a few more revs and bhp
could be found.
Holbay
A very well known tuning firm, which was famous for its pushrod engines. This expertise had grown from the forced use of these
engines in many British formulae. Their product line went further than modification to production of their own high quality,
forges steel components such as conrods and crankshafts. A 1000cc Holbay Ford engine was reputed to rev to 11000rpm, but 10500
was recommended.
Perdal Developments
A company based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the North East of England, which was
well known for its powerful racing engines. Their biggest claim-to-fame was the 4-valve per cylinder, twin-cam, F2
engines, which, according to one journalist, could not have had bigger valve unless they were square.
Triumph
Spitfire Engine
This engine started out in 1953 as an 803cc, 28bhp unit fitted to the Standard 8. (Standard became
Standard Triumph and then simply Triumph in the 1970s) This unit grew in capacity to 1147cc to comply with international
sports car racing class of up to 1150cc and was fitted to the first Triumph Spitfire 4 (MkI) in 1963. During 1966, another
increase to 1296cc was made along with the introduction of a more efficient 8-port (4 inlet, 4 exhaust) cylinder head. This new
engine found it way into the Mk3 Spitfire in 1967, and with twin SU carburettor, it gave out 75bhp. An increase in the stroke of
the crankshaft saw the capacity rise to 1500cc; this engine was fitted to the Spitfire 1500 in 1974, and the MG Midget 1500 the
following year.
Vauxhall's 2300cc Engine
This engine, on which most of their competition success was based,
was a 'halved' version of their stillborn V8. The result was a powerful,
lightweight, low centre of gravity slant four. A twin-cam, four valve per
cylinder version was supplied to the top-end sporting saloons, namely
the Droop Snoot Firenza and later, the Chevette.
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