Engine
Mac Bonar arranged for Southern Rebores to prepare the block, reground crank and rods. Two candidate cranks were rejected with cracks before a good one was found. Mac sorted the crankcase threads, competition oil pump, upgraded the clutch mechanism to ruby specification and assembled the bottom end for Michael.
Tim Myall (of Pigsty racers fame) skimmed 100 thou off the '37 high compression head, he also bored and and re-tapped to take VSCC buff form compliant 18mm spark plugs. Michael assembled the engine with new oval Australian pistons from Tony Leslie (pistons 2&3 skimmed 10 thou to allow for crank whip). Finally it was bench tested on the Black & Decker workmate in Michael's garage with the beautifully re-cored radiator from Anglia Radiators and silencer from David Cochrane - starting on the first turn of the crank - with the encouragement of 12 volts.
Naturally enough, after a few hours running various teething problems emerged - two water leaks, and multiple oil leaks etc. However these were far easier sorted on the bench than in the car!
The delightful bronze Zenith 22XF carburettor was refurbished with new jets and throttle shaft bushes and performs as normal.
Finishes - the aluminium castings were wire-brushed and spray lacquered to
control oxidation.
The cylinder block and ancillaries were hand painted satin black engine enamel
Exhaust manifold, pipe and silencer, matt black VHT enamel
Finally, pictures of the engine bay when finished:
