Rare Developments

Always grateful for the exposure customers afford me, especially from a team with a very bright future

Thanks to Harry, Marc & family

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Yet another one going together ...... bit too busy to even paint this one though, or even the next

Dart IE block, 409ci, Brisca F1 SBC

Crank was in and out fourteen times until I had what I wanted, turns very freely on selectively fitted shells with the correct, not excess, clearance ......

Only 'weighting' turning crank being one installed rod and piston (without rings) trying to get to BDC ......

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AFR Brisca SBC heads are done, and have come out well

Valves have been precision ground ..... one was removed at 0.0046" TIR which is around six times greater than tolerance ...... stems 'tipped' and thoroughly checked

Valve seats have been cut and ground ...... five angle intakes, bespoke exhausts ...... chambers have been relieved & blended for flow, decks PCD surfaced

All springs have been checked for poundage, shimmed for installed height, and everything assembled

I'd have posted more detailed pics up, but apparently people are actually beginning to read this stuff, and maybe even picking up ideas, lol

Last photo shows lash caps, as removed, I'll need to find six replacements in the next couple days ....... AFRs have 8mm valves not 11/32", the latter of which I've plenty

V8 Hotstox Brisca Heritage

Going through yet another pair of AFR heads, and here in lies the rub ...... or at least the story of the last few months

Everything looked decent when removed, been bead blasted previously so looked quite 'new' ...... for once I thought I'd caught a break, 'just' a refresh for a change

Got all the ports, chambers and seats cleaned so I can gauge the lie of the land, and ...... well the pictures tell the story

All the seats are sunk into the chamber, with surrounding heavy ridges, getting a bit common amongst the Brisca F1 SBCs I'm getting in

I don't know sometimes why I worry about all this, so much, I guess I could just do what the last fella did, call it good, and send it out ...... or I could do it properly ....... no prizes for guessing which

This could all just be seen as moaning, when it's not ..... what it is an an extra day and a half's work, which the customer is unlikely to get charged for, at least in full

So what's the story?

His engine goes out later than expected, the following guys engine goes out later than expected ...... see a pattern forming here, dominoes ...... and frustration builds

I do get it, most customers don't actually know what they have, usually until someone who is bothered takes a look and tells them

This is only the tip of the iceberg, and in many ways minor ...... scrap cranks, scrap rods, scrap cylinders etc etc are all a bigger problem ...... but it still needs correcting, and that takes the rarest of all commodities, namely time

Out of the eight or so basic 'refresh' engine builds I've had presented in the last six months or so, all but one has been as such ...... the rest have required major work, destroying any schedule I might have pretended to keep to

Best laid plans of mice and men ...... and that's even without factoring in the well documented parts supply issue

Moving forward, I am going to approach things differently, really have no choice ...... so anyone who's thinking of having any work done, might be worth watching this space .......

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Not posted in a while, just been very busy, and simply too tired when I get back ...... yes wipe that tear from the corner of your eye

Regardless, another one gone, Brisca F1 SBC ....... more correctly for a Dutch customer I guess

Already got warm and made some pretty angry noises ........ coming to a track near you soon

Raised cam, 438ci, not dynoed as yet but with the parts spec should be in the 720-740 bhp range

With the various hurdles jumped, it was a bit of a nightmare to get together, and has thus put other jobs back, but customer seems happy enough

Another two similar already going together as we speak

I kinda knew something had gone on somewhere ...... sudden surge of extra followers almost overnight ...... but wasn't actually aware of what until I got a message from another unrelated driver pointing the vid out

Generous praise indeed, embarrassing even ...... deep down I'm actually quite modest, but I can maybe see why that doesn't always come across ...... so genuinely very grateful for the comments

I guess sometimes you forget a little what it actually all means ......

'My' bit starts at around 3.00.20 mins ...... did actually watch it until the subject had almost moved on, and was rewarded with the punchline ....... so no surprise there, hey Henry ?

Otherwise I'm surprised Mark managed to get so far into the filming before breaking the biscuits out ...... growing lad dontcha know

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod Brisca Heritage BriSCA Hednesford Skegness Buxton

Brisca F1

Tebbz Racing 16 likes, 1 comment. "MARK & FINN SARGENT - F2s, F1s & Ministox"

Rods for one of the Brisca F1 SBCs currently going together are now fully done, and big end bearings selectively clearanced for the task in hand

Sophisticated alpha-numeric grading system ..... first two pics ..... makes sure the right up and downy bits go on the big rotating thingy, hopefully in the correct order

Crank is used, thus slightly worn but perfectly serviceable, so each pair of rods is graded to their respective journal

Rods ...... brand 'E' Cn origin rods ...... are now as good as I can get them, and certainly better than when they left the factory, but never drop your guard, lest they trip you up ......
..... as some of the bearing tang slots have been cut undersize, or are oddly shaped, causing the shells not to seat correctly in the housing, so yet another fettling job to attend to

Carefully selected kitchen roll is not actually covered in oil ...... but rather blood, sweat & tears

Dart ARP Eagle

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Work in progress ...... something a little different for me, for a change

Interim build, stepping stone towards the real thing ...... in fairness I've had it a while now, so about time I pulled my finger out

Around 200 cubic inches less than my normal fayre, working methodically through another 'race engine' ..... yeah right ...... rebuild

Numerous issues as is usual ....... we're already at the 'who the bl00dy hell built this' stage ....... hopefully it'll be done for the next meeting

But that will be a stretch, so yoga position, pinched fingers, deep breaths and ....... ohmmmmmm

V8 Hotstox Brisca F1

Managed to get out of the pub long enough to get some work done ....... I wish, can't recall last time I actually stepped out for a pint

Two more blocks through the hone .....

Both Dart's, the first an Iron Eagle, the other a Little M ...... cylinders correctly sized & finished to suit new oversize forged pistons, one set 'off the shelf' the other 'custom' made

Hopefully it'll put a smile on a couple of faces ......

Anyway, back to the grindstone ......

Brisca F1 Santa Pod

Some of you may recall the Brisca SBC Dart Iron Eagle block ...... that I went into work and power honed, between Christmas and New Year gone ...... all so the pistons could be ordered by years end, thus moving the job along

They arrived just four days ago ......

So the block has belatedly gone back in the Sunnen CV616 hone ...... first pic ...... torque plated, final sized & plateaued ...... and once again all is tickety-boo with the world

Eeking out the bore to 4.175", instead of just smashing it to 4.185" which would have been the easy option, leaves another 'standard' oversize in it, before the only remaining option of moving on to 'custom' pistons ...... which would be an even longer wait

It'll get washed again, square decked etc, over the next couple of days, and then final clean up before starting to go back together, maybe end of the week

Crank has already been polished, and size checked ...... it came out better than I thought it might ..... and is ready to go back in, despite the rods that ran on it

They were worse than I first thought, bad even, and have had to be reworked twice so far, but will be entirely serviceable when done ...... more on them later

Back in work tomorrow, likely I'll get another couple of blocks done, another Iron Eagle and a Little M to suit their new pistons ...... the former for a lovely, patient chap, from the Loughborough area, if I'm remembering correctly



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