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Sept 1, 2008 22:58:56 GMT
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Sierra - here we go again! He has an illness, it's not his fault.
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dugong
Posted a lot
One Of Us Will Live To Rue The Day We Met Each Other (Wire : 2008)
Posts: 3,292
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Sept 1, 2008 23:37:42 GMT
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curse word the bed!
Frank Gardiner's Camaro!
Dave Brody's RS500 (that 'Run Baby Run' decal will find its way on to one of my cars, I swear)!
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Aaron
Part of things
Posts: 225
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Sept 1, 2008 23:54:04 GMT
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I remember hearing/reading that they'd somehow turned the head around to get the inlets to the front.
Don't recall if it was a completely different head casting (was that allowed?) or if it was the standard head modified to mount the other way round.
Aaron.
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1975 Toyota 1000 with 4A-GE (tweaked a bit)
1992 Nissan GTi-R (now sold after 17 years)
2001 Subaru Impreza WRX (remapped)
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Yep, the head is reversed to get the air intake at the front.
If you ever find one for sale, its worth much dollar.
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1986 Panda 4x4.
1990 Metro Sport.
1999 Ford Escort estate.
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I spent some time working in the BTCC in 1999 when that style Nissan was being used by Leslie (RIP) and Laurant Aiello. The Nissan and i'm sure the other cars in the group had their engines mounted a good 4-6 inches lower to lower the centre of gravity etc. They also had the steering and pedals moved way over to the left (rhd car) so the driver sat in a more central position.
I loved BTCC when it was more like this, especially the Volvo T5 era!
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Monster Monster
SIG TOO BIG
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Yeah the BTCC cars of that era had about as much to do with the actual road car as funny cars have to do with what their shell is based on. Still, they are awesome in so many ways  |
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kee
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,990
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everytime i see a btcc cav, it makes me want a mk3 more and more.
aswell as every other car posted up come to think of it ;D
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I <3 supertouring.
The rules said 2 litres and multivalve lumps...So Ford shrunk their V6 and then mounted it so low, far back and canted over that one of the driveshafts ran between the banks of the V!
Not to mention 'production shells' which were little more than Sillhouettes.
"Oi! The rules say no flat floors!"
"...We don't have a flat floor..."
"What's that then?"
"That is our...er...fuel tank!"
"Your flat-bottomed fuel tank that spans the width of the car's floor...?"
"Yes!"
*n
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Top grammar tips!
Bought = purchased. Brought = relocated
Lose = misplace/opposite of win. Loose = your mum
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JasonB
Part of things
Posts: 134
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Remember going to Pembrey & Thruxton when the cavaliers were racing (maybe 94 / 95??)
Was in the pits at Thruxton when they were giving them a once over after practice and was able to get close to the cars while the mechanics were looking down the bores with endoscopes. I think I remember two front calipers per side as well when the wheels came off.
I had an XE in my Astra GTE at the time and I was taking in as much of the engines as I could. Not long after I was at an autosport show and Swindon engines (the company who built the BTCC engines) were there.
They had a motor on show and I remember chatting with someone on the stand. I seem to remember 320hp quoted!! I definitely remember seeing a flywheel that looked more like a motorcycle rear sprocket than a car flywheel.
It looks like they turned the head to use some sort of ram-air / forced air box to feed it. Maybe a straighter run of the exhaust manifold would have helped the power as well.
The rocker cover in the pic does look different to the road cars though.
For a start it looks like it has 'Swindon' cast into it, but the big one is the shape of the spark plug cover. The XE was always 'L' shaped - that one looks straight.
I know the later ecotecs had a straight one so maybe it was some sort of early development??
The BTCC was much better then with everyone on 2 litre fours that looked much closer to the road cars. I suppose the Alfa 155s and the big wings was the beginning of the change to what we have now.
JB
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1977 Kawasaki Z650
1983 Ford Fiesta (Project)
1985 Kawasaki GPz900R
1993 Toyota MR2 Turbo
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I'm sure I remember reading about this some years ago, heads were 'off the production line' for homologation, but then ran them back to front, opened the ports out and put the cams in the 'wrong way' round - ie swapped them front to back to allow for a decent cold air feed to the throttle bodies. and easier exhaust routing.
Obviously they were using decent valves etc so everything was swopped over to suit
This certainly sounds more plausible than a special head which they wouldn't have been allowed ...
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'A' series trigger wheels and sensor brackets, 205 GTi radiator brackets, general fabrication and machining - www.gsmotorsport.net |
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sooty
Part of things
Posts: 447
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Sept 2, 2008 10:46:53 GMT
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The XE engines were tuned by Swindon Racing engines and they could get up to 320bhp out of them normally aspirated. We supplied them so parts, but the discount they were offering wasn't quite enough for me to be tempted to buy one from them.
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2016 Dodge Charger Scat Pack
2008 Jeep Liberty Limited
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Garry
East Midlands
Posts: 1,722
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Sept 2, 2008 11:05:03 GMT
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Sept 2, 2008 11:05:07 GMT
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current chevrolets have XE lumps in today!  |
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Sept 2, 2008 11:06:02 GMT
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The Head Castings were "Production" but may well have had the sand cores "Rubbed" a little which is a technique used by Cosworth on a number of production Race engines to get a little more material in the walls Swindon Built the engines, but they were Cast by Cosworth  The Heads were mounted the right way, but the ports were remachined so the exhaust became the inlet and vice verse Prodrive Mondeo V6 engines, had a block "Fabricated" out of 9 seperate production blocks....... they leak like a seive as well  The Laguna blocks, were selected off the production line, then each block alone had 300 hours work in it, and the life was 350 Miles......... And people wondered why it was so expensive I was involved with the build of the Toyota Toms Carinas at the time The Final staw was the Alfa "Bits in the boot" Homologation issue, supplying wing raising plates bolted in to the sides of the boot and a Bag of rivets to move the front splitter forwards !!! When they turned up at Brands for the first race there was uproar, but initially they were going to be allowed to run. Until Ford piped up and said if you are going to allow that then we will supply 5000 cars to Hertz with a flat sheet of Aluminium and some tinsnips for the floor..... wont be fitted but it will be supplied along with instructions ;D They stopped the Alfas running with raised wings and splitters ;D ;D All getting a bit silly by then ;D |
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bigrod
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,654
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Sept 2, 2008 12:43:55 GMT
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Having briefly worked on an 2.0 ecotec a little while ago, I don't see why it wouldn't be possible to just change the timing of the cams to make the gasses flow the other way. I think physically turning the head around is a bit of a long way round of doing it.
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If I have to explain, you won't understand.
Maximum signature image height = 80 pixels
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gearoil
Part of things
Projectless...
Posts: 918
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Sept 2, 2008 12:45:23 GMT
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Nice insight you gave us there Dom. Pity the BTCC is the way it is now tho....  |
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Sept 2, 2008 13:05:19 GMT
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Ah, it's not so bad.
Sunday's race with Mat Jackson coming through in the wet was awesome!
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Sept 2, 2008 13:47:58 GMT
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Nice insight you gave us there Dom. Pity the BTCC is the way it is now tho.... The reason the 90`s Pre "Supertouring" touring cars were so good was a simple formula: 8" wide rubber maximum and more power than grip Power over grip and no Aero always makes for great close racing.... Aussie touring cars have subscribed to this formula for ages (and the spectacle has diminished with the growth of wings) 600hp and 9" wide rubber with a restriction on number of tyres allowed per meeteing, is always going to make for a great spectacle ;D ;D Look at TVR Tuscan racing, anything tin top or gt from the 60`s, classic touring cars, VSCC etc etc And the boring prosessional one are generally anything with aero allowed, its not just the grip, it spoils the ability to draft and pass safely as you are a long way down on grip as you pass through the wake, you also run the risk of changing the centre of pressure of the car you are following as the speeds increase, destabilising the aerodynamic grip on that car with potentially catastrophic results....... seen quite often in the US on high speed circuits in both open and closed wheel classes. Reduce the Aero grip and you get cleaner closer racing...... the downside is you lose a lot of Valuable advertising hoarding  which is why they wont do it |
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Sept 2, 2008 15:24:38 GMT
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I dunno, NASCAR has limited downforce and relatively skinny tires, and there's plenty of ad hoarding going on. As for unstable aero, I hadn't realized the flipper M-Bs at LeMans were US racing. But your overall thesis I concur with heartily, Dom. |
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 Team Blitz Ford Capri parts worldwide: Restoration, Road, or Race. Used, Repro, and NOS, ranging from scabby to perfect. Itching your Capri jones since 1979! Buy, sell, trade. www.teamblitz.com blitz@teamblitz.com |
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Sept 2, 2008 15:34:12 GMT
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Nice insight you gave us there Dom. Pity the BTCC is the way it is now tho.... I've been to to see it twice now at Oulton (last two years) and loved it both times. A million times better than mundane rubbish like F1 and was very impressed. Coincidentally last year there was an ex-BTCC Cav there that I spent a fair amount of time drooling over. |
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Corsa Apology Champion 2014.
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