New goodies for the Anglia

[Jonny69]

I've been knocking about with a standard 1200cc engine in my Anglia for some time. It was a bit tired when I put it in and it's pretty knackered now. It's been giving me a few problems so a rebuild is imminent. Which is just as well, because I won a big valve head on eBay, so I'm going to be able to plough loads of time, split knuckles and money into it for next to bugger all horsepower. Have some pics:

You're right, I could build the 1700 beast back up and become king of the streets again, but I've done that before and... I fancy something a bit different. Something a bit more edgy. Something unreliable with an old style cam grind that won't idle properly and will choke out the guy sitting behind me in the traffic. Something that'll be a proper pain in the arse to drive at low revs. Something with big compression that screams its head off and only has three very soft bearings in the bottom end. That sort of thing

Added to confuse things, this is a standard 1500cc engine with the head from my modified 1700 on top so you can see the difference in port size on a stock engine. The new one is a bit smaller, but should help the little 1200 breathe quite nicely through two Webers:

I'll post up some pics when I build it. Here's the car if you don't know it:

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I like your style dude.

 

[Maccy]

*likes this*

 

[Vita]

Awesome!

 

[Rilot]

Something that'll be a proper pain in the arse to drive at low revs.

Like it.

 

[vanpeebles]

Something unreliable with an old style cam grind that won't idle properly and will choke out the guy sitting behind me in the traffic.

I find this is one of the best things about running an old car, I get far less tail gaters now when you smoke em out with oil and fuel smells.

Impressive stuff, the new head sizes look loads bigger too

 

[Duke]

Ooo Prescott Hill Climb - probably seen you go up in the past but not realised

 

[Jonny69]

Yes, that pic was at the Retro Rides Gathering at Prescott last year. I'm going to miss it this year though, which is a shame.

 

[task]

Sounds like this could be fun!

 

[Confused]

Noice

 

[Dr Who]

I had a full race spec 1500 5 bearing engine in My anglia. Idled like a dog, sucked down fuel like it was going out of fashion, went like pooh off a stick.

Watching with interest

 

[Jonny69]

Sounds a bit like my old one - 1600cc crossflow block bored out to 1700cc and decked for flat top pistons, pre-crossflow head (above), Kent 244 cam (3000-8000rpm) and a pair of 40's.

Actually, it's not my old one as such, it's just in bits and spread between the shed and the loft until I get around to measuring it up for a rebuild

 

[Phil W]

Every time I see an Anglia I just think WANT

 

[Duke]

Yes, that pic was at the Retro Rides Gathering at Prescott last year. I'm going to miss it this year though, which is a shame.

Ah, not been to that event. Is it worth the double asking price compared to the normal events there?

 

[Jonny69]

Ah, not been to that event. Is it worth the double asking price compared to the normal events there?

Is it that much? I only go for the weekend so I've not had to pay on the gate. Depends if it's your bag, really. It's mostly retro cars, a splash of classics, hotrods and auto****e stuff. A lot of my friends are there, so for me it's a weekender as much as the show. It's also away in the middle of nowhere, so I'd only go to Prescott specifically for something that interests me.

 

[Duke]

Is it that much? I only go for the weekend so I've not had to pay on the gate. Depends if it's your bag, really. It's mostly retro cars, a splash of classics, hotrods and auto****e stuff. A lot of my friends are there, so for me it's a weekender as much as the show. It's also away in the middle of nowhere, so I'd only go to Prescott specifically for something that interests me.

Yeah most events I've been to there are £10-15 for the day, there are maybe a couple worth going to during the season (imo). The RR one is £30 which does include camping but was only interested in going on the Sunday.

Will probably still go though as I've not been to a retro meet/event before

 

[Jonny69]

The gate price for Sunday isn't £30, it's closer to £10 afaik. The £30 price is only for those spending the weekend there, to cover camping facilities etc.

I managed to bag a set of new OEM cam followers on eBay yesterday. Just the cam choice to go and I'm basically ready to pull the engine out and see what I've got

 

[Jonny69]

Soem moar goodieZ. Pics courtesy of eBay.

I already have a set of steel rocker posts for the 1700 engine which I was going to use, but these popped up on eBay and I figured it would save some hassle later if I wanted to keep both engines built:

Same goes for this offset-dowelled duplex cam timing gear. I already have a vernier one for the other engine, but a second one will mean I don't have to strip down one engine to build and run the other:

Neither were particularly cheap, but not too expensive either. I do need to keep reminding myself that Ford tuning bits are now heavily OMG XFLOW NOT L BLOCK taxed, so can't be picked up for peanuts like they used to be. It's a bit annoying because I had a second vernier timing gear but I flogged it on when I had a clear-out of crossflow stuff. In hindsight I'd have got rid of all the chod and kept the harder to find tuning bits, because they don't really take up much space but they can be notoriously difficult to find again at a sensible price.

I still haven't settled on a cam yet. I really want to go the oldschool grind route with low lift and loads of overlap, but my head keeps telling me that a modern grind will make more power with more driveability and much better fuel economy. I'm sticking with the standard bottom end and the head isn't that wild, so I doubt I'll be able to make use of a full race grind. Kent's A6 which is an old Cosworth grind looks attractive though.

 

[Jonny69]

Crikey, has it really been a month?

As of 5pm on Sunday my engine was partially in here...

...and partially in here:

(that's my shed floor)

I had a bit of confusion yesterday checking the engine codes. My engine number reads 109E-xxxx which relates to the Consul Classic and I thought it might have been a 1340cc engine. The Kent engines all share the same bore, so the 1340 is longer stroke 1198 engine, but it's not all good news because it's got a hollow crank. As a result it's not very strong and wouldn't stand up to my planned build. Further confusion was that the head reads 113E-xxxx which is a Cortina number - I figured it might have been a 1340 with the 1198 Cortina head for a bit of extra compression. The internet wasn't giving me much useful infoZ, but it looked like the three smaller engines might share the same block. I had a quick measure after work to make sure and calculated the volume as 1200cc, so that's good news!

Short version: I thought my engine might have been a 1340cc which is a donkey, but it is in fact the 1200 that I wanted it to be