P... naturally-aspirated Cosworth
YB, Vauxhall Corsa turbo, BMW CSL straight six, TR6 straight six, 6-cylinder E-type Jaguar, Renault Williams, Ford Zetec being converted to turbo, 2.0-litre Opel Manta, 2.3 Duratec, two Vauxhall VXR engines and even a three-cylinder Smart engine that was being rebuilt for a friend.
As well as modern high-performance engines, classic car engines are also a big thing for James and Sam, often working on anything from 1930s side valves to slightly more modern MGBs, �into, crossflows and most things in
between, while lead-free conversions are also regularly passing through.
Dominating the engine room was abundant evidence of James’ s other business venture, with a whole end wall of the room occupied by an impressive array of Snap-on tool cabinets. Several shelves on the walls of the engine room also attest to another of James’ s interests, with an array of scale model cars and toys as well as assorted tools and trophies. An ASNU injector tester, camshaft profile plotter and �al�e spring tester also take up shelf space, along with a
damper testing device that comes in useful with the racing endeavours.
Across the entry corridor, on the left as you enter the building, is the dyno testing room where a Land & Sea dynamometer is used for initial running-in and full power testing of the freshly built engines. Incidentally, both of those Vauxhall red-top engines produced around 260 hp and 219 lb. ft. torque on the day.
Moving back into the next part of the unit and we find the machine room, literally crammed with just about every
38
device that might be used by a... P