HISTORIC & CLASSIC VEHICLES ALLIANCE
Historic engineering in an age of electronic control
T
he historic and classic vehicle engineering community has always found ways to keep vehicles running long after their original manufacturers expected them to remain in service. A worn crankshaft can be repaired. A piston reproduced. A cylinder head remanufactured. When original components disappear, skilled engineers have traditionally relied upon knowledge, ingenuity and the ability to make what is no longer available.
But the next generation of historic vehicles presents a more complicated challenge. As the cars of the 1990s and 2000s enter the classic sector, the engine can no longer be considered in isolation. Engine management, fuel injection and emissions-control systems are integral to how the vehicle operates.
The recent Government consultation on in-use vehicle emissions illustrates the direction of travel. It proposes strengthening requirements to ensure that vehicles manufactured from 1st January 2001 continue to meet the Euro emissions standard and associated requirements applicable when they were built. The proposal would prohibit deleting or bypassing emissionscontrol systems, or modifications or maintenance that result in a vehicle no longer meeting those requirements. Importantly, the limit being referred to is the applicable Euro emissions standard; it is not the individual manufacturer’ s certified emissions rating for a particular make or model.
For the historic and classic engineering community, this raises important questions.
What happens when an ECU, sensor or emissions-control component is no longer available? Can an obsolete electronic component be reverse engineered? Can a modern equivalent legitimately replicate its function while maintaining the vehicle ' s required emissions performance?
But within that challenge lies an opportunity. The development and supply of compliant aftermarket replacements could create significant opportunities for specialist engineering businesses. The historic sector has always depended upon remanufacturing and reproduction; increasingly, that expertise will need to extend beyond mechanical components to electronic and emissions-control systems.
However, we should not wait until parts have disappeared completely. The time to identify vulnerable components, capture technical knowledge and investigate replacement solutions is while original parts remain available and functioning examples can still be studied. Once the supply has dried up and the knowledge of how a particular system operates has been lost, the engineering challenge becomes considerably greater and more expensive.
This will require foresight and collaboration across the specialist supply chain. At the HCVA, we see this as an important part of the sector ' s future. Preserving traditional engineering skills remains essential, but so too is encouraging innovation and investment to ensure that increasingly complex historic vehicles can remain operational and compliant.
The engineering challenge is changing and the time to start preparing is now. You can play a role in shaping that future by joining us at hcva. co. uk. Dale Keller CEO, Historic & Classic Vehicles Alliance
12 The Engine Rebuilder Issue 06