The XK SS road car was a spin-off of the race-winning D-Type. Only 16 were built at the time, and Steve McQueen owned one
not making new things. But I want to keep these engines going for another 50 years even as the skill set of the old guard is dissolving, businesses dying off. There are fewer and fewer great machinists. And the sad reality of it is that the great machinists who are still working today, there is a lifespan to them.’
Of course, with these old engines, it’ s not just the heads that require attention.‘ We put top hat liners in now. We don’ t run standard liners because they have a tendency of slippage, which obviously creates a huge disaster. All these engines now have all been a part at least once. So we’ re getting to a stage where a lot of the cranks we get in have been machined and are already at plus 10, plus 15, plus 20. The cranks are really interesting because they were hardened at the factory. We came up with a way of re-hardening the cranks, but it’ s quite hit and miss, so we’ re now buying and developing our own crankshafts. We’ ve developed and we’ re fitting our own conrods, too. As a company, we’ re moving further and further into bespoke and remanufacturing existing parts, but using 2026 technology.
‘ We upgrade all our oil pumps to a high-efficiency pump because it’ s just silly not to. But there’ s nothing wrong with the old one.’ This might be the only part that William replaces out of habit. His engines often use many totally original parts, when and where appropriate.‘ There are some things where we do refit an original part because it’ s better. Its Achilles’ heel is rubber density and quality, [ new ] hydraulic tensioners for XK engines … they’ re not good. We’ ve ended up refurbishing originals because we know they’ ll be more reliable.
‘ We don’ t just rip an engine apart and fit new bolts to it. Obviously everything internal is brand new, because you’ ve got to run brand new for stretch reasons. But we have 20 to 30 external bolts on the engine, which are not stressed. If we take a bolt from 1960 out, that same bolt will go back into the same hole later. So all of the bolts and the nuts are correct. All the head studs are re-chromed properly; they’ ve got the right shank on them. We reuse all of the BSA bolts to go back into the engine. We haven’ t got a single zinc bolt on any of our restorations. So they’ re all, as they should be, blacked.
Triumph TR6 No mention of the TR6 can pass without someone using the phrase,‘ proper British hairy-chested sports car’. The TR6 may have been an entry-level six-cylinder sports car, but that didn’ t mean it couldn’ t command respect.
Austin Healey 3000 Two-tone paint, wire wheels, an ornate grille and oodles of chrome. The‘ Big Healey’ may look like a fully adorned antique sideboard, but anyone who’ s ever seen one in competition will know the similarities with old furniture end at their decorations.
AC Ace This neat, light and back-to-basics British sports car was powered by three different straight-six engines over its lifetime: AC’ s own 2-litre Light Six, a 2-litre Bristol motor and a 2.6 Ford engine. But this may be the car that started the V8 obsession, when Carroll Shelby took the chassis, added a Ford V8 and created the AC Cobra.
Autumn / Winter 2026 The Engine Rebuilder
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