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Superstox NFR 6

Updated: 18 April 2007

Engine

The original plan was to get an engine ASAP, fit it and get the car out as I bought it on a test day to try it out.  What I hadn't realised was there is a real lack of second hand  Superstox engines for sale, and that includes asking around.  I did find Some F2 and other formulas pinto's for sale, but due to the difference in rules I thought it would be best to steer clear of those.  As I do not know how to build engines I started asking around and received kind offers from Steve Hamilton, Dean Hummerstone and Lyndale Engine to build me a new engine, but I hadn't planned to go down that route.  In the end it was the only route to take, so I opted for Dean's offer as Steve was becoming increasingly busy with Son Luke now also racing and work commitments which I know must come first.

Some friends of mine that race at the Rolling Thunder Show had a spare standard Pinto in their garage and kindly let me have that for a good price.  So in the van it went and up to Dean Hummerstone in Farnborough.  The engine was dropped on the Saturday and over the weekend Dean had the engine stripped down and contacted me with the following details:

I have just stripped your engine down, well removed the head and bits bolted to the engine block. The engine has been stood outside for some time as 1 and 2 cylinder were full of water and have knackered the bores, so the engine will need a bore and obviously pistons. Haven't got the crank out yet but this will need a grind and shells. The block I don't think needs facing as it has been done.

The engine would not have been that bad if water hadn't got inside, 2 of the bores are ok and if it had been ok I would have only recommended rings.  The water has rusted into the bores and the combustion chambers, the valves are a bit iffy but should clean up. This is what happens if the engine if left outside uncovered, with the intake open to the weather elements etc.

Looking at the cam etc, most of the valves are mega corroded, the head will need a skim and the main cam bearings will need changing, it's up to you if you want the valve seats machined (triple cut) this dose make a difference, and I think the camshaft may be ok. it's a long duration but hasn't got a lot of overlap (torque).

10/02/07 - Unfortunately having a Bore would mean more expense but after chatting with Dean on the phone about it we decided to go ahead and get it done.  A day or so later Dean stripped the engine right down and kindly took some pictures and provided the following update:

I stripped the engine right down this afternoon, as you can see the head is quite pitted in the combustion chambers. I took all the pistons out and removed the crank. The block is being cleaned out also, infact the water jackets were full of rust and most of them were actually blocked. The engine at sometime has been lightened and balanced which is plus. So the block, pistons, crank and flywheel will go to the engineers shop during the week.

As you can see the sump is very poor, not much point having that baffle in there.............we will redo the sump it will take some time but at least it will work!
 

24/02/07 - The block was now back from the Engineer, and Dean was very pleased with his work:

well, we have built the block back up, everything is top notch, the crank is silky smooth and the pistons glide up and down the bores. We have painted the block blue, we do all engines we build this colour and it looks so different from when you gave it to me. Obviously all the machine work is inside the engine and can't be seen once it is all together, but piece of mind when you know it is right.

On Sunday we will be putting the oil pump on complete with the oil pick up, if we can we will shot blast the front crank cover assembly and the inlet manifold.

28/02/07 - More pictures and details of the work on the sump.

Some extra holes have been cut today, so I think we should get it all finished over the weekend.

17/03/07 - Work on the Head begins:

The head has been stripped down and cleaned ready to be taken to the engineers next week, as you can see the camshaft you had has hardly any overlap, not being totally proficient with engines, but you do need some overlap with race engines, and more so on the ovals (Superstox)

The exhaust ports were absolutely caked in coke, unburnt gasses, cylinder number 2 must have had a problem when this engine was originally running due to the amount of unburnt gasses in the port, it was almost blocked! Having cleaned the head down, there is still some more to do, but we will get the head skimmed first. The valve seats will be triple-cut and new camshaft bearings pressed in. We will then clean the valves up and lap the seats in, this will take a bit of time. Once we get a suitable camshaft from yourself, we will build the head up and bolt onto the engine block. Hopefully this will be done by the end of March (2007).

I would have certainly not have put this engine straight in a superstox to race without stripping in down first, as you can see there is a lot of work involved and most of it is hidden once the engine is built!

 

17/04/07 - Engine update from Dean:

Here is the engine so far, all done less the carb and dizzy. There are a few details to finish off but all in all 95% complete. We have set the engine at 105 degrees, the cam we used was a crane cam from Steve Hamilton. The specification is unknown at this time, so the engine will have to go on a rolling road to set it up once it has been run in.  You may find the cam will need to be changed once you get used to driving the car. I recommend you get a dizzy from Lyndale and take advice about jetting for the carb, as it is a progressive type rather than the "twin" we use. 

Quite a transformation from when we first got it, but most engines go through this process, I am looking forward to it running.