No Smoking Please!

Smoke bellowing from the rear of the car. Erm something could be wrong, but no it's not coming from the exhausts. The source of the smoke was oil dropping in great quantities from the oil filler cap onto the exhaust system. I can assure you that this is not a very welcome sight I'm afraid, as some of you out there already know. Yes, you guessed it a pressurised crank case can only mean one thing. One of the cylinders has a terminal problem. Well in my case it was actually four. Yes they all decided can give up in sympathy.

Oh well time for a rebuild and to lighten the wallet somewhat. After contacting numerous people and visiting various engine companies I finally ended up in Dereham on AES's doorstep. They impressed me with their knowledge and had rebuilt a Tickford engine sometime ago. So after talking to some other people who had used them previous and given that the price was extremely reasonable compared with other quotes, I decided on a little something extra, a 3 litre conversion. I also took the opportunity to have hardened valve seats. If the engine was coming out, then it was going back much improved and millennium proof!

When the engine was stripped down they found the rings on four cylinders had failed and the others weren't much better. There was some good news though. After inspecting the various parts, there was surprisingly little wear on an engine that had done just over 79,000 miles. An excellent advert for Mobil 1 and 3000 mile oil changes. The engine was run in, as per the Tickford manual. So what does the 3-litre conversion give you extra? Well apart from the even bigger grin on your face, AES estimated that the BHP would be around 230, running standard boost. The extra power does make a difference and I recommend a Cosworth clutch or equivalent to handle the extra torque. Fortunately in my wisdom, I had upgraded. I've now just completed 25,000 miles. So how's it running? Well I can't stop driving it. Not a single problem (touch wood!) so far. A job very well done.

Adrian Fulcher