Crankshaft

The crankshaft big end journals have been welded up and reground to 6ltr stroke, with new pistons to match. Crankshaft was then balanced with drive plate, balancer and pulley fitted, to ensure smooth rev operation.

The block has been tunnel bored and crankshaft main bearings ground to accept Ford 460 main bearings. This allowed the selection of good quality bearings with more advanced materials than are available in standard V12 bearings.

Oil Pump Pickup

To prevent oil surge, the original oil pump pipe pickup head was removed, and a small rectangular box, with mesh face, was made up to fit inside the box section welded into the sump. The box section has 4 flaps that open inwards on the left side in a left hand corner, to allow oil to flow into the pickup, and the 2 right inside ones remain closed to prevent oil moving across the sump away from the pickup.

Changing Rings with Heads Off

It is an easy matter to change the rings while the heads are off, without having to remove the block from the car and remove the sump. Liners can also be changed this way if you have a damaged one.

Before you remove the liners, use plenty of air to blow out all the crud, scale and deposits in the water chamber around the liners, so absolutely no dirt or foreign matter can drop down into sump!

The pistons are then exposed to remove the rings, clean up the pistons and put new rings on.

I used a large worm drive hose clip to hold the rings into the piston, not too tight it wont move, the liner has a small chamfer on the leading edge, slip it over the piston, push down till the hose clip is below rings and they are in the liner, then remove hose clip and push liners home.

Remember before this to thoroughly clean the seat of the liner and where it sits in the block, and use a good quality sealant, as listed in Kirby's Book.

Its very straight forward and only takes a few hours to all 12 ring sets..

Port & Polish Heads

The inlet and exhaust ports of the heads have been opened out with the gas flow restrictions removed, leaving a very smooth flowing surface.

Engine Mounts

To reduce the engine twist under power, I cut off the threaded section on the normal engine mount, drilled out the mount to take a full length bolt and nut, and cut neoprene pads to go under thick steel washers top and bottom of the mount.

This allows a small amount of flexibility, while limiting the amount the engine will twist under load.