That new engine

[Peter Carmichael]

What is it?

 

A k-series tuned to the eyeballs with a ported big valve solid cam converted VVC head.

 

The head was modified by Dave Andrews and is a twin for Mike Bees head. The cam spec is a bit different. My inlet cam (280 degrees) is the same profile as Mike's exhaust and my exhaust is a wilder 300 degrees profile (Mike uses a 290 degree inlet cam) - my cam spec comes from QED who saw 247 bhp at 8700rpm on the dyno with more to come on their development engine. The valvetrain uses lightweight mechanical followers, double springs and forged steel spring caps, all supplied by Piper. The head was assembled by me sometime in February.

 

The bottom end has been built as an all-steel 1795cc by Roger King with Omega forged aluminium pistons, Arrow Precision forged steel rods, Doug Kiddie billet EN40B nitrided crankshaft. The Arrow rods use custom grade ARP rod bolts. The block has had extensive modification to match the oil delivery paths in the DKE crank. The head and block are clamped down onto a steel base plate with 12mm high tensile through studs, high tensile nuts and washers by Brodie Brittain Racing; these swell to dowel the crankcase at ten points providing improved location and stiffness. The liners are custom centrifugally cast iron items from Brodie Brittain Racing, individually engraved with my name. The head gasket is an uprated item from Mike Satur Automotive. The compression ratio has come in at 11.6:1.

 

The induction is via QED direct to head 42mm throttle bodies with a drawn steel fuel rail, Weber peco injectors and adjustable fuel pressure regulator. The induction has 19mm long spacers which take the diameter out to 45mm to meet the 90mm long trumpets, all nestling under an ITG tea cosy. The engine management is an Emerald M3D running a twin coil pack in wasted spark distributorless mode.

 

The exhaust is a custom 4-1 by Exhausts By Design using 28 inch long 1.875 inch headers stepping up to a long 2.25 inch collector pipe before finally stepping up to the 2.75 inch diameter of the SBD carbon silencer can.

 

The clutch is a 5.5 inch twin plate sintered clutch to Indy Racing League specification from Quarter Master. This is matched to an ultra low inertia QED billet flywheel. Beyond the friction surface for the clutch the flywheel becomes a filigree truss with large oval holes relieving weight and inertia. The actuation of this clutch is carried out by a concentric hydraulic slave cylinder of my own design, machined for me in Juno Sportscars workshop. The engine runs Caterham's magnesium dry sump system and the clutch release had to be specially designed to fit in the very constrained space in the bellhousing tank. The engine spins up a compact Nippon-Denso alternator on a lightweight mounting bracket with an oversize alloy pulley to keep it from over-revving.

 

 

What is it like?

 

Well I have only just got it running at all and I am giving it a gentle time at running in revs which encompass all the UK's legal speeds. The experience is dominated by the throttle response and the low inertia. The clutch is incredibly easy to use for all but slow standing starts. The torque is impressive and progression from tickover is monstrous with no driveability problems. The engine idles with an even temperament and starts on the first couple of turns. There is no air bypass for idle control, so a cold start requires a bit of noisy throttle blipping to keep it alive until a bit of warmth builds up. Gearchanges are lightning quick with the extreme ease of matching the revs with the light clutch. The revs pick up and drop almost instantly with an accompanying snarl from the induction. Even up to 5000rpm on a light throttle it feels faster than my Supersport ever did and it isn't even on cam yet. The gearing should get it to 60mph in first in the low threes and a top speed of ~150mph in sixth. The sensation of power over grip makes it feel in the dry like the old engine felt in the wet.

 

 

What still needs to be done?

 

After running in I have a rolling road session booked to set up the engine management properly. At the moment I am using Mike Bees map with a few modifications which doesn't appear to be too far out. I want to tidy up a couple of wiring details and I need to make sure that nothing is vibrating loose. I need to have a word with Arrow to establish a rev limit for the rods.

 

And then I shall go out and play. smile.gif

 

Edited by - Peter Carmichael on 3 Oct 2000 16:19:48

[Simos]

Hi Peter,

so the bench grinder worked ! Holy Cow... what a copacetic piece of machinery, look forward to being overtaken smile.gif

 

Cheers, Simon.

[Dave H]

Peter,

 

Nice to hear it's all gone together and fits OK - nothing gone BANG so far!!! Let us know how you get on at the rolling road.

Good Luck,

Dave

 

[dogvet]

Costs for such an amazing engine?

[Red SLR]

Did it start off life as a 1600??

 

X777CAT

 

Edited by - simon scott on 3 Oct 2000 18:33:43

[elie boone]

Peter,

It seem like a fine piece of tuning work with all the top tricks, but for the same money i settle for a BDG engine unfortunantly i have only a 170bhp BDR engine {;)}

 

 

[Alex Wong1697456877]

Peter,

 

Good to hear it's all in and running. The spec makes even a hardened Vx supporter drool! I look forward to hear about it after you open that throttle fully smile.gif

 

 

 

Alex Wong

www.alexwong.net

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[Mick Day]

Nice to hear everything is OK. Following a session with Raceline's O2 logger (with grateful thanks to Nick Dinsmore) & further input from GEMS my car's ECU is performing much better. The high RPM misfire is all but gone & idle & starting have been improved.

Mick

[Marius]

Photos for the masses, Peter ! Impressive sounding...

[Peter Carmichael]

Costs for the engine have been pretty reasonable but I have upgraded a lot of ancillary equipment as well. The engine itself is somewhere around £9000 inc VAT; I cut a lot of good deals to keep the costs down. That cost doesn't include the dry sump system or the flywheel, clutch and clutch release.

 

I'm not sure how that compares to BDGs and the like.

 

The head was a warranty return VVC head which I picked up from a geezer for 100 notes, no questions asked. The block was an ex test-bed damp liner 1.4 which I got for £100+VAT and delivery.

 

It will be coming out of the car at the weekend for a torque check on the through studs, an oil change, fixing the various leaks and some checks on the alignment of the clutch release. I will be taking lots of pictures then. I was a bit too frantic during the initial build to spend the time with a camera.

 

You could follow my steps with any damp linered k-series block and a VVC head. If enough people express interest in the clutch arrangement I can arrange to get a job lot of clutch release cylinders made up. I happen to think that these engines are improved by minimising the inertia in the drivetrain and this is as far as I know anybody has been able to go with the K-series and would be an upgrade you could apply to an engine in any reasonable state of tune.

[Andrew Walker]

Peter,

I know you're very busy with the finishing touches but could you get round to writing it up into an article for Low Flying. With the postings you've already made you have the backbone of an article. Plus a few pictures. I wouldn't mind sub-editing or proofing whatever you put together. I think it would make a great article that a lot of the membership would find interesting, not just the couple of hundred (or less) who read these postings.

[Peter Carmichael]

I have already sent off two related articles to Roger Green, with pictures to follow. You lot are going to get sick of the sight of my car at this rate.

[Gridgway]

Clutch mechanism - yes pls! Have you managed to get rid of that grin yet? MY neighbours weren't sure what to complain about - the noise or the excessive grinning!!

 

Graham

[Graham Perry]

Wow Peter, This looks a VERY promising engine. I was interested that you used a Nippon Denso Alternator. I have been trying to track down one for a while without success. Can I ask;

1/ Where did you get it ?

2/ Whats it weigh ?

3/ What is its output ?

4/ How much £ ?

 

I look forward to reading about the new beastie in Low flying

[dogvet]

Peter, with all the skill and knowledge required to build and spec this amazing engine, what do you do for a day job?!

Regards

Dogvet.

[Peter Carmichael]

WRT the alternator:

 

1. Brise Fabrications - 01322 277622. They do it ready to fit to the K-series with a lightweight bracket and an oversize alloy pulley to gear it down to make it suitable for high revs. The revs of the alternator mustn't exceed 12,000. They do two versions - single wire, which will drain the battery at standstill unless you have a cutout; three wire, which requires a modification to the wiring loom to run an ignition light and to supply an ignition switched 12v supply to the alternator.

 

2. I didn't weigh it.

 

3. Volts and amps, like you'd expect. Have a look at this. It is regulated to 14.4V, does something useful at 1200rpm idle and is above 13.5v at 2000 rpm.

 

4. The whole kit is £358+VAT although I reckon it would be easy to negotiate down to about £320+VAt as this is what QED resell them for. IYSWIM.

 

Day job, I am a project manager.