Update by Tim Suddard to the
Tornado Typhoon project car
Aug 14, 2013
A tiny powerplant lies under that hood.
This little side-valve engine fits easily. Supposedly, in its day and with a few modifications, it could propel the car to about 80 miles per hour. Will the brakes be able to stop it?
The engine appears to be stock. Most of the internals are still in boxes. We're sure we can figure this out, as it is very simple.
We did a bit more research on our curious kit car. By looking up the serial number (C820950) of our engine, we determined that it is an 1172cc Ford sidevalve engine. This engine in stock form produced 30 horsepower, and is mated to a 3-speed Ford transmission. We received the engine disassembled, but it looks like we got all the pieces. They appear to be in pretty good shape.
Further research shows us that these engines were used in all kinds of British specials at the time, from Lotuses to Morgans. Performance parts, while not common on these shores, are available in England. Kip Motor Company also stocks some of these parts.
The ubiquitous Aquaplane alloy head helps boost compression, while dual SU carburetor manifolds help improve fuel delivery. We still might switch out the engine to something a bit more modern, but we are becoming increasingly curious about keeping it original and doing some old-school hotrodding. Eighty horsepower was doable for these engines, especially when modified with the Shorrock supercharger kit.
If we could find some of this stuff, it might be cool to take a trip back to mid-century English performance.
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