33 Race Car build pics - 1998

[BS25]

I was sorting through old photos last week/over the weekend and came across these which were taken in early 1998 when building our 33. It's all pre-digital I'm afraid so they weren't great photos to start with and are even worse scans! Being pre-digital they certainly don't cover the whole build period - though we do remember it was a very cold winter in the workshop!

[BS25]

Build pics, continued

[BS25]

Build pics continued

[BS25]

Last one

[KevJTD]

some great pics there mate, loving looking in the background too to see what can be spotted

[BS25]

Graham Presley's 75 turbo is in the background in a few - being rebuilt from a massive shunt at Castle Combe - I'll scan the photos from that sometime and post them in the 75 section!

[Kegsti66]

Car looks great, and testament to build quality as it still looks stunning.

[Johnboy]

Great build pics thanks for sharing them. Handy to see how people do things

[PETROLHEAD]

Thank you Bryan

Amazing stuff that not too many would share i imagine, much appreciated

[Marlow Sud]

Fascinating to see thanks Bryan.
Is the engine a 1.7 16v? Can you tell us what power output it is and the RPM for max power?

All the best,
Simon

[BS25]

Hi Simon,

The 33 initially ran with an 1800 8 valve engine, this was a full race engine with everything steel or bespoke with the exception of a steel crank. The heads were very special with offset valves to maximise diameters - we ran 44.5mm inlet valves - very large for an 8 valve boxer engine. They were specified with the help from an engine design engineer we knew who at the time was working on Cosworth V10 F1 engines. The exhaust system and inlet lengths were optimised to suit the heads. The full race cams produced very little power below 5500 rpm but the engine was still pulling at 8000 - without a steel crank there's no point in exceeding 8000 rpm. At that engine speed it was producing 175bhp on what was known to be a conservatively accurate rolling road. Others with lesser specced heads were claiming 200bhp+ on other rolling roads but our engine/car was never troubled by other 8v cars.

Work commitments meant I couldn't really justify a 16v until 2012. Our current spec is 1950cc 16v, steel crank, rods, forged pistons, etc. Full race 16v cams, larger inlet/exhaust valves and fully ported/gasflowed heads. It now runs throttle body injection. Power is 245bhp at 8300 rpm.

Regards,

Bryan.

[Marlow Sud]

Hi Bryan
Fascinating thanks. A major consideration but just one piece of the puzzle. The suspension system looked amazing when I was at BLS. Great brakes, super light body, low c of g, good gearbox, fantastic setup......then you need a good driver!
All the best
Simon

[PETROLHEAD]

Thankfully, BLS have covered all bases,

I couldn't win a race with twice the horsepower against the likes of bryan, ted etc, although I'd give 3rd a good go (dreaming!)

I've been lucky enough to see the more recent changes, developments, and progress with the BLS efforts, and i know that there is more to come too,

This should be a great season to see an awesome evolution so far of the humble 33 it started as in this thread.

Anyone who has never seen Bryan in charge of this fantastic 33, book your tickets now!

[Marlow Sud]

Hi Simon,

The 33 initially ran with an 1800 8 valve engine, this was a full race engine with everything steel or bespoke with the exception of a steel crank. The heads were very special with offset valves to maximise diameters - we ran 44.5mm inlet valves - very large for an 8 valve boxer engine. They were specified with the help from an engine design engineer we knew who at the time was working on Cosworth V10 F1 engines. The exhaust system and inlet lengths were optimised to suit the heads. The full race cams produced very little power below 5500 rpm but the engine was still pulling at 8000 - without a steel crank there's no point in exceeding 8000 rpm. At that engine speed it was producing 175bhp on what was known to be a conservatively accurate rolling road. Others with lesser specced heads were claiming 200bhp+ on other rolling roads but our engine/car was never troubled by other 8v cars.

Work commitments meant I couldn't really justify a 16v until 2012. Our current spec is 1950cc 16v, steel crank, rods, forged pistons, etc. Full race 16v cams, larger inlet/exhaust valves and fully ported/gasflowed heads. It now runs throttle body injection. Power is 245bhp at 8300 rpm.

Regards,

Bryan.

Hi Bryan,

Duncan is loving driving the Sprint. It has a 1.7 16V fuel injected engine producing 144bhp according to the dyno plot we have. His rev limiter is set to 7000rpm. He wants to get more power out of it relatively cheaply by fitting carbs. Is this a sound strategy for more power? Can you advise what carbs he should go for and what power increase he could reasonably expect?
Any advice would be gratefully received.

Brgds,
Simon

[BS25]

Hi Simon

Theres some power to be gained for sure though as Tim mentioned, at the cost of reduced driveability - would level the playing field to the other Suds though

Go for the German manifolds (not the Greek), 40's would suffice but 45's would suit a 16v better - you can always come down on choke size as required. You'll need to discard the distributor and go wasted spark coil, use the standard 16v flywheel and TDC sensor in conjunction with an Omex iginition only for control. ITG filters and a rolling road would get you set up. What would you get? With everything else standard probably 155-160bhp - depending on the rolling road - a much nicer noise! What exhaust manifold has it got on it?

Shrew has got my old Omex kit from when I ran carbs - and I think some suitable carbs. I suspect he may also have the German manifolds.....he's rather good with exhaust systems too - one stop shop if he still has all the bits and they are for sale! There's a few installation issues to resolve - throttle linkages, etc but it is all sortable.

Hope that helps!

[Marlow Sud]

Hi Bryan,

Thanks very much. I will get Duncan to read this. He now has some great advice rather than going headlong into something and not achieving a gain. Brilliant.

All the best,
Simon

[PETROLHEAD]

I do indeed still have that kit, 45 dellorto's, trumpets, itg framed filters, the german manifold adapters, Omex 100 ignition controller with boxer loom and throttle positon sensor etc

It was exactly the system i was going to run, along with suitable exhaust of course, before i dreamt up the turbo install, which of course negates all of that prior investment entirely!

[Taplow Sprint]

Many thanks for all the advice guys, will give it lots of thought.

Cheers
Duncan

[BS25]

Hi Duncan, welcome to the forum, etc!

Well done on your starring role on your debut last weekend - in F1 terms I think they equate every 10kg of fuel to be 0.1 seconds of laptime - so your pace was genuine despite the slight weight infringement! If it's any consolation there always seems to be often significant differences between race track weighbridges so without any changes you may be legal elsewhere!

Taplow is familiar to me - I was born there! Well actually in the Canadian Red Cross Hospital that was just inside the grounds of Cliveden House (Dad grew up in nearby Burnham Beeches).

[Kegsti66]

Hi Duncan,
Welcome and congratulations on your début race.
Good to meet up with you all on Sunday. Chris did well also so don't forget him.
Cheers.
Keith.

[rsfruitbat]

Hi Bryan

I am still using the standard throttle bodies on the 1400 rally car with 16V heads. Driveability is of more use to me than outright power. At what point do you think the std throttle bodies need replacing with jenvey or something similar?

rsfruitbat

[BS25]

Hi,

Very difficult to say, you are probably best staying with what you have if it works - the gains if any may not be very detectable! I'm sure the likes of Jenvey would recommend 40mm throttle bodies as they seem to specify 'one size down from carbs'. I don't know what the standard throttle body diameters are but I would guess a little smaller or similar. For your driveability you probably wouldn't want to go much bigger. I do know of one engine that used the production throttle bodies but bored them larger - that was an 1800 with 220bhp.

Worth a conversation with your engine builder/tuner and Jenvey I guess though. Not sure if AHM has done any smaller capacity 16v's may be worth chatting with Aide as he does a lot of work with Jenvey.

[rsfruitbat]

Thanks.

I am exploring options / benefits to centring the injector in the body at the moment.
Did you try this or heard of any benefits to it?

rsfruitbat