We started for the first time today my sprint car "new" engine".

It is a Kawasaki 1200 ZX engine with a turbocharger fitted. It has had a major rebuild after an exhaust valve broke last year, damaging the cylinder head, wrecking the piston and damaging the block a bit too. When we took it apart the other 3 pistons were damaged as well - there are several different explanations for this.

After a lot of time wasting (mainly due to ordering parts from the States, waiting 4 weeks, discovering they had not sent the parts we had ordered, sending them back and waiting another 4 weeks for the replacement parts to arrive etc., it is finally completed. We now have expensive con rods and expensive forged pistons.
Oh and just before Christmas our company garage was found to contain asbestos and the car and engine were in the sealed off area which caused another 3 week delay!

Anyway it started well and all runs and seems ok. I am booked on a track on 17th Feb to run it in a bit, say 100 miles at a max of 5,000rpm (not the normal 11,500rpm) before putting it on a rolling road to see what power we are now able to get - I am expecting 300bhp plus - the guy who fitted the turbocharger says 400bhp but I hope he is being excessively optimistic.

All I need to do now is put the new back window in the car (the last one got broken taking the engine out) and fit the new bigger fuel pump, apparently the last bigger fuel pump we fitted is not big enough any more!

I am really hoping for a good season.

The offending car!

SWEET

Looks great! I would like to see it in action. Any engine bay shots?

Hi David, Kermit looks the business is the picture taken at Curborough? just a question why did you go the Kwaka engine route, most would use the Hiyabusa with more capacity and well proven, blown and normally aspirated in cars, don't get me wrong nothing against Kawasaki, I have an 1100zzr in a single seater since 1997, but we do have an 1100cc class limit. If I were building a car today it would be with a GSXR 1000, lighter, smaller and having the same power as my old kwaka without mods
John

I bought it with the normally aspirated Kwaka in it, then we fitted the turbocharger - then we wrecked the engine and now it is rebuilt. With a turbocharger in MSA events you apply a 1.4 multiplier to the normally aspirated capacity so 1200 x 1.4 = 1680cc and I compete in up to 1700cc and up to 1800cc classes. I agree if I was starting fron scratch a Hyabusa would be a very good way to go. The turbocharger was fitted for me by Tim Blakemore in Bristol - have a look at his website.

The picture was taken at Loton Park (actually taken by Roger Brown - newsletter ed.). Loton Park is a super hillclimb track near Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

regards


David

My 1st hillclimb in my old Cox around 81-82 was at Loton, although still a Hagley club member I don't seem to get there very often, most of the events I do are in the south west region Gurston, Wiscombe, Werrington Park, although when in the UK I base myself in Northants.
My Jedi was built with a zx10 so I have the same excuse as you and have stuck with Kwaka's, although now 1100's and have a spare engine ready to go in if/when problems occur, I regularly see up to 3 GTM's in the south west,and always chat to 'miniman' who used used to post on the forum, when we bump into each other.
Maybe see you around sometime?
John

I really like Loton, this is my Honda powered Coupe at Loton a couple of years ago.



David

This picture of my old Cox GTM was taken in 1983 at Loton Park, I must have been returning from the top paddock back to the main paddock as I don’t appear to be wearing a helmet, something not allowed at events today.
I used to run 10”-165 tyres on the road and at events, but later had a set of 13x6 Revolution wheels fitted with Pirelli P7 for events. From 1986 I have driven single seat race cars with bike engines and the Cox became my holiday road car with it only being raced on odd occasions when the single seat car, which was a share driven with the builder was not being used, until the Cox was sadly destroyed in a garage fire in 1990
I have hillclimbed and sprinted from Cornwall to Scotland, plus north/south Wales and the Isle of Man.
I get to do 10 (or 11 if there is a bank holiday) events a year and split my 6 weeks twice per year return to the UK from Africa to cram as many as possible in.
John