Club 80-90 Forums

SyncroSwede wrote:Fair point. I had diffs on my mind after seeing Aidan's recent post wondering it the effort was worthwhile/appreciated.

There is tencent in the US who posts here occasionally and builds a very nice looking motor. Wouldn't want to pay the postage on one but would seriously consider it knowing he has done his homework. I like the wbx and would pay for a well built engine over a Subaru conversion.

Anyone know of a similar 'artisan' in the UK?

There could be......

As a few will know I have been working towards building some WBX engines with improvements for power and reliability.... For some time....

Its easy to diss the use of used pistons and barrels, but IMHO its not a problem if they are in good condition with as little sign of wear as poss... they are very good quality parts to start with.. the problems come from "pick and mix" of parts and corner cutting by using less than perfect ones.....

Bare in mind a new set of pistons and barrels for a 2.1 are around £700 (if you know better let me know.. seen the cheap chinese ones by the way..)
New heads again £300 a side and then they still need work for reliability..

See where the price is going...

I even have a brand new set of Original Oettinger 2.5 wbx pistons and barrels, I can get these remanufactured but the cost is a little steep..
If you have to ask how much for a fully built 2.5 wbx... you cant afford it....

But a sensibly built 2.1 engine should provide many years of reliable service for a reasonable cost..

If I could afford it and wasnt building mine, I'd buy one of Tencents engines in a heartbeat.... GoWesty... Mmm.. prob not.. In either case... factor in the core engine costs, shipping and then import duty and vat... a top line 2.5 wbx from GW was knocking on the door of £6000 last time I looked..

If you want cheap.. then look elsewhere.. if you want a quality product thats going to last.. well.... Could be an option.....

One for you Aiden


Will try and dig out a picky (pre digi) of it done
Silverbullet these were the airlines


and this one getting paint

Ah the box is out of a 1929 Issotta Fraschini tipo 8a laugh , it took 3 years to do

mike

Straight eight...not one for the faint of heart! 3 years isn't that long for such a rare car - was it desperate? 2 speed crash box...lovely
Nice (and unusual) colour for the 365 GTB/4 btw...

Colour was factory supplied, came with alloys and a set of spokes, same shed! also had 512bb colour coded and certified 200mph by works,a dino 246,a 400,and a few more that I forget, dino was the most real fun to drive as it happens.
Isotta,was 3speed mintex in Leeds actually had the clutch plate specs and recorked all 11 plates if I remeber right. you can do the web search if you need but was bought at a Coys auction with the proviso that I could and would do it!mixed feelings to this day) cost £37k ish and a basket case, new ash frame new ally body, oh it was seriouse trouble, but the pertinent things were all there, nothing was missing, stunning engineering , not as beutifull as the bugatti but very nearly, had new whitemetal bearings cast and hand scraped, all the real work which your familiar with done by a company in Nth yorks , will stick a few more picks up later in the week
Sorry this is hijacking the topic which itself is more pertinent
mike

Never mind the hijack, we're broadening everyone else's horizons
37k? I take it that was the hammer price of the pile of bits and identity, not the cost of the restoration/reconstruction. I'll show Dad the pics, he'll love all that.
We've had a few "mixed feelings" jobs too - like those 3 litres I'm doing at the mo. #1 has been a steep learning curve and picking up someone else's work in the process (really would have expected better from Go###ys but there we go) but #2 should get built a lot quicker.
We have another customer with a fondness for the odd Veteran/Vintage motor. He loves his 1908 Curtiss-Berliet special that we made a few bits for and rebuilt the 2-speed diff but the Austro-Daimler he finished recently has already gone to auction once. A bit too stodgy apparently... doesn't look all that nice either.

Ah yes horizon broadning yep that was purchase price plus comm'n oh and in er about 1985ish! was a lot I remeber.came out of a farm in wales someplace, turned out the vendor (polite words) also had the genuine rear picnic box etc and all brackets, about £5 and a half was paid as a ransome for that. domed pistons with v/v cut outs, gudgeon pin had white metal coated sprung retainers , roller followers, it was technically advanced for its day,
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Isotta ... PB_e05.jpg
Ours was black and ally will also dig out the bugatti picks were on a roll,
mike

toomanytoys wrote:

SyncroSwede wrote:Fair point. I had diffs on my mind after seeing Aidan's recent post wondering it the effort was worthwhile/appreciated.

There is tencent in the US who posts here occasionally and builds a very nice looking motor. Wouldn't want to pay the postage on one but would seriously consider it knowing he has done his homework. I like the wbx and would pay for a well built engine over a Subaru conversion.

Anyone know of a similar 'artisan' in the UK?

There could be......

As a few will know I have been working towards building some WBX engines with improvements for power and reliability.... For some time....

Its easy to diss the use of used pistons and barrels, but IMHO its not a problem if they are in good condition with as little sign of wear as poss... they are very good quality parts to start with.. the problems come from "pick and mix" of parts and corner cutting by using less than perfect ones.....

Bare in mind a new set of pistons and barrels for a 2.1 are around £700 (if you know better let me know.. seen the cheap chinese ones by the way..)
New heads again £300 a side and then they still need work for reliability..

See where the price is going...

I even have a brand new set of Original Oettinger 2.5 wbx pistons and barrels, I can get these remanufactured but the cost is a little steep..
If you have to ask how much for a fully built 2.5 wbx... you cant afford it....

But a sensibly built 2.1 engine should provide many years of reliable service for a reasonable cost..

If I could afford it and wasnt building mine, I'd buy one of Tencents engines in a heartbeat.... GoWesty... Mmm.. prob not.. In either case... factor in the core engine costs, shipping and then import duty and vat... a top line 2.5 wbx from GW was knocking on the door of £6000 last time I looked..

If you want cheap.. then look elsewhere.. if you want a quality product thats going to last.. well.... Could be an option.....

Nice one Simon.

It is the 2.1 that brings me most joy in the syncro experience. Just done another 400km at 75mph+ and getting 24mpg. I love life in the fast lane.

I bought a 1.6TD engine of Vege. It came with the timing set completely wrong !!!!!!!!!!, most unimpressive.