Rare Developments

31/05/2026

Going through yet another pair of AFR heads, and here in lies the rub ...... or at least the story of the last few months

Everything looked decent when removed, been bead blasted previously so looked quite 'new' ...... for once I thought I'd caught a break, 'just' a refresh for a change

Got all the ports, chambers and seats cleaned so I can gauge the lie of the land, and ...... well the pictures tell the story

All the seats are sunk into the chamber, with surrounding heavy ridges, getting a bit common amongst the Brisca F1 SBCs I'm getting in

I don't know sometimes why I worry about all this, so much, I guess I could just do what the last fella did, call it good, and send it out ...... or I could do it properly ....... no prizes for guessing which

This could all just be seen as moaning, when it's not ..... what it is an an extra day and a half's work, which the customer is unlikely to get charged for, at least in full

So what's the story?

His engine goes out later than expected, the following guys engine goes out later than expected ...... see a pattern forming here, dominoes ...... and frustration builds

I do get it, most customers don't actually know what they have, usually until someone who is bothered takes a look and tells them

This is only the tip of the iceberg, and in many ways minor ...... scrap cranks, scrap rods, scrap cylinders etc etc are all a bigger problem ...... but it still needs correcting, and that takes the rarest of all commodities, namely time

Out of the eight or so basic 'refresh' engine builds I've had presented in the last six months or so, all but one has been as such ...... the rest have required major work, destroying any schedule I might have pretended to keep to

Best laid plans of mice and men ...... and that's even without factoring in the well documented parts supply issue

Moving forward, I am going to approach things differently, really have no choice ...... so anyone who's thinking of having any work done, might be worth watching this space .......

V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Brisca Heritage BriSCA

30/05/2026

Not posted in a while, just been very busy, and simply too tired when I get back ...... yes wipe that tear from the corner of your eye

Regardless, another one gone, Brisca F1 SBC ....... more correctly for a Dutch customer I guess

Already got warm and made some pretty angry noises ........ coming to a track near you soon

Raised cam, 438ci, not dynoed as yet but with the parts spec should be in the 720-740 bhp range

With the various hurdles jumped, it was a bit of a nightmare to get together, and has thus put other jobs back, but customer seems happy enough

Another two similar already going together as we speak

03/05/2026

I kinda knew something had gone on somewhere ...... sudden surge of extra followers almost overnight ...... but wasn't actually aware of what until I got a message from another unrelated driver pointing the vid out

Generous praise indeed, embarrassing even ...... deep down I'm actually quite modest, but I can maybe see why that doesn't always come across ...... so genuinely very grateful for the comments

I guess sometimes you forget a little what it actually all means ......

'My' bit starts at around 3.00.20 mins ...... did actually watch it until the subject had almost moved on, and was rewarded with the punchline ....... so no surprise there, hey Henry ?

Otherwise I'm surprised Mark managed to get so far into the filming before breaking the biscuits out ...... growing lad dontcha know

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod Brisca Heritage BriSCA Hednesford Skegness Buxton

Brisca F1

16 likes, 1 comment. "MARK & FINN SARGENT - F2s, F1s & Ministox"

03/05/2026

Rods for one of the Brisca F1 SBCs currently going together are now fully done, and big end bearings selectively clearanced for the task in hand

Sophisticated alpha-numeric grading system ..... first two pics ..... makes sure the right up and downy bits go on the big rotating thingy, hopefully in the correct order

Crank is used, thus slightly worn but perfectly serviceable, so each pair of rods is graded to their respective journal

Rods ...... brand 'E' Cn origin rods ...... are now as good as I can get them, and certainly better than when they left the factory, but never drop your guard, lest they trip you up ......
..... as some of the bearing tang slots have been cut undersize, or are oddly shaped, causing the shells not to seat correctly in the housing, so yet another fettling job to attend to

Carefully selected kitchen roll is not actually covered in oil ...... but rather blood, sweat & tears

Dart ARP Eagle

V8 Hotstox Brisca Heritage BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod BriSCA BriSCA

02/05/2026

Work in progress ...... something a little different for me, for a change

Interim build, stepping stone towards the real thing ...... in fairness I've had it a while now, so about time I pulled my finger out

Around 200 cubic inches less than my normal fayre, working methodically through another 'race engine' ..... yeah right ...... rebuild

Numerous issues as is usual ....... we're already at the 'who the bl00dy hell built this' stage ....... hopefully it'll be done for the next meeting

But that will be a stretch, so yoga position, pinched fingers, deep breaths and ....... ohmmmmmm

V8 Hotstox Brisca F1

30/04/2026

Managed to get out of the pub long enough to get some work done ....... I wish, can't recall last time I actually stepped out for a pint

Two more blocks through the hone .....

Both Dart's, the first an Iron Eagle, the other a Little M ...... cylinders correctly sized & finished to suit new oversize forged pistons, one set 'off the shelf' the other 'custom' made

Hopefully it'll put a smile on a couple of faces ......

Anyway, back to the grindstone ......

Brisca F1 Santa Pod

25/04/2026

Some of you may recall the Brisca SBC Dart Iron Eagle block ...... that I went into work and power honed, between Christmas and New Year gone ...... all so the pistons could be ordered by years end, thus moving the job along

They arrived just four days ago ......

So the block has belatedly gone back in the Sunnen CV616 hone ...... first pic ...... torque plated, final sized & plateaued ...... and once again all is tickety-boo with the world

Eeking out the bore to 4.175", instead of just smashing it to 4.185" which would have been the easy option, leaves another 'standard' oversize in it, before the only remaining option of moving on to 'custom' pistons ...... which would be an even longer wait

It'll get washed again, square decked etc, over the next couple of days, and then final clean up before starting to go back together, maybe end of the week

Crank has already been polished, and size checked ...... it came out better than I thought it might ..... and is ready to go back in, despite the rods that ran on it

They were worse than I first thought, bad even, and have had to be reworked twice so far, but will be entirely serviceable when done ...... more on them later

Back in work tomorrow, likely I'll get another couple of blocks done, another Iron Eagle and a Little M to suit their new pistons ...... the former for a lovely, patient chap, from the Loughborough area, if I'm remembering correctly



Brisca Heritage V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod BriSCA

23/04/2026

Well I guess in the vernacular this might be called the 'money shot'

They're all done, best part of a week in a handful of photos, but it is what it is

Everything I know, and have learnt over the years, is in these

That's not to say they're perfect, far from it but for a pair of old castings, from a one-man shop, they're pretty good

If I'm lucky enough to have another crack, there are a couple of things I'd change, but nothing fundamental

What are they worth over as received?

I'd say about eight bhp per cylinder ...... easy enough when each displaces around 900cc ...... maybe more, so you do the maths

All I might add is best start packing the dirt down now for, when these beauties hit the track, most of it will be in the crowd after a coupla laps

[That last bit is for all the observations that I may have got a bit serious ...... lost my roguish sense of fun ..... yeah right]

Absolutely everything done in house ...... you're welcome

Brisca F1

22/04/2026

Rods out of the same engine as the Dart heads previously shown ...... I tend to have a few things on the go at any one time, rock it up a little

As is usual, the big ends are well out of shape, between about 0.0007" and 0.0012", so no surprise there ...... trusty ol' AG300 tells no lies

First couple of pics

Constantly varying clearance has obviously been 'witnessed' through the bearing shells, and their interaction with the rod housing, next pic

More interestingly, several of the little ends are tight, culminating in the one pictured ....... running only 0.0005" clearance ...... picking up on the pin, last couple pics

You simply can't run a more 'budget' orientated rod OOTB ...... without measuring everything, and correcting where necessary ...... as these, and many others, were

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox Brisca Heritage Santa Pod

22/04/2026

Most of the detail work done on the Dart high ports, just need to surface and assemble, so mock up first as usual

All my ducks in a row, straightforward day ....... yeah right, best laid plans of mice and men

I'd already clocked the funky marks around the spring pockets, and made a mental note ..... but now it makes sense

The springs are simply too big for the pockets, and whoever bodged 'em in didn't give a stuff

Spring pocket left of centre ..... first pic ...... shows spring's attempts to burrow it's way in, pocket right of centre shows witness where spring just sat up, above the pocket

Second pic shows more of the same ....... they were all like this, to some degree or other

Obviously the removed shims were there purely for show, you simply can't calculate installed height with all this nonsense going on

So, all had to get machined out ...... enlarging the pocket diameter, but not depth ...... all sixteen, next pic

Anyone who's been around enough Aluminium castings know they're in reality just a very dense 'sponge', even taking the least material possible out might turn a head into a sprinkler ..... hence both have to be pressure tested, next few pics

Pockets don't leak, nothing does, even at 100 psi ..... no good messing around with this stuff ...... squeeze it until the pips squeek, last pic

To be honest, all this constantly repairing other people's previous crap work, prior to getting on with the real job of properly overhauling stuff, is wearing a bit thin ...... another half day lost

Brisca F1