The plenum chamber for the EFI was proving to be a problem. As you can see it sticks up above the engine by quite a long way. In the SVA nothing is allowed to project above the windscreen lower plane, which is a line of sight from the driver's seat. With this engine the line goes through the middle of the oil filler cap.

  This is the view from the drivers seat. As you can see the plenum chamber does obstruct vision quite badly.

I radically modified the plenum chamber to reduce the bonnet height. The shorter inlet stubs will probably reduce bottom end torque but may increase torque at higher revs. The modification is made out of steel with the steel tubes a shrink fit in the machined out aluminium manifold.



This is how far I have got making up the exhaust. The headers are 35mm OD, 1.6mm wall pipe, bent on a hand pipe bender and gas welded for neatness and minimal intrusion into the bore of the pipe.



  There is very little room for the alternator so I ended up using a Lucas 17ACR alternator as fitted to many small Ford and Austin/Rover cars. These alternators are smaller then the original Bosch alternator and are very cheap. In fact is cheaper to buy a new one than repair an old one! I had to make a bracket to fit the alternator and cut away one of the mounting lugs on the block to move the alternator close enough to the engine to clear the chassis.
Note: Cortina water pumps are light alloy and Sierra ones are great big lumps of cast iron. The only other difference between them is the position of the alternator adjuster bracket If you are on a weight saving mission this is an easy way to lose some. The bracket looks simple but it took me most of an afternoon to get the dimensions just right. Here are a set of drawings for the bracket in DXF format.



  I used the Sierra engine mounts with fabricated brackets. These mounts are too soft and allow a lot of engine movement. I will fit Land Rover engine mounts as they are cheap and a lot more solid. They are also a lot smaller which allows me a bit more clearance for the starter motor.

The engine has now been rebuilt, painted and the fuel injection has been plumbed in.



Do I get the prize for the wonkiest exhaust? Don't worry - this is purely for testing. Running the engine on open headers is very bad for your hearing! It may not look good but it only took me half an hour to make.

  I was at a car show a while back and saw an engine balancer for sale. Being a Locoster through and through I thought "I can make one of them" and this is the result. It allows the engine to be tipped forwards and backwards with ease. The engine can be tilted to just the right angles needed to install it without scratching the paint. Here is a set of plans for the balancer.



I used an uprated Escort radiator that a local radiator rebuilder had on sale as old stock. The fan is off of a japanese car, I don't know which as I saw it lying in the mud at my local scrap yard. It is very thin and ideally suited to the job, though I had to turn the blades round and reverse the supply to make it push rather than pull