IT’S ALIVE!
At last Ade’s Saph is back together and on the road. And this time it’s been built to last…
QUICK SPEC MSD live map ■ Wasted spark, closed-loop L8 and grey injectors ■ Autodynamix loom ■ T38 turbo ■ Gizzmo electronic boost controller ■ Gaz Gold coilovers ■ MC Fabrication six-degree beam ■ Fifteen52 Tarmac alloys
In my last update, I was nursing my wounds after everything went wrong once again with the Cossie’s engine. Too many component parts of the engine were simply old, covered high mileage, and just generally past it. So, a set of nice new Wossner conrods and pistons were installed to freshen things up and also future-proof against my heavy right foot and fondness for smoking tyres.
Couple that with a nice (rare as rockinghorse poo) unground crankshaft, a full selection of beefy ARP fasteners, and a mild rebore to freshen the cylinders, it gives me about the best 205-block bottom end that is realistically possible.
People always say the 205 block can’t handle the power, but mine had lasted years at 460bhp. And now it should cope with the power much better, possibly even a tad more in the future.
Up top, a full refresh on the new cylinder head has been undertaken at MJ Racing: a mild skim, new valve guides, a quality porting job, and the installation of my uprated Newman inlet cam. All that was left was lap-in the old valves, but when going to this extent it seemed sensible to just renew and upgrade them. Keeping it in the family, Wossner was called upon once again, this time to supply a set of beautifully crafted valves. The inlet valves are nitrided stainless steel, while the exhaust valves are constructed from extreme heat-resistant Inconel. Plus, they have lovely logo designs on their faces – which seems a shame to hide away.
MJ Racing completed the build with a fresh set of top-spec gaskets, including the heaviestduty WRC multi-layer option for the head gasket itself. With the engine fitted, briefly run-in and then given another oil change, it was ready for an MOT test.
Of course, its time off the road saw the Cossie’s rear callipers seized solid [Did you expect anything less? - Jamie] and the power steering pump weeping fluid. Both were easy fixes ,though, and the car was soon taken for its first MOT in years. Thankfully there were
no nasty surprises, and the Saph passed first time with no advisories.
It felt great to have the Cossie back on the road. But it did last time, and the temptation to do a few skids saw the engine in bits again later the same day. To avoid that, this time I am limiting myself to the lowest boost setting on the Gizmo for at least the first 1000 miles. It is basically a new engine, after all.
Then again, it did make 350bhp at around 1-bar of boost when it was mapped at MSD, so even ‘low boost’ is still plenty to have some fun with.
The first couple of days saw me loading it up with photography gear and heading for a shoot 100 miles away across some remote Scottish country roads. If I need to run it in gently I might as well use it for work – I’d never manage to drive 1000 miles sensibly if I was only using it for shows and weekends.
Using it for work was great fun and an easy 200 miles clocked, so the running-in period will be covered in no time, and it won’t be long before boost is wound back up to the max.
Undoubtedly a few teething problems will emerge as I continue to run the engine in. It’ll be just as much of a shake-down as it will an engine bedding-in session; the car has been off the road (bar the ill-fated attempt last year) for five years now.
Speaking of which, things have changed in the last five years. Cossies have rocketed in price and get more attention than ever, wherever they go. What was once a cheap and exciting car to thrash about now feels more like a financial investment rather than something to have fun in. That may be good for some, but I’m not sure how I feel about that. Time will tell, but for now I just want to use the thing. It’s been too long.