Westfield – 1640cc Vauxhall
Last update received from Chris in May 2008
I purchased the car about five years ago in a road/sprint specification with a 1700cc Ford cross flow engine. I decided to also take up sprint and hill climbing in the car and really enjoyed it and soon got the bug to want to go a bit quicker. I started to find out other possible engines I could use up to 1700cc as the class I was competing in only allowed this engine size. During my research I came across SBD and there 1600 cc Vauxhall unit which they had developed and had a very wide range of parts and kits available for this engine which sounded like the ideal choice. After a few phone calls to Steve, a second hand engine was bought from a local breakers and the work started. I chose the SBD 185 kit along with a dry sump oil system which all arrived a couple of days later.
Nigel Keats from Cougar Engineering would be the man to build and install the new engine for me over the winter so it would be ready for the 2003 season ahead. Everything fitted and worked with no trouble at all and the new engine was finally ready to be fired up for the first time. It sounded amazing with a lovely induction bark coming from the Tapered Throttle Bodies.
The car and engine then completed two trouble free seasons with just an oil change and I finished second in class in both of the championships that I competed in.
I then started to talk to talk to Steve again about the next step to take to upgrade my engine. He suggested building up the bottom end with some steel rods, oversized forged pistons, and some hi flow injectors which would make it produce more power and torque. And it did, I couldn’t believe the difference, especially with another 1000 revs to play with it felt so strong all through the rev range still pulling hard at 8500 rpm.
I’ve had another great season this time finishing first in class 2a and fourth overall in the Midland Speed Championship.
I would like to thank Steve and the rest of the SBD team who have all helped me over the last few years with advice and technical support and also providing me with a brilliant, reliable and very quick engine.
Engine Specification:
1640cc 16V Vauxhall
Standard crank
Forged Omega pistons
SBD steel rods
SBD dry sump oil system
SBD H284 cams
Ported and polished head
SBD mapped MBE967E ECU
SBD Taper throttle bodies
SBD inlet manifold with hi-flow injectors
Power: 190bhp (approx)
Transmission:
Quaife 4 speed dog gearbox
Tran X plated LSD with 4.1 live axle
Brakes:
Hi Spec Ultralite 4 pot calipers
Engine built by Cougar Engineering
Loton Park 18May08 – 1st in Class:57.96s
