Borg Warner T5 and Stage 4 cyclinder heads

I've been splashing a bit of money the Scimitars way and bought some goodies! a set of stage four Ultimate cylinder heads and a Borg Warner T5 from a Sierra Cosworth (a favorite of mine) that got wrapped round a lamp post.

The Heads were a spare set that were ran for one race in this brusher an MG BGT (automotive pornography) historic racing car, sporting a 450 BHP 4.0 RV8 with quad Dellorto twin down daughters full racing cam, dry sump Borg Warner T5 transmission and all the other usual's expected from a V8 Racing car.

The heads themselves are now chemically cleaned blasted and skimmed, and i have a new set off  16  stainless steel "soup spoon" valves measuring in at 1.73" inlet  1.45" exhaust, there also fitted with 3 angle valve seats, Manganese bronze  valve guides, double valve springs and the usual ported and polished inlet and exhaust ports.

I am worried about the distinct lack of metal between the inlet and exhaust valve seats, its a classic case for a crack, but i guess theres not much i can do about it appart form make sure the heads a kept very cool.

There's a few extra ponies in those polished valves

The other acquisition is a Borg Warner T5 from a sierra Cosworth. Id decided I wanted a T5 in the scimitar before id even chosen to use the Rover V8 its by far one of the greatest boxes ever made and can take bucket load of torque and punishment from any V8 or turbo charged engine its, plus it comes attached to my two favourite engines of all time, the TVR Rover V8 and the Ford Cosworth YB Turbo, not to mention everything from Mustangs, Cameros and odly enough even a Datsun, the ratios are just perfect on it and if you have ever had the privilege of driving a Cossy you know it can hit 60 in 2nd. Before anyone wonders I insisted on a Cosworth box over a TVR model, because the Cossy unit is a T5 World Class (T5-WC) which is a much stronger box with a much stronger tail section with cross supports in the casing casting.

I got it really cheap as the owner of the Cossy said it had an issue changing from 4th to 5th, being quite familiare with these boxes I knew exactly what it was, and yes it was.A very common problem with the cossy the boark rings between 4th and 5th are chewed up, normally an easy fix for me, but on a T5 bit of an issue. It almost impossible to get 5th gear off short of smashing it off, so I may have to send this one to a transmission specialist, I don't normally send things out, but we will see.

Apart from that little syncro damage the gears and box itself is solid..

  The old gearbox has been lying in the garage for some time now but I don't like to see good quality car parts go to waste, so the box is going to an acquaintance who wants the Laycock overdrive for his MGB and he intern is passing the rest of the box on to a friend who's always restoring an old  Coarser or Zodiac, so happy ending for all, and with the Essex and the Cast iron gearbox gone and the all aluminium V8 and T5 box in, I've cut the Scimitars curb weight down by well over 70kg.

The old Essex Starter has found a new use too, propping the workshop door open

Time to size up the V8

The old 'Boat Anchor' V6 is gone and I've got a nice V8 ready for the scimitar.... well no not exactly. I've purchased a real good bargain 3.9 Rover V8 with according to Autodata software a respectable power output of 187 BHP and 236 ft lbs (320 Nm) from a 1994 Range Rover sporting around 50,000 miles, its a tight engine that runs well with no nasty noises and has the  the ancillaries I need to build a the final V8. A Lot of the engine is going to be changed, but i need a full unit to mock and start adjusting the engine bay to accommodate the V8, building the final V8 will come at a later date, for now it will do.

   Here it is sitting comfortably in the GTE for the first time with Trumpets on show. This isn't the final position of the engine, I am have to cut the engine mounts off the chassis move and TIG weld new fabricated mounts forward, along with cutting out the firewall and re-modelling it as there just isn't enough room to get the SS tubing in on the manifold for the two rear exhaust ports. I've already cut a small piece of the firewall out to get it in to mock (see the clearance issues below).

The mounts from the Range Rover were not symmetrical and unsuitable, the way I've set out to fit the V8 it in the Scimitar is by using Rover SD1 engine mounting brackets bolted to  Essex V6 Rubbers to the Scimitar chassis, seems pretty straight forward, and they were pretty easy to find a good set.

Its a tight squeeze but it works, but there's still a lot of adjustment to be done.  The engine is neither straight nor level on the current mounts.

 The other Big issue with installing this engine is the 1990's Range Rover front end on the V8 with the massive harmonic balancer and triple drive belt system its just far too big and long to fit in the Scimitars bay without getting in the way of the steering rack. This is going to be an even bigger issue when the engine comes forward, so the solution to combat it is simple. It involves getting rid of the Range Rover timing cover and front end (dont need power steering or AC) in favor of an early Rover design of front end with a single drive belt fitted in the Rover P6, this will recess the engine back and will save a good 8' of space. This will be done along with shimming the steering rack forward by 3/4 - 7/8" with some special  one off shims am machining from a block of 7075 aluminium, to bring the rack forward. Shouldn't cause any big issues, am going to be looking at the steering at a later date.

The position of the engine will require adjustment as currently it sits closer to the OS than the NS and is slightly of center on an angle with the output of the gearbox slightly to the OS.

The V8 Engine in place on the original Scimitar mounts. however its not sitting level or straight. They will have to be cut out and changed.

A taste of whats been done so far....Stripping down and Glass fibre

Since I towed the car home alot has changed a good majority of the vehicle has been removed due to damage, deterioration or the fact it just doesn't meet realistic standards of safety. This car is going to have the best of both worlds, modern performance power and technology along with 1960's styling.

For the rebuid I have the advantage of full access to almost everything. A full range of cranes, jacks and lifting equipment, pneumatic air tools  and compressed air, MIG, TIG, Ark and Gas welding and Lathes which I've had to use extensively during the build so far and off course a full range of hand tools. DDoing a car like this you benefit form good quality tools.

This car is in a sorry state, I only took it for one reason, the previous owned had the whole chassis stripped, repaired and galvanized, so its 100% solid not a hole or rust patch in site. the tyres on it where ruined we had to stick a set of old Continentals we had lying round on the Dunlops just so we can move the car round, I was hoping to find a a full set of 4x114.3 steels wheels, but non have been readily available.

 Although these photos are some years old you can see that the car is riding quite high and at this point the Cast Iron Ford V6 is still in the car, this is due to the fact that the coil over shocks are actually seized solid with no movement of the dampers, not to mention that almost every rubber bush on the suspension has perished. All to be removed and refurbished with new Polly Bushes and some high quality adjustable shock absorbers from GAZ, Koni or Spax I haven't quite decided yet.

The big hole in the GRP bodywork has been repaired and nearly finished, courtesy of my dad. Bodywork isn't my strong point and he's a Motor Vehicle Engineer for Jaguar-Land Rover by trade, but with a few years body and paint shop work under his belt. This involved cutting out a huge portion of the damaged fibreglass and re-building a back plate so to speak form strong fibreglass base  behind the damage and the finishing of the rest of the fine detail with fibreglass tissue and body filler. A lot of sanding both by hand and with the Air DA sander and a lot of patience to get it perfect.


The Interior of the car has been completely gutted unfortunately the old nasty refitted carpet is proving a nightmare to get off.

Damaged to fuel filler outlet in the body, crack cut and filled with new Glassfibre base. The repair will be finished properly later once the cars further along in its rebuild.

The car to start with

I've had this car for some years now and its progress has been somewhat slow as it has kind of fell down the priority list over the years and sat at the back of the Garage gathering dust to be worked on every so often when I had a bit time, chances are with my final year at Uni beginning it may get mothballed again for a while, but I think writing about it will keep my motivated to keep it going aswell a the fact when am finished ill have a V8 monster with a potential + 300 BHP per tone.

This is what the car looked like when I first acquired it over 5 years ago from a  farm in Sunderland. The previous owner of the car, a friend of the family, was not too happy with the farm owners as he had the car stored there in a barn and they decided to move the car to make room for a cow or horse so instead of moving it properly, drove a bail spear (8ft long steel spike) on the front of a tractors hydraulic lift through the fibreglass body and the old Radiator and lifted the car up and moved it. Intent on scrapping the car after this incident and the already degenerated state, I offered to take it of his hands and give it a good home, and 2 days later towed it away.

Front of the Vehicle fist day I owned it, including the Damage from the encounter with the Tractor .

Rear of the car note the state of the degenerated Dunlop split rims, all in a bad condition.



Most of the rubber seals are either missing or perished. The cars chrome bright work is also missing, damaged or rusted and pitted. 

The "Old Boat Anchor" Essex V6 which  fired up and moved the car, 2 days later round the yard after some fresh oil, a new coil and a set of points, but  this engine is soon to be removed due to lack of "Grunt" and a costly Engine to get any more than 200 BHP.

The Interior in a bad condition, after standing for some time torn seals and damaged wiring,

More to come on the cars progress so far.