01420 564343
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"Before you start, you must identify what you want to use the car for: road, rally, fast road or full race. You must also consider what you want to spend, usually controlled by what you want to do but when it comes to reliability and performance, there are no half measures. There is a vast difference between a standard road engine and a race engine, but all engines will fit somewhere between the two with overlapping parts. Some components are not always necessary, we would recommend giving us a call to discuss your requirements. What can we offer that's different? We are not a parts manufacturer, we source parts from the best suppliers and offer an unbiased opinion and we will not fit parts you do not need. Calling on over 30 years of experience in competition and road cars alike, we can guide you as required. One of our unique services is to provide all engines with our anti porosity prevention kit which is jig bored into the oilway of every block prior to rebuild. Plus, every engine comes with our specially designed Bill Rawles Austin-Healey rocker cover - it won't give you anymore horse power but it is something you can show your mates down the pub!"
Give Bill a CallIf your engine is a little tired, starting to knock or you're just looking for a rebuild, we offer a standard engine rebuild and can cater for a range of cars including Jaguar E-Types, MGs, Austin-Healeys and Triumphs, just to name a few. If you're interested and would like to find out more, it would be best to call the office and ask for Bill Or Jack Rawles.
Upgrades and tuning available from fast road to competition spec. It is important when looking to rebuild your engine to understand your requirements and final intended use. In our opinion, there is no point in building a fire breathing competition car for pottering down to the pub, as you probably won't enjoy it. We can advise and work with you to achieve the best outcome, from minor performance upgrades, torque and driveability to a hill climb-spec engine capable of 7,000 rpm.
When it comes to Motorsport, results speak for themselves. We will only build new race engines using our recommended parts, they're tried and tested and are reliably fast. It is important to us to not only build powerful and torquey engines but engines that are able to last the distance, with finishes and results in sprint and endurance races alike, we are known for reliable performance. If you have an older race engine you'd like to be refreshed, feel free to call and discuss with Bill or Jack Rawles.
If you have a special project engine you would like to have rebuilt or built from scratch, such as from an Austin-Healey 100S, we have experience in not only looking after a genuine 100S, RLF 500, for the past 10 years but also building a remanufactured 100S, RWD 221, from chassis up. We understand the complexities and differences in these special cars.
Centre- or side-change gearboxes for the 100 or 3000 are available for rebuild from Bill Rawles Classic Cars with tulip or sebring gear sets. Straight-cut or standard are the two options for gear types, we can advise you depending on your intended use. We would never recommend a modern exchange five-speed gearbox, this only ruins the originality and is not necessary. An Austin-Healey four-speed gearbox with overdrive on third & fourth with the correct cockpit heat insulation is just as good as any modern gearbox equivalent.
We can also upgrade three-speed BN1 gearboxes to four-speed BN2 spec but please bear in mind that there will have to be a chassis modification with this upgrade. We build all gearboxes in-house and can answer any questions you may have - please call.
Overdrive rebuild and installation also available in standard or competition spec.
Arguably, the most important part of power delivery aside from tyres would be your final drive and differential set up. Although a standard Healey diff is usually bulletproof, they do go wrong and can be rebuilt as standard. For the enthusiastic drivers amongst us, for road and competition cars we would recommend a Quaife ATB limited slip diff, this will make the car more sure footed and will improve power delivery. Quaife ATB is for road, fast road and hill climb spec cars but we would recommend a plate style diff for competition use. The plate style diffs are noisy and require an annual or bi-annual rebuild but provide an open diff on turn in and lock once under load, and provide a nervous car on turn in with a superior handling over the ATB once in the corner. We wouldn't recommend a plate diff for road use. Please call for more information.
If you are an individual or a company that would like us to carry out a part-rebuild on your engine - this could be from stripping and inspecting parts, carrying out one of our specialist services or sourcing components and asking advice for your own engine rebuild - we are more than happy to help.
All our engines are built in house, We have a significant amount of experience and a highly skilled team. Whatever your engine requirements, we can guide you and build an engine to suit your requirements.
