Project Asbo

摘要

After taking delivery of the Escort's new engine last month, I've had time to take stock of what's needed in order to get it in the hole and running. For those of you that didn't read last month's report, I'd finally got around to replacing my naturally aspirated Cosworth YB with something a little more powerful - a 'normal' turbocharged Cossie YB. Although it's currently in bits, it's essentially a 'stage 3' engine, so should be good for at least 330bhp once it's put back together again. While the majority of the components are either brand new or freshly refurbished, one item that clearly needed a little attention was the turbo. While I bought it on the understanding that it was a regular T3, on closer inspection it actually turned out to be a T34 with a .63 housing, a combination that, in theory at least, should provide enough punch for around 380bhp plus. The turbo itself was in good enough working order, if a little tired, so in order to bring it up to the same standard as the rest of the engine components, a re-build was going to be in order. And, if I was going to go to the bother of getting it rebuilt, I reasoned that I may as well de-tune it slightly to a .48 housing in order to make the power delivery a bit less laggy, even if that meant sacrificing a larger maximum power output in the process. Let's face it, in a light weight Mk1 Escort, anything over 300bhp is going to feel plenty quick enough.