3.8 Aluminum engine

[LowDrag_Fan]

Dear all,

as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I am a big fan of Low-Drags. Besides the questions regarding the Low-Drag body, I am also interest to learn more about all-aluminum engines. I have heard that the original engines were not very reliable – what is about the new engines today?
- Are all-aluminum engines only suitable for racing or also reliable for fast-road use?
- Is dry-sump meaningful for fast road cars?
- What are suppliers of entire engines or components (like wide-angle heads) besides Crosthwaite&Gardiner and Denis Welch?

many thanks and best regards

Markus

[PeterCrespin]

The problem with originals was the super-heavy ZF 5-speed, which put a lot of strain on the block flange, which cracked. The bending load was due to the beam effect (or lack of cantilever effect) between the far-apart mounts at the front of the block (not half way like a saloon) and the rear of the long heavy gearbox. Current alloy blocks are stiffer and more reliably cast, plus genuine ZFs are unobtanium.

The other questions are for you to answer depending what you intend doing with the car and how much you care about budget, performance and originality. The two sources you mention are experts. Dry sump, for example, adds significant expense and complexity for a gain rarely if ever required in a road car (reliable oil feed at sustained high lateral g force).

Shopping around is not appropriate except for geographic convenience or if you are trying to shave pennies off a bill of several tens o( thousands. Go to a few races, talk to people in the paddock, make your judgements on advice proffered, quality of preparation, results, 'chemistry' and availability in line with your timetable.

Then double your anticipated project cost and construction time, unless you get a fat city bonus, in which case buy the firm and treble the cost and time.

[wilde]

"The other questions are for you to answer depending what you intend doing with the car".

That's the whole point ! Do you want to race with the car seriously ? If not, I think that an iron bloc with a nice preparation could be terribly fast...

Today, all the aluminium engines are C&G. Very reliable. Denis Welch works with C&G for the bloc. The other supplier by the past was ATS (Robert Sarrailh) at Le Mans. Engine developed in cooperation with the french engineer Jean-Jacques His, ex Renault F1, now Ferrari & Maserati. Not a lot were produced...

A 4 synchro Jaguar gearbox from a 4.2L is perfect...

[LowDrag_Fan]

Dear all,

many thanks for your responses and info about the all-alu engine.
I fully agree, the costs will be enormous… unfortunately!
My intention is not to seriously participate in races, but enjoy a very fast E type on open roads and participate occasionally in few speed events.
After having talked to some enthusiasts in the pit lane and on Jag gatherings, I heard from some German and French experts, that a tuned cast-iron engine is not as powerful and not as reliable as todays all-alu engines. alu engines are claimed to reach up to 375PS while cast iron ones get up to 320PS.
My preferred combination would an alu-engine with wide-angle and dry-sump combined with a standard 4.2L gearbox.
Currently some semi-lightweight E Types are on the market. Those cars does not even have alu engine, dry-sump or wide-angle, but they are really still super expensive. So I could imagine, that even the combination of a “fully loaded” alu engine powertrain can be even a good investment.
Probably I can afford it sometimes.
Have a great Sunday
Markus