Engine bay valances

Keep rocks out of the cambelt and keeps the engine clean. Just cut outs, they need cleaning up and finishing and a rear bracket, plus exhaust cutout. Guess they will be get sprayed white when the gearbox tunnel is done...

Most of the issues with Matt's engine fitment have been thought through and assessed and a way forward planned. I really want to keep the bonnet in one piece, with the wheel arches still in the bonnet and also have the bonnet hinges as normal.

There is so much to account for it's a real headache. The original builder did not think things through that well. He seemed to want the bonnet in two pieces or 1 piece and on pegs etc. I think this is think last, act first, like having humps and bulges in the bonnet, they aren't my thing.

I mean just for myself when road testing the last thing I want is a bonnet on pegs that I can't lift off alone, just jetting carbs, or checking for leaks, or whatever...It's just a total pain the arse. Slicing the bonnet in two means unless you spend probably a month solid making it work properly, lasting build quality, good fit, it's just not feasible to do this for a customer. So I want to keep the front-end as usual as possible.

There is a issue with the supercharger in that to fit a filter or airbox of any worth the bloody wheel will be touching it at full bump and you need to squeeze a wheel arch in, so this is a BIG headache...not ideal!

I noted an image of a supercharged engine of the same type in the Croft box, it has a 90deg manifold and a DCNF carb sat behind the supercharger by the bulkhead...This is another way. Either that or a 1.5" thick manifold plate and a DHLA on it with 10mm trumpets and a K&N of 50mm or so, sticking out the charger, with no 90 bend...Not ideal in the DCNF 90 bend setup as getting cold air to the carb will be fiddly at the back of the engine bay...It's virtually impossible to get a decent sized airbox on the DHLA either. Maybe a thin airbox can be fitted / made and the wheel arch squeezed and angled a bit...

Also the water system its a bit crap as suggested how to do it, drilled thermostat no bypass at all..I think it's an ideal candidate for a PRRT like mine, this will damp out the temp and give an even flow and cooling rate. It has a bypass built in with the PRRT and the bypass allows FULL flow through the head at all times and circulates water very quickly, then gently bleeds in cool water as needed via the stat...This will do the headgasket a power of good evening out temp spikes and changes and allowing a great deal of flow....The engine will need the outlet from the head modified, this can go to a larger vertical swirl pot infront of the engine , on the top will be a bleed line and a fill point. The header tank can do somewhere low-down, purely as expansion room. It's another upside down system. Cannot be any other way, I cannot lower the engine cause of the dry-sump the outlet from the head will be the highest point, rather like a triumph! So I have a fixed idea for the water system...Should be improved over normal.

Need a GOOD radiator thats tall and thin I think. Angled forwards, shrouded at the front, I need enough room on one side to fit a drysump tank in the engine bay next to the radiator. It really cannot go anywhere else, this keeps the lines and plumbing "cheap" as opposed to longlines to the boot etc, also means I can vent the crankcase into the dry sump tank, which saves a catch tank (planning, planning).....I need to accomodate a larger oil cooler too.

This must all tie together and allow me to retain a hinged normal bonnet...I will need to remake the fittings on the dry sump pump, I MAY make two allot blocks and weld fittings to the, this allows me to make a tight 90 from the pump to avoid having to cut the shock tower...I can port the blocks to the 90 turn is smooth etc. Or get some tight bend material, but its tricky to bend tighter than the fitting supplied without wrinkles. There's a mass of stuff, this is a no easy task, one must weigh up all ideas!