Rare Developments

03/05/2026

I kinda knew something had gone on somewhere ...... sudden surge of extra followers almost overnight ...... but wasn't actually aware of what until I got a message from another unrelated driver pointing the vid out

Generous praise indeed, embarrassing even ...... deep down I'm actually quite modest, but I can maybe see why that doesn't always come across ...... so genuinely very grateful for the comments

I guess sometimes you forget a little what it actually all means ......

'My' bit starts at around 3.00.20 mins ...... did actually watch it until the subject had almost moved on, and was rewarded with the punchline ....... so no surprise there, hey Henry ?

Otherwise I'm surprised Mark managed to get so far into the filming before breaking the biscuits out ...... growing lad dontcha know

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod Brisca Heritage BriSCA Hednesford Skegness Buxton

Brisca F1

16 likes, 1 comment. "MARK & FINN SARGENT - F2s, F1s & Ministox"

03/05/2026

Rods for one of the Brisca F1 SBCs currently going together are now fully done, and big end bearings selectively clearanced for the task in hand

Sophisticated alpha-numeric grading system ..... first two pics ..... makes sure the right up and downy bits go on the big rotating thingy, hopefully in the correct order

Crank is used, thus slightly worn but perfectly serviceable, so each pair of rods is graded to their respective journal

Rods ...... brand 'E' Cn origin rods ...... are now as good as I can get them, and certainly better than when they left the factory, but never drop your guard, lest they trip you up ......
..... as some of the bearing tang slots have been cut undersize, or are oddly shaped, causing the shells not to seat correctly in the housing, so yet another fettling job to attend to

Carefully selected kitchen roll is not actually covered in oil ...... but rather blood, sweat & tears

Dart ARP Eagle

V8 Hotstox Brisca Heritage BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod BriSCA BriSCA

02/05/2026

Work in progress ...... something a little different for me, for a change

Interim build, stepping stone towards the real thing ...... in fairness I've had it a while now, so about time I pulled my finger out

Around 200 cubic inches less than my normal fayre, working methodically through another 'race engine' ..... yeah right ...... rebuild

Numerous issues as is usual ....... we're already at the 'who the bl00dy hell built this' stage ....... hopefully it'll be done for the next meeting

But that will be a stretch, so yoga position, pinched fingers, deep breaths and ....... ohmmmmmm

V8 Hotstox Brisca F1

30/04/2026

Managed to get out of the pub long enough to get some work done ....... I wish, can't recall last time I actually stepped out for a pint

Two more blocks through the hone .....

Both Dart's, the first an Iron Eagle, the other a Little M ...... cylinders correctly sized & finished to suit new oversize forged pistons, one set 'off the shelf' the other 'custom' made

Hopefully it'll put a smile on a couple of faces ......

Anyway, back to the grindstone ......

Brisca F1 Santa Pod

25/04/2026

Some of you may recall the Brisca SBC Dart Iron Eagle block ...... that I went into work and power honed, between Christmas and New Year gone ...... all so the pistons could be ordered by years end, thus moving the job along

They arrived just four days ago ......

So the block has belatedly gone back in the Sunnen CV616 hone ...... first pic ...... torque plated, final sized & plateaued ...... and once again all is tickety-boo with the world

Eeking out the bore to 4.175", instead of just smashing it to 4.185" which would have been the easy option, leaves another 'standard' oversize in it, before the only remaining option of moving on to 'custom' pistons ...... which would be an even longer wait

It'll get washed again, square decked etc, over the next couple of days, and then final clean up before starting to go back together, maybe end of the week

Crank has already been polished, and size checked ...... it came out better than I thought it might ..... and is ready to go back in, despite the rods that ran on it

They were worse than I first thought, bad even, and have had to be reworked twice so far, but will be entirely serviceable when done ...... more on them later

Back in work tomorrow, likely I'll get another couple of blocks done, another Iron Eagle and a Little M to suit their new pistons ...... the former for a lovely, patient chap, from the Loughborough area, if I'm remembering correctly



Brisca Heritage V8 Hotstox BriscaF1StockcarScene Santa Pod BriSCA

23/04/2026

Well I guess in the vernacular this might be called the 'money shot'

They're all done, best part of a week in a handful of photos, but it is what it is

Everything I know, and have learnt over the years, is in these

That's not to say they're perfect, far from it but for a pair of old castings, from a one-man shop, they're pretty good

If I'm lucky enough to have another crack, there are a couple of things I'd change, but nothing fundamental

What are they worth over as received?

I'd say about eight bhp per cylinder ...... easy enough when each displaces around 900cc ...... maybe more, so you do the maths

All I might add is best start packing the dirt down now for, when these beauties hit the track, most of it will be in the crowd after a coupla laps

[That last bit is for all the observations that I may have got a bit serious ...... lost my roguish sense of fun ..... yeah right]

Absolutely everything done in house ...... you're welcome

Brisca F1

22/04/2026

Rods out of the same engine as the Dart heads previously shown ...... I tend to have a few things on the go at any one time, rock it up a little

As is usual, the big ends are well out of shape, between about 0.0007" and 0.0012", so no surprise there ...... trusty ol' AG300 tells no lies

First couple of pics

Constantly varying clearance has obviously been 'witnessed' through the bearing shells, and their interaction with the rod housing, next pic

More interestingly, several of the little ends are tight, culminating in the one pictured ....... running only 0.0005" clearance ...... picking up on the pin, last couple pics

You simply can't run a more 'budget' orientated rod OOTB ...... without measuring everything, and correcting where necessary ...... as these, and many others, were

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox Brisca Heritage Santa Pod

22/04/2026

Most of the detail work done on the Dart high ports, just need to surface and assemble, so mock up first as usual

All my ducks in a row, straightforward day ....... yeah right, best laid plans of mice and men

I'd already clocked the funky marks around the spring pockets, and made a mental note ..... but now it makes sense

The springs are simply too big for the pockets, and whoever bodged 'em in didn't give a stuff

Spring pocket left of centre ..... first pic ...... shows spring's attempts to burrow it's way in, pocket right of centre shows witness where spring just sat up, above the pocket

Second pic shows more of the same ....... they were all like this, to some degree or other

Obviously the removed shims were there purely for show, you simply can't calculate installed height with all this nonsense going on

So, all had to get machined out ...... enlarging the pocket diameter, but not depth ...... all sixteen, next pic

Anyone who's been around enough Aluminium castings know they're in reality just a very dense 'sponge', even taking the least material possible out might turn a head into a sprinkler ..... hence both have to be pressure tested, next few pics

Pockets don't leak, nothing does, even at 100 psi ..... no good messing around with this stuff ...... squeeze it until the pips squeek, last pic

To be honest, all this constantly repairing other people's previous crap work, prior to getting on with the real job of properly overhauling stuff, is wearing a bit thin ...... another half day lost

Brisca F1

19/04/2026

Not much to say really, fantastic weekend again for this young man, Harry, at Buxton & Hednesford

Four race wins in total, culminating in the Final win today, placed no lower than fourth in any race finished, and near the top of the grading points coming into the first grading period

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Brisca F1

17/04/2026

Working through the Dart SBC high ports ..... I've got two pair of these to do

First pic shows heads after preliminary wash, pretty much as received

Second pic shows funky concave intake seat courtesy of the badly modified valves ..... mentioned in an earlier post ....... now corrected and finish ground, third pic

Pic four shows mostly finished intake seat, lots of hand blending to follow

Last few pics show heads mostly clean, all seat cutting done, extent of hand still blending required, and poor state of head decks ..... these should have been surfaced last time the engine was apart, but were only sanded

Indeed, as can be seen the heads in general were in need of a more comprehensive refresh than they received prior, and were just thrown back on the engine as was ......

Two days work in these so far and only half way through ...... I guess that's why some other builders just don't seem to bother ...... plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose

Brisca F1 V8 Hotstox Santa Pod

15/04/2026

A reminder ......

This page was started so the majority, who wouldn't otherwise have the insight, might experience the behind the scenes of what's involved in this sort of job, the different standards worked to ...... and obviously promote my relative skills, or otherwise

It wasn't set up so a minority might speculate, or slyly insinuate, some kind of 'known' responsibility when something previously done badly is shown

Those that do, usually don't ...... and while it would be easy enough for me to put names to any of it, that's not the purpose

Indeed, the customers who may be considered to have some kind of axe to grind are generally philosophical about any work that may have gone before ...... and mostly prefer things exactly that way

So in future ...... while banter is fine ...... leave the petty speculation out of the public comments