Specialist car firm can give boost to your petrol engines
Specialist car engine tuners Austec Racing are now offering a rebuilding service for marine petrol engines.
The well-regarded West Sussex firm will be offering a rebuilding service for Mercruiser and Volvo 5.0/5.7 litre and 7.4/8.2 litre V8s.
These engines, based on the Chevrolet small block and big block V8s, can be rebuilt to a higher spec than their stock form.
David Martin, project technical director, says the upgrade can give a more fuel-efficient engine and one which produces more power.
He has also recruited the services of David Vizard, a world authority on tuning Chevvy engines, to the team.
Austec aim to offer engines with forged and balanced crankshafts, ported heads and a bespoke marine camshaft, among other things.
David Martin, whose previous work includes developing a 7.3 litre V8 upgrade for Aston Martin, says there is huge scope for improvement with the camshaft alone.
While camshafts and porting are his speciality, US-based David Vizard will be responsible for building a range of marine camshafts as well as sourcing all the components that are rarely available in the UK. Obtaining parts direct from the US, Austec aim to be highly
competitive in price.
The first project undertaken by the team involves work on a twin petrol engined Sunseeker Thunderhawk 43. Austec are going to ‘stroke the engines’ out to 496 cubic inches from 454CI (7.4 litres) by lengthening the stroke and a small increase in bore.
This involves fitting a bespoke balanced long stroke crank. The compression ratio will be increased, heads ported and Austec’s marine camshaft fitted.
David Martin says: “The engine will produce loads more torque lower down and will be a lot more fuel efficient as a result.
“It will also be more durable due to the high quality engine components used.”
Pictured are David Martin (left) and David Vizard in the Austec workshop.
