Coventry Climax 1020cc FWP engine on ebay

[tezzan]

Just seen this on ebay Coventry Climax 1020cc FWP engine modified for road use with mazda 5 speed g/box

I think the Coventry Climax FW engine was fitted to the type 14 - anyone doing a resto and need an engine? Don't know how much he wants for it as there's a reserve set. Based in Bournemouth.

Worth a look at the picture - that engine looks great!

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

The FWP was the original 1020cc fire pump engine. According to this site, it developed 35bhp at 3500rpm, so it required significant development to become the FWA car engine of 1098cc and 71bhp at 6000rpm. 

http://www.lotus7register.co.uk/climax.htm

[GTK]

Saw that engine too just today, it's still for sale. There are a few for sale in fire pump frames with pumps in tact. If you scratch around online it seems it's not uncommon to find these FWP engines modified to close to FWA spec, if not past, for use in replicas and racers. 

The following text is found in a few places online;

"In 1953 it (the FW) was adapted for automotive racing as the 1098 cc FWA retaining the cast crank, three main bearing construction of the FW but with a distributor ignition in place of a magneto, a different camshaft, and a higher, 9.8:1 compression ratio. With a bore of 2.85 inches and a stroke of 2.625 inches, it produced 71 hp (53 kW) and was first used at Le Mans in 1954 by Kieft Cars. After the FWA was introduced, the FW engine was renamed to FWP (Pump)."

__

So it doesn't seem like you'd have to do anything more to an FWP, to get it to early FWA spec, than you would to say a BMC A-Series engine that you wanted to build for power. Considering a CC FW in fast road or race spec from a specialist is nearly £6k (and I'd be surprised if they weren't starting with a FWP donor given that there were less than 700* FWA engines produced), the prospect of £400-£600 for a base engine isn't to be sniffed at. I saw a post on a forum from the '00's that said a bulk number of pump engines turned up at Beaulieu back then, and were going for £100 each.

*figure is from CC development engineer Walter Hassan's book. 

 

[Lee Barton]

I bought the engine.  Does anyone know where I can find the engine number?

[GTK]

On a flat directly to the right of the fuel pump take off, although I'd guess your mechanical fuel pump take off may be blanked. Look about 8" directly below the foremost spark plug, on the block. 

I've since been reading 'Coventry Climax Racing Engines: The Definitive Development History', by Des Hammill. It's interesting if halcyon day racing engine development swings your pants. It does detail the changes made to the FWP engine when it was developed for automotive use. The pump was the engine that sparked the interests of Chapman, Kieft et al, and it is the same base unit and a brilliant little engine, but there are a number of things that separate it from the FWA and FWE.

There were a lot of simple changes made, displacement, porting, combustion chamber development, billet crank, higher compression, more bearings, distributor spark... nothing that couldn't be replicated, but the modern day problem is the availability and subsequent cost of the developed parts. A hand full of specialists hold all the cards. Making a pump engine sing is a project for the love of the project, rather than in the hope of saving money. But man, have you heard one go?