hi all,

i am looking at putting an blackbird engine in to an indy r, and just wondering is it a good engine to chose??

the pros and cons of the blackbird, and alternative engines?

thank you

stu

Definitely a bad choice, possibly one of the most fragile engines you could fit in a car. They suffer very badly with oil starvation due to pot 3 sharing an oil way with the balance shaft. I had one go bang on me last year (even with an Accusump fitted).

Once mine had a proper baffle fitted, and was overfilled by a pint or so, it was fine. I used to push it as hard as I dare and never had an oil issue with it.

Good strong gearbox and clutch, as long as you fit the later clutch basket, and it always sounded much deeper and growlier than any other BEC I had heard at the time. I only paid £500 for a complete engine with carbs and ECU thingy, so if it does go bang, it's not much of a hassle to replace. It's got a hydraulic slave too, so may be an easier install for some. I liked mine, but did get tired of hearing all the doom about it.

Not a bad engine, but if you're starting from scratch there are probably better engines to choose. It's still very competitive in the bhp/£££ competition mind.

mixed reviews there, it will probably only be road use, i said i would do a track day in my mk, nearly 3 years later still not done one.lol

it will be a new chassis, so will be a fresh build

i have seen the later injection ones for not a bad price, looked at the power and it is good.

so what other engines should i look for, i got suggested the blackbird because of the gearbox.

cheers

stu

hi stu

i would go for something else.
iv blown 4 up and they all had baffle plates and accsumps fitted.

how much do you want to spend on an engine?

not sure on the engine, i will spend what i have to get a good car, as it will be the new chassis and all new bits again, might as well go the whole way.lol

what engine do you recommend?

stu

Hi stu

My bbird engine was fab until the trackday caused a knocking coming from the bottom end, however I had no baffle fitted.

I was going to swap to an R1 but due to how much I would need to change I decided to stick with the bbird, picked up a new engine for a third the cost of an R1.

Now I know a bit more about what's needed I'll be protecting with a baffle and an accusump as long as monitoring the pressure more closely.

If your starting from scratch an R1 is probably a better bet if you can stomach the extra cost.

Ash

quote:

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Originally posted by Blackbird Rush
Hi stu

My bbird engine was fab until the trackday caused a knocking coming from the bottom end, however I had no baffle fitted.

I was going to swap to an R1 but due to how much I would need to change I decided to stick with the bbird, picked up a new engine for a third the cost of an R1.

Now I know a bit more about what's needed I'll be protecting with a baffle and an accusump as long as monitoring the pressure more closely.

If your starting from scratch an R1 is probably a better bet if you can stomach the extra cost.

Ash

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busa or zzr1400

You know what you can have my r1 engines for, and 1 gearbox went and one dropped valve......... Bearing in mind road use compared to track.

stu

you are more than welcome to come and have a ride in a busa.

i would go for one of them,but thats all down to your budget,if not second choice would be a gsxr-1000

cheers danny

quote:

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Originally posted by Stuart_B
hi ash,

i will not be doing track days, but i know that r1 drop valves, as i have been with eddie99 when he had 2 r1 engines die on him, so not that great

so a blackbird with baffle plate and accusump, where do you get the baffle plate from?

as well what sort of diff ratio do you run with your blackbird?

cheers

stu

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My baffle came from Fluke, but I have no idea if they still sell them or not as I found their website fiddly to navigate.

I was running a 3.6 diff, and it would happily pull to just over 10k rpm in 6th up a near by hill.

thank you Ash and DIY Si

i will see what i can come up with

stu

Hi Stu

I have a 3.38 diff surplus to requirements....

hi gav

how much do you want for the diff?

cheers danny

i have a BB baffle plate surplus

pm if interested

tilly

cheers for all the advice on the blackbird engine

will see what the budget is

stu

Blackbird engines are a known problem in BECs.

You might save a few quid when you buy the engine, but if you ever come to sell you will probably lose it all (and maybe more). Surely not worth the hassle.

i am looking at a zx10r engine now

cheers

stu