Gurney Eagle / weslake engine...

[X-pack-Glyn]

in mk1 supervan, can anyone tell me more about these engines?

cuz i want one!!

[V8ian]

Gurney Weslake, Dan Gurney, was a indy driver in the 50s and 60s, Weslake was a tuning company on the Kent coast. may have been ashford, Weslake may even now be part of Piper cams, they were the Cosworth before Cosworth was thought of, doing lots of development work for many race engines. originally they got together to build in 62 to build a indy engine built around the 260 cui small block ford, dont know how succesful the car was but Gurney developed other SBFs with other engine builders with varying success, I think they were the formost SBF serious tuners in the 60s and were an obvious choice to build the GT40 engines, they were still pushrod engines based around the 289, and later 302s. when I was building my 289 powered Mk1 zephyr I was screwing together a 289 with cleveland heads and had just had made a set of venola pistons to suit, chatting in the Tony Dickinson tea rooms,AKA gasolene alley, Wrotham, a fella I new very well at the time offered me a pair of Gurney Weslake SBF heads for £250, [it was 20+years ago]. but I declined as I had just got the custom made pistons that would not have worked with these heads, I know he sold them to someone at Brands a few weeks later for silly money,

I can find out more as he still goes up the pod and crews on Steve Larges Mk1 Zodiac race car, and its all my fault he races a Mk1 zephyr so he told me last time I saw him, whoops.

[Fiesta Steve]

Gurney Weslake, Dan Gurney, was a indy driver in the 50s and 60s, Weslake was a tuning company on the Kent coast. may have been ashford.

 

They were on the East Sussex coast in Harbour road, Rye. (very near Kent )

 

I work next door

[V8ian]

Gurney Weslake, Dan Gurney, was a indy driver in the 50s and 60s, Weslake was a tuning company on the Kent coast. may have been ashford.

 

They were on the East Sussex coast in Harbour road, Rye. (very near Kent )

 

I work next door

 

Found the reason for why I thought Weslake was in Ashford, Dan Gurney/Eagle was based in Ashford, in the same buildings used by Piper, and when the building were taken over by piper, some of the Weslake staff worked for Gurney and then for Piper. as did members of Baldynes, of Bromley Common who were a good little tuning outfit, and I beleive are now based on Biggen Hill airfield doing aircraft engines

[60ftman]

Yes, nice alloy heads for SBF engines. The hot ticket for race cars in the 60's.

 

Modern head technology has more-than caught up with the Gurney/Weslake head (so modern SBF after-market heads will flow better, give more power etc), but they do look the nuts.

[X-pack-Glyn]

Thanks chaps, i knew the more mature members would know that