Ferrari Mailing List: Re: 2008 USPG Ticket Renewals & Montreal?

[Doug and Terri Anderson (dnt]

> > Todd in Seattle notes "I've also heard that in addition to bolting the 
> > head to the block, some of the turbo motors also had the heads welded to 
> > the block to try to keep them from blowing off under the 70-80lbs of boost 
> > they ran."

There sure may have been that trick Todd.  My TAG Turbo engine, a 90 degree 
V6 Porsche built engine for Prost, has the normal number of 8 studs from the 
block poking through the head and cinched down with very good nuts on the 
studs rolled threads.  THEN in addition to that - there are 6 - 8 mm studs 
on the head that bolt to the block - three nuts just above the exhaust 
headers and three nuts in the intake valley.  Twin turbos, 4 bar.  Each 
intake has four studs per intake holding the manifold on and there are 4 
studs for each exhaust port.  About 82.5 mm bore and a very short stroke. 
Only revved to about 12,000.

Ferrari had a neat trick they tried at Long Beach - I think.  It was a 
Comprex supercharger.  Looks like a squirrel cage fan that uses the exhaust 
pressure cycle to compress the incoming charge.  In a sense, the exhaust and 
intake gases could have mixed but they didn't.  Tried only once.

Piston was quite unique - the crown of the piston was penetrated by a 
vertical milling operation to create a valley behind the rings.  Then a plug 
was electron beam welded back in place.  Two holes were drilled in the 
bottom of the piston and a spigot at the main bearing girdle squirted oil 
into one side of the piston and the oil then exited out the other side.  I 
have pictures if you are interested.  Oil cooled rings - from the back side. 
Very secret then - kept the pistons from melting.

The whole motor is trick.  It has two wins - both at Imola.  One Prost got 
on the podium, the other he got DQ'd for being 8 kilos light.  Aint that a 
pistol?  heh heh

Onward.

DOUG