Performance Automotive

Performance Automotive Motorsport technician. Specialist in Rally car preparation, fabrication and on event servicing.

Just got home from a looooooong day trying to get the green goblin ready for the Chelmsford Motor Club dengie targa on S...
03/09/2026

Just got home from a looooooong day trying to get the green goblin ready for the Chelmsford Motor Club dengie targa on Sunday.

This build was handed to me as a job lot almost, but good spec, bds head, 34mm invites 1mm longer valve geometry correction valves, k20 pistons which are becoming the norm now a bit. So 86mm bore making it 1940cc running big cams, 280 degree with 11mm of lift.
Had an issue with the cams being tight in the head, so had the spend a lot of time sorting that and getting them turning as they should.

But this post is a bit of info about head gaskets, I’ve had a few erling gasket failures. So I’ve now gone over to v/r gaskets and bolts, also now I use permatex spray a gasket which I use on every head gasket now. I’ve noticed other well known engine builders saying the same thing.
It’s not cheap, but neither is taking the head off after a failure….
Night all 😘

I said earlier about the exhaust manifold, pretty self explanatory to be honest. They are welded from the inside, it’s r...
31/08/2026

I said earlier about the exhaust manifold, pretty self explanatory to be honest.
They are welded from the inside, it’s restrictive, weld around the outer fl**ge, get the dermal out 🤣 and grind that weld away.

Word of warning, if you don’t wear eye protection you will be making a trip to the hospital and they WILL be poking about in your eyes with a needle ….. it’s stainless steel, yes even the weld and those little bits you are die grinding off get everywhere.

Another follow on from yesterday, yes I’m at work 🤦‍♂️ So finished port, new valve guides with tapered ends. I said we’...
31/08/2026

Another follow on from yesterday, yes I’m at work 🤦‍♂️
So finished port, new valve guides with tapered ends. I said we’d gain a few cfm didn’t I ?
A nats c**k off the roof, the ports are to wide any way so if you go any wider on std valve size you loose every thing you are trying to gain.
Think of it like c**k size, big ain’t always best and too small is next to useless 😉 but no I’m not telling you how big any thing is. I need to keep some secrets 🤭
So the result speaks for its self really.

Exhaust ports you’ll have to buy a flow bench and find out for yourself 🤣

Exhaust manifold next, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about that, it’s a fu***ng hateful (but necessary) job and you are more than welcome to do that yourself 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Have a good day people, hope that taught you something.

Much love ❤️

Following on from yesterdays post, the first three pics are the port as it was yesterday on the bench. Burr finish and a...
30/08/2026

Following on from yesterdays post, the first three pics are the port as it was yesterday on the bench.
Burr finish and as you can see (shock horror) I’ve only touched the floor of the port. A big no no in all those tuning books you’ve read. Raise the roof is a common saying, well if you had a flow bench you’d see the port speed where I see it, the roof it’s slow as f**k up to 8mm of lift, so sorry the floor is where I’m at, shape is more important than finish, we’ll get a few more cfm yet but ultimately I’m not after numbers over 11mm of lift as the cams I use are just short of that and lift is the limiting factor with m44’s.

The next few pics are the next step finish wise, 60 grit and wouldn’t use anything finer. Still not touched the roof and there’s more reasoning behind that……

Just a relaxing Saturday…. 7.5% increase in flow is not to be sniffed at, this is the set spec of my targa heads. Very n...
29/08/2026

Just a relaxing Saturday….
7.5% increase in flow is not to be sniffed at, this is the set spec of my targa heads. Very noticeable increase in torque, power and drivability.
Feels like a mountain to climb with work in general, but I still love it, every day.

Happy m44 Friday
31/07/2026

Happy m44 Friday

Seem to be m44/42 mad at the moment …. Lots of heads, new cams in the design stage with Piper Cams for the m44. Update M...
11/07/2026

Seem to be m44/42 mad at the moment …. Lots of heads, new cams in the design stage with Piper Cams for the m44.

Update M44 FTD new front brakes, air filter set up (remember all that testing 😉)
Std ratio 4 plate l*d fitted (yes I did have one just kicking around) and a pair of 270 cams as I’ve never tried them with a std head and this car is all about testing.
More soon then …

Thought I’d introduce the new project, ok yes I miss having a compact but also I wanted wanted a engine test car so to s...
07/07/2026

Thought I’d introduce the new project, ok yes I miss having a compact but also I wanted wanted a engine test car so to speak.

I’m not wanting to throw loads of money at it but, brakes the usual MTEC Brakes discs all round with Mintex 1155 front 1144 rear. Adjusted the handbrake my way so it works, any one that says they are rubbish as std Doesn’t know the correct recipe….

The the start of it and I’ll try and keep you updated with it but it will go ‘whoosh’ this weekend hopefully and transform into something a little more special as the summer slalom is looming.

The new M44 FTD, D2 (development 2 that is 🤭)

A before and after under the bonnet of the twin cam es**rt, only the beady eyed will notice I’m sure. Another 1940cc BMW...
15/06/2026

A before and after under the bonnet of the twin cam es**rt, only the beady eyed will notice I’m sure.

Another 1940cc BMW m44 build on the go plus a fair few other things, but not complaining in the slightest.

Hope every thing is well with you all 😘

Not a bad view last week 😍 This is the bu**er that took a bite out of my head. Had some er, wiring issues. It’s pretty e...
04/06/2026

Not a bad view last week 😍
This is the bu**er that took a bite out of my head. Had some er, wiring issues.
It’s pretty even if not genuine, even had to take some arty shots 🤭

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