Calver ST

Specialising in tuning A-series engines and gearboxes for the classic Mini, Austin-Healey Sprite and MG Midget.

For over 25 years I have been intensely involved with the beloved Classic Mini, a period that has seen me relentlessly pursuing research and development of a very wide range of products for an equally wide range of clients and customers – encompassing the whole spectrum of Mini performance tuning from engines to tyres and recently including engine, transmission and drive train for MG Midget and A-H Sprites.

13/10/2026

Spot of inlet port milling on a bunch of small-bore heads to optimise cross sectional area between the push rod bores for valve sizes used.

08/10/2026

Never ceases to amaze me everytime I press out a set of cam bearings from a BMC A-series block how on earth they managed to fit, and make serviceable, cam bearings when the journal housings show such agricultural machining. Note, I have tidied this up.

05/10/2026

Gotta love a good old-fashioned tool. Con rod straightness checker. Bought after being flagged up by a friend who recommended it. Used it on every build since. Priceless simplicity.

12/09/2026

Another no picture post. But essential knowledge. A recent issue with a race engine re-build following a major engine failure (over-enthusiastic rpm transgressions on down-shifts, and hanging on to a gear too low for too long) trashing it's bearings broùght to light an associated problem. 'Did you change the oil cooler?'. Well, no. I flushed it out and refitted it.
Heads-up. There is no way you can definitively clean out an oil cooler by 'flushing' it through. Following a major engine or gearbox failure, fit a new oil cooler.

06/09/2026

I get a herd of folk querying what 'blading' is on cranks. Generally misled by the term being used by others to describe the machining of the counter weight web ends that completely negates the whole point of wedging a crank in the first place. Correct blading is shown on this crank on the leading edges of this crank. And yes, my Top Fan (must be correct, Facebook says so) Dave, I know you and the other Alluminati of the A-series world already l know this.

24/08/2026

I know I have posted similar pictures before of spark plug colour for current ethanol-polluted fuels. But so many folk are posting pics of their plugs, asking if they look right. This piccie is of today's dyno testing of a Formula Junior race engine. The plugs show exactly the same appearance of previous dyno set-ups on road engines through standard, fast road and track day once the fuelling has been corrrctly sorted.

14/08/2026

No piccie, apologies. BUT....VERY important. Recent gasket sets sold by the main players have a transfer housing gasket that is some 0.006" (0.042" thick) thicker than the standard thickness (0.036"). Obviously this will dramatically increase the idler gear end float. This gasket is grey as opposed to the more usual pink or green ones. Double check what.you have.

07/08/2026

Summat else to watch out for.... oil pick up transfer port seals that are not a snug fit in the groove. First piccie shows a seal from a gasket set bought recently. It is loose in the groove. It should be tight up against the groove OD as in the second piccie. Loose, it will fall out when he gearbox is inverted to fit it to an engine. It is also highly unlikely to seal properly affecting oil pick up.

05/08/2026

You can have the lightest, shiniest, all-singing all-dancing crankshaft on the planet in your race engine but it is all utterly pointless if the oil supply is compromised. Astonishing that the original builder did not attend to this. A little realignment and tear-dropping needed.

01/07/2026

Though no 'expert' on cam design despite the best efforts and patient tutorledge of my mate Graham Russell in Oz I am slowly getting to grips with this complex subject. Helped by some basic and easy to understand factors laid out by Comp Cams in the USA. I have had many a dissusion on how this subject works. This outlines the basic details. Hope this comes out clearly..

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Malton

Website

http://www.calverst.com/, https://twitter.com/CalverSTL

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