Scan from Fast Ford magazine.
Specs:
Prepared by Severn Valley motorsport.
200 Block (from 4x4 Cosworth).
Balanced crank.
Arias low-compression pistons.
Coopers ring head gasket.
Stud and nut kit hold the head in place.
Turbo technics Garrett T4 with 360 degree thrust bearing.
RS500 intercooler + chargecooler.
K&N conefilter.
Twin fuel rails with 8x803 injectors.
Twin high-pressure fuel pumps.
Severn valley oil-breather system.
Avo coil-over dampers.
AP Racing 378mm front brakediscs with 6-pot calipers.
9x19 Magnesium center-bolt wheels with 245/35/19 tires.
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The story: (as I have bee told it. Only edited for readability.)
It started out as a moonstone RS500 and was up
for sale in a local garage for £21000. When the owner to be
viewed the car he said it was over priced and a deal was struck against
his 3 door and £8000 changed hands.
The new owner was not content
with the standard power so he went to Severn Vally and had a mild
300bhp conversion, and that was the start of the tuning bug. He always
wanted more power, so Keven said he could get more power if you leave
it with us. So a full engine build was ordered and a touring car spec
head with secret cams. What they were Keven would never say. When the
engine was finished and the bill was paid it was said to produce over
400bhp but in our estimation it was just over 350bhp and it
didn't last very long. It let go on the way to Donnington one
sunday morning. The owner was not impressed and Keven said he would do
it again and this time he would go for the big 500bhp conversion with
eight greens, 3 bar map, same head, long studs, low comp pistons,
farnden crank, wills rings (coopers rings?) the full shooting match.
After months of waiting he finally got it back and it did go well.
Keven said it was the quickest RS500 ever done, so he invited all of us
to Castle Coombe track day with the RS owners club. The car was paraded
as his best ever. His own van was there with the Cossie engine in it so
we all waited for the car to go onto the track. No problem on the first
lap but on the second lap it was going slower and a trail of white
smoke was trailing out of the back, it never made the 3rd lap. It let
go again. This time it was the end of the engine so after all the
waiting it only lasted one track day. The owner was really angry after
being promised so much and only getting a few laps out of the car
,after that all of us put the pressure to get Severn Valley to get it
sorted because the owner had by then spent thousands and he still
wanted the car he was promised. Keven laid it on the line and said if
you can wait i will put together one of the best RS500s on the road
and he did, 19inch wheels with centre locks, all one piece hubs, full
engine, rebuild T4 full race turbo, 6 pot brakes, coilover suspension
and race seat. The car looked a proper racer. The car was took to a
local rolling road tuner for a power run and it would not stop on the
rollers when it got to 350bhp and 20psi of boost it would just spin the
rollers and light up the tires so it was too quick for the rolling
road.
Not long after that one Saturday morning he asked me to fit in
some harnesses into his car as we where going to Stanford Hall on the
sunday. As we set off I was in my 3 door. My son was in his
car with his son and we both said to each other that we would
not be racing as we had our children with us, but as we got onto the
motorway, another friend of ours who was in his 3dr decided to
race and the owner of the RS500 was trying to prove the point that he
had the fastest RS500 and they raced all the way to Stanford Hall. My son
and i just went there at our own pace and as we turned into the country
lane there was a back log of traffic. Somebody coming the other way
said there was a big accident and i knew straight away it was them.
When we got through the car was just being pushed back onto its wheels.
The owner was walking towards me his face was all cut up and bleeding.
His son was bleeding from the forehead but not to serious. Both of them
were taken to hospital. As for the car, it was a total wreck, it was
traveling at approximately 70 mph when he went to overtake a slower car and
the boost kicked in and the back let go on a wet patch of road and it
went into a ditch flipped onto its nose then onto its side. There was
nothing worth salvaging. It ripped of the suspension, put the pedal
box into the car and snapped the steering colum. There was no bodypanels left.
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