1,330cc BMC A-Series Road Sport Engine

1,330cc BMC A-Series Road Sport Engine

This week, we go across the pond to bring you this 1,330cc BMC A-Series Road Sport engine built by MCCS Engineering. When a good client showed up looking to outfit a Frogeye Sprite with an engine capable of strong road performance and the occasional track day, Michael Kent knew just what to build. Check it out!

Engine of the Week is presented by

As a kid, when you come face-to-face with icons of the hot-hatch era, engines pulled, ported heads, wild cams, big exhausts, snarling Webers, and so much more, it hooks you. That’s exactly what Michael Kent grew up around when he would hang out in his dad’s shop at a young age. As expected, he caught the bug.

“Seeing the cars going through… I caught the bug,” says Michael Kent of MCCS Engineering in Gotham, England. “I have since kept the passion. Engine building is something I have been involved with from a young age and is one of those things where your experiences and skill set develops, build on build, year on year.”

1,330cc BMC A-Series Road Sport engine

Michael’s background, outside of spending time in his dad’s car shop, was also enriched by working for Norton Motorcycles building all three of Norton’s engine platforms. When Michael’s dad moved into a larger facility to establish a large, fully equipped machine shop capable of turning out stunning work, Michael saw it as the perfect time to come back to MCCS Engineering and lend a hand.

“I felt the time was right to join the guys full time,” Kent says. “We have shifted focus from solely machining and engineering to machining and engine building, producing high-quality road and race engines. I focus on BMC A and B Series, Ford Kent, Pinto and Duratec for Road, Fast Road and Race trims.”

Specializing in vintage and classic engine platforms, primarily BMC and Ford, MCCS has developed preferred engine packages that are tailored for different applications ranging from road to circuit racing to hill climbs and track days. These packages are extensively tested to ensure customers get what they paid for with proven figures and results.
“All engineering and machining is carried out by MCCS,” he says. “We have a team of four senior machinists and myself. We are currently moving into our rural workshops based on a private farm (Stone Pit Farm), so we’re working out of two shops.”

One of the engine packages Michael recently finished was a 1,330cc BMC A-Series Road Sport engine that will be installed in a Frogeye Sprite.

This is a good client of ours who specializes in high-quality restoration work and building cars that could all head straight into showrooms,” Kent says. “We are delighted to be able to look after the engine side of things for them. The Road Sport is our ultimate Fast Road package.”

The engine build features a selected 1,275cc engine block that got bored .060˝ over with an 11-stud conversion. Everything was chemically cleaned, thoroughly checked and inspected. The block got fitted with a new crankshaft, new connecting rods, an Omega high-performance piston set, ARP hardware, new cam bearings, new core plugs, King main and rod bearings, a Vernier Duplex timing chain kit, and the engine was balanced.

For the cylinder head and valvetrain in the A-Series engine, MCCS Engineering used a PiperCams285 profile camshaft kit with matched springs and an MCCS Road Sport spec’d large-valve 12G940 cylinder head. The shop also put in new pushrods, Isky cam followers, a Harland Sharp 1.5-ratio roller rocker assembly, new timing and tappet covers, a DSN RetroSport billet oil housing, a Breather rocker cover, a large Impeller water pump, as well as a new clutch, flywheel and ring gear. The build was capped with a 45DCOE Weber carburetor and a Maniflow intake and exhaust manifold.

“With us specializing in BMC A-series builds, we are prepared for and have seen most of the unexpected complications that can arise,” Kent says. “We know the best parts to use and we have essentially limited the amount of possible complications by setting our packages. This build went very smoothly, right the way through.”

This Road Sport BMC A-Series engine is in a Frogeye Sprite that will be set up for street performance and the occasional track day. With a compression ratio of 10.75:1, this engine will allow the Sprite to keep some bottom end tractability with power outputs of 115 hp and nearly equal torque figures.

Engine of the Week is sponsored by PennGrade Motor OilElring – Das Original and Scat Crankshafts. If you have an engine you’d like to highlight in this series, please email Engine Builder Editor, Greg Jones at [email protected]

You May Also Like

Vortech Supercharged 572 cid Big Block Chevy Engine

When David Pearson of Little Evil Racing shows up at the track with his Pro 275 Foxbody Mustang, people fear him, and for good reason. David has set numerous 275 drag radial world records, and with a Vortech supercharged 572 cid big block Chevy in this Mustang, another record may fall!

Eye candy at a show like the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) tradeshow is literally everywhere you look. Each aisle is packed full of engines, cars, trucks, components and parts, machining equipment, and so much more. Frankly, if you don’t keep blinders on, your eyes won’t let you actually make it to where you need to be!

422 cid Small Block Chevy Circle Track Engine

We were treated to a shop tour of Terry’s Machine Shop by owner Todd Gilliam. This old-school machine shop outside of St. Louis does a little bit of everything, and they had just wrapped up this badass 422 cubic inch small block Chevy engine for a circle track customer. Check it out!

Supercharged 500 cid Billet Hemi Engine

Doc Baker is a racer and builder who does things his own way. A perfect example of his work can be seen under the hood of his 1971 Dodge Demon – this supercharged 500 cubic inch billet Hemi engine. Check out what went into the build!

521 cid Blown Big Block Chevy Engine

According to owner Colin Jost, this 521 cubic inch blown big block Chevy engine doesn’t know it’s a Chevy since everything was built like a Hemi. Regardless, it’s 2,500 horsepower of awesomeness. Check it out!

Supercharged 526 cid Hemi Engine

With a long history of street cars and street racing, as well as experience with Top Fuel and Top Alcohol dragsters, Jamond Haug of Homewrecker Motorsports knows a thing or two about engine work. Check out his supercharged 526 cid Hemi, which sits inside a 1969 Z28 Camaro!

Other Posts

1973 Toyota Celica with a Turbocharged 388 cid LS Engine

As day one of Sick Week 2023 came to a close at Orlando Speed World, we passed by the pit area of Steve Groenink. We did a double take of his 1973 Toyota Celica, which features a turbocharged 388 cubic inch LS engine. The 6-second capable build is our Engine of the Week! Related Articles

Schexnayder Racing’s Twin-Turbo 429 Ford Boss Engine

It’s always cool to see a Ford engine in a Ford car these days, so when we came across Earl Schexnayder of Schexnayder Racing and his 2000 Cobra Mustang with a twin-turbo 429 Ford Boss engine in it, we needed to know more about the combo. We got to chat with him during Sick Week

PennGrade1 Oil is Ready to Race

PennGrade1 offers extreme protection and exceptional performance for your engine.

Brett LaSala’s Twin-Turbo 5.0L Coyote Engine

We caught up with Brett LaSala of Real Street Performance and MSR Racing at Sick Week 2023 to get the details of his Mustang nicknamed Snot Rocket and its twin-turbo 5.0L Coyote engine built by Fast Forward Race Engines. He had just run a PR of 6.52 at 212 mph and then went on to