Full engine rebuild of a 1992 V12 icon in 7 weeks
The car arrived with a seized piston. We sourced original parts from three countries and had it running better than new in under two months.
Sarah Bennet brought us her 1992 V12 after it had sat in a damp garage for 4 years. Two other shops in Bristol had already told her the engine was a total loss and suggested a modern swap. We used our library of original factory blueprints to prove a full rebuild back to factory spec was possible.
The challenge
The engine was in bad shape when it arrived on May 12th. Moisture had leaked through a perished seal, causing a seized piston in bank B and heavy pitting on three cylinder liners. A previous attempt to jump-start the car had also resulted in a slightly bent connecting rod on cylinder number 4.
Sarah needed the car ready for a private exhibition on July 20th. This gave us exactly 49 days to strip the block, find rare internal components, and reassemble everything. Most specialists quote 4 to 6 months for this kind of work because they struggle to find the right gaskets and bearings.
Our approach
We started by assigning 3 of our mechanics to the teardown. We didn't use generic manuals; we pulled the specific 1991 factory blueprints to check every clearance. By May 19th, we had a full list of 62 individual parts that needed replacing.
We used our network to split the search. One team member focused on a warehouse in Modena, another called a contact in Japan for the piston rings, and I searched for the connecting rod here in the UK. We also decided to use an ultrasonic cleaner for the cylinder heads to remove decades of carbon buildup without damaging the delicate aluminium surfaces.
The solution
We sourced a New Old Stock piston set from a supplier in Osaka on June 3rd. For the bent rod, we found a period-correct replacement from a collector in Coventry. We didn't just put it back together; we replaced all 48 valves and installed a new water pump that we modified in-house to improve flow by 12% while keeping the original exterior look.
The final assembly took place in our clean room over 8 days. We used high-grade gaskets that match the original thickness to ensure the compression ratios stayed exactly as the factory intended in 1992. On June 28th, the engine went on the dyno for a 4-hour break-in cycle.
Results
The engine produced 442 bhp on its final dyno run, which is 7 bhp more than the original factory claim from thirty years ago. We delivered the car to Sarah on July 11th, well ahead of her exhibition deadline.
Timeline
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12 May 2024Car arrival and full engine extraction
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20 May 2024Finalised parts list and international orders placed
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15 June 2024Block machining and cylinder liner honing completed
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28 June 2024First engine start and initial dyno testing
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11 July 2024Final road testing and delivery to client
"I honestly thought the engine was scrap after the first two quotes I got. FC Azerbaijan showed me the actual blueprints and explained the timeline clearly. It was back in my car and running perfectly 9 days before my event."