Any difference between Cosworth EA & EAA blocks?
I've been doing a little bit of research on the engine that resides in our CVs and I've found some interesting information that I would like to run by the Association to see if I've got it right. Please correct me if anything I say is inaccurate.
So in the late 60s Chevrolet and Cosworth collaborated to put together a racing engine. Cosworth dubbed this the EA project. It was a 1995cc, 4 cylinder that produce around 260hp. The block was provided by Chevrolet and the head was built by Cosworth.
The engine blocks experienced repeated failure and Cosworth decided to drop the project. Chevrolet were ready to provide them with more robust blocks but Cosworth had already moved on.
Now this is where it gets a little bit fuzzy for me. Chevrolet decided to put this EA engine into their Vegas in order to try and get more people excited about these cars, and the engine was dubbed EAA. They severely down-tuned the engine and added a Bendix EFI system. That is essentially our engine.
My primary question is this: is the block for the EAA engine (in the CV) reinforced as opposed to that of the original EA engine? I've read that the brass at Chevrolet were not willing to shell out the money to get new tooling and produce more robust blocks. But I also see terms like "heavy duty blocks" being thrown around a lot when it comes to the CV engine. I've also heard that the "reinforced EAA blocks" were used on EA engines instead of using, for example, reinforcing plates?
Great question. Not a simple answer however. As Samuel pointed out, Cosworth of England lost interest in the EAA project after repeated block failures. COE recalled all of the engines they sold to clients. All of these engines produced by COE used standard 2300 Vega blocks. COE then sold the rights to the EAA to Lola Cars (pretty sure it was Lola, but can't locate the documentation where I learned this, so may be a different company). Lola actually produced more "Cosworth EAA" engines than COE. The early production from Lola also used the 2300 Vega blocks. Late production engines from Lola used the HD blocks from Chevrolet.