Know this NA COSWORTH YB

Turbos can be cool, but a screaming normally-aspirated twin-cam on sidedraughts really looks the part. Let’s see what’s involved in putting the NA back in a Cosworth YB head.

Classic Ford

The Cosworth YB didn’t actually start out as a turbo engine at all. Its roots lie in a privately funded conversion for the humble Pinto engine. In the early 1980s, several people were looking towards producing 16-valve aftermarket head conversions for this engine, perhaps with a view to succeeding the mighty BD series. The intention was always to produce it as an aftermarket kit for punters to bolt to their own engines. As is usual with a Cosworth project, it’d already given it the designation — YAA. The concept was nothing new: Holbay had already had a good go and there have been other versions from Piper and Warrior too. All are great conversions and produce a storming engine. What’s more they go for big money. But it’s the YB…

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Classic Ford (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 2025

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