The Cam Waters/James Moffat entry was one of several Mustangs to swap engines on Thursday morning, moving to a motor freshly built with a newly sourced, GT3-spec crankshaft.
DJR-owned supplier Motorsport Powertrains (MPT) provided every Mustang in the field with a single GT3 crank-equipped engine at Bathurst following trouble with the previous parts at Sandown.
However, Tickford found an issue with its new engine late on Friday night, forcing it to revert back to the spare engine for Saturday while the upgraded unit was repaired.
“We fitted our engine early and we were very happy with it, but we found an issue on Friday night after qualifying,” Tickford team manager Matt Roberts confirmed to Speedcafe.
“DJR were working pretty hard to rectify it without having to remove the engine, but we found that it was potentially a mechanical issue, within the valve actuator, so it was safer to pull the engine out.
“Unfortunately, it happened to be at 10 o’clock [on Friday night]. The crew didn’t get out until 2am [on Saturday morning].
“MPT worked on the engine [throughout Saturday], fitted new actuators and timing chain and a few other bits and pieces internally.”
That resulted in the GT3-crank engine being refitted to the Mustang on Saturday evening, immediately after Waters’ run to second fastest in the Top 10 Shootout.
Amid the earlier uncertainty, DJR is understood to have offered the GT3 crankshaft-equipped engine from its own #17 car to Tickford.
“We had a conversation about it,” Roberts admitted.
“But we found the problem and were able to rectify it, so there was no need to start swapping engines and bits and pieces.
“We wouldn’t want to do that to them. It was a pretty generous offer.”
Any such move would have needed to be cleared by Supercars, given that engines are allocated to individual entries.
Regardless, all Fords are set to contest the Bathurst 1000 with the new-spec engines, which arrived on Thursday morning after a ‘miracle’ effort by various parties including Tickford.
“I’ve certainly got full confidence in the engine builds and what MPT have been able to deliver,” said Roberts when asked if he’s concerned about reliability.
“They’ve pushed heaven and earth to be able to get those cranks in the car and a few other bits and pieces along the way.
“I think maybe it was a one-off or a small anomaly with the VCT timing issue, but we don’t think we’ll see it on track [in the race]. I’ve got full confidence in the reliability.”
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