Just occasionally, we get to help out on the engine restoration of a Formula 1 car that is a unique part of motor racing history. And this car had it all – one of the greatest drivers of all time, running in perhaps one of the most controversial seasons of all time. This is the story of the return to glory for Michael Schumacher’s Benetton B194, the very car that took Michael Schumacher to the first of seven world titles in 1994, now restored and back in action.

Michael Schumacher, Benetton B194

In 2019, ahead of the 25th anniversary of this tumultuous season, renowned restoration experts Rennwerk got in touch to see if we could help with the restoration of Schumacher’s Benetton B194. Could we source parts for an engine that they would be able to build and fit to this car, so that it would be able to run at demonstration events throughout 2019? Their brief was simple – in keeping with the need for authenticity, the parts needed to be as close as possible to the ones that Cosworth used that season.

Finding a Donor

Our first step was to see if we could track down a suitable donor engine that could be used as a basis for their rebuild. Given the proliferation of other successful Cosworth F1 engines like the DFV and HB, what seemed like an easy task was anything but. At the beginning of 1994, Cosworth introduced their new 3.5 litre V8 naturally aspirated engine, codenamed the EC. Although outwardly similar to the HB that had run from 1989 to 1993, this was an all-new engine that carried virtually no cross-over parts with its predecessors.

When one considers that an F1 engine from this era would have contained around 4,000 parts, finding a donor engine would be a very good starting point. But to make matters worse, the EC only ran for one season, as it was outlawed the following year after the rapidly-introduced rule changes that dropped capacity down to 3.0 litres. This meant that Cosworth only ever built around 25 of these engines, and most were stripped down at the end of the year.

One of the best examples of how Modatek can help with engine restoration is that we have contacts all over the world who have were involved with Cosworth engines, right back to when the company first started in 1958. It took quite a few phone calls and visits, but eventually we managed to track down one of the few remaining engines that survived intact from the end of 1994.

Cosworth EC Engine

Our initial impression was that this engine looked like it had was taken out of the pool at the end of “that” season-finale race in Australia (you know, the one where Michael had a little bump), and the engine was then partially stripped before being rebuilt into a display engine, but still contained many of the hundreds of parts that we’d need.

On closer inspection, there were several parts either damaged or missing, and working with Rennwerk, we were able to pull together an exhaustive list of parts that would need to be repaired or re-made.

Drawing on Experience

One of the other great reasons that Modatek can help with projects like these is because we have exclusive access to Cosworth’s extensive drawing archive. We quickly dug out the parts lists and identified the drawings of the parts that we needed to repair or remake. Even though the drawings were over a quarter of a century old, they were still pristine and completely legible.

Cosworth EC Head Casting

It didn’t take long for the combined efforts of Modatek and Rennwerk to get all the parts together that were needed for the rebuild. Within days, Rennwerk had managed to get the engine built up again, and in some cases were able to utilise modern-day manufacturing methods to ensure that the new parts were even better than the originals.

The End Result

Finally complete, the engine was fitted to back of their newly-restored B194 chassis, and the engine fired back into life for the first time in 25 years. Schumacher’s Benetton B194 was back in action!

Throughout the year, Rennwerk were able to run the car at selected historic motor sport festivals. But the icing on the cake was when none other than Michael’s 1994 arch-rival, Damon Hill, drove the car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Damon Hill, Benetton-Ford Cosworth B194

Check out the video below for the full coverage of the Michael Schumacher tribute at the FOS, which includes Damon’s run at around the 11 minute mark. We’d like to extend our congratulations to the team at Rennwerk for such amazing work and dedication!

So if you happen to be working on an engine restoration project and you need help in finding parts, get in touch!

Occasionally we get to help with some incredible Cosworth-related projects, like the restoration of Michael Schumacher’s 1994 title winning engine. But this one is probably at the top of the list. Can we help the Car SOS team not only restore a Ford Mondeo, but also bring it up to BTCC spec with some Cosworth magic for a well-deserving owner?

Ford Mondeo Restoration by Car SOS
The ‘before’ photo of the Ford Mondeo

“Hi, this is Tim”

Picture the scene (writes Modatek’s Matt Grant). It’s a hot afternoon in June 2022 and I’m sat at my desk busily working away when my mobile phone rings. I don’t recognise the number but I answer it anyway. “Hi,” says a rather enthusiastic voice, “this is Tim Shaw, the presenter of Car SOS.”

Yeah right, I think, its someone trying to catch me out. “Oh really?”, I witheringly reply.

“Yes, and look, I need your help,” says the enthusiastic voice, ignoring my rather apathetic response. “We are putting together an episode to restore a Ford Mondeo and bring it up to Nigel Mansell touring car spec for a guy who has been through it all. He’s called Karl and he’s recovering from heart surgery, having recently lost both of his parents, along with his wife and sister.

“The reason I need your help is because Karl is Cosworth-obsessed, and I hear that you might be able to help us add some Cosworth magic to this car.”

And then he presented me with the clincher. “And we’ve got Nigel Mansell involved”.

Can You Say No to a Car Sausage?

For any petrolheads that have been living under a rock, Car SOS is a long running UK-based TV show that started around 13 years ago. Fans of the show refer to it as Car Sosage, aka Car Sausage.

The show is broadcast on Disney+, National Geographic, Channel 4 and More 4. Around the world it goes to 120 countries gets in the region of 200 million viewers and is National Geographic‘s highest ratings show globally.

In Tim’s words, “The concept of the show is really simple, we secretly steal away a deserving owner’s classic car with the help of their family, and restore it completely ahead of a surprise return! The show always ends in tears and is a family feel good show.

“The last series got a lot of press as we had the likes of David Beckham, Paul McCartney, Emmerdale, Manchester United (players and ground), and Ed Sheeran help us return the cars and make appearances as fans of the show and what we do.”

The unsuspecting recipients of the restored cars have all been through the worst challenges in life, from ill health to bereavement. Its hard not to get a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye when you see the big reveal at the end of each episode.

So even if Nigel Mansell wasn’t involved, its hard to say no when Tim asks for help.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Working with Cosworth, we were able to pull together the engine upgrade that Tim and his team were looking for. It took a few weeks of planning, but I have to say that everyone at Cosworth was extremely supportive.

On the day of the filming with Car SOS, Tim turned up and ‘barged’ his way past reception to break into Cosworth’s auditorium that is filled with examples of the firm’s illustrious past engines. He then ‘persuaded’ Cosworth to take the engine behind the scenes and add some Cosworth magic to restore the engine to full health and add in a bit of power as a bonus.

It was also great to finally meet Tim, he was as enthusiastic in person as he was on the phone. And yes, he really is that tall!

Matt Grant with Tim Shaw of Car SOS
Matt Grant with Tim Shaw of Car SOS

The Big Reveal

After Cosworth had worked their magic, Tim’s partner in crime Fuzz Townshend dropped the engine back into the Mondeo, which by now had been lovingly restored and fitted with touring car spec parts such as bodywork and brakes. The car was now also resplendent in 1998 Ford Mondeo BTCC livery, as raced by Nigel Mansell.

Ford Mondeo Restoration by Car SOS

The day of the reveal took place in the garages at Silverstone. Karl was truly shocked to see his car now kitted out to look like as his hero Nigel Mansell’s BTCC competitor.

If you are in the UK and you’d like to watch this episode then you can watch it now on Channel 4 catch up, just click on the link below:

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/car-sos/on-demand/75728-002

Ford Mondeo Restoration by Car SOS
Ta-da! Here’s the restored Mondeo!

Ford Mondeo Restoration by Car SOS
Tim with Karl in his restored Ford Mondeo

Last year Modatek’s Matt Grant was delighted to be invited onto the Cut To The Race podcast. Described as “an F1 nerd’s dream” (their words, not ours!), Matt talked about what it was like to work at Cosworth as an Formula 1 engine designer and project manager from the 90s until 2010.

You can also hear about how Modatek are helping customers keep their Cosworth engines running with high quality, genuine parts. And you can hear how Matt rubbed shoulders (literally) with a certain Ayrton Senna!

To listen to this podcast, just click here.

The Cosworth CA2010 engine represented a pinnacle in the design of high-speed naturally aspirated engines for Formula 1 racing. Calling on over 50 years of experience that dated back to the legendary DFV, Cosworth created their most ground-breaking engine ever.

Launched in 2006, the CA was capable of mind-boggling speeds of 20,000 rpm – let’s not forget that the CA was the only engine on the grid that could run at these speeds for an entire race distance. Sadly, in 2010 the engine speeds were restricted by regulation to 18,500 rpm, but that didn’t stop the cars of that era running the CA2010 engine from sounding amazing.

You can now own a part from one of these incredible engines. We’ve got a number of parts for sale, including a complete display engine.

Fancy a Cosworth CA2010 show engine in your front room?

Our Cosworth CA2010 F1 display engine is now available to buy! It represents the end of the V8 normally-aspirated era, a time of high revs and ear-splitting sounds.


This engine has been built to the Williams 2011 specification, and includes all of the major components including crankcase, cylinder heads, trumpet tray, oil pump, water pump, scavenge pump, cam covers and water outlets.

Note that the engine doesn’t include internal parts, so it can’t be run. However, it does come with a removable toughened glass top with bonded spacers, so it can be used as a coffee table. Or you can just display it as it is!

Check out all the details over on our on-line shop.

Or how about a Formula 1 piston or connecting rod?

We’ve got a limited number of Cosworth pistons and connecting rods from their CA2010 engine for sale. These parts were raced in Formula 1 between 2010 and 2013 by the Williams, Virgin/Marussia, Lotus and HRT teams.

Cosworth Formula 1 CA Piston


The piston was perhaps the most highly-stressed component in the engine. It had to withstand huge forces over a sustained period of time. At speeds of 20,000 rpm the piston moved up and down over 300 times per second. That’s more than 30 times in the blink of an eye! Despite the incredible forces that it had to endure, it also had to be as light as possible.

The CA piston was the culmination for Cosworth of decades of experience in piston design. As such, this piston contained several important design features. For example, a single compression ring replaced the traditional top and second compression rings. The undercrown received additional machining to remove excess material, with buttresses whittled away to the bare minimum. The skirts were DLC-coated to give additional wear resistance, creating a gloss black appearance.

Cosworth CA2010 Formula 1 Connecting Rod


Likewise, the CA connecting rod was a work of engineering art. Whilst one end of the rod was rotating at speeds of up to 18,000 rpm, the other end was moving up and down the bore at up to 300 times per second. The connecting rod was either being stretched to the limit, trying to stop the piston from escaping through the top of the engine, or it was being subjected to immense compressive loads from the piston which it had to impart into the crankshaft.

Or how about a Formula 1 inlet trumpet?

These carbon fibre inlet trumpets are fascinating items of motorsport memorabilia. Designed to feed air into the inlet port as smoothly as possible, each trumpet is supplied mounted in a clear perspex display case.

Cosworth CA2010 F1 Engine Inlet Trumpet


Or maybe something even more unique?

And maybe a bit easier on the wallet? We’ve got lots of other smaller parts available in our on-line shop, just take a look at the Memorabilia section. The list of parts available is constantly being updated, plus we have parts from other Cosworth F1 engines available.

Or how about a distinctive ringtone for your mobile phone? Using audio from one of Cosworth’s CA2010 Formula 1 engine dyno tests, we’ve created this fantastic 30 second ringtone for you to download. This characteristic shriek of the last of the naturally aspirated V8 engines that ever raced in Formula 1 will definitely stand out from all other ringtones.

Can’t find what you want?

We are constantly updating the Memorabilia section of our on-line shop with amazing components from Cosworth’s F1 history. If you’d like to ask us any questions then just get in touch through our Contact Us form.

We’ve now upgraded our CAD design system to the latest version of Siemens NX, having previously used Siemens Solid Edge. NX is recognised by many in the automotive & motorsport industry as the premier design software to use, so its the perfect design tool for us.

We actually have extensive experience with NX. Modatek founder Matt Grant has been using NX and its predecessor Unigraphics for over 25 years to design a variety of motorsport & high performance engines.

Modatek Design with Siemens NX CAD

Siemens NX

NX is actually a CAD (computer aided design) and CAM (computer aided manufacturing) package. We use the CAD modules of NX for our design work, but many of our machinists can take this data and use their own CAM software to create machining programs directly from our three-dimensional models.

One of the big benefits of NX is that the models we create can be fully parametric. This means that its easy for us to change certain key parameters, such as the distance between centres on a connecting rod model. All of the other geometry can be linked to these key parameters so that they update seamlessly whenever a change is made.

Having used NX for so long, we prefer to use the original feature-based method for modelling. This was the recommended approach for creating CAD models in Unigraphics and NX, and is one that has stood the test of time. The model begins life as a series of datum planes, axis and sketches, and then these sketches are used to create solid geometry with extrusions and revolutions. The last step is to then add the required blends, chamfers, holes and threads.

However, NX also includes what they term as ‘synchronous modelling’. This can make it easier to build and manipulate models, as features like bosses and holes can be dragged around, and the model is intelligent enough to be able to update the surrounding geometry. We tend to use synchronous modelling when we have to edit CAD models from other software packages such as Catia and Creo.

The other advantage of NX is that it has excellent drafting tools, which in our opinion is better than the other CAD packages. This is especially true for what are called ‘ordinate dimensions’, which are a series of horizontal and vertical linear dimensions on a drawing view that all refer back to the same origin. Ordinate dimensions can make the drawing of a complex part like a cylinder head or block much easier to both construct and comprehend.

Reverse Engineering

One of our largest requirements for our NX CAD system now is the reverse engineering of existing components. As already mentioned, our machinists require a three-dimensional CAD model, so we take the original 2D drawings and then construct the 3D model.

Occasionally we work with optical scanning companies, who can scan an existing component to create an array of thousands of points for the entire external surface of the component. We then construct the 3D model to match up with these points, and because the model is parametric, we can then make quick design changes that might be needed to improve the original design.

Reverse Engineering


However, even though we have what we think is the world’s best CAD software at our fingertips, there is nothing like a bit of old-school design – where would be without our trusty old Zeus booklet (if you know, you know!).

Looking for CAD Services?

We don’t just use NX for our own component designs, we can also provide design services to other engineering companies. We’ve worked with some of the world’s largest and well-known motorsport engineering companies over the last few years, who have all been able to capitalise on our extensive design experience. We’ve also been able to help out small companies who can’t afford to employ full-time designers in addition to paying for expensive CAD licences. Sadly we can’t name the majority of these customers for confidentiality reasons!

One of the frustrations of NX (and, to be fair, other CAD packages too) is that it isn’t backwards-compatible. If a model or drawing is created in a certain version of NX then it can’t be opened in an earlier version. However, we can very quickly install and use whatever NX version our customer requests, which then overcomes this problem.

In addition, because we use a fully-licensed NX package, there are no issues with models and drawings not opening properly that might arise from using unlicensed NX software.

If you need our off-site engine design services then get in touch. Just send us a message using our contact form.