Italianiron & BritIron Classics - Specialty Engine Spares

At Italianiron & BritIron Classics, let us "Fuel Your Race Passions" is not just a slogan but a commitment, whether you are building a vintage Ducati TT, F1 or Pantah racer for competition or restoring a Norton Commando or Manx racer.  This picture above epitomizes our passion for vintage racing motorcycles. 2023 has been another successful year for us with new acquisitions and new speciality racing spares for Ducati's and Norton's. Our focus remains as to supporting the sport of vintage motorcycle racing worldwide with race quality performance components and we show no signs of slowing down. Shown below are just a few of our specialty engine components for racers and sport riders that have become very popular. For example, we are having a great of success offering our Pantah rear cylinder heads as shown below. Using CMM equipment we measured an original cylinder head, and using this metrology report we were able to create an effective CAD model. This has been used to create a highly accurate, CNC machined "patternwork" for our Ducati Pantah rear heads and the proof is in our successes at the track.

We have been focusing primarily on Ducati Pantah Rear Cylinder heads that are currently being made for the 750 cc (squish type) for Formula 750 racing and 500 cc race engines. Our current application, therefore, is for a quality Replica Rear Cylinder Head for belt driven, air cooled, 2 valve Ducati Pantah`s and bikes using the Pantah based engine. Our Ducati Cylinder Head starts "life" in a cast L169 Aluminum Alloy, before being milled on our state of the art 5 axis CNC machines. Inlet and exhaust ports have been designed using cutting edge Computational Fluid Dynamics software by our engineers and are machined on the CNC to give optimum performance, maximum flow and consistency across all of our cylinder heads. Our heads are also fitted with "lead free" valve seats and Colsibro valve guides. If you wish to use a dual spark configuration, we can machine a 2nd spark plug hole for a nominal charge. We can also supply a pair of 1 piece forged valves that are manufactured to a much higher level of quality than other variants on the market and recommended by numerous experts and our many customers worldwide.

One of our current projects that we are having fun with is building a Ducati Pantah 750 cc racer for the road and track. Shown above, we took one of our Ducati Paso 750 engines and rebuilt the Paso engine with our speciality 750 cc Ducati Pantah Rear Head making it into a Ducati 750 F1 engine configuration. We have found that this engine build has been a very straight forward effort and all that we needed in addition to the original components was a rear Ducati Pantah 650 cam before reassembling with the OEM desmo valve gear. Being 6'2" tall, I like the slender and comfortable foot peg location and riding position of our chrome-moly Pantah race frame which will make this Ducati 750 racer a great performer and a pleasure to use on the road like the other Pantah racers that we have built. In BOTT & Formula 750 racing, I have always enjoyed participating with Ducati 750 Bevels, Ducati 750 Belt Driven 2 Valve and Ducati 748 Belt Driven Desmoquattro Superbikes. I just the love the exhilaration of a Ducati 750 engine pulling hard through the gears. Further these race classes can be less expensive to participate in due to the availability of spares. Also shown below is our stock of OEM vintage Ducati and Norton Commando heads that we work hard to have on offer. 

We are also very excited to offer (after 60 years), a newly designed and manufactured Norton "Dommi" Dominator cylinder barrel!! We have started with our Aerospace spec heat treated L169 Commando barrel castings. These are not the same as the original Dommi barrel castings as they have been thickened to cope with greater power outputs. In addition, the bottom fin at the sides run into the base flange much like the Norton 850 Commando and as a result they receive through bolts for greater strength. We have machined our Dommi barrel on our high precision state of the art 5 axis CNC machines to cut centers to Dommi specifications. Then we install spun cast iron liners before finishing them to factory dimensions. As a result of our screwing the head bolts into alloy not iron, we have used a coarser thread than original. As a result, you will need a different head bolt set that we are happy to supply. In addition, the 4 outer base studs need to be removed & replaced with the through bolts which we can also supply. As you can see from the photo, our barrels have one fewer fin than the original. As a result, our Dommi 500 barrels have 7 fins but with a stronger design and weigh 1.5Kg (3.3 pounds) less than the original for a far superior result!! .

In addition to our product portfolio for TT and other Ducati racers, we are also excited to support enthusiasts for Norton Manx and Norton Commando racers through Molnar Manx and BritIron Classics Norton. Check out our Norvil fairings & windscreen offerings. Please review the numerous newly manufactured TT, Ducati F1 and Norton Commando items such as our aluminum fuel tanks, for example, and listed on my Italianiron.com website. British marques are listed on the Britiron or Manx section of the website. As a result of our offerings, it is our hope to help you to become immersed in the history, the passion and the early technology of these amazing machines. Let us "Fuel Your Race Passions" to keep the sport of Vintage Motorcycle Racing alive and well!!