WHOOAAA! Lets get some facts straight here Dennis. You seem to be
rewriting history.You brought me this midget on your way from Portland
to visit a friend in Los Angeles on your way to Pheonix on 27 July 1992.
The bill was $150.42 at the chassis dyno in the USA that would jet an
SK carburetor on a 15 year old British car WHILE YOU WAIT. Iwant to
emphasize the fact that you were not willing to drop the car off over
night on your excursion to LA.
Y our contract with me said :Rent chassis dyno time
with engine analyzer.Tune and adjust ignition and carburetion as necessary
and possible". At no time did I ever imply I would be adjusting valves
or camshaft timing.
The valves should be adjusted with the engine cold. It takes 8
hours for the engine to get cold. It would not have been advisable for
me to adjust the valves hot even if you had been willing to pay me to
do so-which you were not. So why the sour grapes about the valve adjust-
ment ?
It would be highly impractical to degree in a camshaft with the
engine in the car. First, you would have to remove the crank pulley and
timing cover, and that usually implies removing the radiator... Next,
you would have to supply a vernier adjutable cam sprocket. The idea that
a WHILE YOU WAIT tune up would include adjusting the cam timing reveals such
a profound lack of knowledge about pushrod engines that you may be better
off buying a Toyota instead of dabbling with British cars.
You gained a 10 percent power increase at 3000 rpm and a 4 percent
increase at 5000 rpm. The dtno is accurate within 1 percent on low powered
cars.If you compare the dollars spent per horsepower gained than dyno
tuning is usually the most cost efficient way to increase power. You
probably paid more dollars per horsepower for your carb and manifold than
for my dyno session. The fact that it costs a lot to gain a few hosepower
is a fact of life with a 1300cc engine.If you want cheap power than buy
a Chevy 350.
In conclusion, I can only express the utter frustration that occurs
when an honest competent mechanic gets his reputation trashed while providing
the best possible service given the circumstances.
Charlie Rockwell
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