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Re: front Spring & disclaimer

To: sfisher@megatest.com (Scott Fisher)
Subject: Re: front Spring & disclaimer
From: phile@stpaul.gov (Philip J Ethier)
Date: Thu, 6 Jan 1994 08:39:15 -0600 (CST)
Scott Fisher writes >

>First: PhileE, where was that disclaimer you included about how if
>you get killed, it's your own damn fault?  I need to borrow it... :-)

HUGE DISCLAIMER:  DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!  I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO DO IT,
AND I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR INJURIES!

And that's phile, Phil, Flip, Philip, or Phil E.  :-)

Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans St, Saint Paul, MN  55107-2676 USA
h (612) 224-3105  w (612) 266-6244    phile@stpaul.gov
"You doesn't have to call me Mr. Johnson.  You can call me Ray." -Ray Johnson


From  rwg1@cornell.edu Tue Sep 11 12:00:52 2001
From: (Roger Garnett) rwg1@cornell.edu
To: (British Cars) british-cars@autox.team.net
Date:          Thu, 6 Jan 1994 09:42:45 
Subject:       Re: MGA v. Herald 1200 distributor swap, GARAGES

Andy Mace asks (a couple times...):

> Triumph Herald 1200 dist in an MGA- It worked and, to my surprise,  
> the car felt very strong, with no obvious flat spots or  
> other hesitation

This is an important feature- it works.

>   The question: I know that, compared to the MGA distributor, the
>   Herald  dist. has less initial advance, starting at higher RPM,
>   and less total advance, occurring at lower total RPM.  Is  this
>   likely to have a deleterious effect on the engine short term or
>   long term?

It may affect drivability, or max power, but it's shouldn't damage 
anything. You may have to pick a compromise setting.

To get full power, you need full advance at higher RPM, therefore you'd
need to set more advance at low RPM to compensate. This could result in
poorer low end, or pinging. Likewise, if the advance is reduced at low
RPM, you'll never get full advance at the top end. With todays lower octane
petrol, the later may actually be desireable, as you may not be able to
even use full advance without pinging.

>  Should I try to switch over  the  weights,  springs,
>   etc. from the old MGA dist. if I can get it apart?

Maybe. It's can't hurt to try, and see if things get better. Of course, if
you really want to set or change a distributer advance curve the right
way, you ought to have a variable speed distributer test jig, and then
you'd really want to have some kind of dyno to check the results on the
engine in question...

If you do really want to set the curve to factory spec, you should may be 
able to find a shop in the Albany area with a dist tester.
(Of course, Charlie Rockwell has both of the above, in Cal.- we just need to 
convince him to clone or relocate to central New York!)

One of these days, I want to make a dist test jig, which requires varaible
speed drive; some kind of tach; shaft coupling, adaptable to whatever dist
(probably the hardest part); and some 12 V and High-V electrical fiddling,
(Get yours working yet George?)

The alternatives, of course are to find an actual MGA dist, or leave it as 
is, (hack mechanic/PO mode), It does work, right?...

--------------------------------------

Hey- this GET.GARAGES.FAST deal is great! I got 2 before I finished reading 
the message, and I now have an acre full! Now I can get more cars!
          
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      ________________________________________________________
      Roger Garnett           (Roger_Garnett@cornell.edu)
      "All donations of stray, orphaned, odd, neglected, etc.
       sports cars and bits in need of a good home accepted."
       
    "The drop off bin is right there- behind the 5th garage on the left"



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