Mark Rayborn wrote:
>
> As I was searching the archives for info, I came across a post regarding
> a small cam sold by Northwest Imports. They call it a "street
> performance cam". Has anyone tried it? Do you think it will make any
> noticeable difference? Are HS4's on a regular intake hot enough for the
> cam?
>
I have a "fast road" cam from British Motorsports in my '69 GT. I'm
pretty sure it's similar to the Kent Fast Road cam.
I really like it. You sacrifice a small amount of torque in the low RPM
range to get more performance above 3500 RPM. This is great for a non-OD
car. Driving a freshly broken in engine between Salinas and San Diego,
I got 36 MPG. In short, I like it and would recommend it to others.
I have the stock SU's and exhaust system so you should be fine as long
as both are in good shape. Make sure there is no wear in the throttle
shafts on the SU's. That seems to be the MG equivalent of the flu.
> The only experience I have with MG's is my daughter's '80. It has a
> stock engine with a Weber on it and all the smog stuff has been removed.
> I have read lots of disparaging articles about the lack of power in the
> late model B's. I would be happy to get the same or even just a WEE bit
> better performance out of the '71 with the SUs. I don't want to spend
> the money on a crossflow aluminum head. Any little tweaks I can do
> during the rebuild process to enhance performance?
>
Blueprinting the engine helps. I used Hepolyte (sp?) 4 ring pistons.
The rest is stock, but assembled carefully. Most of the valve train
parts were either rebuilt or replaced.
I also swapped out the oil filter assembly. Mine was fitted with the
accursed inverted canister. This bit of brain dead design required the
engine to run for 5-10 seconds before the oil pressure came up. Only a
few years were fitted with this monument to poor automotive engineering
and I can't remember how many. I believe that '68 was the first year.
One other suggestion; find a good machine shop which is familiar with
B-series engines. Mine was and it made life a whole lot easier. I
wouldn't be afraid of having them reassemble the engine either. I did it
myself, but was sure it would be have been at least as cost effective to
have the shop do it.
Cheers,
Dave Ambrose
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