FWIW the horsepower peak is supposedly at 5400, and the torque peak is at
3000. I don't do any dirt tracking, but my completely stock engine 66B
pulls strongly up to the yellow line at 5500 in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (never
tried it in 4th for obvious reasons). So I suspect you have some sort of
problem, but I couldn't say whether it's the altitude or something else.
Maybe you need to try a road trip down to sea level?
Andrew B. Lundgren had this to say:
>I have a '70 be with stock SU's and a mild performance cam (1/4 race).
>I have noticed with my foot stuck to the floor sliding around a corner
>on a dirt road in first (and then second) gear that my B seems to hit
>the top of its power curve at about 4500 RPM. (That is when I end up
>shifting up to second) It holds flat there and doesn't really want to
>climb higher whilst power sliding around. That is also about as high
>as it wants to go when floored in forth gear on the highway. While I
>understand there may be merits to prolonging the life of your engine by
>not abusing it up to 5000> I would think that I should be able to try.
>
>Now I am in Denver so we are about a mile high (~5600 feet above sea
>level) so I know my performance is not going to match those of you
>living close to sea level, but shouldn't there be a little more?
>
>I have checked my compression, all four cylinders are ~120 (If you
>take into account the altitude, those numbers are really pretty good
>IIRC)
>
>I am planning a carb rebuild when time and $ permit. I need to do the
>carbs because one of the chokes sticks. I don't use the choke much at
>the moment anyway because it is warm, and my B spends most of the cold
>days tucked in the garage. But I would like to know if this could be
>contributing to the lack of upper end.
>
>As far as the rebuild goes, from what I understand oversize needles
>won't really help at this altitude because of the lack of oxygen to mix
>with the fuel. Is that correct?
>
>(My throw out bearing on the clutch went last weekend, so I am thinking
>to do it all next month.)
>
>Thanks everyone. This list is a wonderful source of info.
>
>
>
>Andrew Lundgren
>Lundgren@iname.com
>http://www.itwest.net/~lundgren
>
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
Runs great,
looks particularly bad since some SUV clown backed into it.
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the red one with the silver bootlid.
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