Well, I finally put my foot down and screwed Mrs. Jones today and boy, what
a difference it made in her performance!!
Sorry lads and lasses, I just couldn't resist. Let me explain.
In fiddling around under the bonnet late this afternoon, I made a tremendous
discovery as to why my upper range performance has been so sluggish. It
seems like it was taking forever to tach up in 3rd and 4th gear. Granted, I
wasn't expecting to have the same torque in 3rd and 4th as I do in first and
second -- but when an old VW beetle beat me off the line this afternoon, I
had to wonder... It's also bothered me that on the freeway, I seemed to
have no acceleration power past 65 MPH wjhatsoever. Oh, I could speed up
alright -- but it took forever. My first Spitfire Mk3 was never this
slow... And THIS '67 is the true 75 HP version with NO smog equipment
whatsoever -- and a Weber DGV to boot!!
Well, what I discovered is that my accelerator pedal was only pushing my
carb linkage about halfway through it's total travel potential!!
WHAAAAAAAAA????? No WONDER things were so sluggish!!! Advancing the timing
and using high octane fuel helped significantly, but THIS is another matter
entirely!! The PO obviously never adjusted the linkage properly when he
made the swap. A pity that he never knew the power potential of his Weber
conversion! To fix the pedal travel, I simply adjusted the stop screw on
the back side of the pedal! I took her for a test drive afterwards and WHAT
A DIFFERENCE!! I never knew what I was missing! Now, I feel a bit of
hesitation when I stomp on the accelerator in top gear. I'll advance the
timing another tick or two to see if that helps. If not, then perhaps the
new points, plugs, condesor and ignition wires I've got on order should
help. If that doesn't do it, I guess I'll check the fuel pressure and
consider going with that Pertronix setup that I've been contemplating...
Best wishes,
Jeff in San Diego
'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3 aka "Mrs. Jones -- the BURNER!"
Jeff's Classic '67 Spitfire Mk3 site & Vintage Spitfire Webring
http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
home of the NEW Totally Triumph Auction
"By Triumph enthusiasts, for Triumph enthusiasts"
http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRauction.cgi
and... The Triumph Autos/Parts Wanted Listings
http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRwanted.cgi
...plus a few other surprises!
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