Colin Mills wrote:
>What did Rootes do with carburetors on the Tiger in rallies which took them
over
>the Alps?
Colin,
Couldn't resist the opportunity to contribute. While we may not have "fall"
here in California, and I never understand what people mean
when they say "I miss the seasons", I did have a unique accident which may
explain the Tiger's Alpine performance.
I am sure you have read about the English fondness for "positive earths" and
"negative earths". I am sure that many bewhiskered gentleman
of the Royal Academy were shaking their fists at one another arguing which way
electricity flows. Never having resolved the issue, they
went both ways, sometimes in the same company. Makes you understand about
Lucas, doesn't it? I've even had British cars with two
batteries. I thought that one was a spare, till I found out they were 6 volt
batteries connected to make a twelve. At least they were first with
12 volts while the US was using 6. Hard to get batteries and generators from
local manufacturers then.
On to the Alps. While mucking around with "the electrics", I found a starter
solenoid was operating intermittently. Wanting to remain stock,
I ordered a factory replacement from BAP-GEON and specified that it must be
Lucas. Well, they sent me the Rootes Humber part, rather
than the Tiger, due to one of the many part number errors in the Lucas parts
catalog.
Turns out that this was the "positive earth" model, instead of the "negative
earth model". When I installed it (with the help of a small boy to
hold the uncaptured nuts on the other side of the firewall), I was anxious to
crank it up. Well, you know what happens when you put positive
earth parts in a negative earth car.
In this case, the starter turned in reverse, as the electrons were flowing in
the opposite direction from normal. This caused the engine to start
running in the opposite rotation direction. Finally the tach worked again, but
more interesting were the other results:
1) The engine sucked air in the exhaust pipes, unburned the air-laden
hydrocarbons in our smog, blew clean air out the air cleaner, and filled
the float bowls with fuel. This forced it back through the SU electric fuel
pump, which is bidirectional by British nondiscrimination
legislation, and it pumped the generated fuel back into the dual gas tanks, and
simultaneously put out current that charged the battery.
2) I had 1 speed forward, and 4 in reverse.
3) The Ackerman Angle question became mute, with rear wheel steering.
4) I got a crick in the neck from looking backwards, and had to put
"front-view" mirrors on the rear fenders. Luckily a set of front-view
Talbot mirrors were available from Triple-C for only $300 each.
6) I had to stop at a gas station every 200 miles and get them to drain the
excess gas from my tank. They charged me $1.25/gallon for
"Environmental Disposal Fees".
7) The higher I went, the better the car ran, and the more surplus gas I
generated.
So, that's the Rootes Racing secret. They reversed polarity in the rally, and
backed over the Alps. Maybe we could have tried it out at Big
Bear, but just try getting Humber parts today.
{9->
Steve
--
Steve Laifman < One first kiss, >
B9472289 < one first love, and >
< one first win, is all >
< you get in this life. >
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/
_/_/_/_/_/__/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
_/
_/_/_/
|