OK. My "new" 302 heads are installed on the Tiger, replacing the 289
heads with the blown head gasket. No more smoking, no more mysterious
loss of coolant.
Initial off the line acceleration is probably a fraction slower with the
lower compression 302 heads, but in the midrange it feels about as
strong as before. The real improvement is at the top end. No more
pinging. The 289 now revs way past 6,000 RPM and feels strong all the
way up the curve. With the old heads it ran out of juice around 5500
RPM, if it didn't start pinging badly before that.
With the lower compression, I am told I can run regular 87 octane gas
rather than the 91 I've always used in a Tiger. I'm on my first tank of
87. Still no pinging, but compared to running with premium in the
previous tank with the new heads, the Tiger does not seem as responsive
as with the previous tank of premium. Is this my imagination, or could
the lower octane gas result in slower acceleration?
Steve Sage
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