Richard "Marathon Man" Jackson writes:
>Right! Off goes my cylinder head to have 2 inches skimmed of it, should give
>me LOADS of power!!!!!!! :-)
Ah....but you'll need to use "20 Star" petrol...quite scarce even in
the UK, and you'll likely sustain a performance penalty given it's
weight...it's solid lead. :-)
>> For reasons unknown to me, the 1976 Federal Spec Spitfire came through
>> with compression *increased* to 9.0 to 1...up from the 7.5 to 1 used
>> the three years before and in all later years.
>
>> Comparing that car's performance to the dual S.U. UK version should
>> give you your answer.
>What was the official performance of this year Spit, Just curious????
>Cheerio
>Rich
Ha! I was hoping *you'd* know. Here in the U.S., auto magazines
weren't exactly fighting with themselves over the chance to test the
latest Spitfire. If there's a published report on this model year
that anyone knows of I'll try to track it down.
Meanwhile, we can probably get some idea by looking at the specs.
Your 1500's with dual S.Us and 9.0 to 1 compression are rated at
71BHP.
Our 1500's <ex '76> with single strombergs and 7.5 to 1 compression
are rated at 57 BHP. <sniff>
If we take our 57BHP models and add 4.5 % increased power for the 9.0
to 1 '76 model we get about 60BHP...seems reasonable. Maybe a '76
owner on the list can confirm or deny this.
Performance wise, we also need to look at the weight difference.
You've no doubt noticed that the front and rear bumpers on our cars
look a bit different than yours. :-) There's a lotta re-enforced
steel behind these babys and it doesn't look real lightweight.
Between that and the weight from the added smog equipotent and larger
radiator I could believe it's over 125 lbs difference.
BTW....to the best of my knowledge, all squaretail Spits had guard
beams welded inside the doors for safety. Was this also true of your
cars?
Cheers!
Tom O'Malley <singing in the rain without his rubbers>
'74, '77 Spits
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