On 14/02/2008, at 8:16 PM, Eric Erickson wrote:
> Wow - today was not good news day.
>
>
Thanks guys,
Things got a bit better after a decent night's sleep and some time to
think a bit more calmly. The following is my way of looking on the
bright side and trying to be a little more positive than I often am
in these situations.
I have always wanted to drop some compression on that engine so I
could run on Premium Unleaded fuel (having to get AVGAS all the time
was becoming a pain, expensive and it is always threatened to
eventually be made illegal for our use) while trying to maintain as
much power as possible and I thought this might be the (forced) time
to investigate this.
Please remember, I am what is known in Australia as a "bush mechanic"
- poor, self taught, barely technical, frequently unorthodox and I
learn by breaking things. I also pay for expertise when the work is
critical because I know my limitations (and try to ask questions
where possible to build my knowledge, so the opinions I express ain't
always mine).
I found some nice looking, non-standard (of course) "slightly dished"
pistons that fit those big holes in my block and while pondering the
outcome of using these I properly measured up the new/old head and
got some more of the story from the previous owner. The head is
actually decently shaved - (i.e. high compression) so the compression
drop of going to the dished pistons won't be as severe as combining
that with a "normal" head. I also learned that the head was gas-
flowed to 160hp (but I don't know what pistons he was using). No, I
am not expecting 160hp out of it!!!
My engine was quite badly in need of this "freshening up" so any
power I lose now will probably be again partially compensated for the
gain of a whole set of fresh innards (like properly opening valves) -
that is as against my last run which was just half a second off my
personal best time while the engine, tyres and suspension where badly
in need of some love.
I have my new tyres and I did the adjustable tube shock conversion
(after fighting against this for years) - and I have traction rods
(or as my mechanic refers to them, "sissy bars"). So maybe I will
gain something on the track from these things.
In my attempt to get fit I have lost over 20 pounds of "success
ballast" from my gut - that must be worth a few tenths on the track!
Hey, what I am saying is I will have a car to drive around the
racetrack come March 2nd and I think it will be "competitive".
Buts mostly I will have fun hanging out with the guys (and gals)
again at the track for a new season - and isn't that what it is all
about?
(But gee I love to win)
Once again, thanks for the therapy - now let's get out there and
break... I mean build our cars!
Eric,
'68MGB MkII
Adelaide, South Australia
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