>Whne I first saw the specs for the MGC I thought "what a coincidence:
>the displacement is identical to the Healey motor." It never occurred
>to me that they would put that heavy and ancient engine in a new MG.
At the time, BMC was intent on badge-engineering everything it could. The
MGC was also to be an Austin-Healey 3000 Mk.IV, replacing the AH 3000 Mk.III.
The casting technology for the block of the "C" series engine was pre-WWII
and management thought they could reduce the weight with a new casting for
the block. Unfortunately, someone decided to reduce crank/block flex by
going to a 5 main bearing design (I think it was 5, it may have been more).
The extra bearing(s) caused the engine to be longer than the original and
caused more internal friction, robbing it of hp. and torque. The net result
was a longer engine that weighed almost as much as the old original and was
down on performance. DMH didn't like the result and would not agree to let
the car become the replacement for the Big Healey.
--
_____________ _____________ Robb Pryor, Pyramid Technology,
\____________\_____________/____________/ 1295 Charleston Rd.,
\__________ __________/ Mountain View, CA 94039
\________ AUSTIN-HEALEY ________/ VOICE:(415) 965-7200
\___________________________/ INTERNET:robbp@pyramid.com
...!{uunet,sun,ames,utai,hplabs,swbatl,pacbell,pwcs,decwrl,rutgers,osu-cis,
oliveb,sgi,cbmvax,mips,amdahl}!pyramid!robbp
|