I guess I should elaborate so you all don't think my machinist is a total
dummy. What I have is a engine out of a TR4A that was very quick in it's
day, a SCCA SW Div champion. I've just sold my TR3A to a guy from Dallas
(new FOT member being created), and it's time to build the engine from that
car. It has what appears to be a head produced by the Comp Dept/Kastner,
which outwardly looks just like the 10.5 compression head with stock head
gasket on the TR3A, but is something like 12.7 to one. The engine has
Carillo rods, hardened crank, lightened flywheel. He was comparing my
present engine with this one's potential.
As an aside, he knows a guy, last name Sealey, Ceiley or some variation on
that spelling that built engines with his father way back when. They
apparently ran with a decked block, carved out the piston tops to fit inside
the combustion chamber and got over 13 to 1 compression. They ran a camshaft
profile that kept the power in the lower rev range so they were able to use
a stock crank. Does this last name ring any bells. This approach would cost
big bucks, and I have no intention of trying it, just curious.
Bob Kramer
TR3A, TR6, TR4A, Devin TR3
Hill Country Triumph Club
Corinthians Vintage Auto Racing
rgk@flash.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Jack Wheeler <jwheeler@robus.com>
To: 'Bob Kramer' <rgk@flash.net>
Cc: 'FOT' <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 10:50 AM
Subject: RE: TR compression vs. HP
>
> ------ =_NextPart_000_01BF13D6.7D6BA940
>
> He is right that there is a lot to be gained with compression, there are
> also some negative tradeoffs, like higher maintenance and lower engine
> life. Based on my experience, I don't believe the 40-50% figure. In
> addition, compression won't do it alone. To increase the horsepower of
> your engine, you have to look at cylinder head porting and combustion
> chamber profiling, valve grind geometry, and flow around the valve stems
> and guides. Also important are carburetor and manifold porting, and
> matching of manifold to head and carburetor body, camshaft grind, valve
> springs, and rocker geometry. All of these items help get more air/fuel
> into the combustion chamber. Without improving these, compression by
> itself will help, but not nearly as significantly as your machinist
> suggests.
>
> You also need to be able to get the exhaust out. This was always the
> restriction on the TR-4 heads, due to the poor shape of the exhaust port.
> Again, cam, porting, matching of ports, and headers are all important.
>
> When I first started racing, I was always looking for the one 'magic
> secret' which was going to give me that amazing horsepower that everyone
> else seemed to have. A lot of well meaning people were willing to give me
> advice as to the 'magic secret'. Unfortunately, I eventually learned that
> there is no magic secret. It isn't magic which makes horsepower. As Kas
> said in his book, it's attention to all the little things. If you do all
> of the things I mentioned above, you will find 100 other 'little things'
> that you will also have to fix or improve along the way. For instance,
> rocker pedestal studs will break as you go to higher lift cams, so better
> designed pedestals and stronger studs need to be used. More stress
> requires better quality and lighter weight valve spring retainers. Higher
> RPM's are also required to generate more horsepower. This means Carillo
> (or other aftermarket) rods, billet cranks, etc. On the TR-4, the stock
> rear seal leaks pretty badly at 7,000 RPM's, thus a new seal design is
> required.
>
> I could go on and on. I'm sure most of the people on the FOT list could
as
> well. Don't be fooled into thinking that more compression will give you
> lots of horsepower without fully developing the rest of the engine, and
> beefing it up to withstand the additional stresses.
>
> Good luck.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Kramer [SMTP:rgk@flash.net]
> Sent: Monday, October 11, 1999 10:09 AM
> To: FOT
> Subject: TR compression vs. HP
>
> FOT,
> I know that some of the more seasoned and/or engineering types out there
> know the answer to this question. My machinist claims that an increase in
> compression from 10.5 to 1 to 12.5 to 1 will produce serious HP gains,
> something like 40 to 50%. Is that true?
>
> Bob Kramer
> TR3A, TR6, TR4A, Devin TR3
> Hill Country Triumph Club
> Corinthians Vintage Auto Racing
> rgk@flash.net
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