For anyone interested in clarification on this subject:
ckr said:
> re laws: I may not have the correct definition of felony ... sorry, I'm a
> ferner (southern spelling of legal alien)
<snip>
I was wrong too, and I bow to Ernest Gilbert's superior knowledge of the
law. But I thought it was spelled "furriner." ;-)
> I'm surprised to hear you say that the air injection system doesn't reduce
> the operating efficiency of the car. While I'm willing to wager that the
> biggest choke on the 1800cc engine is the bitty motorcycle carburettor they
> stuck on it, and the somewhat over-baffled exhaust system a close second,
I can't speak about the difference caused by replacing the carburettor
because I've never driven a late model B that had had just its carburettor
replaced. Other people on this list can comment on that. But I have driven
a late model B before and after having only its catalyst hollowed out and
this caused a significant increase in power.
> I'm
> certain that removing an extra drag on the engine, as well as that noisome
> gulp/egr valve combination on the intake side, has improved the overall
> performance by over a quarter bhp.
If the EGR was removed at the same time the air injection was removed,
I can understand why removing the air injection system (plus EGR) would
cause a big increase in power because EGR is a horrible thing to do to an
engine.
> I'd be willing to bet, theoretically, that
> I could pick up an extra 5 bhp by converting it to electric fans; I'd
> imagine, based on performance before and after, that removing the air pump
> did about the same. Not that I don't believe your expertise - just that I'd
> be surprised if it's that little.
At the same time I was told that air injection draws 1/4 hp, I was told
that an early B has 75 hp and a late B 50 hp. There are different ways of
measuring horsepower. And this was when the cars were new; bad bearings
in a 15 year old pump could increase the amount of drag on an engine from
the air pump. However, when the cars were new, I didn't notice an increase
in power when only the air injection was disconnected.
> The biggest improvement I can see has been a better overall throttle response
> in the car. With the current set-up, it seems to have a much finer and
> quicker response than it did with the air pump on, and of course more than
> with the air pump off but the Z-S carb on. ::shrug:: I'd welcome any
> thoughts more experienced hands than mine have.
This describes the difference I experienced when only the catalyst was
gutted.
> I do applaud your suggestions re: the elimination of smog tests for those of
> us responsible enough to keep our cars in tune. I'll vote for you.
It would be a mistake to vote someone into office as empress because it
would be the last time you'd get to vote. ;-)
Denise Thorpe
thorpe@kegs.saic.com
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