In response to your message:
> Is any work being done
> on "B" series engine tuning, cross flow heads, special manifolds, etc.
> in Holland, or on the continent (Germany, France, etc.). In particular,
> are there any books published that have current info, dyno/race proven
> ideas presented?
The market here is growing, but inderdeveloped in the tuning segment. I must
admit I'm not too wel connected in this area, that's why I'm enjoying this list
(at
least the technical bits and car-anecdotes) so much. People in Holland seem
mostly satisfied by touring and talking. The parts, ideas and books come from
England. The only Dutch guy I met who races his B's does that in the English
series.
> What kind of pollution standards do you face? Where do you drive/live?
The B has to pass the same CO-level test each year as any other car. They
can't be too strict, because I stripped the US emissions stuff off the engine
when it came in, to get more power. This month it is time for the yearly
roadworthiness-test, so I'll check with the testers.
I live in Rotterdam, which has the largest port (in volume) in the world so
there's
a lot of industry and activity here. But only half an hour away are the most
beautiful countryside roads and dykes along the rivers. For even better scenery
and roads we often go to the Ardennes in Belgium. Hills, forests and great food
and drink. BTW, driving the past weeks has been minimal due to an ungly summer
so far.
Actually, the neighbourhood where I live there are a lot of classics, but the
owners have their cars restored and maintained perfectly without ever touching
the car themselves. Needless to say that a simple, original B is way below
these
types.
> Have you ever popped over to Germany for a fling at the autobahn??
Not in the B, but I can test that here just as well. Top speed in it isn't that
much
fun. Last year I drove to Switserland in someone else's BMW 540i Touring via
Germany. At one stage my wife woke up because the sailing-boat on the roof
started rattling, and she politely asked me not to drive 240kph (160mph) any
more. Germany is fun, but it is filling up with cars as well ....
> How about telling us about the price, and quality, of gas in Holland and
> the rest of Europe. Ever been to the East Block countries??
Standard unleaded gas just went up (taxes of course) and is now NLG 2,17 per
litre, which is roughly USD 4,20 per US gallon or GBP 3,- per GB gallon
(correct
me if I'm wrong). Quality is perfect, all large oil companies have refineries
here in
the port area. The B uses leaded, which is 10% more expensive. Actually,
they've just replaced the lead with some other additive, but the car doesn't
seem
to mind.
I've been to a couple of the East Bloc countries, both before and after the
changes. In the early '80s the atmosphere there fueled my imagination, because
I
always read a lot of John le Carré novels. Unfortunately most people there have
a
lot of misery to go through before their nations will reach our level of
wellbeing.
As for classics in the former East Bloc: the roads must be murder for any older
car because in every single country there are more holes in the road than in
Madonna's underwear.
> TTUL8r, Kirk Cowen (who remembers when Cheech and Chong went to
> Holland in one of their movies...)
Cheech and Chong? I remember this, but only very vaguely due to the
circumstances:
We're gonna save the whales
We're gonna save the whales
We're gonna save the whales
But we're gonna kill all those stupid seals
Later,
Peter den Hertog
ex-Cal '74 MGB
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