I have a '70 be with stock SU's and a mild performance cam (1/4 race).
I have noticed with my foot stuck to the floor sliding around a corner
on a dirt road in first (and then second) gear that my B seems to hit
the top of its power curve at about 4500 RPM. (That is when I end up
shifting up to second) It holds flat there and doesn't really want to
climb higher whilst power sliding around. That is also about as high
as it wants to go when floored in forth gear on the highway. While I
understand there may be merits to prolonging the life of your engine by
not abusing it up to 5000> I would think that I should be able to try.
Now I am in Denver so we are about a mile high (~5600 feet above sea
level) so I know my performance is not going to match those of you
living close to sea level, but shouldn't there be a little more?
I have checked my compression, all four cylinders are ~120 (If you
take into account the altitude, those numbers are really pretty good
IIRC)
I am planning a carb rebuild when time and $ permit. I need to do the
carbs because one of the chokes sticks. I don't use the choke much at
the moment anyway because it is warm, and my B spends most of the cold
days tucked in the garage. But I would like to know if this could be
contributing to the lack of upper end.
As far as the rebuild goes, from what I understand oversize needles
won't really help at this altitude because of the lack of oxygen to mix
with the fuel. Is that correct?
(My throw out bearing on the clutch went last weekend, so I am thinking
to do it all next month.)
Thanks everyone. This list is a wonderful source of info.
Andrew Lundgren
Lundgren@iname.com
http://www.itwest.net/~lundgren
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