Dennis Luther SEZ -
> Does anyone have any info on performance tuning with the Zenith?
> All the emission controls are intact. Should I, or do I, have to
> remove/disable them to get better performance?
By the mid-70s, MG was having a hard time (was were all car companies)
meeting stricter US emissions requirements. As you'll recall, the late
70s to the mid 80s were the absolute Nader, uh, *nadir* in automotive
drivability and performance in the US. The ZS carb was a kludge in an
attempt to get the engine to meet US emissions specs. It joined other
kludges like the jacked-up suspension, rubber bumpers, etc., installed
to meet other federal decrees. MG was forced to use this bolt-it-on
strategy due to a lack of support from British Leyland for any serious
new car or engine development. Many people with a ZS equipped car will
pull the carb out and replace it either with dual SUs (in states without
emissions testing) or a Weber conversion kit (in states with emissions
testing that only list the car as having a "single carburetor" without
specifying brand). You're never going to get really good performance
out of this engine with all the government cr*p on it. Unless you're
showing the car as original-condition in a concours competition, or
you're compelled to keep it stock by a busybody government, there isn't
really any reason not to make the effort to return the engine to
something a little more sane.
> Is there any incentive for leaving the car as original as possible? I like
> performance but definately didn't buy the MG for high performance. (I've
> got an F3 for that!)
Not unless it's in mint-condition stock configuration and you're
showing it as such. By the late 70s, so many concessions were
being made to the various regulatory authorities that I can't
imagine the cars having any collector value from any attachment
that diminishes its perfomrance.
Others may disagree, but I'd say the rubber-bumper MGs are good
for only one thing - driving. And anything you can do to enhance
the driving experience is a good thing. As the years go by, they'll
never become classics, just old. So yank all that Joan Claybrook
junk off the engine and start enjoying it! Your MG will thank you.
--
David Breneman | "Advice is somethin' the
Distributed Systems S/W Analyst | other feller can't use,
Airborne Express, Inc. | so he gives it to you."
david.breneman@airborne.com | - Cal Stewart
/// or try http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive
|