First, a Victoria-British bashing session. Their package came yesterday,
fastest delivery they've ever done for me. But then, their record with me
(from our very limited dealings) has not been a hard target to beat. :-|
The "vacuum unit" described as being for a '77-'80 Spitfire is not even
close to useable; let's just say that it is an advance unit instead of a
retard unit. The Roadster Factory's catalogue lists this part as for a
'77-'79. Silly me for thinking it just *might* be adaptable to my CEI
distributor. Even if I could fabricate a mount and if it was even mildly
close to the same calibration, I can't use an advance unit unless I turn
it around to push the distributor baseplate instead of pull it! Well,
admittedly this was my experiment, but I should know better than blindly
to trust anything I read in a V-B catalogue; I figured that at least it
would be a retard unit. TRF has told me the only way to get one of these
vacuum units is to buy a whole distributor. No, thanks, but I shoulda'
known that if TRF doesn't have something, then V-B isn't likely to either.
I guess I'll be keeping that line permanently plugged until inspection time.
Yesterday I wrote:
> My Spitfire has the 1976 9.5:1 compression ratio instead of 7.0:1.
That should have been 9:1 instead of 7.5:1. Still, I wouldn't've thought
9:1 was all that high...
...speedy!gerry then answered:
>I rebuilt a 1500 engine, and used 11:1 compression pistons and shaved the
>head, so I guess the compression is now up to 11.5:1.
Yipes, that up there. At least, by stock standards.
>I started using 104+ octane booster, wow there's power in this engine
I've been avoiding this option, but maybe I should re-consider.
>I changed the jetting on the Weber carb
Yeah, well, I still have the stock Zenith-Strawberry, err, Stromberg. and
I've been avoiding hacking it too.
>Finally I switched to Champion N11Y plugs (these are colder than the
>standard plugs) and now the pinging has been eliminated.
Ah! Interesting idea. Thanks. I hadn't really considered it. The "correct"
plugs have always looked good, though I've checked them only once or twice
since the new engine went in. Then again, I usually drive so as to avoid
that pinging, so they might never show much sign of overheating anyway. I'll
have to try a colder plug. Lessee, the original spec is for N12Y. Will there
be much different between 12 and 11?
>BTW I mix my own octane booster using a 12 ounce bottle with 33% 104+ and
>66% Marvel Mystery Oil. I found this to be the best combination for my engine.
You carry a supply of this stuff around with you? Is there any reason you mix
it like that? Does it come with some sort of guidelines? Blah, blah, blah...
Thanks,
Jim Muller
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