A friend of mine knows a (wealthy ) chap who races a 1.4 rover engined Caterham in the series that doesnt allow much modification. He told me that blueprinting is allowed and costs 3000 quid. What is the definition of this term ? What machining is allowed ? He also mentioned claimed power increases of "Somewhere less than 10% " - has anyone done measurements - if so, what do you really get ?
Dave Baker, of you're listening, you must know - go on, give me the truth.......
Steve
I'd say it's making the engine to its correct design - removing the inevitable production tolerances, or making them work in your favour. Could be wrong there, though.
I'll wait for an expert's answer, but I'd say careful attention to the inlet airflow, combustion chamber shapes and matching would be the obvious.
It would surely depend on how good the control example is? If you took a
*really* poor example, 10% might be quite possible.
How on earth can he come up with an exact figure?
It's very expensive (compared to power gained) because of the labour involved. The idea is to bring all tolerances not in centre of spec, but to give the most power. Indeed you might open up certain clearances to gain more power. Everything can be balanced and smooth out to allow a smoother engine with perhaps a slightly higher safe rev limit.
How long is a piece of string? 5-10% would seem realistic, certainly no more.
JH
Taking a trip back in time, machining used to describe a rebore to the max and head skimming if I remember rightly. I had a Mk2 1300 Cortina when I was a pup and had it bored out to a 1700, had a few thou taken off the head added a twin choke Niki Carb with manifold and a decent exhaust system, which resulted in a severe power increase. This used to be the dogs danglies back in the mid 70's and went like a rocket(well for those days it did) and used to keep up with the old Sunbeam Rapiers of the day. Also standard equipment was a little box with loads of switches that made funny sounds via a horn mimicking police sirens and wolf whistles, wonder if I can find one at a boot fair?
Wandering off the thread now, wishing I was 17 again.
Dave
The design for an engine, in fact most engineering thing - is called a blueprint
Good clue?
I think Dave Plowman is right, but I bet there are some rules that allow a little bending!
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