Re: [VERY OT while waiting for Lenny?] reminiscing on old computers
On Thu, Apr 10, 2008 at 04:22:06PM -0700, Paul Johnson wrote:
> I was seriously surprised with the power my old 95 Kia Sportage had. 4
> banger, but got 147HP on the State of Oregon DEQ dynos at Hillsboro. It once
> pulled a Ford Explorer out of a drainage ditch, and with the help of another
> jeep, got a bus moving again on an icy day.
"Old" and "Kia" in the same sentence? How "old" are we talking? Also,
don't confuse HP with torque. Given enough time and a come-along, you
yourself could pull an Explorer out of a ditch. When I travel up north
in winter, I keep a come-along and 20 feet of logging chain in the back
of the car. Used it a few times on my driveway when I lived up there.
Since the bus was on an Icy day, thank the tires for good traction with
kudos to the driver (you) for a light touch on the throttle so you
didn't just polish your tire prints.
As for motorize OOMPH, as the saying goes, there's no replacement for
displacement. That old 79 Tbird with the 86 engine is a case in point.
In 1986 (at least here in Canada), Ford did away with their big block
engines (e.g. the 400 c.i.) but still needed the oomph so they took the
small-block 351 (5.8 L) Windsor engine, added all the typical
after-market things (e.g. roller rockers) and tweaked it for torque.
With nice long headers on it you came up with the magic numbers of 500 +
500 (HP and Ft-Lb torque). Plunk that in a sporty car designed for a
1979 302 (5.0 L), add an Edlebrock carb and intake, and you get great
mileage with a light foot but floor it and (once the tranny kicks down
and the other two barrels open up) you get 0-60 in under 4 seconds on a
very heavy car with all the emission controlls functional.
Too bad the body was all rusted out.
I think T-birds now weigh less than 2000 lbs and have a 3 L engine; all
gearing.
Oh well.
Doug.
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