In a message dated 3/14/99 2:34:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,
gpetrola@prairienet.org writes:
> Dan a lot of us fall victim to the bigger is better thing. Brakes
> in a hop-up situation are only one piece if the picture(I used brakes
> only as an example) In search for more power, people should consider
> that they ARE building a hybrid street/race car and should consider
> the "whole car" as a system and upgrade the entire vehicle along
> with the power train.
Greg,
ABSOLUTELY! If you'll change the words "upgrade the entire vehicle" to
"ensure the remainder of the vehicle is up to the task, " I couldn't agree
with you more. That's the reason I go on so about this subject. I'm afraid
that someone will kill themselves by trying to improve their braking system
and only making it more dangerous. The stock brakes on a TR6 are FAR better
and safer than a poorly balanced, but "bigger," brake setup. I'm often asked
why I didn't go to a disc brake setup on the rear of my V8 conversion, on the
mistaken belief, as you pointed out, that bigger is better. I didn't do that
because I'm having enough trouble as it is trying to balance the front brakes
to the drums on the rear. I'm going to have to REDUCE the braking power on the
rear just to maintain a safe brake setup.
BTW, according to the experts, a good brake setup should provide at least 200
sq inchs of brake swept area per ton of car weight -- the stock TR6 provides
256 sq inches! Most street rods use a single pot caliper, with a 9 inch rotor
on the front. The TR6 uses dual pot calipers with a 10.78 inch rotor, so the
stock TR6 brakes are pretty darn good!
<snip>
> The car was ill conceived, poorly executed and came damn closed to
> killing it's owner.
I own three books on engine swapping, two of fairly recent origin, and one
with mostly reprints of article from '50s automobile magazines. I cringe when
I see some of the things that were done back then. It's unbelievable how
dangerous many (most) of these cars were. We've learned a lot since then, but
unless an engine swapper is willing to do a little research, an extremely
dangerous car can result.
> That is why I was concerned about considering the entire system.
Right on! It has been my goal from the start to make this conversion AT LEAST
as safe, dependable, and drivable as it was in it's stock configuration,
hopefully even better.
Power is dangerous. It doesn't matter if you're talking about political power,
economic power, gun power, or TR6 engine power, power in and of itself poses a
danger. If you did nothing to your TR6 but drop a "magic pill" in the gas tank
that doubled the power, your TR6 would be more dangerous than before. Anyone
who possesses power in any form must be careful how that power is used. I will
be careful with the 320 HP I'll have in my car.
My stock TR6 has enough power as it is to allow me to outdrive the braking and
handling capablity under most normal driving conditions. The only safety
feature on the car that prevents me from doing this is the nut behind the
steering wheel. That safety feature will be transfered, intact I hope, to the
V8 conversion.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://members.aol.com/danmas/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition - slated for a V8 soon
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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