Jay (and everyone else)
For street use has anyone tried supercharrging or turbocharging??? Given the
robustness of the Rootes engines, this would seem like a natural. Of course
where would you put the blower.... in the passenger's seat??
Jan
Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com wrote:
Up until very recently, Holbay itself was advertising in the SAOC magazine.
A few years ago, the man who was "Mr. Holbay" passed away. I know they
tried to keep it going. I assume they decided to close up shop. They
would advertise for a 150 hp Alpine engine. I think it was called the
"Marathon." So, maybe with some searching, some parts can still be
located. The info on the letterhead of the letter they sent me gives the
following information: 4 Betts Avenue, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk
IP5 7RH, Tel: Ipswich (0473) 623000, Fax: (0473) 610587, signed "D Barns,
Parts Manager."
I Holbayized my Alpine. Here is what I did: dual 40 DCOE Weber 151s (the
more modern side draft Weber), the H120 cam (this is the production car
version, not the E128 cam which Holbay first made, but Rootes decided was
too aggressive for their cars), an NOS Holbay head (admittedly Rick's last
one over 8 years ago, but they do still surface from time to time), custom
55 over pistons (this is the first step for Lotus pistons, thus I used
custom Lotus rings), toughrighted (or however it is spelled) hardening on
crank and rods, lightened SV flywheel (though the earlier flywheel offers
larger clutches), dynamic balancing for everything, Facet fuel pump, Bosch
Blue coil, re-weighted and sprung distributor (to get a proper curve
without the vacuum feature), Luminition electric points, and a larger
tubular exhaust headers with Jet Coat. The head was also reground with the
three way grind which was not available when new and the intake ports were
opened up - the factory shrunk the intake ports smaller than the carbs to
improve low end power. 9.6:1 compression - this is a road car for goodness
sakes. With the 55 over pistons, the engine is 1777 cc's (with some Volvo
pistons apparently used, you get to 1893 cc).
A stock H120 was supposed to have 105 hp. It was supposed to have 120 hp
with the E128 cam that Rootes didn't go with. I have not had the car
dyno'd. They guy who rebuilt it for me, a Lotus expert, felt that with the
three way grind, and the other changes mentioned, he felt the car was
closer to 120-130hp. Higher compression certainly would have given more.
But, I was worried about the gas available at the pump for my driving.
Do I love how it runs? Yes. Is it much more powerful? Yes, the way it
should have been. Do I have low end power weakness? No. Does it idle
fine? All day long. Has it been reliable? You bet. Will it beat a stock
MGB? Yes.
OK, but there are negatives. It did cost lots of money. There are
infinitely more performance options for MG and TR drivers. I'm still
dealing with needing to keep supplies of Rootes water pumps, starters,
etc., though none have failed me. Sometimes I think I should have gone
with the 2 liter overhead cam Capri/Pinto engine or a V6. And finally,
with all that power, it still is not as fast as many of today's family
cars, and sure is not as clean burning or fuel efficient.
Then again, when that throttle goes down and those Webers start sucking and
the engine starts spinning up and up, never wanting to stop (it shows no
slowing of acceleration at 6,000 rpm, in fact it seems extremely happy and
comfortable up there), it's pure fun.
Jay
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