Hello all,
I find it interesting that everybody seems to find it necessary to try to
get the maximum performance out of these early Longbridge 2 port engines. I
know that because of the motoring press pointing out these deficiencies, the
works went to a lot of effort to bring the performance of the original setup
up to try to gain back some of the "on paper" numbers the old Hundred had
enjoyed.
The earliest Six was a direct evolvement of the engine designed for the more
mundane saloon cars of the time. One of the most noticeable characteristics
of the early 2 port engined BN4's was the incredible smoothness of the
engine. I personally feel this can be lost when efforts are taken to
"improve" the performance. After all, I can't remember when the last time
was I tried to obtain a better 1/4 mile time or the last time I tried to get
a Healey over the 100 MPH mark.
In their stock, relatively detuned state, they are smooth flexible engines
giving long life and dependable service. Does everything on these lovely
classic cars always have to be done "to the edge"? I prefer to restore these
cars to accurately reflect that point of evolvement, such as it was.
Just my humble opinion.
Rich Chrysler
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