Blokes
Back in 1966 I dismantled my BN.4 engine during my Xmas leave to do an
overhaul. Surprise there were few parts readily available in Australia at
that time and I wanted to spend the holiday driving. A mate had a modified
GM six cylinder from a Holden sedan in my garage and a quick measure said
it will fit. Being a good little trainee mechanical engineer with one of
Australia's biggest companies workshop equipment was readily available. I
made an adapter plate and mated the Healey 'box and O/D to the 'taxi'
engine which had a single 45mm Weber, solid lifters and a modified cam.
Balanced and lightened flywheel. When weighed the whole car was about 2
cwt lighter, it had another 1500 rpm available and probably a few extra
HP. All the weight reduction was over the front wheels thus reducing
understeer and steering weight. I surprised many modern cars at the
traffic lights and they were devastated when they were told that the
exotic sportscar engine ( ????? ) had been removed and replaced by an
everyday sedan, taxi and commercial vehicle engine
Performance is best looked at as HP per tonne. Weight is cheaper to
remove than add HP. Remember Colin Chapman's saying, " add lightness"
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