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making power above 3800 rpm?

To: "Mgs" <mgs@autox.team.net>
Subject: making power above 3800 rpm?
From: "smarc" <smarc@abs.net>
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 11:18:10 -0500
I'm getting ready to R/R front end bushes, and wheel bearings on my '80 LE
in anticipation of another driving season. Been thinking about driving the
B's all winter! Can't wait for summer!

Previously I've de-smogged the car, installed an old-style exhaust manifold
& free flow exhaust. Installed Pierce intake manifold with Weber carb, who's
performance I was unhappy with, and so swapped that out for an earlier OEM
intake with dual SU HIF's.  Runs great now, except... it runs out of "oomph"
around 3800 RPM. Most of the time I don't drive the car too hard at all, but
sometimes it would be nice if it could pull a little better. I'm no
mechanic, but I been lurking here long enough to have learned a bit through
osmosis. Admittedly I don't always understand all that I know, so the
technical aspects of some of this stuff are often lost on me.

Having said that, I surmise that I need to address my camshaft/distributor
situation. Engine status is 70,000 miles, clean, no exhaust/vacuum leaks,
good compression across all four cylinders, very minimal oil consumption.
Last time I adjusted the valves was late last summer. Very solid overall.

Looking for recommendations as to what, if anything, exactly to do about it,
ie; what cam, what to do about dist, what else needs to be dealt with at
this time? I believe someone had said the camshaft could be changed with the
engine in-situ, which I would prefer. Is that correct?

I looked at several of the usual suspect websites, but aside from a lot of
technical data I'm unable to grok, I haven't found anything that helps me.

This car is general road use, occasional 'spirited' driving. Not looking to
do anything radical.

'73 B (will sell or trade for BGT)
'80 B/LE (favorite)
'03 330Ci (Least favorite)

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Marc Siegel, Charm Net, LLC.  eMail: smarc@abs.net
Baltimore, MD  http://www.charm.net  voice: 410/361-8160





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