Bob Palmer wrote:
> Steve,
>
> The Tiger 260 is rated, according to the Shop Manual, at only 164 BHP
> gross, 136 BHP net. I assume you plugged the Tiger weight into the G-tech
> Pro, but does it also compensate for drive train losses that may be of the
> order of 10-20% ? Or is it just coincidence that the G-tech and the
> advertised BHP are only off by 6 BHP? It's pretty easy to get 300+ HP out
> of a 260, but not without spending the better part of $3,400 - and a lot
> more effort too. Is yours an original, matching #, unopened 260? The
> arguments in favor of keeping the 260 are the originality factor,and the
> five-bolt to six-bolt housing swap and the other pieces at the front end of
> the motor that also need to be swapped that add to the cost and effort of
> installing the crate motor. On the other hand, a 345 HP roller cam motor is
> hard to beat and would be a lot more driveable than a 260 at anywhere near
> the same horsepower. You can probably find a slightly used or even new one
> at less than $3,400 if you look in the right places.
>
> Bob
I should have mentioned that my Tiger does have a couple of oprions including a
Tiger intake manifold, dual point distributor and a Holly 1850 (600 CFM) carb.
I assume that it probably also has a bit of a performance cam in there too,
with the other options, but it appears that the motor has never been out. The
car has around 65,000 original miles so I guess this is possible. I figure it's
just a tired 260 engine. With the intake and the probable cam, it would follow
that the car would put out more than the 136 Net (the G-force measures net, not
gross HP). We did plug in the weight of the car and did probably a dozen runs,
tweaking the timing and carb along the way, and the rating went up from about
140HP to 158, even though the car really doesn't seem much faster. I figure if
the engine's coming out, why mess around when for no more money you get 40HP
more to start with a 289 or 302. I don't care (shudder the thought) about the
originality issue as I don't plan on ever selling this car anyway. The more I
think of it, that 345HP crate motor sems a mighty good match for my car. I'm
also doing a 5 speed at the same time so I'll have to do some parts matching up
anyway.
The bottom line was illustrated again tonight when I couldn't keep up with a
new Mustang V8 that challenged me at a stop light! Not that I would ever exceed
the legally posted speed limit (!!?????!!), but there's no way I'm going to let
that happen again when I'm through with this car!
Faithfully observing all traffic laws,
Steve Sage
|