I have pretty much decided that the increase in hp would not be worth the work.
I will work on the car and keep it running. At some time in the future when it
needs rebuilding, I will do it then.
jon wrote:
> Robert -
>
> What you have is a very odd bird. The Series II Rapier is the only
> model I know of that used a 1494 dual carb engine with a cast iron head. The
> compression is lower than the Alpine engine, but whether that is from head
> volume or not, I don't know.
>
> What that means, is that you can use an alloy head from an early
> Alpine, but you'll have to change both manifolds, cam, and lifters, as well
> as the head. The valve order is different.
>
> The biggest question is this - the engine as you have it now, is
> rated at 68hp. The Series I Alpine motor is rated at 78hp. Is 10hp worth all
> the work necessary to change these parts?
>
> I did a similar procedure on the cast-iron head 1725 in my camper,
> which now has an Alpine head, specially ground cam, and twin downdraft
> Zeniths. The engine was only good for 65hp with a single carb, and needed a
> rebuild anyway, so it was worth the expense. If I were you, I'd start
> collecting the parts you'd need to do the swap, and just enjoy the engine as
> it is until it needs a rebuild. When that time comes, you could probably
> recoup some of your costs by selling the old parts to someone restoring a
> Rapier or a Minx.
>
> Jon Arzt Rootes(at)aol.com OR jon(at)cordelmotor.com
>
> 57 Hillman Minx
> 61 Humber Super Snipe
> 66 Sunbeam Alpine
> 66 Humber Super Snipe estate
> 67 Sunbeam Highwayman
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 08:45:21 CDT