MM, I know you and FB are familiar with these guys as you mention flowing one of their heads somewhere in here. And that FB designed your cam ( I think) but they are talking well over 100hp/L in their engines with the bigger cams (bigger cam in small engine not always correct) but anyway just wondering if you have played with any other profiles. Dynothon showed 95hp? Have you ever run your engine through Pipemax to look at the header specs?
http://www.swiftune.com/Page/2/About-Us.aspx
Hi Jacksoni,
I have recently had the opportunity to inspect and flow test several BMC "A" series cylinder heads during the last few months. Some have been professionally prepped by name companies like "Swiftune". Some are professionally done by local machine/"speed shops" and others have been done by owner, ie, SCCA/Midwest Council racers. I'm going to post up results periodically as I go along with the testing & inspection.
But, I can state some general observations and some non-specific results at this point in time, ie, tonight:
A/ If you have paid the going rate to a "specialist" such as Swiftune/MED, you have most likely gotten your money's worth. Older heads from say Longman, might have
been state of the art at one time, but are probably a "bit" less developed today. Heads done locally may be worthwhile, BUT, you would have to flow-test to be certain.
I would stay away from a head prepped by an "owner", unless you can have someone experienced flow-test it first, and compare it to a know database of "good" heads.
2/ You CAN NOT tell much of anything visually. Except, whether the person had a steady hand and/or cared about the quality of their work. It goes without saying that
any "prepped and ready to install" head assembly, should be scrupulously clean. A head carelessly prepped, cleaned and assembled is just that . . . . . .
d/ Think carefully before attempting to "modify/improve" a specialist's cylinder head. My recent and oft quoted example is that of a very good specialist head ($2500
USD) that was "improved" by a Midwestern specialist shop familiar with racing BMC's for the pittance of $2000 USD. This "improvement" removed 8%/13% of the head's
intake flow, and the bhp fell from 140 peak bhp to 132 peak bhp on the shop's dyno. Unless you have a flowbench and a dyno, you'll be hard pressed to exceed what a
specialist professional can deliver.
z/ The current best flowing BMC heads I've tested are from: Swiftune and a head I prepped back in 1992 for one of my clients going to the "Runoffs". I post graphs of the
results at another time.
On
Midget's cam:
I calculated the space available at TDC overlap for net valve lift. This (and the tappet dia.) dictated the "flank acceleration" that could be accommodated. I then prevailed on Dema Elgin of Elgin Camshafts (and if you race an "A" series engine you should know Dema) to take my numbers and grind a cam to fit the space available. Dema produced an item which fits the space available and produced the desired torque curve. The idea that a cam grinder would "know" what you need is simplistic. If you have a popular application that "might" be possible. But if you have anything "out of the ordinary", the cam guy is going to need some help. FROM YOU. Or your engine builder.
On "PipeMax" (Tm):
I did some simulations with PipeMax for this engine. For the torque peak & bhp peak desired, the program predicted a smaller pipe than what ran best on dyno test. The length calculations were useable though. The "Grenade" has responded with more bhp everytime changes were made to enhance flow capability, both on the inlet tract, AND the exhaust.
On 95.1 bhp:
My previous best for a "big bore/short stoke" BMC 1000 was 98 bhp on the PHP dyno back in '92/'93. That engine used 2 HS2 SU carbs. (98bhp/liter)
My previous best for a "big bore/short stoke" BMC 1100 was 106 bhp on the PHP dyno, year ?? That engine had a Weber 45DCOE. (96.3bhp/liter)
My previous best for a "big bore/long stoke" BMC 1309 was 135 bhp on the PHP dyno back in '92. 2 x HS4 "thrubore" SU's. (103bhp/liter)
Based on the bmep numbers from these examples, there is more to obtain from these engines. I left PHP, (the company I founded) before the "real" BMC development program began in earnest.
Since the V/E on BMC's is so low, C/R is the key to "good" bmep & bhp. That is much easier to achieve on 1309cc and larger engines. Much more difficult on 999cc's. I think 103/105 bhp/liter can be achieved, IF, the C/R can be bumped up. Most pro builders I know are at about 98/100 bhp/liter with engines of 13/13.5 to 1 C/R or less.
I think there is going to be a Dynothon, Part Deux; but that's not my call.
Ford
boy