Increased Torque / More 'zip'

A

Adrian - NW1

New Member
Can anyone offer suggestions as to how my '71 manual 2000 sc can be made to provide more power output or torque, without resorting to a major engine rebuild? The car has done 109,000 on the original engine, and the engine is quiet and generally sounds healthy, with NO chain rattle (to date...touching wood etc). Previous owner had the car serviced regularly until about 10 years ago (!) when he starting doing only about 400 miles a year. Yes 400. He sold me the car in September 2003 after 30 years ownership (he {the owner} was 93 when he sold it. So, what I would like to know is what 'cheap' tweaks could be done to get more power out of the unit ie would a Kenlowe fan help free up some torque? / are there better plugs / coil / carb / air filter system / etc that might help. I am having the carb stripped and a service kit fitted in January / February. The car runs quite well once up to speed and in top, but seems very slow to pull up hills in 2nd / 3rd even unladen. Suggestions / ideas / observations welcome. Thanks
 
Are you using enough revs ? the engine is much noisier than a modern sound proofed car, with no tacho it can sound as though you are over revving and as a result be tempted to change up a gear too soon. Another possibility is that the brakes may be binding/sticking - with so little use it would certainly be worth checking.
 
Malcolm - thanks for comments. There may be some validity in your comment re revs ie I may not be revving it enough! Will try givving it a bit more welly. However, it still does seem to lack a certain bite / torque. Regarding brakes, they seem pretty fine, as the car will creep forward on a very slight incline as soon as pedal is released.
 
I think you just might be expecting too much from a 2000SC. They were always pretty arthritic anyway and 100k miles won't improve things. It's a heavy car and not much power. You may get a few bhp more by taking the fan off and fitting a kenlowe and an easier breathing exhaust and carb jets to suit would give you a bit more, at the expense of more noise. But not much short of a major engine tweak will give you much more. If the car is nice and original I'd just enjoy it for what it is, a comfy cruiser. If you want power, then get a manual 2200TC or better still, a V8. It certainly sounds like a nice original car, I think I'd keep it that way. Buy a cloth cap and a tartan blanket and enjoy! :)

Nick
 
Nick. Thanks for comments. Car cruises quite nicely, so I'm just off down to Dunn & Co (remember them?) to get my cloth cap and car coat...
 
The 2000SC is not my idea of a sports car. I love my one to death, but the quest for more power led me to a V8.
The design of the head on the 2000 does not lead itself to porting, or gas flowing, in fact the gains from doing this with my car was a measly 11 HP! After a free flowing exhaust and ditching the fan I found that putting a 2" SU in place of the standard item helped a bit. In all I managed through sheer bloodly mindedness to squeeze the grand total of 121.6 Hp out of my 2000SC, slightly more than if I had simply bolted on a TC head!!
As for supercharging, in a word dont bother. The engine is strong enough to take the boost, but the plumbing is a nightmare. I attempted to supercharge my 2000 and gave up in disgust after many days af head scratching and swearing.
The gains are just not worth it!
My 2000 ran to 300,000 miles on its origional engine with no problems, and the last 160,000 have been with my mods with no problems, so in the end just be happy to drive a car of class and timeless style.

The road to more power is littered with busted pistons!
1973 3500
1964 2000
1969 2000TC Auto (Goes like the clappers!)
 
Adrian
It would be worth checking the vacuum advance connections, especially the two elbows one on the carb, the other on the distributor, these tend to split with age and its not always obvious.
Take the pipe complete with elbows off and BLOW down them (it clears any gunk out) then put a wetted finger over one end and suck - they should be airtight, if so plug them into the distributor, remove the cap and suck hard, the points housing should move slightly - but unless you have olympic lungs you wont make it move far.
I had a 2200SC some 10 years ago which would run fine above 2000rpm but wouldnt pick up on acceleration from low revs. This was due to a split in one of the vacuum pipe elbows, once replaced the car was transformed (well at least it moved when asked and it pulled a caravan over Holme Moss & Snake Pass amongst many other unwise route choices)

Small thing but it makes a surprisingly big difference.
 
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