Why bother?

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Simon Perks

Simon Perks

Active Member
Posts
318
Location
Switzerland East
I have been considering this for a long time, should i upgrade my series 3, twin Webber or a camshaft, performance air filter, free flow manifold and exhaust ..
However to be honest She runs just fine, never going to be a racing car as we all know but with regular oil change and keeping the valve clearances correctly adjusted 90kmh is no problem on the main roads and should i dare to make a motorway trip 110 can be reached but all conversation ceases ....

So with a modest budget to hand to do something on the car ...
What would you do?
or
Why bother ..
Simon
 
Performance head from Turner or ACR if they do them; also get the benefit of unleaded value seats and new valve stem seals.
 
The performance head doesn't alter the camshaft, so provided a powerplus camshaft is sensible I can't see how it would hurt.

This is only so much point in trying to make a slow car fast, however.
 
If your engine is the older 3 bearing type, I would be a bit careful how much extra power you might try to squeeze out of it. I agree with Rubins4 a turner stage 1 head is a good upgrade. It might improve power a BHP or 2 and it might improve your fuel economy. I've heard people say they have gotten an extra 10 mph and 3 to 5 extra mpg. In my opinion, the jury is out on whether a Webber is worth it if your original carb is good.

Col
 
My engine is a late 5MB with a 123 electronic dizzy .. the carb is a rebuilt Zentih and as i said i'm kinda ok with how it runs.
I think the head option only really make any sense if i do a free flow exhaust at the same time, whats putting me off doing the camshaft is that I do not have access to DTI's to get the timing bang on and i have heard that if you don't get it really really on then its a bit of a waste of time.
I haven't seen any one on the forum here with it though to back this up (yet)

Simon
 
A top speed of 55 to 60 is quite frustrating on today's major roads and like you, I would like to tune mine to do 70+. However, even if I could do that and the engine could take it, I'd still be worrying about the extra strain on the gearbox and diffs. Extra oomph from standstill wouldn't be great for the halfshafts either, although people do fit 3.5 V8's so perhaps that is a needless concern.

Col
 
X1 on the extra strain on the transmission n gearbox. Try increasing tyres to 750 x 16, do you have overdrive? I've got a 3 bearing turner head and Weber carb but even with the bigger tyres n overdrive it doesn't like anything about 55 mph. They're just not designed for speed. I never take my landy on the motorway it's too scary. Living in the country, chugging speed of 40 mph is sufficient.
 
A series traveling at 70mph has some two ton's of air pressure against it's front.Twice that at 45/50. Tests done some years ago also showed that having a spare on the bonnet improved the aerodynamics. [ a bit ]
 
Colthebrummie said:
A top speed of 55 to 60 is quite frustrating on today's major roads and like you, I would like to tune mine to do 70+. However, even if I could do that and the engine could take it, I'd still be worrying about the extra strain on the gearbox and diffs. Extra oomph from standstill wouldn't be great for the halfshafts either, although people do fit 3.5 V8's so perhaps that is a needless concern.

Col
Click to expand...
55-60mph is fast enough to keep up with the trucks and for me that is good enough. As long as you are going fast enough lorrys are not trying to overtake you all the time being slow is not too much of a problem. If you wanted more speed you could look at changing the gearing rather than more power. They are inherently low geared and with all the power in the world will still have a low top speed. I don't know what you have already but you could look at an overdrive or an Ashcroft high ratio box? Another cheap and easy way to increase the gearing is to fit 7.50 tyres if you don't have them already. I have 7.50 and an overdrive and i can sit at 60mph and reach 65 if i need to on the motorway.


Edit: @John S posted while I was typing
 
tottot said:
A series traveling at 70mph has some two ton's of air pressure against it's front.Twice that at 45/50. Tests done some years ago also showed that having a spare on the bonnet improved the aerodynamics. [ a bit ]
Click to expand...

I agree. They were designed to go slow. If that is what you want, buy a Series. If you want to go fast, buy a car.
 
Last edited:
dag019 said:
55-60mph is fast enough to keep up with the trucks and for me that is good enough. As long as you are going fast enough lorrys are not trying to overtake you all the time being slow is not too much of a problem. If you wanted more speed you could look at changing the gearing rather than more power. They are inherently low geared and with all the power in the world will still have a low top speed. I don't know what you have already but you could look at an overdrive or an Ashcroft high ratio box? Another cheap and easy way to increase the gearing is to fit 7.50 tyres if you don't have them already.
Click to expand...

A lot of trucks are limited to 56mph, so a Series fits in well with them in the slow lane.
 
tottot said:
With a series 2.1/4 petrol at 70mph you can have fun watching the fuel gauge going down fast though.;)
Click to expand...

I am not sure I would be confident the rest of the vehicle would be up to doing 70! Surely at that speed other things begin to feel unstable and worrying, even if the vehicle is in perfect condition.
 
tottot said:
A series traveling at 70mph has some two ton's of air pressure against it's front.Twice that at 45/50. Tests done some years ago also showed that having a spare on the bonnet improved the aerodynamics. [ a bit ]
Click to expand...

Are there any published data on drag, frontal area, rolling resistance and so on for Land Rovers?

2 tons sounds a bit high to me. If it were true, dipping the clutch at 70 mph would mean the car would slow down as if it were an extreme emergency stop. Are you sure about the units of measurment?
 
dag019 said:
55-60mph is fast enough to keep up with the trucks and for me that is good enough. As long as you are going fast enough lorrys are not trying to overtake you all the time being slow is not too much of a problem. If you wanted more speed you could look at changing the gearing rather than more power. They are inherently low geared and with all the power in the world will still have a low top speed. I don't know what you have already but you could look at an overdrive or an Ashcroft high ratio box? Another cheap and easy way to increase the gearing is to fit 7.50 tyres if you don't have them already. I have 7.50 and an overdrive and i can sit at 60mph and reach 65 if i need to on the motorway.


Edit: @John S posted while I was typing
Click to expand...

Yes I have 7.50 tyres but no overdrive... i have been thinking about that but as I said in my original post I'm actually kind of very happy with the 60mph that i get anyhow and i spend most of my time on swiss country roads.
 
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