help with horsepower upgrades

[luckytoesj]

I have a 1972 2002 with:

shrick 292

balance bottom end

tii header, tii dizzy

dual 40 webers

any suggestions on increasing horsepower? is it possible to add a turbo?

thanks

[c.d.iesel]

ignition timing with a timing light

equal carb float levels

adj. full throttle opening with padal held to the carpet

a handfull of jets

balance the carbs using a vacuum syncronizer

install a O2 sensor w/read out - or borrow

a portable exhaust gas analyzer to accurately

measure Air/Fuel ratio

...and adjust the valves

[bmdubracing]

You could add a turbo but you would have to add megasquirt. Or fuel injection for that you would need some new things like, the well used 320i intake manifold, and injectors pump, tii head and gas tank. You would get power out of that with a turbo set up, but it does cost. I would go with the the options above.

Good luck with the 02.

[bevans6]

As a famous engine builder (KD) once said - bigger bangs more often!

That means three things (after the aforementioned decent tune-up)...

1. More compression. Get that with mechanical compression, a turbo, your choice, basically.

2. More stuff to burn - fuel and air. Get that with better breathing, cam, induction, exhaust - or with no. 3...

3. More RPM! If you really want more HP, you have to put up with more RPM.

In the real world, either turbo it or install more engine - bigger capacity. There is very little you can do to a normally aspirated engine that has much effect without adding RPM's All the cam/compression/breathing stuff is really about is letting the engine run at higher rpm's, which is fine on a race track but often kills street performance. Adding a turbo or adding size is what works on the street.

I once compared the dyno results for two engines: I had a 1600cc Ford crossflow, fairly full race, and had about 150 hp at 7000 rpm. The other engine was a Cosworth BDA, 1600 cc and about 225 hp at 9500 rpm. The dyno trace for it showed about 150 hp at 7,000, and my engine made more power below that point - BDA won all the races, obviously!

Brian

[TTyMiller]

What kind of HP are you getting from your current set up, about 150hp?

[dubois]

First, like CD says, it is a lot easier to work with what you already have. Make sure that you already exhausted your available hp.

Second, I could only suggest the use of a Supersprint header (4-2-1), and Ireland S.S. exhaust, I have similar set up and I noticed inmediate improvement when I dumped the manifold, how much? I couldn't answer that.

My other unsolicited advise is to accept these cars the way they are, more horsepower won't necessarily bring more smiles, just bragging rights. If you really want cheap hp, buy yourself an E36 M3, I did! ... and it sits in the garage!

[Benz02]

All good suggestions, especially fine tuning the valves and carbs. Speaking of which, if you aren't already using velocity stacks, you could get more air flow with a set. Also, maybe an electronic ignition and fuel pump (if you don't already have) to make sure you're getting enough gas in there and consistent spark at higher rpm.