Re: Increasing top speed

Posted by Ken Sadler On 2012/3/29 2:50:17

Thanks again for all the advice and suggestions.

I've ordered a Tiny-Tach rev counter as suggested by cortcomp (thank you). They have a stockist here in England and I'm assured it will arrive by the weekend.

That's the cheapest way to start. I can then know for sure which ratio is fitted.

I'm really only aiming to have a safe maximum speed of 45-50 mph. The roads here, as you may know, are narrower and more twisty than you guys are used to so, with 1930's brakes etc, any more speed is foolish to be honest. However, our motorway speed limit is 70 mph officially but 80 - 90 mph is the more normal speed. While I would never take the car on UK motorways, those speeds often translate onto the back roads and therefore the traffic here is..... aggressive to say the least! Bear in mind we have 70 million people and 31 million cars in a space similar to Oregon!

I live on a road where the speed limit is 50 mph but on Sunday mornings, cars and bikes regulary top 100mph !!! Me pootling along at 30-35 mph can cause frustration and can be dangerous. Thats why I'd just be happy knowing I can safely hit 50mph when conditions allow.

As I said, it may just be a case of me being scared to open it up so I need to check the rpm first.

I do suspect that the ratio will be the standard 4.68/1. The low first gear is really an option. (I read that many early owners were unaware that the 1930 additional gear was even there and for years some cars were only driven in 2nd, 3rd and 4th)

As per Packardphil's notes, even with the standard ratio I should be able to do 50mph at 2386 rpm. It just sounds like 4000 rpm when I'm only doing 35!!

I'm off to Portugal for 10 days at the weekend but I'll report back on the results as soon as I get the tacho installed and have a run round.

Thanks again