rolling road tuning. West midlands?

[wickermonkey]

Hi, just woindering if anybody knows of any good classic car tuning garages around the west mids? (telford, worcester, shrewbury, wolverhampton, birmingham area). Want to get the moggie set right by someone who knows what there doing rather than me having a good guess at it. They can probably point me in a good direction on where i can go with it next tuning wise too.

[bmcecosse]

Don't waste your time and money.........Rolling roads are really only for highly modified engines. There is so little to adjust on a Minor - you can easily do it yourself on the open road. Simply adjust the timing till it's 'not quite' pinking - and then do a plug colour check - aiming for light beige for best balance between performance and economy. A clean airfilter is essential of course...

[liammonty]

Aldon Automotive in Stourbridge- they know what they are doing and are honest (it's surprising how many rolling road operators don't know what they're up to!). As has been said though, rolling road session may not be worth it unless you have made some alterations to the engine, in which case it is worth it!

[wickermonkey]

ive got an ital 1275 engine, hif44(unkown needle) + k&n filter and a custom stainless exhaust. Not sure what mods would be best to go for next. Other than engine mods ive got 15" minilights, type 9 5speed box, 4.22 diff and disc brakes on the front

[chrisryder]

Aldon Automotive in Stourbridge- they know what they are doing and are honest (it's surprising how many rolling road operators don't know what they're up to!). As has been said though, rolling road session may not be worth it unless you have made some alterations to the engine, in which case it is worth it!

Do you know if they have facility to adjust (or swap) carb needles? Sounds very promising if so!

[liammonty]

Yes- absolutely. Had my 1030 (overbored 948) set up by them a fortnight ago, and they've got it running really nicely (which other places have never quite managed). They ended up modifying the existing needle (which was very lean at low revs) after failing to find a better 'off the shelf' match. My distributor had already been rebuilt and recurved, but they do that too if you want.They seemed to know what they were talking about, and have years of experience. I don't want to sound ageist, but I was reassured by the fact that most of the guys there weren't in the first flush of youth, and have been working on A-series for many years!

To Wickermonkey- it sounds like you haven't got too many modifications, but if the carb has an unknown needle and you're not confident playing around with it yourself, I'm sure they'd be able to help with advice or set up.

[bmcecosse]

Try a BDL needle......

[IslipMinor]

Aldon are excellent with the A-Series engine and have all the knowledge and parts readily available. I first used them 15 years ago, not long after the restoration was completed and the 1380 engine fitted as part of it.

[bmcecosse]

Oh yes - for a high power engine probably well worth the not insignificant cost..... But for a standard(ish) engine? I think a good job can be done at home with a few checks and simple tests.

[wickermonkey]

thanks for the advise, ill try and get hold of a BDL needle and try that. I might go down and have a chat with the guys in stourbridge and see what they have to say.

[bmcecosse]

Has anything else been done to the engine - big valve head/camshaft change/3 branch exhaust - anything like that?

[wickermonkey]

Its got a heated mini spares inlet and a custom made stainless exhaust, not sure on the size though. As for the engine i think its standard except for the twin spark plugs i fitted about a month ago

[bmcecosse]

Top tip - disconnect the heating on the manifold! The charge wants to be as cold as possible. Twin spark plugs?? That's an unusal mod - I thought only Alfas had that!

[wickermonkey]

Top tip - disconnect the heating on the manifold! The charge wants to be as cold as possible. Twin spark plugs?? That's an unusal mod - I thought only Alfas had that!

That was always my thinking aswell but there seems to be alot of these mini spares manifolds about. It was on the mog when i got it, definatly wouldnt have been a mod of choise for me. As for the plugs they have a tip on both sides

[IslipMinor]

For ultimate power, the charge should be cold, but for warm-up driveability I have found a water-heated inlet a definite improvement over non-heated. If you only drive in warm weather, then disconnect it.

[bmcecosse]

The alloy manifold is a good choice because it eliminates the power robbing 'hot spot'. Worth 3 maybe 4 horsepower!