Aldon rolling road experience 18th ctober 2008
The morning of Saturday 18th October dawned cold and bright, just perfect for the Midget Register's visit to Aldon Automotive at Breirly Hill, in the West Midlands, which had attracted an interesting mix of cars.
Established in the nineteen sixties and sited in the heart of the Black
Country, Aldon are one of the oldest tuning companies in the UK, and have
an enviable reputation for their expertise in all manor of performance engine
work, with their electronic ignition systems leading the way in this particular
field. Mostly concentrating on fast road and racing cars, they are equipped
to handle any high performance vehicle from the past right up to the present,
for example on the day before our visit they had successfully sorted a 1960
front engined Formula 3 Lola which was competing at Silverstone whilst we
were
enjoying our day. From the very earliest cars to the latest turbo diesels,
and supercars, Aldon can give their owners friendly advice and all the extra
performance their vehicles can produce.
On the day of our visit Alan and his staff were ready for us with a cheery
smile to greet everyone at sign on, plus tea, coffee, lunch arrangements
organised and some tempting discounted offers which some of the group took
advantage of. It wasn't long however before the serious business of the
day was underway with Roly Alcock's e-bay
purchased Mk III Midget being the first up. Once the car was chocked into
place, exhaust extraction connected and the timing checked, some power runs
could be undertaken. Standing beside a car travelling at a high rate of
knots is a peculiar experience, and a noisy one too. Once the commotion
had died down and John Thacker, our master technician for the day, satisfied
he had taken the car safely to the point where maximum power had been recorded,
all were keen to see the results, none
more so than Roly himself of course. Was he pleased? I'll say - always thinking
this standard 1275cc model seemed a willing example, its 76bhp @ 4837rpm
was way over his expectations. His broad grin not being eclipsed all day.
This set the tone, as all those attending were very pleased for they either
had results that confirmed their expectations or doubts, and were shown
politely and expertly where improvements could be made. The cars taking
part were a 1600 MGA running a twin choke Weber, a standard MGB, four Midgets
- three running K series engines, and a K
series Sprite, and two IOW Frogeye Sprites with A series engines, and a
1500 Midget. All the read outs are here and they make for some interesting
comparisons. Tim Dalton's Elise engined Sprite the most interesting of all,
its 180bhp at 6910rpm being quite remarkable, making this home completed
conversion surely one of the quickest
Spridgets in existence.
Such has been the interest following our day that I will organise another session at Aldon for members next year, however with the amount of time limited on the day, it must be on a first come first served basis, the first fourteen registered being assured a place. If however I receive double that number then I will organise a second visit, but I do ask that you stick to your commitment please. For those interested please register your intention with me on 01296 714232 or you can e-mail at dennis@sailor368.plus.com or drop me a line at 3 Verney Farm Close, East Claydon, Bucks MK18 2NN
Thank are extended to all those at Aldon for a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable day, and for allowing us such close scrutiny of the equipment while the cars were being worked upon.
Dennis Wharf
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MG Rolling road shoot out 18th October 2008 Results
Friday
Owner's name Dennis Wharf
Car/ Registration number MGB V8 VGJ 94M [owned car for one year]
Engine type/capacity 3500cc
Modifications 123 dizzy, ITG air cleaner, tubular manifold, bigger radiator
Owner’s expected power 138bhp @ 5000rpm
Actual power output 130bhp@4000rpm
Owner’s comments Insert your own comments, Dennis !
R/R operative’s comments Improvement mid range from change in needles, still needs work to sort out lean mixture/misfire above 4250rpm. Timing 15 degrees at 1000rpm 30 max with 123 dizzy. BL figures with standard dizzy, 10 degrees at 1000rpm and 33-36 max advance
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Sat
Owner's name Roland Alcock
Car/registration number Midget Mk 3 EKA 889K [bought car on e-bay a year
ago]
Engine type/capacity 1275cc
Modifications Single HIF 44, LCB, very nice shaped 60mm trumpet with no air cleaner
Owner’s expected power 65bhp
Actual power output 76bhp @4837rpm
Owner’s comments Very pleased!
R/R operative’s comments Rich on idle with 15 degrees advance, 33 max advance. Mixture a shade lean on half throttle, good power and torque
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Owner's name Roy Cole
Car/Registration number Mk 1 Sprite [IOW] FUE 317 Owned car for 5 years, lives nearby and kindly brought food for us all, what a very nice man]
Engine type/capacity 1330cc
Modifications HIF44 carb/K&N, Metro head, 5speed box, LCB
Owner’s expected power Not a clue!
Actual power output 58bhp @ 3685rpm
Owner’s comments Enlightening; I will book it in on the Aldon rollers
to correct fuelling at top end in very near future.
R/R operative’s comments 2 degrees ATDC degrees @ idle, 27BTDC max
advance. Mixture very lean causes no power/misfire over 3700rpm
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Owner's name Ken Harris [has owned car for 16 years]
Car/ Registration number Mk 1 Sprite [IOW] 943 HAC [appropriate Warwickshire
reg for a Donald Healey inspired car]
Engine type/capacity 1275cc
Modifications Mini GT head, Kent mild road cam [266?], 1.5 rockers,LCB, Toyota 5speed box, LSD
Owner’s expected power 72/3 bhp
Actual power output 73bhp @ 5472rpm
Owner’s comments Glad it is all over!
R/R operative’s comments 39 degrees max advance; too much. Reduced it to 32 degrees. Pretty good power, mixtures good
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Owner's name Anthony Cutler [competes in Luffield MG speed championship]
Car/registration number Midget Mk 3, BRB 183L [owned car since 1977]
Engine type/capacity K series 1796cc [with Emerald ECU] fitted by owner in 2002
Modifications Ford series 9 five speed gearbox
Owner’s expected power 126bhp
Actual power output 141bhp @5229 rpm, torque 161lb/ft @3200rpm
Owner’s comments Very pleased; glad I did it, torque figure staggering
R/R operative’s comments Max power quite low down, power was increased from 135bhp with 8% more fuel and 2 degrees more advance above 5,000,could do with a good mapping session to optimise fuelling/timing throughout the range
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Owner's name Dave Storer [Midget register secretary]
Car/Registration number 1500 Midget RUF 585R [owned car since 1980]
Engine type/capacity Triumph 1500 engine bought as seen from a shed at Midland Classic Restorations, Ombersley not long ago after old engine failed
Modifications Tubular exhaust
Owner’s expected power 68bhp
Actual power output 76bhp@4945rpm
Owner’s comments Better than I thought it would be [with a big smile on his face]
R/R operative’s comments Timing TDC at idle, max 14 degrees advance gave 72 bhp, changed to 23 degrees advance go give 76bhp; very good power from a standard engine
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Owner's name Nigel Pratt [races a Midget in class B MGCC series]
Car/ Registration number MGB SBG 758F [has owned car for 11 years]
Engine type/capacity B series 1798cc [built by himself several years ago]
Modifications 717 Kent cam [280/280 degrees] K&N, LCB, single box exhaust,
needles number 5 I think !
Owner’s expected power No idea
Actual power output 96bhp@ 5034rpm
Owner’s comments Very pleased and that it did not blow up
R/R operative’s comments 35 degrees max advance changed to 32 degrees and power dropped 5bhp. Very good for an 1800 with the mods done, bit of a power dip at 2200 as expected with this cam with longish duration and .440 valve lift
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Owner's name Bob Welch [involved with MGCC website and does classic regulation
rallies in the car]
Car/registration number MGA EAS 854 [Scottish registration]
Engine type/capacity B series 1600cc
Modifications Weber 45 DCOE with K&N filter, fast road cam, unknown
duration.
Owner’s expected power 75bhp
Actual power output 74bhp @4288rpm
Owner’s comments Well worth the effort to find out the fault with the dizzy; pleased fuelling I set myself is OK, found out rear N/S rear wheel is wobbly. I will get Aldon to rebuild the dizzy very soon.
R/R operative’s comments 45 degrees max advance which was changed to 36 degrees to give 74bhp. Another run with throttle adjusted to give full opening produced only 71 bhp. Timing checked and found to have mysteriously changed to 42 degrees even though dizzy had not moved. Something wrong with dizzy plate/internals
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Owner's name Tim Dalton
Car/Registration number Sprite Mk 3 RMV 44F [registered in 1967 but has 1970 shell]
Engine type/capacity K series 1800cc; [emerald ECU] fitted by owner two years ago
Modifications Big valve head, 285 cams, Ford type 9 five speed box, 14 inch road wheels
Owner’s expected power 150bhp
Actual power output 180bhp@6910rpm; 136lb/ft torque @5800
Owner’s comments A lot more power than I thought, pleased with increase in power and torque in very short time available on rollers.
R/R operative’s comments Very good power, power up by 10bhp and torque increased by 33% at 3300rpm point by adding 8% more fuel and 2% more advance. More mapping would optimise settings
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Owner's name Will Munns
Car/ Registration number Midget KEH 584V [owned for five years]
Engine type/capacity K series 1600cc fitted in Sept 2008 by owner [ with Rover ECU not reprogrammable]
Modifications Ford type 9 five speed gearbox
Owner’s expected power 110bhp
Actual power output 124bhp@5850rpm
Owner’s comments Very pleased with it, power curve looks about the right shape
R/R operative’s comments Very good for standard 1600 K series
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Owner's name John Hoptroff [works for Rolls Royce as aero engineer]
Car/registration number Midget JVK 389L [owned for 14 years]
Engine type/capacity K series 1600cc fitted by owner 3 years ago
Modifications Emerald ECU
Owner’s expected power 124bhp same as Will Munn’s car
Actual power output 100bhp @ 5252rpm
Owner’s comments The power reading explains why it did not seem a major difference from my A series engine. I will check cam timing and/or change cams
R/R operative’s comments Engine sounded not quite right, removal of a small ball of insulating tape blocking the air intake found another 6bhp. Engine did not respond to any changes in fuelling/timing; suspect possible incorrect cam timing or faulty sensor or fuel pressure.
The following four Minis from the Malvern Hilltop Mini Club just had a power plot/reading with no check on timing/fuelling
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Owner's name Mike Crook but car brought by Richard Judge
Car/Registration number Mini EDE 893D
Engine type/capacity 1330cc [recently a supercharger has been removed plus compression plate but new C/R not known; guess at 10.0 to 1 ]?
Modifications Stage 3 or 4 head, 35/29 valves, Aldon dizzy, Swiftune W5 cam, about 276 duration
Owner’s expected power Maybe 90bhp
Actual power output 85bhp@5345rpm
Owner’s comments Owner needs to measure C/R
R/R operative’s comments Not bad power but felt a bit flat, investigate C/R.
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Owner's name Rob Norman
Car/ Registration number Mini Y 568 GFG
Engine type/capacity 1275cc
Modifications John Cooper S works conversion with modified head, exhaust
Owners expected power 55-60 bhp as not running that well at the moment
Actual power output 79bhp@ 5344rpm
Owner’s comments Needs setting up as according to John Cooper should give 90bhp
R/R operative’s comments Smoke detected @ 5,000rpm, suspect fault in ignition/fuelling
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Owner's name Tim Dyer
Car/registration number Mini P2 HFW
Engine type/capacity 1275cc with multi point injection
Modifications K&N, Play Mini exhaust
Owner’s expected power no idea but standard is 61bhp I believe
Actual power output 62bhp@4684rpm
Owner’s comments Very good
R/R operative’s comments Spot on; these seats are more comfortable than my sofa !
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Owner's name Matt Warner
Car/Registration number Mini D 752 DFD
Engine type/capacity 1301cc [built by Sam Griffiths from Suckley Worcs, who was in attendance]
Modifications 276 Kent cam, 10.5-1 C/R MG Metro head, twin one and a quarter SU’s, Piper cross filter
Owner’s expected power 80 bhp at wheels
Actual power output 94bhp@5845 at flywheel [66bhp at wheels]
Owner’s comments Pleased with that [Sam Griffiths also felt it was OK]
R/R operative’s comments Pretty good
