Reply to "Longchamp +100 HP"

Back to the +100HP(?). Last weekend it was time to drive it, to test it, was it a rocketship now? Not really. So far it's been disappointing.

The first trip I couldn't feel much difference, only that it spun its wheels more often, a good sign, damp roads. But when I got home I knew what to do, having read my own book (sorry). Ignition had just been set as per ICE's recommendations, 16 degrees initial and I set the ignition box to +12@3800. It definitely felt like too little too late, both by being slow and by backfiring a little bit. I tried to do +12@2800 (there are 16 different settings in the ICE-box), that helped, so I was right about needing to get earlier ignition. I would have to forget about the ICE recommendation and do the tuning as in my book. So I drove home, to get my pen and paper and timing light and 1/2" wrench. But parked outside and hot, it wouldn't start. Hhmm. You can't tune your car if the basic like starting and not overheating are not OK. So had to fix that first.

I'll spare you the details on fixing the hot start problem, but it involved dismantling starter and routing new wiring. Now the starter runs faster than ever. But rain had started, so no more tuning that weekend. To be continued...

One more thing that made the Longchamp feel slower than it should be was that I had no kick down anymore. Just raising the carb 5/8" eliminated the kick down, so I had to bend the rod in a few places.

So now it's ready to go tuning. Just need the time and weather to do it...