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pchristy
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1790 Posts

Posted - 05 Jun 2011 :  12:35:48 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Whilst rummaging around in my shed yesterday, looking for the circuits for my CD ignition systems (see projects: White 95), I stumbled across the sales brochure from SAH!

Back in the early 70's, when I had my first 96, I took it up to their place at Leighton Buzzard and had their basic tuning kit fitted. This comprised a Weber 28/36 sitting on a manifold adapter and a twin exhaust system. The improvement in performance was dramatic, to put it mildly!

Amongst the paperwork was a reprint of a road test done by "Cars and Car Conversions" in November 1970! Here's a scan of it:









According to the figures on the last page, the 0-60 time came down from 21 secs to 12.3! And the 0-70 time came down from 29 secs to 15.5!!!

And all this without touching the engine internally at all!

By the time I had mine done, they'd stopped using the Nikki carb used in the test, and were offering the Weber 28/36 instead, which offered even (marginally) better performance!

I took mine up to Leighton Buzzard and left it with them whilst I wandered around the town all day - returning late afternoon to pick it up.

According to the price list, the total cost of the conversion plus fitting and road testing was a princely £104!!!

Mind you, I'm not sure about the road test. When I got mine home I discovered that the throttle wasn't opening fully - a common problem with the Webers, and something I covered in a thread on here a while ago!

But before everyone starts weeping at the apparent bargain price of the conversion, just remember that in 1971 I was earning about £800 a year, and a brand new SAAB 96 cost about £950!

But they were happy days!



--
Pete
"Duct tape is like the Force: It has a light side and a dark side, and it binds the Universe together!"

Woody
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
2758 Posts

Posted - 05 Jun 2011 :  18:52:56 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Still got my copy too!!
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GeoffC
V4 Mad

United Kingdom
507 Posts

Posted - 05 Jun 2011 :  21:19:34 Show Profile Reply with Quote
And mine!!

My brother had the Niki carb on his 96 and I opted for the 28/36 weber which I reckoned was quicker! The Niki carb had the window in the float chamber which I always thought was strange, but I suppose it was easy to check your float level!
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rhampsheir
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
235 Posts

Posted - 06 Jun 2011 :  10:53:04 Show Profile Reply with Quote
How much difference does a pancake air filter make. Mine has a twin choke solex carb with a double barrel inlet manifold and a powerflex stainless steel exhaust fitted, but a standard air filter.
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pchristy
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1790 Posts

Posted - 06 Jun 2011 :  16:14:58 Show Profile Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by rhampsheir
How much difference does a pancake air filter make. Mine has a twin choke solex carb with a double barrel inlet manifold and a powerflex stainless steel exhaust fitted, but a standard air filter.



Minimal, I think! The twin choke carb makes quit a difference, but the standard exhaust pretty effectively strangles the engine. Ford did this with the old Zephyrs back in the 50s, because they thought the engines were too powerful for Joe Public!

A combination of a twin choke and some kind of unrestricted exhaust makes a substantial difference!

I'm not familiar with the Powerflex. Is that a replica of the standard one, but in stainless?



--
Pete
"Duct tape is like the Force: It has a light side and a dark side, and it binds the Universe together!"
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rhampsheir
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
235 Posts

Posted - 07 Jun 2011 :  11:55:24 Show Profile Reply with Quote
It's some sort of sport exhaust similar to a Jetex I think, although it does look a bit of a bitsa! The previous owner had it built up. Not sure why he didn't have a Jetex fitted as i don't think it was cheap. Makes a good noise though!
Would like a bit more power though especially on hills, even leaning forwards doesn't help!
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rsimps
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1616 Posts

Posted - 08 Jun 2011 :  07:46:23 Show Profile Reply with Quote
The solex set up with air box should be good enough for over 100 bhp. Mine had slightly richer jetting than my friends 1980 std Swedish car and my little beast at the time left his for dead. In fact it did with a std exhaust against his with the same carb and a Jetex. I built my own system like the SAH with a single exhaust pipe and then it reved out to valve bounce. You can get a free flow filter in the solex tin air box, which is better than a pancake as you can spin it to get the correct inlet air temp in winter.
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rhampsheir
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
235 Posts

Posted - 08 Jun 2011 :  12:45:32 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Which air filter would you recommend?
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pchristy
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1790 Posts

Posted - 08 Jun 2011 :  14:52:20 Show Profile Reply with Quote
My current car came with an ITG filter. It seems to work well, being much "finer" than the wire-wool pancake that SAH fitted to my original car. Being sponge plastic, its also "compressible" to a degree, so it won't rattle against the bonnet if your installation is a bit tall!

--
Pete
"Duct tape is like the Force: It has a light side and a dark side, and it binds the Universe together!"
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rhampsheir
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
235 Posts

Posted - 08 Jun 2011 :  15:33:45 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Thanks Pete, I think Richard is saying I can get a free flow filter that will fit the standard air box.
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rsimps
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1616 Posts

Posted - 10 Jun 2011 :  07:34:36 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Mine was a modified foam item, but you should be able to find one that fits. You need to find which cars used the same filter, or just contact some of the filter manufacturers with the dimensions and see what they turn up.
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GeoffC
V4 Mad

United Kingdom
507 Posts

Posted - 10 Jun 2011 :  08:52:22 Show Profile Reply with Quote
I used a std 96 metal filter with the sides and trumpet cut out to give greater air flow (left a bit at the front to stop water splashes through the grille) and a K&N filter which you can buy at that diameter. New drillings and a bigger cut out in the base plate enabled it to fit the top of the Weber 40DFI I had on my rally car.

Sorry about the state of the engine the poor car had been in storage for over 10 years!





Just found the "Yump for Joy" Autocar article that inspired me in the first place - Simo's '69 RAC winner




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rhampsheir
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
235 Posts

Posted - 13 Jun 2011 :  10:14:47 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Thanks chaps, I will start looking round for a suitable filter.
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