Go Faster Manta by William R Blankley

more by William Blankley

From time to time I am asked how to make a car go better, as good as my best one, or even better. I can make myself quite unpopular by replying "learn how to look after it properly, yourself" only when perfect should a car be tuned or modified. Spend the money on making it right.

Tyres

The A is tyre critical. I have found that Continentals or Uniroyals work well. The trick is to find them at the right price.

Brakes

After sticking comes stopping and the brake fluid is the easiest brake tweak. Standard brakes in perfect order are good for the most laxative of burn ups if Castrol Racing Brake Fluid is used. When I used this in a road Manta the brakes got a monthly bleed, just a drop or two from each corner. Watch out for the brown gunge by the way, it can mean the seals have cooked.

If you can afford vented disks all well and good but insurance companies make me feel like a criminal lunatic every time the magic word modified is mentioned. The current problem seems to be carbs.

Carburation

As Solex carbs and spare parts are a little difficult and people seem to come unstuck rebuilding them it seems easier to bolt on a replacement thus becoming an insurance criminal. You don’t go any faster (except through the petrol money). Simple go faster is first perfect ignition; this can be good for much better acceleration. I designed and built myself a very powerful capacitor discharge system. Plugs AC Delco or Bosch Platinum (if you can get them) but don’t expect them to last, throw them out at six thousand miles.

Cylinder Head

Next strip, clean, and reassemble the engine. Or at least give it a decoke. The inlet ports get gunge in them; all the new carbs in the world cant do any good if the ports are strangled by carbon. Likewise a two-inch exhaust is wasted. (Oh the Money.’). When the head is off check that the camshaft still has those funny lumps (lobes). If in doubt change. Fit Kent Cams springs, these will give a few more revs at the traffic light Grand Prix.

Free Lunch

Remember that there is no free lunch. If power is the goal, go V8. Make the little things right. All the small tweaks add up to a lot if you get it right. Above all, if you ever have a run in with one of those so called motor engineers who go around being nasty to us all on behalf of the insurance companies they will be hard put to it to catch you out.

William R Blankley

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