Tuning A-Series Engines

The following chart gives comprehensive information on what each book contains
along with number of pages, dimensions, and author info and chapter contents.

                       

Book Part Number:

 B-01

Title:

 Tuning The A-Series Engine

Secondary Title:

 3rd edition, revised, updated & expanded printed September 1999

Author

 David Vizard 

Book Dimensions:

8.5" X 11"

# Pages:

520

Cover:

Hard

Text/Pictures:

B/W
Preview front and back cover:

          (click on image for enlargement)

Intro/Foreword

 By guest technical editors: Richard Longman, Keith Ripp, Steve Harris, Keith Dodd, David Mountain, Paul Ivey. Introduction titled:- "Where this book will take you"

Chapter 1:

The history of the A-Series engine - (p15-23)

Chapter 2:

 What it takes to make power - (p23-36)
Heat engine,  rating standards,  air density,  relating chassis and engine dyno results,  riding your own dyno,  power formulae,  working it out,   calculating drag strip potential.
Chapter 3: The 'A' Series engine; its performance prospects - (p37-40)
Chapter 4: Workshop practice. In a nut shell; get organized before you start! - (p41-44)
Chapter 5: Performance filtration - (p45-55)
Filter performance,  airflow,  cases,  standard filter cases - just how good?,  carb air entry,  calibration changes.
Chapter 6: Ram charging - (p57-72)
Ram pipe function,  ram tuning a single carb,  fuel flow, ram pipes and multi venturis, staying cool under pressure, pressure potential, the downside, pressure balance, cool power, cool air in practice, pressure V density.
Chapter 7: Part 1 - Carburation - (p73-86)
SU carbs,  downdraft Webers,  Fish carbs,  sidedraft Webers & Dellortos,  Weber IDA downdraft carbs,  carburation - how big?,  how much does the engine need?

Part 2 - Carburation - (p87-104)
Carburetor tuning,  tuning SU carbs,  tuning the 28/36 DCD Weber,  economy tuning the 28/36 Weber (also applies to 32/36 types),  tuning the fish carb.

Part 3 - Carburation - (p105-122)
Sidedraft carbs,  making sidedrafts work,  sizing,  jetting,   accelerator pump jet,  idle/progression circuits, modifying SU's.

Part 4 - Carburation - (p123-131)
Carb comparisons,  economy carburation,  pressure regulator,  valves,   fuel pumps, 

Chapter 8: Part 1 - Intake manifolds - (p132-141)
Design criteria,  single SU intake manifold,  after market manifolds.

Part 2 - Intake manifolds - (p142-155)
Dyno time,  to date we have learned...,  getting the most from a single SU intake, progressive Weber manifolds, Reece Fish intake manifold, one barrel Weber induction, double barrel induction.

Part 3 - Intake manifolds - (p156-165)
Induction system length,  additional power producers, split twins,  manifold matching,  twin SU's,   the VS1 manifold (sorry it never went into production!),  IDA Weber manifolds.
Chapter 9: Part 1 - Cylinder heads - (p166-179)
It pays to know what's available,  modifying cylinder heads,  valve ratios,   porting basics,  port priorities,  simple porting  modifications,   combustion chambers.

Part 2 - Cylinder heads - (p180-211)
Closed chamber heads,  getting down to some serious head modifying,  testing, getting realistic results, intake port,  anti-pollution heads, push rod clearance, valve shapes for airflow,  the importance of valve seat design, the relative importance of seats and ports, cutting the margin, 30 degree valve seat evaluation, seat angles - the pros and cons, turning flow into power, combustion chambers,  exhaust.

Part 3 - Cylinder heads  - (p212-229)
Valve shapes,  valve seats,  end exhaust ports,  modifying small bore open chamber heads,  modifying closed chamber heads,  raising the compression ratio,   compression ratios - how much or how little?,  determining engine compression ratio, fuel octane, associated detonation factors.

Part 4 - Cylinder heads - (p230-243)
Valve guides and compression,  heads for economy, exotic heads, so you want to do your own heads?  four valve heads, Jack Knight 16 valver, exotic 5 port mods.,drawing the right conclusions.
Chapter 10: Part 1 - Exhaust systems - (p244-255)
Pumping losses,  more power losses,  effects of cam timing,  sizing,   pipe lengths,  pressure wave tuning  in practice...,  exhaust manifold power gains, mirror images.

Part 2 - Exhaust systems - (p256-278)
Systems for hot motors,  megaphones,  8 port exhaust systems,  pipe diameters,  system style,  pipe lengths,  eliminating noise,  testing some systems,  for the track,  back pressure and economy.
Chapter 11: Part 1 -  Camshafts, cam timing & valve trains - (p279-293)
In particular,  choosing the numbers,   cam advance/retard, production road cams.

Part 2 - Camshafts, cam timing & valve trains  - (p294-317)
The 286 Megadyn,  the 266 Megadyn,  APT/Crane Cams,  Scatter Pattern Cams,  10 steps to successfully spec. a cam for maximum engine output,  valve trains for power and torque,  calculating the lobe centre line angle.

Part 3 - Camshafts, cam timing & valve trains - (p318-341)
Springs & retainers,  rockers,  high lift rockers,  roller rockers,  rocker shaft spacers,  rocker shafts and pillars,  pushrods,  tappet clearances,  using short push rods,  valve train geometry,  cam followers,  camshaft drives,  setting the cam timing,  variable timing cam drives,  the vernier gear.
Chapter 12: Forced induction - (p342-361)
Turbocharging and supercharging: the differences,  suck through versus blow through,   turbo sizing and matching, Leyland's turbo Metro,  freer breathing,  blow through sidedraft,  reliability,  power and potential,  turbos and silencers,  more power - same boost,  positive displacement supercharger,   matching components.
Chapter 13: Part 1 -  Blocks, cranks, rods & pistons - (p362-375)  
Pistons,  big bore pistons,  blocks,  piston crowns - critical configurations,  blocks,  block preparation,  centre main bearings,  block machining  accuracy.

Part 2 - Blocks, cranks, rods & pistons - (p376-388)
Connecting rods,  big bore rods,  connecting rod lightening,  rod bolts,   alternative rods,  light weight engine internals,  crankshafts,  ARP bolts and studs,  important fastener tech.

Part 3 - Blocks, cranks, rods & pistons - (p389-401)
Improving the crankshaft,  resisting fatigue,  crank modifications,  crank lubrication,  bearings,  balancing.
Chapter 14: Part 1 - Big motors - (p402-412)  
Stroking small bore motors,  results,  bigger big bore blocks,  stroking 1275's,  keeping it all together,  flywheel removal,  dampers for strokers.

Part 2 - Blocks, cranks, rods & pistons - (p413-419)
Power potential,  pros and cons on the numbers game,  conclusions.
Chapter 15: Lubrication systems and oils - (p420-428)  
Pump capacity,  oil pressure,  oil coolers,  crank case ventilation,   turbo motors.
Chapter 16: Part 1 - Ignition systems - (p429-438)
Spark plugs,  visual heat checks,  electrical considerations,  resistor plugs,  ignition cables,  contact breakers,  spark scatter,  10 ounce points & long pin back plates,   distributor bearing modification.

Part 2 - Ignition systems - (p439-454)
Electronic ignition,  identifying,  plugs & coils,  hot sparks,  spark time,  short spark duration, ignition installation,  advance curves,  'S' distributors - what are they good for?,  A+ series distributors,  ignition for forced induction.
Chapter 17: Bolt-on mods - (p455-460)
Finding the weak link,  bolt on potential,  super power bolt-ons.
Chapter 18: Part 1 - Example engine builds - (p461-465)
Hot rod 850,  850 Mini-Xer,  850 Mini Rod,  850 Mini 7 racer.

Part 2 - Example engine builds - (p466-474)
The 948 engine,  998's for the road,  Mini Miglia engines,  1098 engines,   Metro Challenge,  SCCA1275,  1300 special saloons,  hot street and cheater motors.
Chapter 19: Part 1 - Nitrous oxide injection - (p475-479)
What is nitrous oxide,  power production,  practicalities,  power in practice.

Part 2 - Nitrous oxide injection - (p480-495)
Systems operation,  power & efficiency,  bottle mounting,  building a nitrous motor,  ignition requirements,  firing methods.

Part 3 - Nitrous oxide injection - (p496-500)
Nitrous oxide assisted turbos,  nitrous oxide assisted turbo installation,  nitrous oxide intercooler.
Chapter 20: Water pumps, radiators & ancillaries - (p501-506)
Thermostats,  water pumps,  radiators,  fans,  ancillaries
Chapter 21: Economy - (p507-514)
Air filters,  which carb,  intake manifolds,  cylinder heads,   compression ratio,  bottom end mods,  exhaust system,  cams for economy,  ignition systems,  operating conditions,  monitoring MPG
Chapter 22: Dyno tuning - (p515-518)
Dyno test procedure

Useful addresses (p519)
Author details: As the author of over 30 books on tuning different engines David Vizard is without doubt the best known motoring writer around the world.
In addition to books, he is also author of over 3000 magazine articles that have been written for more than 30 different publications.
He presently lives in Tobago with his family, and is still involved with writing books and magazine articles. In addition, his research work takes him into the world of space age materials and design with work involving special multi-composite, polymer and carbon fibre materials.
Publisher details: J.H. Haynes & Co Ltd. (3rd edition, revised, updated & expanded)