I promise you this will be my last post on potential Monty power outputs chaps laugh2

However, this is a critical one!

Firstly, the following video has proved quite insightful:



Increadibly, this standard Caterham 420R made a whopping 224hp on the factory Caterham short runner inlet manifold evil

In the video, the owner confirms a 420R uses a stock 2.0 Duratec engine with just a set of fast road cams, stronger valve springs, and the short runner inlet Caterham use on all their 360, 420R, and even the bonkers supercharged 620R although in this case it's made from cast aluminiun rather than plastic. What the video teaches us is we now know with absolutely no head work a 420R can give as much as 224hp, it also proves Caterham's short runner inlet it not a restriction up to this power level, and will probably support a lot more.

Monty already recieved 180lb beehive valve springs when we went with the Phase 2 cams, and very soon he will also have very similar cams to a 420R too, so if I go with the Caterham short runner inlet Monty could make as much as 224hp! However, he's also soon to recieve the A.L Developments hand ported head with 1mm bigger valves and exhaust ports that have been opened up from 38mm to 40mm.

That 420R in the video enjoyed none of this port shaping work, it also operates on the standard sized valves and standard size 38mm exhaust ports, yet despite these disadvantages it is now proven a 420R can still deliver 224hp on that short runner Caterham inlet! So, if now factor in the additional 20hp my A.L Devevopments cylinder head should give, that would give Monty a potential 244hp shocked2

In theory, all I need to do to achieve Monty's true potential of 244hp is fit one of these Caterhan short runner inlets!

[Linked Image]

These Caterham inlets do come up for sale on the secondhand market from time to time as many 420R owners move to individual throttle bodies, there's actually one for sale on Ebay right now and its been sat there unsold for quite a long time too, athough it is plastic and ideally I'd likecan aluminium one. The shape of this inlet suits the tapperd bonnet lines of a Caterham, so it also looks like it would perfectly suit a Morgan perfectly too? I'd certainly be prepared to pay £350 for one just to test it back to back with my FF inlet.

However, I've spent enough already, so lets see what Monty makes on my 'curly wurly' Fusion Fabrications inlet first, but if it kills power to a degree that means I fail to hit at least 213hp, after watching the above video I think fitting a short runner caterham inlet is going to be a no-brainer. There's no question those short runners are'nt tbe best for torque but it is pretty much a cheap guaranteed way to take Monty over 220hp and without resorting to individual throttle bodies.

Saying all that, if I can achieve the following or better result on Monty's current long runner setup, I'll be more than happy with that thumbs

[Linked Image]

There's clearly going to be some sort of (as yet unqualified) trade-off between the excellent top end horsepower potential of the Caterham short runner inlet, and the lovely broad spread of torque the long runner Fusion Fabrication inlet is proven to deliver. However, just how much horsepower those long curved runners on the FF inlet will kill, is as yet unknown?

What I can tell you is... "I'm actually happy to trade as much as 25 horsepower at the top end, for 10 lbs/ft more torque that arrives way earlier and hangs on across a far wider rev band".

Dave.