Vernier Pulley - Pinto

[TheBean]

Hey Guys,

After the car being sat for a while over the chilly spell I got her out and fired her up. she was very lumpy to start up but got her going and all good.

I took her for a drive down the road and she seemed a bit more spritely than usual, I say a bit, a lot.... I got home, parked up and tried to fire her up again, was missing and all sorts but did finally start up... Something not right on start up yet more spritely when driving along... Interesting I thought...

Checked Timing and Cam belt. The belt had slipped a tooth from what I can make of it. New belt and tensioner later and she fires up smoothly but is back to her 'usual' power. Not sluggish but I now know there is more hiding somewhere.... 

My thought was that the valve timing would have been thrown out if they belt had slipped a tooth... Maybe this advance or retard of the valve timing had this affect? Would it be noticeable even if it was that?

This has now lead me to think about getting an adjustable Vernier to try and dig up the extra power again... What do people think about this as an option? Am I mad? Barking? Or could I be on to something?

 

Anyway, Thanks for reading and thank for any advice. 

Joe

[Bob Tucker]

The timing from a standard cam pulley is not likely to be the best all round setting.

My experience having vernier pulleys on a redtop is that once when the timing slipped on the inlet cam it became retarded. The engine was

totally flat. It did'nt misfire, but it had lost lots of power. Once I had reset it, the engine became more cammy, lots more grunt. Its an interference engine so I didnt experiment any more.

From the rolling road sessions I have had on several cars, the operators will always swing the cam pulley a little way in each direction,

to find the best setting. Generally a little advanced from standard will get more top end power at the expense of some lower torque, and the pinto is a non interference engine, so its safe to play a bit.