[FC] Re;120 hp engine

[BobHelt at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/4/2006 2:21:48 PM US Mountain Standard Time,  
cber1944 at yahoo.com writes:

the  question I had was how can I wean my Greenbrier from 93% to 94 % octain 
to  just regular gas and his respone was it is hard to change over a 140 or 
160 hp  to just reg but a120 hp dose not have the harden valves and it can run 
on reg  gas.
What are you all think about this is it  bunk or is he right, need your input!



Hi Charles,
Nobody seems to have answered, so I will.
There are a few things you can do....
Deflash the cylinder heads to get the best cooling possible,
Use a water injection system
Retard the spark timing
lower the compression ratio
run larger main jets.
there are others but these come to mind
 
Concerning the 120 hp engine, I suppose you mean the 80 or 95 HP engines  
that will run on regular. This is because of their low CR and camshafts.
It has nothing to do with hardned valves or such. Hardened valves and/or  
seats are standard on all Corvairs. But these do not affect the ability to run  
on regular. Basically the higher hp engines have higher CRs (except the turbos  
engines) and thus require higher octane gas. It's just a fact of life. 
I hope that this helps.
Regards,
Bob Helt