Dino 246 power increase/suspension bushings

Anyone experimented with the Dino engine in an attempt to liberate some more power?

I have already removed the air pump with its parasitic drain, tuned and synched all the Webers, but it doesn't seem like there is a hell of a lot more that can be done. Virtually no aftermarket parts that I can find.

Yet these same engines put out close to 300 hp in naturaly aspirated form in the Lancia Stratos. I know the head design is different, but I don't know what other changes were made. Even another 50 hp wopuld make a huge difference.

On another note, I need to change my suspension bushings. The rubber is dry and starting to crack. I'd love to go to urethane, but fear that ride quality will suffer. Any ideas?

 

Can't say anything sensible about it that is Dino specific but I have very good experiences with PU bushings.

Very smooth yet firm ride and they last a lifetime.

 

Doc.

Get the uprated compression pistons from superformance. 10.4:1 approx. That, plus some careful jetting of the carbs, and a really good mechanic, and you'll squeeze about 30 hp extra from the car. I'm making 180HP at the rear wheels with mine, figure 10-14% loss getting there is about 210 at the crank. Also will give you a nice flat torque curve.

I've annoyed a couple of 308 guys with my car being quicker than theirs.

I have the bushings from Mike at Superformance too. I'll check to see if they are urethane, I think they are.

My car is tight, but not brutal at all. Also consider new shocks and springs if you haven't already done so, that made a huge difference in my car.

And don't forget to check the thread about replacement turn signal lenses that I have going here. You might want to put a set into inventory, as they are impossible to find, and Verell is going to make us some.

www.superformance.co.uk I think.

Dave M.

 

Hi, Steven,

Is yours a US spec or Euro car? The road tests show that the Euro cars ran 0-100 mph in about 18 sec while the US cars took about 4 sec. longer. I don't know exactly what differences there were, but I believe the US cars had more retarded timing to meet emissions requirements. You may want to check your timing, as it has a profound effect on power.

My car is the black sheep of this list in that it has a Stratos induction system, and according to posts the intake manifolds are available. There's a link below:

My car also had its cams reground by the previous owner, and I know that cam timing can also affect power production.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72629&highlight=stratos
+induction+system+Dino

It may be of interest to compare rough acceleration numbers to see if your car seems to be performing up to manufacturer's specs. You can do that by replicating an acceleration run and comparing to the numbers in the car mags. I usually choose intervals that don't require shifting or starting from a stop, as it is unlikely you'll want to abuse your car like the road tester guy did.
60-80 mph is what works best for me, as it can be done without shifting and is long enough to minimize the effect of error. Do about half a dozen runs and average them. Start accelerating at 50 mph and use a stopwatch to time how long it takes for the speedo needle to go between 60 and 80. It's not exact, but it's close enough.

If you don't have any old road tests to check, I can look some up.

Jim

 

Then fellow in Italy hot rodding my Dino engine says he can get 230-240 hp out of my engine with 44mm carbs and the usual hot rod tricks. He did my 24-valve Stratos motor and it dyno'd at 292 hp. He said he could get 270-280 on a Dino but you have to change the exhaust manifold routing and to do that you need to put the alternator in a different spot. I have a Stratos Gr.4 gearbox with changeable drop gears and closer ratio main gears under the Dino motor so it should be a nice sleeper. I wish we could come up with a different set of drop gears for the normal Dino gearbox that would lower the top speed to 130 mph or so to help acceleration.

 

Road and Track got a 5.2 sec difference in their 0-60 and 0-80 times in their test of a 246GT in 1972. Their graph and other data show that this would have been in 3rd gear.

The only data I can find for my car are from back when I was doing a different technique, where I would hold a certain speed and start timing as I mashed the throttle. My car did 100-130 kph (62-81mph) in *fourth* gear in 5.2 sec, which is consistent with the Euro cars doing 60-80mph in the mid-4's (in third gear). My runs in my Pantera have shown that the running start times are about a third of a second faster than the start at constant speed times (2.6 vs 2.9--351 Cleveland), so this is again consistent.

Something else I forgot to mention. "Add lightness" by leaving your spare tire and wheel at home unless you are on your way to a concourse.

Jim

 

Oh yeah, I forgot a step too.

We switched to a Euro 3 lobe (cam) distributor.

It handles the timing advance much cleaner than the US version, I'm sure that had something to do with the power increase too.

I would guess an ignition change to something modern would help with spark, too.

 

I'm replacing all the bushings in Euro Dino #05082 with new ones from Dino.de. I also received front brake rotors from them and their products are very high quality.

I also thought about Urethane, and although they are very durable the ride would have suffered.

 

Does this mean that you've also physically removed the air injection nozzles that partially block the exhaust ports? It's not going to give you the 400 lb-ft torque you seek , but IMO they shouldn't be left in place if the air pump is not working.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

http://www.dino.de is 404 (not found) for me.

 

Any experience with removing air injectors?

zannos

 

The air injectors will come out easily. When I had my headers off, I removed the air injection manifold fitting and from the inside turned then pushed the injector out. I don't think it is possible to remove them without reaching from inside due to the twist needed to remove them.

I then installed some brass pipe thread caps to seal them off.

Richard
Dino #03510 GT USA

 

Try this site
http://www.dinoparts.de

 

Actually, I have more experience restoring air injection systems. The jpegs show what happens to a 308-2V air injector when just the air pump is disabled (the 308-2V nozzle should be a straight tube as shown in the figure). Don't take this as a recommendation to remove your air injection system, but, if the pump is disabled, it just doesn't make sense to leave the nozzle partially blocking the exhaust port IMO.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login