[DMCForum] Towing a DMC-12 [was:] Help, Andrei's Fallen Into the HP Trap [Slightly T]

["Farrar Russell Carroll Hudkins" <fhudkins@xxxxxxx>]

Bill:
 
That having been said, do you think I could pull a DMC-12 with my 3.0L
Ranger? (I'd be using one of those "dollies" which allow it to go on
two wheels.) I forget the tongue weight - the manual's in the glovebox
right now and I'm at work. How much does a DeLorean weigh? 2700+ lbs
IIRC ... any more precise figures out there?
 
Farrar

      -----Original Message----- 
      From: content22207 [mailto:brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx] 
      Sent: Mon 1/12/2004 3:22 PM 
      To: DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
      Cc: 
      Subject: [DMCForum] Re: Help, Andrei's Fallen Into the HP Trap
[Slightly T]
      
      

      Andrei, Andrei, Andrei -- don't fall into the HP trap.
      
      Horsepower is calculated from 2 numbers: Torque and RPM's. An
engine
      that "only" produces a couple hundred HP, but does so at low
RPM's, is
      MUCH more powerful than an engine rated even higher at high
RPM's.
      
      Consider a semi trailer tractor. "Only" puts out 300-400 HP.
But it
      does so at 1,500 RPM. Do you suppose your Porsche -- with the
same HP
      rating -- could pull 80,000 lbs as that tractor does? The
answer is of
      course "no" because it would never be able to rev anywhere
near its
      power band (actually it would stall the minute you let the
clutch out).
      
      Domestic big blocks have tremendous torque -- 3 or 4 times as
much as
      a little sports car engine. That's why you see people towing
boats and
      trailers with a Cadillac, but never a Honda.
      
      FYI: HP = Torque x RPM / 5252.
      
      The 450 HP rating of your 454 is probably a gross number,
calculated
      out of the vehicle with no accessories on the front. That's
the way
      American manufacturers did it in the 1960s. Actual net HP in
the car
      averaged a hundred ponies or so lower. Domestic manufacturers
switched
      to net HP ratings at the same time they dropped compression
ratios --
      lower compression does lower HP, but not as badly as the 1972
numbers
      make it appear.
      
      If you're having problems with the 454 in your boat, consider
a Ford
      460. I know it's a popular marine application.
      
      Bill Robertson
      #5939
      
      >--- In DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Andrei Cular"
<andreic@xxxx> wrote:
      > I'll have a charged battery and fuel waiting for your
arrival.  I would
      > really like to run the engine a little, it has been about a
year since I
      > even turned it over.  But I did poor some mystery oil into
the
      cylinders.
      >
      > 1200lb of steel is a bit much considering it only puts out
450hp.  A
      Porsche
      > 944 can run 350hp for 200k miles with no problem and the
block and head
      > can't weigh more than 120lb.  Its only 200k cause the car
isn't that old
      > yet.
      >
      > Andrei
      >
      >
      > ----- Original Message -----
      > From: "content22207" <brobertson@xxxx>
      > To: <DMCForum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
      > Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 1:06 PM
      > Subject: [DMCForum] Re: Fixing Andrei's Engine [OT]
      >
      >
      > > I can fix that...
      > >
      > > Seriously, my biggest objection to 1970's emissions is the
Rube
      > > Goldberg way manufacturers went about it. Studying one of
those vacuum
      > > diagrams gives me a headache. All it takes is one leaking
check or
      > > delay valve to render the car undriveable. Ford used both
hot and cold
      > > ported vacuum switches, and woe to the owner who got them
backwards.
      > > Just give me one vacuum line (ported from the carburetor)
straight to
      > > my distributor and I'm happy.
      > >
      > > If the old model engines upset Uncle Sam so much,
manufacturers should
      > > have put them to rest rather than strangling them with all
this add on
      > > crap.
      > >
      > > On the plus side -- it is very easy to remove it all and
return an
      > > engine back to its original design (less square bore carb,
flat top
      > > pistons, and low/closed chamber heads of course).
      > >
      > > I also plug the EGR port, which after 100,000 miles has so
much soot
      > > and carbon built up as to basically have plugged itself
anyway.
      > >
      > > Breakerless ignition *IS* cool. I converted my 1969 model
engine to a
      > > neat little unit Pertronix puts out. Mounts inside the
distributor
      > > where the points used to be. Allowed me to keep the
original advance
      > > curve, which is probably the only aspect of that engine
that could
      > > make Martin happy.
      > >
      > > Re: excessive metal in big blocks -- you're not supposed
to be able to
      > > hold one up towards the sun and see light shining
though...
      > >
      > > Bill Robertson
      > > #5939
      
      
      
      
      Yahoo! Groups Links
      
      To visit your group on the web, go to:
       http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DMCForum/
      
      To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
       DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      
      Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
       http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
      
      
      



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yahoo! Groups Sponsor

ADVERTISEMENT

---

Yahoo! Groups Links

• To visit your group on the web, go to:
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DMCForum/
   
• To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
  DMCForum-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
• Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.