Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote:
In reply to Harvey:
Yeah, one of the changes I would have made would be to add some ceramic coating to the exhaust and an intercooler so that the fun could continue during the summer while reducing the chances of damage due to heat soak and detonation.
If it weren't for OBDII compliance requirements, I'd probably also look at replacing the factory ECU.
There was a cold side mounting setup for the M45 that helped quite a bit with temps, but it does need some sort of additional cooling as well if you beat on it at all. It's probably better to just go turbo if you wanted to stay FI with the thing as you just don't get much power out of these. A small turbo setup will boost very quickly and still make more power than the M45.
wspohn
HalfDork
11/5/15 9:54 a.m.
My driving principal in car acquisition vis a vis the spousal factor has always been that it is easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Works for me - bought an MGC, a car SWMBO would never have approved, then restored it in our garage, ostensibly for the friend that was helping me, and put a big bow on it and a 'happy birthday' sign and gave it to her for her birthday. Still have the car (and the wife).
That M45 kit was designed to run 6 psi on a 1.6, 25 years ago. On a 1.8, the blower is already struggling at 6 psi. The "engine management" is crude. The cars suffer from high idle, rpm droop and make around 170 rwhp. It has no knock protection. Basically, that supercharger setup is a zero sum upgrade - it brings at least as many problems as it does benefits. If the car has a stock clutch, then it's right on the edge. The exhaust is not stock, with a tip that looks to be probably a Jackson Racing unit.
The good news is that the supercharger is easy to remove (you'll need to source a throttle cable bracket) and you can probably sell it for about the price of a black hardtop. The weak point of the 1996 leather cars is the leather - seats look good - and the occasional stuck oil pressure relief valve that trashes the engine.
