[tubman]

I will mention that I have a '51 Merc with a stock cam, massaged Edmunds heads, a 2GC, and Mallory dual point distributor in my '51 club coupe. This is also a heavy car. I had an Isky MAX-1 I was going to use, but after some discussion here and elsewhere, I decided to stick with the stock cam for this car. When I got it all installed and dialed in, I was completely satisfied with performance improvement over the rather tired stocker it replaced. This fall, when I was adjusting the automatic choke for better cold weather performance, I discovered that the throttle linkage was not opening the carburetor all the way. A modification to the linkage to allow the carburetor to open all the way made a surprising difference in performance. I went from being satisfied with the performance to actually being impressed with it.

The one thing about it is that revving much beyond 4000 RPM produces more noise, but not much more performance, The engine has a lot of torque, so much so that I can negotiate the "roundabouts" that are becoming more common around here without downshifting. BTW, the car has 3.55 rear-end gears, which are OK with the standard transmission. I am planning on installing an overdrive, and perhaps going to a 4.11 rear. With that combination, I would expect the performance to be even more impressive. The way it is now, the car will cruise all day at 65 with the revs at 2700. It will easily turn a lot more than that, but doesn't seem to be happy at those higher revs.