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I have a friend here with an M-37 that had the dilemma most of us face; how
to get these trucks moving fast enough and powerful enough without
doing a complete and expensive overhaul.The following three changes
made his M-37 a highway driving hill climbing daily driver.I was
impressed with it when I drove it as well.The same hills my M-43 took
in 2nd gear his took in third at a good clip.He's also getting 70 on
the highway.Try this:
1.He changed his stock cylinder head with one that had a smaller
combustion chamber.He dug through a number of salvage yards until he
found one from a similar civy engine (he can't remember what vehicle
it was from).He showed me the difference in the shallow depression in
each cylinder head.It was'nt very different but small enough to make
a bigger bang and add just enough extra power to make it more
responsive and powerful especially on the hills.
2.He has two condensors in the distributor! This helped with getting
a better spark and made starting a breeze.It used to crank two or
three times but now its
on the first try.Take two regular 12 volt condensors and piggyback
them together
with the same hookup.Unfortunately you have to drill into the
distributor face plate and the cap to make some room.But for some
reason it gets a hotter spark.
3.4:89 gears.Front and back is ideal but if you only have cash for
one set replace the rear gears and just unlock the front for highway
driving.This will effect your 4X4 performance but if you're just
driving it daily it won't be a problem.
He's not going to bother with upgrading the brakes and tires for the new speed
he'll just open it up on the highway and drive cautiously in the city.
This is what I had planned for the M-43 but I just don't have the
time do the change.Someone quicker and more wrench savy could do
it.Jim you're in luck he has another cylinder head that he found and
he's willing to sell it.If you're into it let me know.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jul 02 2000 - 23:51:27 PDT