Italian Tuneup & HID Kits
05-23-2010, 01:48 PM
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Italian Tuneup & HID Kits
Alright, I get the concept of an italian tuneup, to heat up the engine and exhaust enough to burn up carbon. But, I have only heard of people doing this moving. Well, couldn't you do this while in park? Just hold the throttle down, near the redline for a few moments? Also, I have another question (surprise, surprise),I have weeded through all of the threads, looking for info in HID kits, and I have gotten mixed answers. So, what I want to know is, if I were to want to go out and put HIDs on my Bonneville, I would have to buy a kit, and do what else? Thanks.
05-24-2010, 11:14 AM
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Alright, I get the concept of an italian tuneup, to heat up the engine and exhaust enough to burn up carbon. But, I have only heard of people doing this moving. Well, couldn't you do this while in park? Just hold the throttle down, near the redline for a few moments? Also, I have another question (surprise, surprise),I have weeded through all of the threads, looking for info in HID kits, and I have gotten mixed answers. So, what I want to know is, if I were to want to go out and put HIDs on my Bonneville, I would have to buy a kit, and do what else? Thanks.
You cannot do an italian tuneup while sitting in park. You won't use anywhere near as much fuel, and it won't get anywhere near as hot. That'* just a fact. Plus, you can't rev anywhere close to redline while in park. Just go out and try it; it will bounce off at 4000 rpm.
You remove the lense on the headlight housing, mask off the entire verticla reflector, and paint the bottom flat black to reduce ambient light shining up in oncoming drivers' faces. I described this procedure very thoroughly in another thread here very recently.
05-24-2010, 12:37 PM
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While blowing the carbon out once and awhile it good for any engine, it really for helps the Norhtstar engines that inherently burn oil and need a kick in the azz to seat the rings. Regardless of engine, revving them to high RPM'* without a load on them, (Dyno or road) will break things. Across the board. Dont do it.
05-24-2010, 01:29 PM
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From the XJS book:
The experience on the internet discussion lists indicate there is one sure-fire cure for knocking: the Italian Tune-Up. Get
the car fully warmed up, then while cruising along at about 60 mph, move the shifter into 2 and punch it. Hold the pedal
to the metal until somewhere close to redline, then let off and coast back to 60 -- and repeat. The first time or two, the
car will show its displeasure by stumbling and blowing great clouds of black smoke out the rear. After a few such
accelerations, the car will react much better to being punched, even feeling as though it is anxious to do it again, and
there will be no trace of smoke. Owners consistently report there is no longer any trace of engine knock either, and the
car runs better all around.
Obviously, an Italian Tune-Up wouldn’t be a good idea if the engine has serious mechanical faults such as fuel supply
problems, overheating problems, etc. It also wouldn’t be good to run it through a speed trap.
People think I’m makin’ this stuff up about the Italian Tune-Up. Bill de Creeft provides a quote from a British car
magazine after the HE engine came out: “...if one runs the car for not less than a working week of relatively gentle
driving, typically commuting with no longer journeys between, then, once properly warm, accelerates flat out, the engine
goes through a period between 4500 and 5000 rpm of loud detonation accompanied by pale but noticeable exhaust
smoke. You learn, after the first rather frightening occasion, to keep your foot down regardless, to accelerate through
35
the knocking which, together with the smoke, stops and doesn't return until after the next period of town running.
Jaguar,and Michael May, say that in gentle driving or with a lot of cold starts and short journeys combustion deposits
build up in the head and on the valves. On hard acceleration these deposits heat up and burn, causing detonation but
clearing, as they burn off into smoke. Jaguar says that in tests they conducted before the engine'* launch (in July '81) in
which such deposit-induced detonation was sustained artificially for long periods of hard running, showed no sign of
piston or head damage.”
the car fully warmed up, then while cruising along at about 60 mph, move the shifter into 2 and punch it. Hold the pedal
to the metal until somewhere close to redline, then let off and coast back to 60 -- and repeat. The first time or two, the
car will show its displeasure by stumbling and blowing great clouds of black smoke out the rear. After a few such
accelerations, the car will react much better to being punched, even feeling as though it is anxious to do it again, and
there will be no trace of smoke. Owners consistently report there is no longer any trace of engine knock either, and the
car runs better all around.
Obviously, an Italian Tune-Up wouldn’t be a good idea if the engine has serious mechanical faults such as fuel supply
problems, overheating problems, etc. It also wouldn’t be good to run it through a speed trap.
People think I’m makin’ this stuff up about the Italian Tune-Up. Bill de Creeft provides a quote from a British car
magazine after the HE engine came out: “...if one runs the car for not less than a working week of relatively gentle
driving, typically commuting with no longer journeys between, then, once properly warm, accelerates flat out, the engine
goes through a period between 4500 and 5000 rpm of loud detonation accompanied by pale but noticeable exhaust
smoke. You learn, after the first rather frightening occasion, to keep your foot down regardless, to accelerate through
35
the knocking which, together with the smoke, stops and doesn't return until after the next period of town running.
Jaguar,and Michael May, say that in gentle driving or with a lot of cold starts and short journeys combustion deposits
build up in the head and on the valves. On hard acceleration these deposits heat up and burn, causing detonation but
clearing, as they burn off into smoke. Jaguar says that in tests they conducted before the engine'* launch (in July '81) in
which such deposit-induced detonation was sustained artificially for long periods of hard running, showed no sign of
piston or head damage.”
05-24-2010, 01:36 PM
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Not to take you down here, but read up a bit on it. The italian car mechanics used to do this. They'd get expensive sports cars in for service, and take them out on a track after servicing them. That was the italian tuneup. To get the carbon that was built up burned out, and the car would run better afterward.
05-24-2010, 01:42 PM
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lol.
Thanks for clarifying that.
But on the same note, I suppose that'* why some of our cars run so well even though we beat on them...because we beat on them!
05-24-2010, 01:47 PM
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I once read an article about a guy that raced motorcycles. I believe he took a look at two identical motorcycles, one that he had broken in by driving it like it was stolen, and another that had been broken in according to factory specs. The one that was broken in according to factory specs had scratches in the piston walls and the one he rode flat out looked great.
Thought that was interesting and relevant.
Thought that was interesting and relevant.
05-24-2010, 02:27 PM
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I once read an article about a guy that raced motorcycles. I believe he took a look at two identical motorcycles, one that he had broken in by driving it like it was stolen, and another that had been broken in according to factory specs. The one that was broken in according to factory specs had scratches in the piston walls and the one he rode flat out looked great.
Thought that was interesting and relevant.
Thought that was interesting and relevant.
I did a compression test on the regal, which I have abused sine 61k miles. Currently have 216k on it. 3 of the cylinders were at 190 psi, one was at 186, and the other two were at 188. That'* a 2% difference on an engine that was beat the living hell out of.