The Kalispec 1500 is a gutless wonder.
It's easy to get power out of it, anything you do is going to make it better, ie compression, cam, carbs (I recommend SU HS4), a real header... but.... BUT... keep in mind that the 1500 is a low RPM engine.
It's not happy much above 5000-5500 RPM; this is due primarily to the weight of that lump of a crankshaft.
There are a few things that you can do to improve reliability, I can post after you get into it, but no matter what you do it's RPM limited.
Probably the most important thing is to not over-cam it, the profile that works well in a high-revving small-crank 1300 may not be the best for your application.
Glen
--Previous Message--
: British car noob..apologies in advance. I
: am looking to build up my son's 1979
: Spitfire motor and while I'm good with
: old Chevy's etc..BL is new to me. His
: model is a California 1500 with 7 or so
: :1 compression and associated
: emissions. I understand the UK/EU model
: was about 9:1, better performance (will
: be losing the emissions). My thinking
: is to bore to 30 over, buy the
: "high compression" pistons 30
: over from Rimmer. The crank is likely
: good for a simple turn. Is the stock
: cam (new) appropriate? is there a
: different cam for increased compression
: motors? It has a weber
: intake/carb..stay with this or find the
: dual strombergs? Currently has a rather
: complex and cumbersome electronic
: ignition with vacuum "retard"
: (never heard of such a thing). Planning
: general head work surface, guides,
: etc..is the stock head/valve specs OK
: for this set up? Any
: help/pointers/pitfalls/stupid buttons
: would be greatly appreciated!
:
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