• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)

Ruddspeed Tri-Carb Set-up

Share this page

Patrick67BJ8

Patrick67BJ8

Obi Wan
Gold
Offline
Anyone have any/all information about these set-ups?
Anything else about the car engine mods?
Thanks
 
I'm pretty sure that they used 1-3/4" SUs. Camshaft profile and likely the ignition timing and/or advance was optomized. Not sure if the compression ratio was changed.

I "might" have a few pictures of a car I saw at a Cypress Gardens Healey Club show from about 1985. There was a running chassis (about to be restored, body already removed) that had the Rudd setup on it.
 
I would appreciate any photos!
I heard that they used the 1.75" HD6 carbs. I understand that the compression ration used required 100 octane. I don't know anything about what carb needles were used, etc. etc.
 
I'll have to do some digging, and then scanning, as those were pre-digital days /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

Even at that, I don't have any technical details about the car, or its history.

Whatever details I do know, must've been from reading any of the available Healey Marque history books available. If I get the time, I'll glance through the index of some of them looking for content on Ken Rudd.
 
There was a website for Ruddspeed earlier this year and they were selling manifolds, valve covers and I think cams, but it's now gone and typing in Ruddspeed takes you to "Brooklands".
 
Sometimes you just get lucky; these pictures were where I thought they were...

For more details on this car, you might try contacting the Tampa Bay Austin-Healey Club and see if they have the participant's list from the Cypress Gardens show held June 6-7-8, 1985.

BTW, that's a white BN6L-942 in the background (took 1st place for "Keep 'Em on the Road" and 3rd for "Modified Roadster").

ruddspeed_001.sized.jpg


ruddspeed_002.sized.jpg


ruddspeed_003.sized.jpg


ruddspeed_004.sized.jpg


Higher resolution shots are at: https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album08?page=5

Edit: I should add, that while the owner was somewhat "local" to the club, he drove the car to the show on the Saturday afternoon.

It was at this event that I met Paul Tsikuris, who was to do the bodywork on my car almost twenty (20) years later.
 
The setup was 3 SU HD6, some had special finned manifolds. The ignition and cam was also optimized and I think that the compression ratio was higher.
There is a very comprehensive write-up about the setup of a similar configuration regarding the carbs at a british healey club (see link: https://www.austinhealeyclub.co.uk/tech-tricarb.html). I am running the “good” setup for the DWR8 cam on my car with good results. I think it must come close to the Ruddspeed setup, which gave the engine about 175hp.
The Ruddspeed Website is offline, unfortunately, the manifolds appear at eBay once in a while.
By the way: There is a test of a Ruddspeed car in one of those Healey test collections (Austin Healey Ultimate Portfolio). In this feature, the car is running without air filters and with longer, finned manifolds. If I remember correctly, the setup is described well in this article.
 
Leibinger said:
The setup was 3 SU HD6, some had special finned manifolds. The ignition and cam was also optimized and I think that the compression ratio was higher.
There is a very comprehensive write-up about the setup of a similar configuration regarding the carbs at a british healey club (see link: https://www.austinhealeyclub.co.uk/tech-tricarb.html). I am running the “good” setup for the DWR8 cam on my car with good results. I think it must come close to the Ruddspeed setup, which gave the engine about 175hp.
The Ruddspeed Website is offline, unfortunately, the manifolds appear at eBay once in a while.
By the way: There is a test of a Ruddspeed car in one of those Healey test collections (Austin Healey Ultimate Portfolio). In this feature, the car is running without air filters and with longer, finned manifolds. If I remember correctly, the setup is described well in this article.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info and I'll be checking out what I've received. FYI: The "finned" manifolds were for RH drive cars.
 
Hi Patrick,

Only RHD cars had finned manifolds. LHD manifolds were of slightly different construction to clear the steering column. The carbs were 3 HD6. The camshaft used was similar to the MK2 profile.

John
 
Back
Top