Derek

Hi basically if the manifolds perform well and are drivable then I will offer them for sale. But there's a lot that has to happen before I get to that point! Derek

Well that's good to hear. Having never designed a manifold before I'm really guessing on a lot of this stuff. Now you guys have me chomping at the bit again for this thing. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in after the Hemi manifold. There's still so much to do after the castings are complete that at times it's a little daunting. I'm in the process of hanging a couple of servo motors on my lathe so I'll be able to automate some of the turning ops as well. It won't be a speed demon but it's better than me sitting there throwing levers! Derek

Hi Phar The balance tube is 1/2" ID so I hope it's enough volume for everything. I'm hoping the first manifold works right the first time but in all reality will probably need some mods. What ever I do to my manifold will be reflected in the patterns if and when I go into production. On the Hemi manifold that's $10,000 just for the patterns. That doesn't include the first actual casting or machine work! The person I'm doing the pattern for feels that there's enough of a market for him to recoup his money and then some. Pattern making is very laborious even with the CNC machines. I use a variety of plastics in my patterns depending on the usage. Some epoxies some PCV. Derek

Your looking at $10,000 for the tooling which includes the top and bottom (cope and drag) patterns and three core boxes. The customer supplied the 3D model. Otherwise it would have been about $2500.00 more. There's a ton of work involved in making tooling. On a project like this you have to figure it's not going to work the first time and require some modifications. I'm not sure what the foundry is charging for the castings. Here's a shot of the one of the core box halves with a core that has been "blown". This sand is what will make the casting hollow. Derek

Hi Phar Well I've been working on a manifold just not mine! It's a paying job for an old hemi. Hopefully as soon as I'm done carving this I'll be getting back to my manifold. The CAD and Cam work is all done I just need to get enough free time to run it. There is a internal balance tube that runs through the manifold and has a boss on the rear manifold. I'll probably run a vacuum log for the booster and IAC. Not sure exactly where the MAP will pull from at this point. There's plenty of wall thickness to drill and tap anywhere on the manifolds. All of the bosses are going to be on the bottom of the manifolds. Derek

For me that is. I've been battling with this problem for years. In Florida I mainly run with the windows up and the air on so it hasn't been too much of a problem. But with the windows down and during down shifts it was getting pretty bad. I had made all the usual repairs. New weatherstripping, sealed the tail ights, checked for holes with a flashlight, etcetera etcetera. All to no avail. I then came across this post by Zs-ondabrain over on Classic Z “Here is one thing you can do. Get a smoke machine, a shop vacuum and some cardboard. Cut the card board to fit in the window opening with the window 1/4 of the way down. Cut a hole the size of the vacuum hose into the card board and slide the card board into the felt groove in the upper part of the window frame. Then tape the lower part of the cardboard to the upper part of the open window. Turn on the vacuum. Start the smoke machine and blow the smoke to the suspected areas and there ya go. Or have someone on the inside watching for the exact spot that the smoke comes in, while you're out side with the machine.†The only thing I changed was I was on the inside of the car and my buddy was on the outside working the smoke machine. As I laid in the back of of the car my thoughts quickly switched from wondering if I wasted $45.00 on the smoke machine to “ I hope I can get out of here alive†as I was immediately engulfed by smoke. Okay I know the smokes non toxic but it was a bit freaky! We aired out the car and decided to go for a more measured approach. This time I was able to spot the areas where the smoke was coming in. In my case it was the body seams between the rear body panel and the inner floor that were leaking. I had put a new rear body panel on the car years ago and didn't do a good enough job of sealing the seams. The biggest culprit was the very bottom seam. This is the one you see if you look under the car and follow the inside of the panel upward. This is also where the bumper brackets mount. Although this channel doesn't directly lead into the cabin, the ends are open and spill into the ¼ panels under the tail lights. It then became a game of sealing leaks and the re smoking the car. All told I found 3 minor and 1 major leaks that I probably never would have located without the smoke machine. Now's the time to buy one because of Halloween. The party stores all stock these things. This really works! Derek

This may sound lame but check the battery terminals. With all the rain we were getting you may have developed some corrosion between the post and the clamp. Derek

Wow Jeff that came out very nice. I really hope to see it before you split. Derek

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Nissan-GTR-on-Top-gear_172852.htm WOW! Derek

Wow Jeff that's really looking good! Heck the car looks tuff just in the black primer. How's the arms holding up? Derek

Sanden style compressor These are the lines from the compressor leading into the core support. Running across the front with the custom clearance bend for the fan! Drier with high pressure cut off switch. Hard lines running into passengers compartment. I should probably put some insulation on the low side line. I'll say it again. This A/C upgrade has been the best thing I've done for my Z since I converted from the flat tops to the SU's and that was done in 82. I can comfortably drive the car in the Florida heat. Derek

Very cool! Derek

USE THE OIL!!!!!! I just changed to Illuminas on my 73 and the front tubes were rusted in so badly that I had to make a puller to get them out. The drivers side was so bad that I ripped the threads off of the end of the shock, then pulled the shaft and piston out of the shock tube. I finally had to tig weld a steel plug in the old tube to pull with. Derek

Wow nice find! Unfortunately they appear to be in France. Now do that same search magic for a place in the states and I'll really be impressed! At this point I'll probably buy a couple of kits from the guy on ebay and see if the stuff works. If it does the job then I'll try and source a larger quantity if I go into production. Thanks Derek

It's amazing what you can find with a little digging! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tri-Power-Quadrajet-Carburetor-Throttle-Plate-Sealer_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33551QQihZ014QQitemZ330250253297QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW Alright now I'm sold on the sealer idea. Good enough for the "majors", good enough for me! And the data sheet from the MFG (I think) http://www.achesoncolloids.com/NR/rdonlyres/02BD7E6E-0BC8-41C3-93AC-EAA59144426A/0/Dag213.pdf I'll do some more digging and see if I can locate it in a little larger quantity. Derek

Check out this link to a patent. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5640942.html Scroll down to the description and it sheds a little light on it. Never heard of pre-sludging before. Derek

Aluminum against aluminum would be really sticky. Hot aluminum is even worse. The fact that I have aluminum against stainless will help. When I cut the plates on the angle jig the leading and trailing edges will have a chamferd edge that will aid in sealing. My plan is to get the best fit I can without the sealer. I'm then going to put the whole rig into an oven and let it heat soak. Then I'll check the fit and stick on the plates. At least that's the plan for now subject to change without warning! My client who makes the hot rod parts also told me about offsetting the throttle plate on the shaft. This lets the engine vacuum help seal the plate in the tube when it's closed. More stuff to chew on! Derek

If these products are hard then that could create problems on their own. My throttle tube is machined stainless. There really aren't any imperfections other than the ones I put in after the fact by mistake. I think my main problem is the inaccuracies in the machining of throttle plate. I talked to one of my clients who makes injection systems and carb parts for vintage hot rods. I described my angle jig for machining the throttle plates and he said that's exactly the way they did it. I guess for all practical purposes if I waxed up the throttle tube and painted the adhesive on the butterfly while it was closed then the adhesive/filler would stick to the plate and not the tube. This would create a sealed edge for sure. Derek

That looks like what Tony was talking about. The specs are certainly in line. Thanks Derek

Nothing much happening. Buried in work right now. But boy do I want it! Derek

Hi Joe Great looking setup! I'm casting my own ITB EFI manifold. I have an L28 with an E88 head. I'm trying to figure out my injector sizing and thought I had it nailed until I saw your post. The calculators I used are calling for a larger injector than the 14LB your using. I'm not quetioning your choice I'm wondering if I'm thinking a little too big. Can you give me a little info on how you made your choice? Thanks Derek

I've lived in Florida since 1968. I grew up here and learned to drive here. Rain and wet roads are a fact of life. The road conditions are poor and there's always one road or another under construction. If your only doing 5 over the speed limit you sure as hell better be in the right lane, so we don't consider 75 in a 70 speeding. A maneuver that you've made hundreds of times on wet roads before suddenly becomes an out of control spin for no apparent reason. It's happened to me a few times. It happened to my dad and he defined the description "slow and cautious". To me this would be tantamount to me criticizing some one in the north for loosing control of their car on a frozen road. We don't call it "Florida ice" for nothing. Jeff posted his experience here so people could gain from it, and because he wasn't contrite enough for some of you, some posters decided he was a menace to the roads. Most of you did it in ways that were guaranteed to elicit the types of strong responses you received. You can wrap it phrases like "tough love" or "trying to make you a better driver" but all it does is turn discussions into flamefests. Derek

Holy crap that's a little harsh. maybe you should try some decaf. One of the few times I wish I was a moderator! Derek

Hi Tony I'm absolutely not going to have any air gap on the butterflies. I can see the cumulative effect of a little gap on each one time six! I can also see the benefit of having the bleeder. I'm in a catch 22 situation on the butterfly jig. In order to make this manifold work I have to make the jig. If I go to the trouble of making the jig I might as well make the butterflies. I called Kinsler and they want $16.00 each for the butterflies. $96.00 is close to the tipping point anyway for me to MFG them. Can you go into a little more detail on this: Thanks Derek

Go with the vintage air kit. It replaces the heater and fan assembly. I'm running one in my 73. It's been in the 90's in Florida and it's cooling the car with no problems. Here's a link I posted on it. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=133709 Derek