Derek

Aw Jeff that really sucks. Is this going to affect your move? On the bright side you get to get rid of that Rustoleum roller job! Call me Monday if you get time. Derek

I'm controlling the idle with a IAC. The bores are 1.495. I just need to get through this one as I'm going to buy pre-made butterflies from Kinsler if I do any kind of production. They have a 1.523 as a stock size and they'll make any size you want. I'm also going to make everything work with their throttle arms and shafts. No need to reinvent the wheel. Their stuff has a really nice old school feel and will work well with the style. Derek

Yep I'm aware of the oval shape. If it's round it won't close as well and has the potential to stick. My problem is my mill isn't as fresh as it was when it was new. It has a little backlash and while perfect for pattern work trying to make a butterfly fit properly is a bit of a problem. I'm thinking of making a mandrel for the lathe that has a 14 degree face on it and 2 screw holes to hold the butterfly blank. I'll machine the blanks a little oversize in the mill and then screw them to the mandrel and make a finish pass with the lathe. This should also cut a knife edge on the leading and trailing edge of the butterfly. In theory this should work but of course we all know I live in theoryville! I wish I knew how much gap I could get away with but I figure it's easier to do it right and just be done with it. Derek

This is exactly how I describe my design concept to my friends. Like the "old CAN-AM cars" I guess I got pretty close then! Making the patterns for the rear manifolds aren't that big of a deal. All I do is mirror the design in the 3D program and add the additional bosses. Since there seems to be a fair amount of interest in this thing I'm making some changes so that the machining can be a little easier. The cost is going to be a little pricey. Most certainly more expensive than the TWM setups. But I like to think your getting a lot more for the money! Thanks again everyone for the kind words. It really does help on a large risky project like this. Derek

Luke.... trust your instincts in the 3d solids program. Alright, after looking at the pics again you made me go out and check with a square against the head. I'll have about 1/8" between the center horns. It sure looked like it was going to be collision city though. Because the throttle bodies come in at different angles along the horizontal plane, having horizontal shafts would be a real pain to machine. And besides I love the look of the linkage on the top. Repeat after me, form first function second! Derek

First off I know I could have picked a nicer head and valve cover but this is the best I could come up with. This is probably the last I'll be doing on the manifold for a month or so. I'm super busy right now and in this economy I better get while the gettings good. I will be doing the final design on the rear manifold in the meantime. Derek

Thanks guys. The biggest compliment you can get is someone interested in buying your product. I will be selling these assuming it works to my expectations. I will say though that it won't be a budget manifold. There's a lot of hand work that goes into this thing. Derek

Yea I can't wait to hear them run. At this time I don't have plans on streamlining the shafts. If I start producing these I may increase the shaft size to 5/16" diameter. this gives me more options on pre made components like levers and such. Derek

I think I have everything mocked up at this point. Here's a shot of the linkage with the throttle closed. And open This is just a practice butterfly. I need to make a jig for my lathe so I can make these as a turning operation. Milling them just isn't giving me the results I want. Say AHHHH And yes that is a giant step between the casting and the throttle tube. I have a fix for the next manifold. I just need to figure out what I'm doing on this one. This is the vacuum bleed for synchronizing the venturis. I need to lower the rear boss. Also the throttle shafts will be shorter. It looks a little shabby this way. At this point I think I have enough info to finalize the design for the rear manifold. Now all I need is time! Derek

Yea I looked at those. They're nice and if I had a manual mill I'd be all over it. With my CNC mill though it's just a two step process. I drill the through hole with a drill bit and then orbit in with a 3/8" end mill to cut the injector bore, o-ring pocket and injector clearance pocket. Ain't technology grand! Derek

Yea sure thing. I'll bring yours with me on Saturday! It's a good thing my customers don't read this forum. I've got about 10 other things I should be working on right now! Derek

Thanks for the feedback guys. I had a delay of game on a pattern so I decided to knock out the machining today. It went really well. I'll make a few adjustments in the next pattern to make things better. I was trying to get some info on injector boss dimensions and settled on making a smaller hole through the runner and larger hole in the boss for the injector. I removed the cap and o-ring from the bottom of the injector and I'll use an o-ring on the shoulder of the injector for sealing. I machined the flange at 14 degrees which I think is the right amount. I'm borrowing a head this weekend so I can start mocking everything up. I have enough meat left on the flange to re machine it if necessary. I ended up with an inclusion on the flange but it's shallow and won't affect anything. The ports are under sized so I can match them to the head. Next I'll be machining the throttle shafts and butterflies. Derek

I was wondering that myself. It must not be a big problem as I can't find any posts regarding it on the web. Derek

I'm setting up to machine the injector bosses on my EFI manifold and I'm a little confused (What else is new). Every web page I can find about making your own bosses for the bosch injectors has you boring a .540 hole or better. One site http://www.sdsefi.com/techinta.htm has you boring a .640 to .650 hole through the boss then has you use an oring on the shoulder to seal the injector. This alows an air gap between the boss and the injector to cut down on heat transfer. I like the idea of this method but what concerns me is havening such a large hole into the intake. Won't this cause a ton of turbulence? Thanks Derek

The touch screen is going where the head unit would normally mount. So from what I gather there really no truth in advertising on amplifier output. I guess I'll keep looking around . Thanks Derek

Well now that my car is on the road I can throw a little time into the intake. I've cut off all the gating and cleaned up the parting lines. I reamed out the embedded bushings for the throttle shafts and it worked perfectly. The shafts fit smooth as silk so I'm not planning on putting in bearings. I'll just use the bronze bushings. I sent tha manifold back to the foundry and he tumbled it in the wheelabrator machine which helped blend in the sanding marks. Here's a shot of the business end. I don't know if it's going to run or not but I love the way it looks. The step in the bell is for the inner screen. I's probably a little too big. I thing I'm going to reduce it down with a die grinder so it's not so severe, I have some alignment issues with the throttle shaft bosses but since I'm not using bearings this won't be a problem. This is the vacuum passage for the idle control and the brake booster. I have to open it up to the final size and tap it. Here's a shot of the bottom side. I got a little shrink at the #2 boss but it won't affect anything. I'm trying to finish up the machining on it this week. All I have to do is bore out the injector bosses and mill the flange. YAHOOO! Derek

Thanks for the info guys. I'll go ahead and order one of the amps. Derek

I have these speakers http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8208441&st=6x9+speaker&lp=13&type=product&cp=2&id=1165610937916 Will this amp power them ok? http://www.autotoys.com/x/product.php?productid=4593 It's a 2 channel 150w amp. I'm not expecting awesome sound and my hearing's about shot anyways. I'll be using the line out from a carputer I'm putting together so I won't be using a head unit. If this isn't the right amp can someone make a recommendation. Thanks Derek

I had the same problem. I installed a Spal pusher fan up front. I have it turn on with the compressor and it made a big difference at an idle. Derek

Yes it slid in from th passengers foot well. It is quite noisy on high and the Dynamat sounds interesting. Let us know how it works out. Derek

I've had pvc for airlines in my shop as well for about 10 years. I have friends with PVC airlines as well. I was outside the other day and heard a large boom and a lot of air rushing out. I went running into the shop to kill the compressor. a T FITTING exploded and took about 8" of pipe with it. My wife was standing about 5 feet from the fitting when It blew. We were living right that day as it blew behind a metal cabinet. Man she about pissed her pants and I can't blame her. Would she have been killed if it wasn't for the cabinet? Probably not but she might have lost an eye. there were bits of pvc shrapnel on the floor behind the cabinet. I've got 150' of 1/2" galvanized pipe showing up on Monday. Not trying to preach just passing along my experience. I would say if you plan on using pvc maybe it should be changed out every 9 1/2 years!!! Derek

Were the calipers used? The pistons may be stuck. Derek

Hi I'm looking for a 2d drawing of the interior rear trim panel and the front kick panels. I have a CNC router and I'm going to make a custom rear speaker panel and this would save me some drafting time. Thanks Derek

Well if you would get your butt over to my shop at some point you could check it out in person. Actually the car is running pretty good so a run over to Dayton might be in order Derek

Well as anyone knows that lives in a hot climate the 240 air blows. Well actually it sucks and that's the problem. The blower motor sucking through the evaporator is not a very good arrangement. After doing a bit of research I opted to go with the Vintage Air unit. The tipping point for me was the fact that they use servo motors to control the flaps and this will work out better for me in the future. After you get rid of all of the old heater and ac unit there is a ton of room back there. The first picture is of my old unit which this being a Z car forum you all have seen before. This is the GEN II Mini with the brackets I fabbed up for mounting. With this bracket arrangement I was able to utilize the old heater mounting holes. Notice the masking tape on the squirrel cage inlet. This will help avoid removing the unit to get the last screw out of the fan when you drop it. How do I know this!!! The three vents in the front are for the A/C outlets and the two in the rear are for the defrost. The passenger side duct plugged right on with no mods. The divers side needed to be taken apart at the first joint and a small piece of the supplied hose spliced in. The supplied defroster hose was the same size as the factory hose so that was a piece of cake. Here's a shot of the back side with the brackets. I used 3/16†x 1†aluminum flat bar for the rigidity. When I slid the unit in for a test fit I noticed this hole in the dash bracket lined up nicely with the front mounting hole on the unit. I designed the rest of the mounts around this point. This is all that sticks out from under the dash. Much better than the old unit. I'm using their rotary switch plate assembly. This center plate is just my test mule until I can get every thing sorted out. Now isn't this better? Here's some info about the rest of the setup. I ordered The soft aluminum A/C lines from Vintage Air as well. This made for a much cleaner install. I then used custom made hoses to connect everything. I'm using a SD 508 series compressor with 134 freon. Fortunately It hasn't been too hot in my part of Florida yet but I can already tell it's doing a much better job that the old unit. The only thing I'll say bad about the unit is it's a little noisy when it's on high. But it does move a ton of air. I'll update this in August when it will really be getting a workout. Derek