Tony D
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Posts posted by Tony D
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Also, for those recommending on-road testing...
Forgetaboutit!
The on-boost response has to be tuned in the on-boost, on-load range. In 4th gear than means as mentioned above, dashes from 70 to 120mph.
Thats what for our Canadian Friends? 120 to 200 kph?
I'm sure the RCMP will TOTALLY understand your need to 'get the tune right' and exceed the speed limits in that range.
Add to that, watching for the errant moose or other wildlife doesn't lend itself to a concentration on the gauges (which is where it should be doing this tuning!)
You won't do it alone. And who will you find to saddle up and strap in while you blast from 70-120 repeatedly....who is competent with the system to do the tuning?
A dyno, for Turbos at this level, is really the only practical alternative. The road ceases to be at around 8-10 psi.
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I think it's time for suspension work to handle it and keep it stuck to the ground, personally.
I don't recall the cam specs but cast pistons will limit you to 7K and that means boost is your rout to HP unfortunately.
Running the compressor within it's map at 8psi and running to 8000rpms will give you a nice bump in horsepower if set up right. And will not be your 'typical boosted car feel'...
Breathing helps all around performance, but when you're saddled with cast pistons boost is the only answer.
Also remember my other thoughts on the subject: I ran my car for well over 40K miles with NARY A PROBLEM.
I ACCEPTED a performance level which retained my 100,000+ mile reliability. I have not gone through a single head gasket since boosting.
If you refuse to ACCEPT a REASONABLE performance level for the money put into the engine....
Expect to spend a lot more money in short order. Remember my corollary about a stock bottom end: "WHEN you blow it up learning how to tune your system, your replacement is cheap and you need a core to build the GOOD engine anyway."
You are now stepping into the 'core production' realm. Have a second short block ready to put in there. Tune away. Hopefully you will 'get it right' at the higher boost on only one block, leaving you golden to build one for higher RPMS and more power at the same level of boost that you finally settle upon.
Me, I was happy with 10/17 on a switch. I still am. Anything more than that and it's getting expensive to build bottom ends for longevity. Remember what was made at 9 and realize you will need 300# of ballast or some WIDE STICKY tires to actually USE the hp that will let you accelerate from 70 to 120 in less than 4 seconds (if you don't light them up and slow down, that is!)
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What is have always said is boost is merely a reflection of restriction to flow. The more flow you have, the more power you make.
A properly ported head will make 300+ HP at 8psi of boost.
A stock head will need 15+ psi to make that kind of number.
And guess what? At 15psi you will not be able to run as much advance, due to the detonation issues. Along with a myriad of other issues (smaller plug gap to prevent misfire, blah blah blah...)
When people realize a car with a J-Pipe at 8psi is making 300HP while they struggle to make that same power number with 2X the 'boost' and 25 kilos of piping, intercooler, blahblahblah hung out on the furthest polar moment of their vehicle.... Well they get a bit dumbfounded and perplexed. But hey, it's what everybody in the books said to do! I mean, they are all successful businessmen selling all that kind of stuff. They wouldn't sell it if you didn't need it, right?
The advance number will make more power. But ultimately it's the cylinder charge that will make the power. If you have the SAME cylinder charge, there will be an advance number that is optimal to get peak cylinder pressure at the proper crank angle before TDC. The rate of burn on the fuel is relatively constant, and the higher you twist it, the further advanced you need to go to get that peak cylinder pressure at the same crank angle---this is basic physics. If you can't run that advance number because of detonation then you are giving up power retarding the spark. But that is overwhelmed by the fact you are cramming so much more fuel and air in there. You have more cylinder charge at 20psi than you do at 12.
Now, will you burn ALL the fuel and get the OPTIMAL pressure at full advance at 12psi? Maybe.
You know you aren't optimal at 20psi, but you make more power nonetheless.
Now, port the head so that the new cylinder filling at 12psi (maybe a more efficient turbo) is the quivalent of 20 at the old setup and you will make more power.
Problem is, you'll make even more power at 20psi even giving up optimum spark angle for the reasons above.
But making it at 12psi will result in so many different advantageous things (see some above) that yo ustart to question the 'maximum boost' theology.
No, you don't HAVE to port a head to make big power with a turbo.
But when you make 350hp/380ft-lbs of torque at 9psi.... who really needs that expensive shiny intercooler? Especially if 300HP was your goal all along?
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I second John C's comments.
It's not the PSI, it's wether or not you are satisfied with the performance you are getting.
Do you want MORE power? If so, turn up the boost.
If not, leave it alone.
My bet is that at 10psi you are now making more than most with a stock turbo and 15psi. I forget which turbo you ended up using, but rest assured you are making far more horsepower than you think you are.
Boost is like Horsepower: People get fixated on a number and end up doing stoopid crap.
I'd concentrate on really getting tuning proper, and figuring out if everything else you have is up to the power you are making...or think you will be making.
My thoughts are that you are dangerously close to overwhelming the power capability of the S30 in race trim. Guys with 450+ hp on an S30 aren't using that power in a corner...and in most cases it's sketchy to use in a straight line.
Like I said at the beginning, I had all these delusions when I built my first turbo car. had the adjustable boost controller with infinite adjustments and all that crap. Long and short of it I ended up running it in one of two boost pressures. 10psi for everyday commuting, and 17psi for when I had to run away from something fast.
160mph in a street height Z-Car is moving. 17psi will get you there. Fast.
You may want to consider what you really want, or WHY you are looking for more boost. To say you're running it? Do you really feel the need to have it? Is the car underperforming in some aspect?
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Don't forget, at the time the Latham Axial-Flow Supercharger was being marketed, it was billed as the only TRULY 'switchable' supercharger.
Since it had axial flow design, like a jet engine with rotor and stator pairs, when it wasn't spinning it let air pass through end-to-end with no restriction to the N/A operation of the engine.
Unlike most of the 'parasitic roots' without a bypass valve.
I knew a guy with one, (a Latham) and I've half a mind to buy it off him just to replicate it. The design was intriguing, and it's modular assembly technique made it suited to may different sized engines. Just pack on more stages for more pressure and flow!
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"I'm at the point now where I may just yank the Electromotive out of the racecar with the crank pulley, put it on the 280, and be done with all of it. "
YES!
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In the usa it's propane, slightly different than LPG, but close. Propane for automotive use is not that cheap. If you illegally fill at a cooking gas or home gas bulk tank it's a bit cheaper but it's still around $2 a gallon, about 66% of the cost of Petrol.
If you find a dedicated and official Propane for Motor Vehicles dispenser, it's shockingly expensive, on par with Petrol.
While CNG, on the other hand is always at least 20% cheaper and in some cases far cheaper than that!
Filling a roadgoing propane burner at a cooking or heating bulk tank is like the illegal production of biodiesel. Nobody is paying taxes on the motor vehicle fuel, and the Feds don't like that one bit. They nailed a guy up in Berkley with a nice biodiesel blog with all his mileages on it... Franchise Tax nailed him for the 0.24 cents per gallon he was obligated to pay to the State (PLUS a $2500 penalty/fine) for all the fuel he produced and consumed (supported by his public blog of mileages and MPG!) and then in a final insult to this guy (love it!) they made the statement publically: "We have been in contact with the appropriate Federal AGencies and they are very interested in talking to Mr. "X" for his evasions as well!"
If you do it, get a clue: Don't BLOG IT!
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big thing is to know what the coil requires. If it's not a high voltage coil when getting zapped with 275V, it may be the issue. The stock transistor unit will blast nearly that much into a coil to get a spark! I've measured it with my fluke and I can tell you it will fry the input circuit on a MS if you hook it up wrong!
Lots of times when people swap coils and ignitions around, some stuff gets misapplied. If you have an internal-ballasted coil running off a BALLASTED supply (which depended on getting zapped with 275V to a NON-BALLASTED coil) then I may indeed be on to something!
I long for the days when ballasts were external, sex was safe, everybody wore rubbers in the rain...
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Heathrow and DeGaulle are on different systems. You stamp in at DeGaulle, and stamp out at Frankfurt, and anywhere inbetween on the continent within EU there's not even a passport check any more. Like you said, before it was like having to show your passport at each state border for inspection and stamping...
Staying in Ireland won't get stamps going to Amsterdam on the weekend.
But staying in Liverpool and going there will give you exit, entrance, and back...
Ireland is EU, the lands of the British are not. Don't know if there's a flight from Ulster to the continent...meh!
When you travel a bit, you realize filling that puny passport in 10 years isn't a problem. The problem arises when they tell you they can't add any more pages and you have to get a new one! I got mine in November 09, and as of now, I have less than 8 pages left before I have to get pages added. And I make it a point to NOT take short trips or 'commute' across borders where I will waste stamp spots. (Actually, my page 25, 26, 27 don't have the 'visa separation' lines like the rest do... maybe I can crowd more than the 'official 4 per page' on those if I need to!) I can see at least 2 or 3 pages of stamps coming in the next three months from jobs I already have scheduled, so this one is basically gone in a year...and then you pay the $$$ to have the pages added.
I'm told after you have the third set of pages added, they make you get a new one. I'll necropost in 2013 and let you know!
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Aluminum Radiator, Ferrous Block, Oxygenated and Aerated Water in contact with vergin ferrous block without molybdate or other passivating/corrosion prevention compounds present.
When a block is virgin, there has to be some corrosion inhibitor (usually a phosphate of some sort in the old days) in the water, or it starts rusting. It's that simple.
Flushing with slightly acidic, then basic should take out the corrosion and 'the black stuff' -- then you have to get a proper passivating agent into the water and run the engine to let it deposit in the coolant passages to try and arrest thebare virgin casting from starting to oxidize.
It's one of the reasons still, distilled, demineralized water is the best for the block...it's relatively inert. Start adding stuff to the water like salts, organics, and the rate of corrosion goes up quickly. Filling from a frothy garden hose nozzle is not the greatest. Lots of free O2 disolved within the water (along with chlorine) sitting in that clean virgin block...
I know someone who ran pure DE Glycol in a 100% solution in his block since day one. Now, hundreds of thousands of miles later not a speck of rust anywhere, and a head that looks like new when the gasket was changed last year. Yeah, it doesn't cool as good as pure water, but his block and head coolant passages look like new! All depends on what you are willing to trade for...
A 16psi cap should be available at most parts stores, or radiator shops. A 24psi cap will take some looking, but they are out there.
I saw one car where they put a screw-in cap. The relief was via a traditional PRV (pressure relief valve) with a threaded outlet and male threaded inlet. This was screwed into a bung on the radiator top, and had a check valve setup on another line from the recovery tank. Pretty trick, and one of those days that convinced me to 'carry the damned camera everywhere, you never know what you will run across that is cool that you want to do on your own car!'
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"Lilith Fair Sawzall"
Like a Thai sneeze: "Kathoey!"
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Nope, two passports would not go under ONE first class stamp.
My passport would not go under ONE first class stamp!
Now if they are using the $4.50 flat rate mailer, then they both could go, but that's considerably higher than two business envelopes and two first class stamps.
(Though as stated, with three page additions to my old passport, it wouldn't FIT in a standard business envelope, much less weigh less than one ounce!)
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How wide is that rotor again... 50 degrees advance on a cap with terminal spacing of 60 degrees seems to me like you are firing back one too far. I had that on my MS till I fixed rotor phasing.
Is there vacuum before the throttle plate? Or do you mean ported vacuum (shut off by the plate at idle)? Or do you mean POST throttle plate?
What is the condition of your fuel filter? Fuel Pressure? I have had a pingfest after ONE fillup of bad gas in Arizona where a BRAND NEW fuel filter plugged almost SOLID with red clay from dust in the tank.
I would almost say firing order of the plug wires, don't know how you got the dizzy out, so don't know what happened with the wires.
LAST THOUGHT: You were runnning a CDI to a hot coil meant for a CDI.
You now are running 'stock wires' from the chassis (?) to the new coil. Are you running BALLASTED voltage to a coil that is supposed to have a full 12VDC to it? Is your OEM transistor ignition box up to snuff and are you getting nice fat, hot, blue-white spark after this little change?
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Hmmmm, 200+ now down to 190 in an anecdotal testimonial of an unscientific test... Good enough for me!
At least you have some background on what the car was doing before. What shape was the water pump impeller in? If it wasn't erroded severely then likely it didn't have much to do with the change at all. Was it leaking?
I found mine stopped 'puking over' after shutting down. I would puke out about 1 gallon every 3000 miles running on the freeway then stopping. You could hear water in the head after shutdown "pop pop pop" from the steam pockets forming. After I put in the recommended water wetter there was no more "pop pop pop" and I stopped that little pukeover each time the car was run hot and shut down (like for fueling, or generally stopping.) Went from a gallon/1.5 gallons per 3K miles to NOTHING in over 8000 miles!) Noted a similar decrease in temperature as well---except that the ONLY thing I changed was the addition of water-wetter to my coolant.
Which is why I asked in a by-the-by way if you were using it...
Good to see it seems to have worked. My paypal account for donations is bigheadedgod@.....
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Maybe you need a naughty Sawzall JC...
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Oh, if it's a nice car, by all means forego the sawzall. Use the plasma-cutter!
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Centerlines...
I wouldn't have left the yard without that G-Nose.
Last one I found I removed with a Leatherman and a 6" Crescent Wrench! Literally cut the FRP fenders on the car with the Crescent Wrench as a shear... Got it home and found it was a 5-piece that had been poorly bondoed into a one-piece lookalike. Luckily for me there was a lot of wax on the parts, and the bondo more or less popped off in large chunks! SCORE (especially when it went out of the yard as a 'Firebird Front Fascia'
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Yea, it seems that a few years ago an "engineer" was such a B.A. title, and now schools around the world are churning them out one after another.
If every school in the US graduated every student NOW, there would still be a shortage of Engineers.
The 'cookie cutter kids' are exactly what most industries need: people with a sound technical theory background to teach a business to and cultivate long-term. Unfortunately lack of hands-on skills limit their usefulness, and the Colleges cultivating a mythology that with a degree you won't get dirty gets a lot of these noobs into a very dangerous trap.
I have been on jobs with noobies who were absolutely shocked that they had to touch a wrench or hang over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day... and who quickly quit quietly soon thereafter.
Someone has to do failure analysis in a lab, and someone has to do it in the field. And when they can't figure it out in the lab....well...someone's going to stand over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day!
My son is now loving the 'Show up the first day and see if someone is a no-show' to get off all his waitlisted classes. He was waitlisted on everything, he might get his math next Wednesday. If he only gets one class, I sign him up and pay for a correspondence course that will keep him busy. Something related, or not. But you got to keep at it or it's hell geting back into it after the break!
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For those US Citizens wondering 'do I need a Visa' to go here, check out this page:
Easier than wading through the state departments webpage and paragraphs of bureaucratese...
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You work cheaply Randy! 1000 hours of fabrication and labor on that kind of project would be 5X that (minimum) were I to take it on...
$100 an hour, 8 hours a day, 20 days a month, six months of the year...
Most shops doing quality work would be at least $50 an hour, and that's still 2X what you would charge. Watch out, you're undercutting yourself!
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Don't you have to use a carb on a Propane conversion? I know EFI can be done but I have heard its rather expensive.
Actually not it's not. Whenever Frank quits TALKING and actually ships a container THIS direction, I plan on snagging one of the European LPG conversions. They have a nice tank that fits where the spare went, and is dual-fuel allowing running on petrol, and online swap to LPG. The best thing is that the car I was in with it (1979 280ZX!!!) was using MEGASQUIRT as the ECU!
IMPCO carbs make for a quick and easy installation, but EFI technology is not that prohibitive. It's just finding compatible donor vehicles to source many of the parts secondhand. Anything new is expensive. An HKS surge tank was over $1000 new, but can be hand now for 1/4 the price. It's just a matter of 'trickle down' time to happen.
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When you realize in the JDM the hexagonal spacers were threaded, so they don't fall off, installing/removing a seat becomes a breeze!
Also, their JDM cars had 'dual mounts' meaning another set of holes about 2" forward of where the US Market Seat Mounts are---plenty of access even for my fingers. Their JDM studs were also quite a bit longer to accomodate a BIG stack of those spacers underneath to 'boost up' the vertically challenged domestic consumer.
This goes hand-in-hand with some other maintenance procedures I've done. They are particulary onerous on a US Car (think anything with the pedal cluster upper pieces) but are a BREEZE on the RHD models.
The last set of seats I did, I simply cut the damned sheetmetal stringers out of the car, and bolted through a reinforced section of the floorboard directly. I will do the same on the Shark Car, as it's front seat mount was pretty much ripped through due to excessive upper body inertia coupled with 265/50's out back and and heavy turbocharged right foot!
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I had a 5MGE.... yeech! Never again. Blew a head gasket and channelled the head to the point of uselessness almost immediately.
If you like those splayed-cover heads, the unobtanium unfinished PAECO-GOERTZ head is what you desire. My photos of this SanDiego Swap-Meet Find float about the internet. Comes with the jigs to machine it, and a full set of blueprints (hand-drawn!)
I wonder if that guy ever sold it... I realize now my photos of that head date from around 1999/2000. Saw it on the back of a truck as a guy tried to sell it for $$$ at the local Z-Car Club Meeting. I don't even want to think what he paid for it at the Swap Meet. I didn't even want to ask! I know it would depress me...
Thinking about it, that head would be wicked-bitchen with my Hillborn Methanol Injection Setup on it!
Maisto S30 diecasts at Costco for $11.99
in Non Tech Board
Posted
Wow, that's cheap enough to use them for .22 target practice at the range...