476 replies to this topic

[Struggler]

very nice and tough little car! Alcohol is good shit

Thanks Adam, yep, got to love the meth !

[Struggler]

Got a copy of Performance Street Car today at the local newsagent. The pics came out really well and I even got a spot on the reverse of the pullout poster.

Get out there and get a copy !!!!

[Tiny]

I'm spewing guys!
We won't be able to make the 14th!
We will be moving house so we just can't make it :(

Have fun and all the best for fast numbers guys!

[Struggler]

OK, I promised some details on the 350 clunker engine so I better come good.

Its an old 060 over 4 bolt block that was a fair bit worn. I had it honed out until the bores were straight again and it ended up at 0.062 oversized. Should have a heap of piston clearance ! Crank is a standard cast unit, stock rods and a set of forged TRW 2256 flat top pistons. Cam is a Comp Cams XS282 solid. Heads are a second hand pair of Dart Iron Eagle 215's that I picked up in Las Vegas last year when I was on holidays. Some of this stuff needed a tidy up but the only new parts are a set of exhaust valves, pistons, rings, bearings and the cam. In view of proposed upgrades I had an extra keyway cut into the crank snout and the balancer.

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I only had a second hand 2 bolt stud kit so that had to suffice !

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Unfortunately due to previous builds the deck had been machined drastically and the pistons ended up 0.008" out off the block !

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As part payment for another job I accepted a Weiand intake manifold and bottom pulley adapter.

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More to follow !

[V-SLR5000-P]

Struggler, looks like a sinister plan coming together. I hope there is plenty of chamber volume in those Iron Eagles!! The blower will smooth out the idle by comparison with a normally aspirated engine with that cam too. Will your budget stretch to a crank support?? Mine didn't, but should have.
http://www.kenlowe.c...perchargers.htm

[Struggler]

Sorry for the slow update, have been flat out getting this thing running and preparing a bonnet to suit (on top of all the other stuff Xmas brings !)

Engine is in the car now and has had the cam run in. To make life a bit easier I had a plate made up that takes a single carb and bolts up to the blower intake.

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As V-SLR5000-P pointed out the host engine has a fair bit of comp, the heads have 62cc chambers and it works out to 10.45:1. Yes this is too high for your average blown combo. I always planned to run it on methanol ( the blower is borrowed and I have to give it back ) so when the blower is removed it will still make a reasonable street engine.

Anyway this is where I am at now....

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Carbs are a pair of 650 DP's converted to alcohol by Hume Performance, I got them second hand from a fellow racer that had them atop a blown 355/308. Blower is the borrowed BDS 6/71 with an 8mm pulley set up at 11% overdriven. I had to get some minor machining performed to get the pulleys to line up and it is really close to my electric radiator fan. I also fitted a larger, tighter stall converter I had in stock.

It looks good but there is a heap of work still...... carby linkages, fuel lines, prepare and paint bonnet, tune carbs etc. As I am still working my shiftwork job over Christmas and have the usual family obligations I really have my work cut out to get to Summernats, better get going !

Merry Christmas loyal thread followers !!

[mr5000]

i hope you get it all smoothed out for summernats would love to go for a lap with ya there ill buy you that beer i owe ya haha well few beers

[Peter UC]

Looking forward to seeing this at Summernats

[Redslur]

Me too. Looks like a nice set up Andrew.

[Struggler]

Thanks guys, feel free to come up and say "Hi" if you are at the Summernats, hope it hangs together that long !

[Uncle Chop Chop]

As V-SLR5000-P pointed out the host engine has a fair bit of comp, the heads have 62cc chambers and it works out to 10.45:1. Yes this is too high for your average blown combo. I always planned to run it on methanol ( the blower is borrowed and I have to give it back ) so when the blower is removed it will still make a reasonable street engine.

So with that much comp, what boost would you be linited to on methanol?

[Struggler]

So with that much comp, what boost would you be linited to on methanol?

More than the rest of the combo can handle !

Not only does the methanol have a much higher octane rating (its more complicated than that but I'll run with the simple explanation) but the methanol cools the intake charge more than any intercooler can, further enhancing the engines ability to handle boost.

[V-SLR5000-P]

At 11% over a 671 is going to make about 12lbs on a 350, but there are a whole bunch of factors, including the cooling effect of methanol, that will determine the boost pressure thats finally on a gauge. Whatever it is it will be an exciting ride!

[Struggler]

Its all a budget thing !

As I said earlier, the blower is borrowed and is only a temporary thing. I have owned the carbs for years, was going to run them on a tunnel ram.

I seriously hope I don't like the new combo, could get expensive !

[gtrboyy]

How could ya not like blower hangin' out the bonnet lol.

[Struggler]

A big day today.....

Bonnet is painted and ready to go on, fuel lines have been made up, engine has been started and car driven up and down the driveway, changed diff centre, rear brakes and rear springs.

Idles like a stocker, with a noisy idler bearing !

Off to check the tune on the dyno tomorrow and find some more methanol, this thing loves a drink !

Hope to have some pics soon.

[Stinga]

im excited! hope to see it for real at summernats

[Struggler]

im excited! hope to see it for real at summernats

I'll be there, hope its everything you expect it to be !

[Struggler]

Got the beast down to a mates dyno today. I hadn't checked much out on it since doing the engine swap so had to top up the trans fluid and check all the simple stuff.

Set the timing to 30 degrees total and had a look at the AFR's. As the carbs were off a similar combo (with more boost) I expected them to be close. It idled fine but warmed up fairly quickly so got richened up to keep it cool when idling around. Under load it wasn't too bad but as I am going to hammer the poor thing we decided to fatten it up some.

After swapping jets 3 times it was richer, didn't get too warm and sounded lazy. It actually made a little more power lean but I'd rather be too rich all the time than too lean just once !

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I still haven't finished the bonnet. I am glueing a rubber strip around the edges of the opening and still need to find some bonnet pins to hold the thing down. Hope to sort this out tomorrow as scrutineering is listed for tomorrow night. Will spend tomorrow cleaning the thing and tidying up a few other details. To be quite honest I'm very relieved to have got the thing going in time.

Sorry, back to the dyno..... I had fitted some BP7FS plugs to run it in and never checked the gap. A naturally aspirated engine can run a gap of 1.0-1.5mm with ease but the extra cylinder pressure of a supercharged alcohol engine needs a little less. As a result the engine had a little miss at the top of the curve that cost a few horsepower but overall it made a lot more than I expected.

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This print out shows the AFR as well as power. It is about 4.7-4.8:1 all the way. This roughly translates to 11:1 in petrol terms. Slightly rich but definately safe.

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This graph also shows the boost.... almost exactly 10psi from start to finish.

I am a little startled at the effortless power it made. 560HP at the tyres must be close to about 700HP at the flywheel. I expected it to make about 500HP at the crank and 350-400HP at the tyres. I'm feeling a bit nervous about the stock conrods and cast crank !

EDIT : Sorry for the poor quality phone pics.

Also a big thanks to Kit from Gentech for bringing a heap of tuning experience and coming in during his holidays to help me out, greatly appreciated mate

Edited by Struggler, 01 January 2013 - 08:31 PM.

[V-SLR5000-P]

Fabulous result, your going to need a good supply of tyres. Amazing how the blower smooths out the idle of an aggressive cam which would otherwise rock the sills normally aspirated. Flat boost shows the engine is breathing well and there is probably over 600 ftlbs of torque being produced as well. The lobe separation angle of the 282 may be doing you no favours either, so maybe some more power to be had if you feel the need??

I'm feeling a bit nervous about the stock conrods and cast crank !

60 thou over in the bores may be pushing it too, but mankind has never achieved great things without exploring the boundaries of whats possible!! Have a great Nats.

[Struggler]

Thanks guys, really happy with the result.

The engine IS breathing well, I reckon a big factor in the power made is the large port heads used, no restrictions there !

Wider LSA will make more power but will also put more load on engine internals, probably can't afford that with this combo. Your right V-SLR5000_P, the 060 over bore could well be borderline as well.

Would love to try and get it down the track as is, should fairly fly !