Rich in Wisconsin Engine Progress

So, there you have it, a vanity plate...EDDIES...that will really impress them.

Well, in MY neck of the woods, the attention for Pearl has been middle-aged ladies (nothing wrong with that at my age, and they think Pearl is "pretty") and gnarly Biker Types. Took me a while to figure out the latter, but it seems that most of them work in auto body shops and realize how much work is required to properly apply 3-stage, pearl metallic paint to get it right.

Got my Hobbyist plates today!!!!! Now I need to get my hobbyist car!!!!!! Stopped by the shop this morning to discuss progress. The problem lies in the power curve below 2000rpm. My mechanic feels it may be a product of the 1 5/8" exhaust. He's attaching a gauge to meter the readings since there is a sensor there on the exhaust and hopefully tweak the carbs etc. to improve on what is currently a flat spot down around that range. I think I have that about right. I've got my fingers crossed that tonight might be homecoming night!

It's not the exhaust.
While a 1-1/2" system would be better suited to the engine displacement and power wise, it's not a game ender.

More than likely this can be tuned out with optimization of the advance rate and initial advance of the ignition system. Coupling smaller venturis to the carbs may also be a possibility for correction.

When I see this symptom the first thing that I think of is static CR that's been set too conservatively or inefficiency. If he used even a moderately size camshaft I hope the static CR was considered, else it'll always be lazy down low.

Or it could be as simple as a pair of carbs that need proper accelerator pump trim..

Tuning an optimization are by far the qualities that separate us all.. Just ask Jack!!!

Jake, once again, thanks for chipping in. If I only lived 1000 miles or so closer. And, if I really knew more than I do, I might be able to explain the situation a little better. While my mechanic may be temporarily stumped, I have confidence that he is going to rectify the problem. He is doing many of the things you mentioned, changed distriibutors and jetting and so on. He's noted some gas fumes "hovering" over the carbs, when the air cleaners are off, in certain ranges, blah, blah, blah. This has him wondering about the exhaust. So, he's hoping the gauge he's installing into the sensor will allow him to read the situation while driving it...if that makes sense. He does have a mild cam. So,as stated before, after driving this thing for awhile once it is up and running, perhaps I will be fortunate enough to let you take a stab at it in the future, with one of your engines of course. In the meantime, I have to live with the hand dealt to me, but I do appreciate your comments. Everything is predicated on me living long enough and the world not going to hell in a hand basket...whatever that means. With some luck AND diligent work, maybe tomorrow. Cheers, Rich in Wisconsin.

The gas fumes are reversion.. It is typically caused by too much camshaft duration for the rest of the combination.

In this situation I'd not blame exhaust, however the exhaust could be aggravating the issue.

Taller velocity stacks and smaller venturis will both increase the velocity of the charge through the carbs and will probably bring some tune-ability into the lower end of the RPM range.

Its all in the combo.

Too much duration is the bane of the ACVW world. Old habits die really, really hard.

Too much duration, not enough lift and not enough CR to sustain either of the former.. Thats usually the culprit.
People are afraid of compression... My 10:1, 2.7 liter engine in the double cab running a 915 5 speed still runs head temps cooler than a stock engine while producing 175RWHP..

"It's all in the combo" was the lesson I learned from Jake---meaning the components and techniques are designed to work together to get a sum that's greater than the parts. This is why a Type IV with the same horsepower has more "grunt" than the exact same displacement
of other types of engine. Once you sort out the issues I know you will love your engine and it will be worth the minor hassles.

I'm still hoping you make it to the Asheville event ----we all want to see that bad boy. And you too!

Here's the lastest fix attempts...a machined stainless insert into the final collector tube just before the muffler will be installed (a restictor so to speak). This is based on a suggestion from an exhaust designer he works with. Seems like a reasonable suggestion at this stage. My mechanic was also told that the exhaust sensor he installed for tuning purposes just might have been getting false readings due to the over-sized tubes. Spring plates need to be yanked and holes/slots opened for more better alignment adjustment. Finally, the release bearing noise we are is being relegated to the back burner for now. Carey Hines also notes that he has experienced other bearings that have sat for awhile clear up quickly after some very few miles are put on them. Hopefully we'll have the same luck. Sitting back patiently for now. Looking at it positively I have been driving my 911 to keep my sanity (almost forgot I had that...not!).
Yes, I know..."welcome to the madness".

So, here's the dusty little guy waiting patiently (as I am trying to do) for its fixes. A rear end raise will also be compleed before all is said and done.

I had the same issue with the spring plates. It's a PITA, but a relatively easy fix.

what about bringing the nose down a little.

but then again - i like 'em looooow

Another day closer, Rich! Marty G tells me that Quaaludes help with the aniticipation.

I'm with mangoman with low coolness...

Guamaniac leaving Cars & Coffee event in SoCal...

Hey Jim, does that parade watcher in the background have a banana in his pocket or is he just happy to see your car?

How much of the gas fume issue is just the effects of modern, ethanol-bearing fuel breaking down components of older fuel delivery systems?

Jeez, Hoss, don't compound my problems!!!!

Regarding lowering my front end as some of you suggested, while i like the look, that would not work very well driving around in the cow pastures of the great State of Wisconsin I live in.

The issues that you are having may appear like they are solely being created by the exhaust system, but I don't believe it. I'd be willing to bet that without much hassle at all this engine could simply see Venturi, jetting and timing ootimization and run perfectly with hat exhaust.

If the restrictor helps it further proves that the venturis are too large for the combo. Find a chassis dyno and optimize the engine.

Today's visit to the shop resulted in a peek of the header restrictor. Roughly a 3-4" pipe that will fit in snugly just before the muffler. It has a conical entry / exit that tapers down to 1.375". Carb velocity stacks had already been added last week some time during other tuning attempts. The comment today was that the power band was improved, a little tweaking of the insert yet to come. As I have said before, maybe tomorrow, but no promises.

Justin, you have not been following along. I have a Tangerine header with 1-5/8" diameter tubes. The system seems to be causing problems with low end power. We are inserting a restrictor into it which cones down to 1-3/8". It is probably 3" long total length. Clear?

Assuming the collector is straight, a 2 inch diameter is what you need (140 HP capacity). A 1 3/8 collector would only support 65-75 HP, but it may very well have more torque at low revs. If the collector has bends, reduce those HP numbers by 20-30%.

edit: first question answered.

I wasn't talking about the primaries. I've never heard of someone putting restrictors in the primaries. It seems odd you would go to the trouble of adding restrictors to each of your primaries when you could just get a whole system with smaller primaries. Hence, i was describing adding a single restrictor in the collector.

Makes zero sense to me, but if it works who cares.

Well, Justin, after spending big bucks and the maker refusing to accept a return (many months ago), we had to work with what we've got. There will be one of these only, placed at the far end (the last collector) just before it enters the muffler. In the ideal world, a 1-1/2"system probably would have been the correct call.

Jake, it may not make sense, but we'll see. He did notice SOME improvement yesterday on a short test run, hence some more tweaking yet to come.

Trying to make it clearer, an approximate 3" long machined stainless insert that cones down to 1-3/8 diameter in the center area will be inserted just before the muffler connection point.

Still, 1-3/8 is tiny for a collector. I could see 1-3/4 at the smallest, maybe. With that much restriction, you better keep an eye on those head temps too.

Justin, since this thing hasn't been residing in MY garage for the past several months. I don't have easy access to all dimensions. Looks to me like that final pipe is larger than 1-5/8" and the primaries are 1-5/8"...I may be wrong, not the first time

The final collector certainly looks bigger to me based on this photo.

Remember:
Exhaust characteristics are greatly impacted by sound wave control. Adding restrictors and etc may help a certain part of the RPM range, but how will they effect the other aspects of the RPM range?

Doing this kind of work to a header system that cost roughly 2k doesn't seem like the most Logical approach to me. I'd start tuning the induction and ignition systems first, and if that didn't work I'd swap the entire exhaust system, for something optimally sized for the engine.

This guy must not be very busy, he has been working on this for weeks and doesn't seem to have made much headway. I'd quit wasting time and find a chassis dyno, until then making these changes is anything but scientific and your entire driving season is wasting away while you are paying him to learn the things he should already know..

At least that's what it seems like to me..
And of course the lower end issues could be as simple as improperly tuned accelerator pump circuits or emulsion tubes in the carbs or a distributor with lazy advance.
To be a simple engine, this certainly seems quite over the top with complexity. Hell, the last 3 liter I created didn't take this much effort, with twin plugs and EFI :-)

At least he is willing to do the work, but I hope he doesn't charge by the hour.

SPEEDTSER UPDATE:
The doctor says enough is enough, labor will be induced shortly after midnight, July 8th, 2011.
Delivery to be approximately 10:00am Friday...as in tomorrow!!!!!!!
Cesarean section of my bank account will be the mode of delivery.
The proud father is supposed to start boiling water now...
I'd attach a photo of the latest ultrasound but picture uploading isn't working right now.

Rich, after "the baby" is delivered, drive her to North Carolina to the "Mountain Madness" event. Jake, you can come too.

I thought I was the only one who couldn't upload pictures. Glad to hear I'm not -- and getting a little pissed off that I can't do something here I can do on Facebook in three seconds or less from a phone.

Rich, will you e-mail me a delivery picture? I'm dying to see how all that looks when it's put together, and I'd really like to hear how it sounds.

Cory, slide up the thread here real early on and there are links to two YouTubes first day it was running. After tomorrow I will deluge everyone with more sights and sounds. In the meantime I'll email you the links also. Yup pix upload went down around noon today I think.

Good idea, Hoss. While it's probably too far for Rich, Jake should join us in Asheville in September. It's a short drive from your place and we are not restricted to Speedsters. Heck, we'll even have an old Austin Healey among us.

Rich, Buddy -

You should lay low with 1.7, but I think you can expect at LEAST 120 hp. Try it for 100 miles, 50 dry, 50 humid/rain. It

Lane! We're flying in to Charleston tomorrow afternoon for our family reunion. We'll be thinking of you (XOX) Hope all is well. I know I have to keep the message on-topic here, so, Rich, I hope you take all of the comments and advice from Lane seriously - they are spot on. :)

Today, I officially will become part of the fold.
So let the madness begin, up to this point it was just maddening.

Hey Toni, send me an email and I'll give you my phone number. Maybe we can all meet up for a drink.

Sorry Rich. Now back to your regularly scheduled - and now celebratory - thread.

Rich - be sure to post your pudding face SEG from maiden drive!