Budget upgrades for the DIY

[wagoon 2,429]

I hope to do a better road test as it was at 8pm and there are heaps of roos around at the moment so it will happen over the weekend hopefully. I am even thinking that I will go for a run then cover the same ground with the rubber ring in and see what I feel. It is good that the car is still standard execpt for the cam cause I can take it through the upgrades and see how each one works. I am thinking about a phone app that was mentioned in Sly's thread so I can have some figures that back up my fat arse dyno

 

Ando I need a bloody welder first. If I had a mig, problem would be solved and there would be a lot more pressure to get the roller done aswell. I may end up just getting a cheapy so I can get shit finished. But need MONEY

[gerg 10,871]

I hear ya bud. Just saw an article about house prices and it takes an average of 9 yearly salaries to buy a house. A decade ago it was 3. The first thing that suffers when the cost of living goes up is our hobby, so threads like this one are more relevant than ever.

[Clevo120Y 815]

Yeah I'm poor too hahaha, that's why I spend my time trying to find cheap horsepower.

[adrianphu123 73]

I went to a conference recently about 1%ers, keep making 1% improvements and you'll end up with a big difference

[XFChris 126]

I've heard a Valiant air cleaner does the job too, same diameter as the 250 xflow one, but taller.  I really should look into it, as I've raised my lid up a bit to accommodate my LPG mixer.

[adrianphu123 73]

Regarding the EFI manifold, what about opening up the holes on the plenum so that the runners have a bigger hole to draw air from? but keeping the runners the same size to maintain airflow velocity? Does it work like that?

 

I seem to remember the ports on the plenum being smaller than the runners and are real rough on the edge.

[wagoon 2,429]

Righto report time. First up I watch mythbusters way to much (my sons favorite show) so I got a little carried away with testing procedures and uninterupted runs ect. I tried 2 Android phone apps with no success, either there was very little consistency or it just didn't work so all results rely on my fat arse dyno sorry.  WOT runs were done on a completly flat peice of highway where I pulled onto the highway from side roads, so it was a standing start position. Rolling tests were conducted on back roads were there was no traffic but still 100km/h zones so I slowed down to 60 then sped up to 100. 

I used 2 different lids as i found putting the rubber ring back in was a pain as it would fall out and would not seal properly, both lids were completly original with the only difference being the ring removed. Both WOT and rolling test I started with the rubber ring in.

WOT- Apart from a much louder induction noise I felt very little difference.With the rubber ring in the car felt like it was a standard car just accelerating away, it felt like it was building road speed rather than pulling hardThe car may have accelerated very slightly faster, this is were the phone app would have helped but it did not feel like it pulled any harded. If I was to only use this test I would say that there is little to no benefit.

Rolling- With the ring removed there was a definate louder induction noise but nothing like the WOT tests. With the rubber ring in, the car felt like it was a standard car just accelerating away. It felt like it was building road speed rather than accelerating. With the ring removed the car felt like it pulled and was able to rev easier. The car gained road speed faster, again this is where the phone app would have helped with numbers.

After testing was completed I put the lid with the rubber ring back on and drove home. The car felt like it was being smothered, wasn't able to breath and could not build revs anywere near as fast as with the rubber removed. I was amazed at how much slower the car felt, the difference felt bigger than when I had the ring in then went to no ring.

[gerg 10,871]

I guess any cleaning up of the ports on the plenum will benefit, maybe give it a little chamfer. Someone on here reckons 150 kW is the max for those manifolds.

[gerg 10,871]

A factory carby will be tuned for the stock air cleaner. Removing this restriction will alter the reference to atmospheric and will most likely run a tad lean. Improving the breathing above the carby will need a jet-up to compensate.

[Banno 479]

Righto report time. First up I watch mythbusters way to much (my sons favorite show) so I got a little carried away with testing procedures and uninterupted runs ect. I tried 2 Android phone apps with no success, either there was very little consistency or it just didn't work so all results rely on my fat arse dyno sorry.  WOT runs were done on a completly flat peice of highway where I pulled onto the highway from side roads, so it was a standing start position. Rolling tests were conducted on back roads were there was no traffic but still 100km/h zones so I slowed down to 60 then sped up to 100. 

I used 2 different lids as i found putting the rubber ring back in was a pain as it would fall out and would not seal properly, both lids were completly original with the only difference being the ring removed. Both WOT and rolling test I started with the rubber ring in.

WOT- Apart from a much louder induction noise I felt very little difference.With the rubber ring in the car felt like it was a standard car just accelerating away, it felt like it was building road speed rather than pulling hardThe car may have accelerated very slightly faster, this is were the phone app would have helped but it did not feel like it pulled any harded. If I was to only use this test I would say that there is little to no benefit.

Rolling- With the ring removed there was a definate louder induction noise but nothing like the WOT tests. With the rubber ring in, the car felt like it was a standard car just accelerating away. It felt like it was building road speed rather than accelerating. With the ring removed the car felt like it pulled and was able to rev easier. The car gained road speed faster, again this is where the phone app would have helped with numbers.

After testing was completed I put the lid with the rubber ring back on and drove home. The car felt like it was being smothered, wasn't able to breath and could not build revs anywere near as fast as with the rubber removed. I was amazed at how much slower the car felt, the difference felt bigger than when I had the ring in then went to no ring.

 

 

I think we all know how well these heads/motors can flow when allowed. Just makes sense to give it the air required through air cleaner/induction. Done the same simple thing on a straight gas efi set up and a very mark improvement for the basics I done but mixer and manifold etc etc etc are holding it up at higher revs. Going do more with an engine I am going to rebuild but thats another story.

Anyway great read and experiment Wagoon. Cheers for that, 

[Banno 479]

A factory carby will be tuned for the stock air cleaner. Removing this restriction will alter the reference to atmospheric and will most likely run a tad lean. Improving the breathing above the carby will need a jet-up to compensate.

 

Makes sense what your saying. Thought the same with with my car on straight gas as it was tuned with a AFM as a restriction. Gave more gas for better performance/power till economy started suffer and backed off till it improved. Check plugs and coolant temp for any idea of problems seems all good. Probably not the correct method and should take it in to get done properly but "Hey its working".     

[gerg 10,871]

Yeah if it worked that's fine but I'd try and adjust the mix from the high-speed adjuster first before simply choking the flow to get more pull on the fuel. Whatever works I suppose

[dizzy616 183]

damn flipping it didn't work. hm
gos to show.. sometimes what feels like its helped. can actually be quite wrong.
good stuff clevo. i'll try removing the seal next time

[Clevo120Y 815]

well I got my mdf carb top I made back and tested it with the modified carby, soooo close to flowing the same as a stock 350 holley (320cfm).

 

 

I'm also about to design and test the same sort of carb tops for these 2 style of carbs, I have dyno testing setup for them when they are ready as well.

 

[ando76 4,354]

So does the mdf piece sit into the stock air cleaner to give a flat surface entry?

K&n do a similar piece for the 2 barrels as well as four barrels and they provide a flat plane with a rolled edge at the top. They don't really show great gains on the bench but on the dyno, well thats another story.

I ran a modified one on my race car and it definetly makes a difference. I have also tried a dual intake trumpet and it excited the dyno by 14hp. Amazing what small things like this can do.

[Clevo120Y 815]

This one just sits on the top of the carb not flush with the housing, I have looked into the other styles and do you think that having the flat surface all the way to the element reduces the element area? My next ones will be radius end all the way over to the outside to allow the whole element to be drawn from and the carb to be able to pull air from below it's top. Just thinking out loud.

[ando76 4,354]

Yep my spacer sits onto the rise in the drop down base so there is sort of a flat plane for the air to be drawn over. I think this works well, especially with the extreme top but you are not allowed to run them.

The ram horns I tested worked very well with the air leaner top off on the dyno but not so when the closed top air leaner went on. Put the extreme top back on and the gains came back.

I think if you could extend the top out so there was a 2" flat plane all around the spacer with a roll on all the sharp edges there may be a measurable gain. Maybe not on the bench but on the chassis dyno or out on the big round brown dyno.

[Nath 1,975]

Just gonna give this a bump - has given me some sweet ideas. Needs more!

[gerg 10,871]

Take off the factory viscous fan and install electric ones. Quieter, revs more freely and frees up horsepower. Done this on 3 cars now: TF Corty, EA S-Pack and XE Wags and all benefited from it.

[gerg 10,871]

X-series Falcs have big engine bays that can fit some ducting up from under the front bumper. Would benefit a bit to have the carby/intake surrounded by cooler air especially in weather like it has been recently

[gerg 10,871]

Put maximum pressure in your tyres for least rolling resistance

[Nath 1,975]

Take off the factory viscous fan and install electric ones. Quieter, revs more freely and frees up horsepower. Done this on 3 cars now: TF Corty, EA S-Pack and XE Wags and all benefited from it.

 

X-series Falcs have big engine bays that can fit some ducting up from under the front bumper. Would benefit a bit to have the carby/intake surrounded by cooler air especially in weather like it has been recently

Was looking into both of these today funnily enough.

[gerg 10,871]

Put a restrictors in or block off completely the inlet manifold water jacket. Definitely not needed on an LPG engine

[Nath 1,975]

Haven't heard that one before... I'm running on petrol though so I guess that's not applicable in my case.

[gerg 10,871]

Nah i meant petrol too. Try it, if it works, keep it that way.

 

One thing to remember is that Ford had a worldwide company standard to meet when designing our Aussie Falcons. In our real-world driving, heated manifolds might not even be needed, and might only be of benefit in the middle of a North American winter, not the mild ones we have here. In saying that, i ran a Redline with a Strommy WW and it had trouble idling in cold weather.

 

Try it.... What have you got to lose?