This will be my last daily update for the time being as the contest is complete, things are winding down, and I've run out of things to spew about. :) I've got a couple things to talk about today.
How Did The Pirates Do
People keep emailing me and asking "So how did you end up doing?!" Hee hee. We did almost exactly how I thought we would do; at Westech we were pulling around 930 and in New York we pulled 927. This would put us somewhere around 27th or 28th overall. Nothing to write home about, but I wanted to complete the task from start to finish and learn as much as I could. If the hadn't blown up on the dyno so late in the game, and if I had known more about piston design, our 990+ pulls would of got us top15 for sure, and possibly top 10. If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry christmas. ;) I knew that the huge drop in compression from 13.2 to 11.25, would really hurt total score.
Since not everyone has read all the old stories, let me do a fast recap on what occured in the dyno testing before hand: our engine testing with race gas, was pulling clost to 1030 scores at Westech. On pump, we started with timing low and began advancing. We were getting into detonation problems. Scores were 990+ on two runs but the detonation was worrysome. I did not smooth my piston tops down at all and choose poorly with regards to flycuts. On pull 83, the thin flycut material on the edge of the piston chunked off on pistons 1 and 8. I had one day to get new pistons and there was nothing available except like 13.5:1 and then next best was 11.25 from off the shelf and so I went safe knowing it would be a large drop in power but would allow us to make it to the Islip competition. :) I had a lot to learn about piston shape and design with regards to detonation.
One thing that I am a little bitter about, is the shipping deadline. There were many engines that did not get there until after the 27th. Was this a real deadline or soft deadline? If I had known I could show up 3-4 days later, I probably could of got the pistons I needed and then had a better final setup.
My suggestion to PHR on the shipping deadline would be this...set a date that the engines must arrive by. You have to be there by that date or else you are DQ...but, add a clause that says you can show up late by up to 4 days...if you choose to show up late, you have to pay $1,000 and that money goes into the prize fund. This way you are punished for being late. I would consider this fair and that painful $1,000 would make people think twice about sliding in late. Also, if you blew up late and still needed a day or two, you can pay this fine and still compete. I think this might be a more rigid and fair method of determining when engines must arrive at the fascilities.
As every contestant will tell you, just getting to engine masters is an achievement in itself. My guess is that 30% of engines blew up on the stand in testing before the contest. 10 engines never got to NY. 2 were DQd and one or two DNF. It's almost two contests in one: 1) build a competitive race engine in 4 months 2) make the most average power and torque. It's stressing, exciting, and hella fun. :)
Lessons Learned From Dyno Software
I was going through some old bookmarks when I found a page I made when researching where power comes from. I am shocked that the lessons learnt then held up so well during this contest. Let me give you the link to start...these are screen captures.
http://www.cobralads.com/secrets/index.html
Carburetor
Ah ha! The carburetor is not worth much. This is what the software said, this is what the dyno said, and this is what Joe Sherman said.
Compression
I think this was a test of 10.5, 11.5, 12.5 on a test engine. Compression moves the entire line upward. It's not worth a huge amount, but it moves the complete average upward.
Manifold
I must be a tard, because here is glaring proof that the manifold is hugely important with regards to power! I know see the manifold as a critical piece of the puzzle. I knew the flow of the manifold was important before, but it really is more important than I wanted to believe.
Headers
Can anyone tell me why I bought seven pairs of headers again? LOL Here is the proof again...headers aren't worth that much. This was a big dyno surprise for me.
Heads
Heads are my god. Heads will always be my god. I just seem them as the most critical piece of the power equasion. These were three heads...I could of shown an even bigger range in flow to make the distance apart bigger still.
Cubic Inches
Cubes don't really change HP, they just move it to the right. Cubes do change TQ.
Shape of Cam Lobe
This is one topic than many car guys don't really know about. The faster you can open and close that valve, the more power you can make. The most aggressive lobe shapes do well in engine masters.
A Big Pile Of Links
To finish up, here are some of the websites I used when researching my engine.
Air Filter
http://www.universalspinners.com/autoparts.html
Balancer
http://www.tciauto.com/rattler.htm
Belt Drives
http://www.jesel.com/beltdrives.html
Comp Cam Lobes
http://www.compcams.com/Technical/Catalogs/106-03/HTML/238-273.asp
Carb
http://www.barrygrant.com/demon/default.aspx?page=24
Coatings
http://www.techlinecoatings.com/
http://www.calicocoatings.com/
http://www.npi-lube.com/
Crank
http://www.scatcrankshafts.com/
Crates
http://www.scribnerplastics.com/
DynoSim
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0405vem_home/
Engine Articles Big Horsepower
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/0405vem_home/
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/76858/
http://www.keithcraft.com/hulkengine.html
Extrude Hone
http://www.manufacturingcenter.com/tooling/archives/1297/1297tekup.html
Forum - Speed Talk
http://speedtalk.com/forum/
Gaskets
http://www.cometic.com/
Headers
http://www.dynatechheaders.com/
http://www.headersbyed.com
http://www.hedman.com
http://www.holley.com/hookerheaders/index.html
http://kookscustomheaders.com/
http://www.macperformance.com/
http://www.schoenfeldheaders.com/
http://www.bassani.com/
http://www.dougsheaders.com
http://www.performanceweldingheaders.com
http://www.stahlheaders.com
Heads
http://www.protopline.com/
http://www.chiheads.com
http://www.brodix.com/
http://www.dartheads.com/
http://www.airflowresearch.com/
http://www.trickflow.com/
Intake Porting
http://www.rfedd.bigstep.com/generic147.html
http://www.panhandleperformance.com/intakecarb.html
Oil Pans and Filter
http://www.stefs.com/
http://www.systemonefilter.com/
Pistons
http://www.jepistons.com/
http://www.rosspistons.com
http://www.cppistons.com/
Science
Compression Calc
http://www.kb-silvolite.com/temp/calc.php
SparkPlug Heat
http://www.densoiridium.com/heatranges.htm
Casidiam
http://www.casidiam.com/
Firing Order
http://www.summitracing.com/tech/charts_guides/firing_order/V8_firingorder.pdf
Block Tester
http://www.stresstel.com/stresstelwebsite/home.htm
Trickflow Valve
http://www.cobralads.com/archives/trickflow_diagram.jpg
Comp Test Articles
http://www.compcams.com/Community/Articles/
Pushrod Tutorial
http://www.compcams.com/information/Products/Pushrods/
DynoSim Cam Data Tutorial
http://www.cobralads.com/butcher64.html
Detonation
http://www.federal-mogul.com/cda/content/front/0,2194,2442_7359_7525,00.html
Tools
Rod Splitter
http://www.crower.com/misc/apparel/static/tools/90500R.shtml
Goodson
http://www.goodson.com
Valve
Spring Tester
http://www.power-t.com/spring/pt-200.html
Magazines
Performance Racing Industry
http://www.performanceracing.com
Engine Builder
http://www.engine-builder.com
Cobra Lads Blog
If you like cars and would like to read more of my stories, you might enjoy my old website called CobraLads.com. A few years back I decided to build a Ford Cobra Kitcar. It took a couple years and almost killed me, but it was a wonderful experience. The kit manufacturer is JBL. JBL builds the most roadrace like cobra kit. The car was pretty trick with electric rollbar adjusters and electric shock dampning adjusters in the cockpit. Rear tires were Michelin 335s. Total weight 2600lbs with a 579hp @ 6800 engine. I think there are 70 or 72 Butcher posts.
http://www.cobralads.com
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