Author Topic: July 10, 2011 - The Road to Drag Week 2011  (Read 4577 times)

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jayb

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July 10, 2011 - The Road to Drag Week 2011
« on: July 10, 2011, 11:29:17 PM »
I only have a short update this week, because I spent the entire weekend and the free nights I had during the last week working on the sheet metal intake manifold.  Once again I dramatically underestimated the amount of time that was going to be required getting the manifold ready to go.  Tasks I've completed this week include:

- Machining the manifold base for the EFI injector bungs
- Welding the bungs into the intake
- Machining the mounting surfaces of the intake so they are square and flat
- Test fitting the intake
- Enlarging the bolt holes on the intake to make sure the bolts have enough clearance to allow bolting the intake on in the correct position
- Drill and tap the manifold bottom to allow bolting on the radiused runner entry plates
- Port the manifold runner to remove the machining ridges on the inside, and match the top of the runners to the radiused runner entry plates
- Cut the front off the manifold top, weld on the new front that positions the throttle bodies side by side
- Machine the top of the manifold bottom, and the bottom of the manifold top, flat so they will seal
- Machine the top of the manifold top to allow putting the throttle bodies on the top, rather than on the front
- Machine two plates to block the two throttle body openings that are not used
- Tap all the holes around the throttle body openings
- Drill and tap the manifold top and bottom to allow bolting together

All told, between my day off on the 4th and both days this weekend, I counted about 35 hours I've put in on this manifold, and just got it finished up tonight at 10:30.  Part of this was due to a change in plans.  I'm planning on running the throttle bodies on the front of the intake, but I've been told that the manifold will work better if the throttle bodies are  on the top.  This way the air doesn't have to turn 90 degrees when it comes into the intake and goes down the runners; it will have a straight shot down the runners, kind of like a tunnel ram.  I realized this week that it would be fairly easily for me to make a comparison dyno test if I just machined the manifold top to fit the throttle bodies.  This way, I could just move the throttle bodies and change around the throttle linkage to make this test.  I also had to machine up a couple of plates that would cover the two throttle body holes that were not being used, so this took some extra time also.  But I think it will be worth it; I'm looking forward to the comparison test.  If it turns out the throttle bodies on top make a lot more power, I will be stuck with something of an underhood packaging problem, but since I haven't done the hood scoop yet, I could recover from that if necessary.

I was not expecting to still be on the manifold construction this week; I'd been hoping to be off the dyno and on to the next assembly tasks this coming week.  As a result, I'm now getting a little nervous again about making the event.  I still have a LOT of work to do on the car.  I'm crossing my fingers that the dyno work goes smoothly ( you never know), so that by the end of next weekend I can get on with the rest of the work on the car.

I'll try to post some pictures and more details on the engine/dyno next week.
Jay Brown
- 1969 Mach 1, Drag Week 2005 Winner NA/BB, 511" FE (10.60s @ 129); Drag Week 2007 Runner-Up PA/BB, 490" Supercharged FE (9.35 @ 151)
- 1964 Ford Galaxie, Drag Week 2009 Winner Modified NA (9.50s @ 143), 585" SOHC
- 1969 Shelby Clone, Drag Week 2015 Winner Modified NA (Average 8.98 @ 149), 585" SOHC

   

cdmbill

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Re: July 10, 2011 - The Road to Drag Week 2011
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2011, 11:53:35 PM »
Jay, it'll be very interesting to see how that dyno testing works out. I spent some time with George Class today of Accufab and he confirmed the same thing when dealing with a larger displacement N/A motor. So I'll be running two 4500 flange throttle bodies on mine. We''ll be hitting the dyno later in August and I'll let you know what we find out.