HORSEPOWER

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Comment by Daniel R. Brown on November 4, 2009 at 12:59pm

Hi I can't wait to finish this 3 1/2 year build but it's now down to days and not years..Final assembly has been slow but it'll be ready for next year's car shows..

Comment by Aaron thomas on October 17, 2009 at 6:38pm

hey when you are running nitrous there's gonna be risk's i have seen a
chevelle with nirtrous and the hood blew sky high and the engine caught
on fire

Comment by Jack R. Davis on October 17, 2009 at 7:10am

Thanks Joe - and to think I have never ran nitrous on any of my cars! I'm a good listener though.

Comment by Joe's 67 Camaro on October 17, 2009 at 1:03am

Jack that was very good advice on the nitros. (good call)
Just a note on the exhaust Geno-O. It starts at the cam and it is very extensive to port and tune to your fuel type. Even after my last 383 stroker rebuild in my Camaro I still want to pull the motor and tweak it a little more. I will get it right one day.

Comment by Gene-0 on October 16, 2009 at 5:18am

Joe, i remember that from back in high school auto shop. Our teacher was a gearhead, he had a hot rod 38 plymouth with a hopped up 231 buick in it. My senior year he let us help when he put in a mustang 2 front end and a beefed up 350. My question about the nitrous was basicly because I know my way around a carburated engine much better than the newer injected ones.

Jack, thanks for the info. I've seen the horspower episode you refer to, but nitrous has always kind of been voodoo to me. I understand how it works and all, but it's potential side effects, like blowing the engine up, have always kept me from wanting to use it. That and since I'm not really into drag racing I couldn't justify having that extra 50-100 hp on a button, sure it would be cool to leave someone at a stop light but where else would I need it. I do like to learn about this stuff though, and honestly I'm sure there are some others on here that might have wondered too. Now when the topic comes up I have a little better idea. Have you or anyone else here ever used one of those centrifugal superchargers? How reliable are they? Are they worth the money for the gain you get? I've seen them used on the power block and prefer the idea of not poking a hole in the hood. The biggest thing I like about them is no wait like a turbo (although they've gotten better) and you have the power the whole time.

Comment by Brett Sutherland on October 15, 2009 at 11:18pm

When I bought my Volvo Turbo coupe ... some idiot had installed a muffler designed for a normally aspirated car ... on the way back to Nova Scotia from Charlotte North Carolina where I picked the car up ... as I was passing New York City on I95 ... suddenly there was a POP and the exhaust became louder .. and suddenly I had lots more power .... the back pressure caused by the non turbo muffler had built up so much back pressure that it actually split the side seam of the muffler wide open .... amazing what releasing that back pressure did for the power level!!

Brett

Comment by Joe's 67 Camaro on October 15, 2009 at 10:23pm

Good call Gene-O.
One thing to remember thou is when you upgrade your fuel intake of any type is to upgrade your exhaust. True horsepower is made on the exhaust side of your motor. If you cant get rid of your fuel you wont have the horsepower that you want.

Comment by Jack R. Davis on October 15, 2009 at 6:54am

Glad that information helped Sheldon.

Gene-0, you can add nitrous to a limit without a PCM reprogram depending on a few factors:

1. The age of the car - I say this because the older cars have to be reprogrammed. Newer ones, say from 1996 on up, will typically have the closed loop system I talked about. I believe there are a few other guys in here more experienced at that than me who may add their 2 cents worth.

2. The amount of nitrous being added. Small shots of nitrous will work fine, as long as the injectors can keep up with the extra fuel demand.

3. This one kicks out both 1 and 2 as unnecessary to consider. IF the nitrous kit comes with it's own nozzle and jets for the fuel side, then it should all work out fine. Reference last Saturday's Horsepower show to see what they did on that Mustang.

I think that covers the big items. I remain open for correction on other ideas / comments.

Comment by Sheldon Hewston on October 14, 2009 at 7:51pm

Ya see I didn't know all that stuff that your saying Jack, But it makes perfect sense. After I installed my new MAF sensor it took about two days for me to realize how much power I had been missing out on. The comp was dialing in the new sensor. So I will be putting a nice sounding exhaust on my car. And to think I almost believed the guy.

Comment by Gene-0 on October 14, 2009 at 7:48pm

Jack here's a dome scratcher for ya, we can all believe the bigger exhaust isn't going to complicate your cars computer. What about adding power through the other end with nitrous? On a non computer car making adjustments is done with a wrench or screwdriver, for me that would be easy to do/ follow/ understand. But with a computer controlled car not so much. I know I've seen them reprogram a car on tv, or send the computer off to be reprogrammed. That would seem to add alot of cost to an otherwise "cheap" HP adder

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