There's a lot of good information on here from guy's that have year's of experience with engine's. What I've been looking for is someone that has or had a small block that they have tried different things on in order to get the most performance from their combination. I've read articles on guys that run pure stock eliminator, but they never reveal how they get their cars to run like they do with such limitations on what can be done to the engine. I think that turbo's and blowers are cool. But, I like to see how good a given combination can be made to run and still not break the bank account. I did have a old mustang magazine that had a good article called "No Mr. Megan Bucks " But with a couple of moves it's been long gone. Guys seem to be able to get good power from factory carburetors and ignition system's, but I can't find any information on them.
Tuning For Power
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
Joined
·
649 Posts
Sounds like maybe a stick engine. Looking for some extra ponies? Power is going to come from timing and air/fuel if you are not wanting to change out parts.
Ways to improve performance without spending a lot of money on cylinder heads, etc. Carb tuning tricks. Do carb spacers work, indexing the spark plugs, ignition ideas.
Joined
·
1,354 Posts
An engine is just an air compressor.
The more air in the more power it makes.
And also the more efficiently it burns that air the more power it makes.
That is the only two options to making an engine more powerful.
To get more power out of stock parts you need to do all you can for both. In short heres some ideas:
windage tray
propert viscosity engine oil
improved pcv system
decking block/heads to increase compression
cutting base circle on cam
higher ratio rocker arms
porting heads, unshrouding valves, larger valves, lighter valve train, better valve angle cuts, beehive type springs or the like, porting intake, port matching and gasket matching all components, porting throttle bodies and plenums. Tuning wise running the least amount of octane that gives you the greatest performance. The least amount of ignition timing that gives you the greatest tq/hp. And running the richest air fuel ratio that gives you the most tq/hp.
The more air in the more power it makes.
And also the more efficiently it burns that air the more power it makes.
That is the only two options to making an engine more powerful.
To get more power out of stock parts you need to do all you can for both. In short heres some ideas:
windage tray
propert viscosity engine oil
improved pcv system
decking block/heads to increase compression
cutting base circle on cam
higher ratio rocker arms
porting heads, unshrouding valves, larger valves, lighter valve train, better valve angle cuts, beehive type springs or the like, porting intake, port matching and gasket matching all components, porting throttle bodies and plenums. Tuning wise running the least amount of octane that gives you the greatest performance. The least amount of ignition timing that gives you the greatest tq/hp. And running the richest air fuel ratio that gives you the most tq/hp.
I don't mind changing out parts, but to be honest I don't want to spend half my engine budget on the cylinder heads. Would promaxx or flotec heads be a good choice? Afr's are kinda out of my price range at 1,715.00.
If cast iron heads are used, would it be a good idea to use heat cross over block off plate's and insulate the bottom of the intake manifold? Would a carb spacer / heat shield help? Car will not be used in the winter months.
The biggest bang for your buck, is optimizing the combo to obtain the highest possible compression. Efficiency of an IC engine is related to the compression ratio, so the highest compression possible, yields the best combo. If starting from scratch (i.e., you're rebuilding), you want to optimize the compression to be the highest possible to work with the octane of your choice and the power band of your choice. Next you want an ignition that allows you to run the largest possible spark plug gaps. Larger gaps give more power, but you need the voltage to make sure it can bridge the gap.
You can mess around with the heads, but unless you know what you're doing, you can really make a good set of heads turn into scrap. For "fast burn" heads, their nature is to have the intake shrouded to an extent to promote swirl. This limits valve size, as going too big will kill the fast burn characteristics. So you can have some improvement, but not a tremendous amount. Older heads that are not fast burn, are of course have more flow potential, but the fast burn helps with increasing compression. So you sacrafice compression for flow, which I would think the added compression would be the better route.
If sticking with carb, that also limits you compared to EFI, as you can't have an ideal carb manifold that sits under a hood. EFI you can do what ever you'd like to get runner length, since you don't have to worry about wet flow. In a carb, the intake itself will always be some kind of compromise. Carb spacers do help, but we're not talking about huge power gains either. Then there's tuning, as EFI will always give you more flexibility to maintain the fuel ratio of your choosing, regardless of barometric pressure and throttle position.
You can mess around with the heads, but unless you know what you're doing, you can really make a good set of heads turn into scrap. For "fast burn" heads, their nature is to have the intake shrouded to an extent to promote swirl. This limits valve size, as going too big will kill the fast burn characteristics. So you can have some improvement, but not a tremendous amount. Older heads that are not fast burn, are of course have more flow potential, but the fast burn helps with increasing compression. So you sacrafice compression for flow, which I would think the added compression would be the better route.
If sticking with carb, that also limits you compared to EFI, as you can't have an ideal carb manifold that sits under a hood. EFI you can do what ever you'd like to get runner length, since you don't have to worry about wet flow. In a carb, the intake itself will always be some kind of compromise. Carb spacers do help, but we're not talking about huge power gains either. Then there's tuning, as EFI will always give you more flexibility to maintain the fuel ratio of your choosing, regardless of barometric pressure and throttle position.
Craigslist shopping time.
Looking at getting a car in the next couple of weeks. I trying not to spend the biggest part of my budget on the car, I figured that winter would be a good time to rebuild the engine ( unless the car has a decent running engine). But, there's always room for improvement.
None of those things will work nearly as well as a top end improvement, ie: heads, cam, and intake.
There’s really no trick to it. Spacers can tend to do some good, but it’s all dependent.
This goes with the saying that cheaper isn't always better. I agree, there's no sense in wasting time making something work when a better product is available.
True
Joined
·
2,867 Posts
You can spend a lot of time fiddle F**king around with cheap parts to make more power. Or you can just stick a Nitrous system on the car and go faster than all of that other screwing around for a lot less money. Or buy a used S/C and make more power that way. Either way it is easier than trying all of the "tricks" and "tuning secrets". Now if it is for the purpose of teaching yourself something by trial and error, then you are on the right path. Nothing wrong with learning something new the old fashioned way.
So very true
Those run awesome
What's your goal? DD, weekend car, track car? Give it a tune up. Put some long tube headers on and dumps and put as much gear it it as you can stand. Then put the tire on for what you are going to be using it for. Exhaust and gear are the two cheapest things that will make the most noticeable difference (well maybe second to nitrous).
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
Join the discussion
Join now to ask and comment!