What more is possible? Suggestions please

[beavy69]

Ok lets say I have a 1.3L Nova (which I do) and I have done the following (which I havn't quite yet):

4 into 1 manifold
free flowing exhaust and manifold (SORRY STU BACK BOX - TYPE O)
head thats been ported/skimmed/flowed/etc
shaved some off the cylendar heads to increase cc capasity
twin 40s
better clutch, quick shift gear link, lightened etc

aside from turbo (see my post below this) and NOS, does anyone have any suggestions as to what else one could do?

and don't say get a bigger engine/better car any wiseasses!

AND FORGOT OF COURSE A CAM

[Stuart]

you have 2 exhausts? WOW lol

depends what has been done to the head regarding the porting etc. maybe bigger valves.

id say you need a better cam for the job too.

[craig green]

Not much more is possible.

After doing that lot you could have bought an SR or GSi with that money. Or even an Astra GTE 16v with tax & MOT.....

[beavy69]

I know its a bit of a dumb question but it's just a brainstorming exercise to see what people think. I for example, as well as other ram air pipes, have hooked up my cabin air blower motor to force more air into the k+n filter like a kind of mild turbo effect.

I didn't think it would do much and it was only a talking point really but it is noticable:

*helps when the cars warming up
*you could add warm air for better fuel effcientcy if your not ragging it
*or colder air for performance (you need to modify the valves/flaps in the air distributor housing)
*its less groggy in low revs
*and more eager in high revs
*and you can actually hear it sucking more air when the fan is not on.

I intend to hook up a couple more motors (as there is room in that bay type area where the original sits) to multiply the force.

the pipes enter the rear of the K+N filter so the air from them hits air being forced in from the front via the bonnet scoop and when these two air flows meet they have no option (acept to seep out of the small holes I haven't sealed yet) but to go down into the carb.

what do ya think?

[Stuart]

have you been drinking/taking drugs? lol

[Rob-16v]

[quote

head thats been ported/skimmed/flowed/etc
shaved some off the cylendar heads to increase cc capasity[/quote]

increase cc? Shaved?.............Heads? :?

[Matt Pickering]

Could try a cam from a 1,4 sr or 1.6 motor and adjust ing the fuel pressure reg' slightley

[beavy69]

THAT HAS ABSOLUTLY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! I CAN STILL DO MY JOB! i CAN STILL MAKE DECISIONS. I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM!? PEOPLE TALK. BUT THE'RE JUST IMPRESSED WITH MY IDEAS, RIGHT??

[beavy69]

"Increase your cc by shaving your head"

Yes Rob I blagged it from one of those "sly" email titles that try to fool spam filters. and it worked cause you all read it. ha ha ha ha ha ha.....!

[Rob-16v]

no offence mate but ur asking loads of question as if your going to go and do it, if i was you id ask some more basic question and try and learn some thing first. or if its power and turbos you what, take it to a performance garage and say ''theses sum money, turbo it or make it fast''.

[beavy69]

Fair point mate.

I just want to learn as much as possible to fuel many ideas that I have.

Alright I can't impliment some of them, yet:

e.g a post of mine about motorbike carbs, I have bought some and overhaulled em etc. I bought a nova manifold ready to butcher but I need a tig wleder etc

I'm still a student so aint exactly earning big bucks, but even if I was I believe that the spirit of modding does not condone handing over a wad of cash to some company and asking them to fix your problem when you could do it yourself with a bit of hard work and some knowledge for a fraction of the cost.

It's about pushing boundries, trying things to see what looks right and goes right. Enjoying it when it does and learing from it when it doesn't. Some of the best inventions and creations in the world were created by some nutters in their shed.

Look at the Ariel Atom, Dodge Viper, Tiger Z100, Orca C113 and so on.

Its not about how much money and stuff you got but what you can do with it (no penis jokes please).

Is anyone with me on this?

[nick67]

Hiya,

Just thought i would say a few things on this,

1, 4-1 is standard, you want 4-2-1 in tubluar steel, even better stainless but that will only make it last longer, a free mod i have done is if you have a cast manifold with a twin downpipe look to see from underneath how the pipes are welded to the flange, if there is no weld on the outside of the pipes the its probably welded inside, and restricting flow. remove it and weld round the outside then get your head porting stone and remove the weld from inside.

2, shaving or skiming the head will increase the compression ratio but there are other factors to consider like swirl in the head chambers, so it might be better to get flat top or higher pistons to do the same, sometimes pistons out of other engins might do it, for instance, the ford "pinto" engine can be moded using the pistons out of a 2.8 v6 essex engin.

Some other very important power and economy mods are sparkplugs like the bosh 4 spark, they work a treat for ?20 and your oil, get fully synthetic, though its a bitch in the morning as it takes alot longer to warm up. your idea with the forced induction would help with that if you can regulate hot and cold. By the way if you are forcing it in faster and you have a std exaust it's like pissing in to the wind.

Nick

[Dan]

Its not about how much money and stuff you got but what you can do with it (no penis jokes please).


yup the budget thing has been done. It just needs a great bunch of mates and some elbow grease. having done this myself i have alot of respect for others willing to do it. just remember the cheapest form of making a car faster is stripping weight from the car.

The fans and forced induction lololol, silliest idea ever, sorry to be harsh but its true. a good supply of cold air from ducting can aid performance a small bit. if 'fans' etc were so easy then every tuner in the world would be fitting them as standard lol. Its an idea tried to be sold to the public for years and years, starting with the 'turbozet' then onto the 'surbot' + many more. Even when the mags back in the mid '90s tested one of these miracle things, the xr3i it was fitted to lost power :lol: The only forms of forced induction to get gains from are supercharging or turbocharging

Nick, with reference to your comments.....

1. in the terms of manifolds when a 4-1 is mentioned this is generally what is thought of...

http://www2.novaload.net/files/dan/newcar/mani1.jpg

2.Another option to raise compression is to have the block decked.

3. Spark plugs are spark plugs, having tested a few makes back to back on a rolling road whilst bored (along with leads also) there are no gains to be honest, a normal set of ngk's are more than ample and a hell of alot cheaper, its all i run in mine.

[Stuart]

^^ agreed on the plug front there. NGK plus imho are the best for cost and performance.

[Adam]

1, 4-1 is standard, you want 4-2-1 in tubluar steel, even better stainless
I have a 4-1 manifold, and it is NOT standard.
You can buy aftermarket 4-1 manifold, or 4-2-1.

[beavy69]

Nick, I think you might be getting mixed up with engines. On a 1.3 and 1.4 (at least) 4,2,1 is standard 4,1 is generally considered a performance upgrade for these.

I have heard tho that 4,2,1 is better for the 2.0 red tops

SPARKPLUGS: I have a set of those 4 prong bosch jobs and although as you say Dan performance is irrelevant, there are more maintence free and they last longer. So I spose its up to whoever, if one decided them to be worth the extra money.

P.S My fan induction may not help all that much but its fun to play will as well!

[krobinson]

P.S My fan induction may not help all that much but its fun to play will as well!

You said the fan provides heat while the engine is warming up. Funny that the engine has to be warm, to heat the water, which supplys the heat for the fan to blow warm air. So your theory is completely useless.

Keith

[Stuart]

almost like using AC to cool the intake air down to produce the power that the AC lost in the first place lol

[Lee]

P.S My fan induction may not help all that much but its fun to play will as well!

You said the fan provides heat while the engine is warming up. Funny that the engine has to be warm, to heat the water, which supplys the heat for the fan to blow warm air. So your theory is completely useless.

Keith

lol, add to that the fact that the matrix heats the air up, which happens to be inside the car :lol:

Right, im off out to the garage to fill the back with helium baloons to make it lighter!

[beavy69]

Yep you're right guys that would be stupid. They were separate bullet points though. What I ment was:

*When you first start the engine you're not moving and so no air is being added from the bonnet scoop. Switching the fan on adds more air imediatly from standing and it apears to be more comfortable starting up and getting warm.

Adding warm air to the engine wont help it warm up any faster than the friction of the moving parts in the engine will.

*But when running, if you wanted to be a bit more fuel efficient (for example on longer journeys) you could add warm air as this is said to be better for fuel ecconomy.

Thats why the original black airbox with the standard filter in has a tube drawing warm air into the engine from a pocket surrounding the exaust manifold. You will see this on many mid size engine cars e.g 1.4 escort

[Adam]

Thats why the original black airbox with the standard filter in has a tube drawing warm air into the engine from a pocket surrounding the exaust manifold.
Thats to help prevent carb freezing in the winter. Nowt do with economy.