in theory an electric water pump should be worth a few, after a certain point i dont think more water flow is needed and its robbing power for no benefit.

Regarding fans before someone mentions a viscous coupled fan not using much power to drive, once your doing 30mph you dont need any additional airflow and even the viscous coupling is "using" power albeit ridiculously inefficiently (nothing much is happening for the input)

Dunno about electric fuel pump though, a mech pump flows in proportion to rpm but an electric supplies way more fuel than is needed and bypasses the rest.

So the input horsepower per lb of fuel USED is probably higher with an electric.

Worse still for people who insist on electric pumps capable of filling a 44 gallon drum in 2 minutes on a 400hp engine lol.

Cold air is the cheapest power upgrade youll ever perform to your engine, even if you use a factory snorkel youll see a bunch of benefit by ducting cool air to the entry (id add another snorkel too)

The worst thing you can do is leave the aircleaner under the bonnet to suck ambient +50c air, so let it breathe externally and its worth a bunch of (really free) horsepower.



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Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 5:29:40 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

apart from cold air which really is worth a bunch, i suppose we are talking about mods that realistically add less than 5hp at a time (if the parts you replace were working properly to begin with)

anything mechanical thats replaced by electric still needs to produce the power, and alternators arent real efficient at turning mech energy into electrical so there are always losses trying to change the input energys state.

The savings are made by "choosing" when to operate the device, instead of it permanently coupled and running all the time (like a fan)

Ive never tested any of this stuff on a dyno, but if you make 5 mods that free up a few ponies each, thats a fair upgrade for cheap.

(someone find me some power without opening the engine or removing 20kg seats, and ill buy you a beer when the car runs a 10 lol)


11.38@117

Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 5:37:40 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

What about better oil?

_______________________________________________________
If we all had the same (good) taste, who would buy all the Fords?

nah, never tested this kind of stuff, i just accept that at a certain power level/rpm i need to throw factory junk in the bin and buy better parts lol.

Reducing friction with the rollers is a good thing, but its possible they weigh more than a stamped factory bit of junk so valvetrain weight goes up.

help me out by explaining the application, roller rockers aint cheap and the money could be better spent elswhere up to a certain point.

If you want to get real spendy some low friction rings and a vac pump would be worth 20 or 30hp on a 450hp engine, maybe more depending on stroke.

For most normal people, Ill add a tick for a real good carb tune, i found bunches of power in my holley but i had to get "creative" in modifying metering blocks, because the "out of the box" tune was horrible.

Also, a dizzy recurve is good money spent.

another thing ive found, if you beleived everyone whose product was worth 5hp here and 10hp there, wed all be driving 1000hp 308s and while that would be nice, it aint ever gunna happen lol.

11.38@117

Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 5:46:36 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

roller rockers reduce the ressistance of the top of the engine therefore i think it revs up a little faster by not having the metal to metal kind of thing happening.old school explaining i know but you get the idea?

DAVE ,I wish I could afford the sticker!!!..:-)

Jim in Adelaide...Hindsight is bad vision!

Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 5:51:14 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

haha, i was talked into getting some until i went into supercrap and seen the price, i think ill pretend i use it by pointing to my sticker, lol

What works in a pro stock engine, or jon kaases EM entry, isnt necessary worth a pinch of s*** to a dirty old holden motor.

especially if it has to live more than 5 minutes.

Even comparing lsx results (where the dyno is king, and people pay stupid dollars for gains) isnt really applicable especially with oils, as a holden flat tappet wont like synthetic oils for very long and sloppy old holden clearances wont be good with such a thin oil.

On an engine built to suit, perhaps but i wouldnt be dumping 150 dollars of synthetic into granpas ex taxi just yet lol.

As far as the topic goes,I want to burn more fuel, in as short a period as possible, and get as many lb/ft from each Btu as possible.

fuel economy is for priuses and grey nomads lol.

11.38@117

Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 6:08:27 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

quote:

---

Originally posted by jim
greenhj,very true ,this thread can be used for both really,i dont think
ill be havin a beer with you ,because from 11.38 to 10.9 is gonna haunt
ya,because the faster you go the harder it is to make up those split seconds.
For Other readers...16 seconds to 15 seconds fairly easy to get
14 to 13 a little harder
11 to 10 expensive and error full
10 to 9 well ,you get the idea...lol

---

haha so true, except ive made some "free" changes since then (sealed carb to scoop, more carb tweaks etc), fitted new tyres (old tyres were rooted last time out) and have waited for the weather to turn a little nicer.

If it doesnt go .2xs maybe teens now ill cry lol.

Probably up the ante a little over winter, my engine is really just a b1tch motor so theres plenty to gain if i open it up.

11.38@117

this is why this thread appeals to me, its easy to throw dollars at something to find power, but getting the most of what you have is the hard part, and im hoping for this thread to reveal a revelation I havent already tried

11.38@117

quote:

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Originally posted by wbute
Diesel oil in a petrol engine? It has a detergent in it. I would be careful using that. Oil is cheap, engines are not.

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diesel oil is primarily used because of its higher zinc content, removed from petrol engines because the cats dont like it.

A lot of diesel oils have reduced the zinc content so its almost of no benefit any more, needs to be a specific oil probably labelled "off road use only" or "for old s***boxes" to satisfy the epa and keep our engines alive.

Not really relevant to a tired old stocker i suppose, but put some spring on a decent flat tappet and its crucial.

I think penrite do an added zinc oil, and im pretty sure harley davidsons use a blend that still has plenty of zinc in it.

quote:

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Anything electrical has to save HP. The alternator has to run on and off regardless so the power it robs the engine to run cant be saved anyway

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.

Not really, on an old car with electric fans fitted you can see the power being robbed every time the fans start up and teh idle drops because the demand for electricity has increased over "normal".

you dont see it on late model stuff because they cheat and open an air bypass to bring the rpm back up so you dont notice but it sure as hell is using more power than before

quote:

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The only way to really know is to try changing some things and put it on the dyno.

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this i agree with, but such small gains are barely measurable while discounting all other affecting incidents. A chassis dyno sure as hell isnt close to accurate enough, maybe an OEM engine dyno with a million dollars in sensors and software and a lab full of geeks to interpret the data.

I like to see chunks of 10hp before i pay any attention to it.





11.38@117

Edited by user Tuesday, 20 April 2010 6:36:27 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified