Cool Carb Tech

Today on horsepower Mike's in the shop performing carb surgery. And after this operation, a plain single inlet pumper turns into a tunable double in that Dyn all with surprising results in the

dyno Cell. Meanwhile, Joe's at the track to discover why these eight mile outlaws are turned into Turbos and winning the war of the high performance power.

Ok.

Say

I wanna know how to get more out of the carburetor on your street. Motor

simple. Just make sure it's a 1050 dominator with a shot of nitrous. Nothing to it.

That's great if you've got deep pockets or a full blown race car. But a lot of us are looking for ways to improve our carbureted hot rod without emptying our wallets.

So today I'm gonna show you how to transform a single inlet 600 CFM four barrel 4160 into a more tunable better performing carburetor. Plus it'll give you the visual image of a more race oriented one.

Now, here's what you're gonna need and we got most of it from Holly,

two float bowls,

two floats,

hangar assemblies, needle in seats,

a fuel line from Earl's

two jets

and a metering block kit.

Now, the easy thing are the tools needed a flat blade screwdriver, 516 socket,

an A N wrench and preferably a jet tool. First thing we need to do is remove the primary

and secondary float bowls

along with the fuel transfer tube,

odor halls, use paper gaskets that were a nightmare to remove. Now, thank goodness, they switched these new blue non-stick gaskets and later models that make it a breeze to disassemble. Next, we can remove the secondary metering plate. Now, there's a special tool to remove these clutched screws which we don't have and I bet you don't either. So we just modified a flat blade screwdriver to get the job done.

Now, let me show you the difference between these two.

The secondary metering plate has a fixed orifice which meters the secondary fuel. In order to change the orifice size, you have to replace the whole plate.

Now, the secondary metering block is similar to the primary block. All you have to do is swap out the jets to change the orifice size, which makes it a lot easier to tune.

Now, this is the smallest piece of the whole swamp and also the trickiest attaching the hangers to the floats can be a big pain. Let me show you why

you have to get this small spring position just right on the hangar and the float

then slide the pin through the assembly, making sure the spring doesn't pop out of place. Now, I did a lot of practice, but if you're lucky enough to get it on the first time, you better book a flight to Vegas.

Next, we need to install the float assemblies into the float bowls

using the self tapping screws provided.

Now, we can grease the O ring and install the needle in seats,

followed by this one way flapper valve in the primary bowl.

Now, in case you didn't bust me already, you also need a Phillips screwdriver to remove the accelerator pump, cover

the diaphragm

and spring from the original bowl

and install them on the new primary bowl.

Yeah.

Now we can adjust the float level by holding the bowl upside down and centering the float, which should be a good place to start.

And with a new gasket, we can install the primary float bowl, making sure the accelerator pump arm and the lever are positioned correctly.

Next, we can install the jets in the secondary metering block using a jet tool.

Now, to find out what jets you'll need. Contact Haley's tech line

followed by new gaskets and the secondary metering block, which does not have a power valve.

Now, we can attach the secondary float bowl,

install the site plugs which allow you to set the float level once fuel is in the bowls.

Huh?

And finish it off with an Earl's fuel line. Now, this can be a pain to install unless you disassemble it.

All right. Well, that's it for the carb upgrade. Now, let's see if it'll feed this 383 Stroker back on the engine.

Dyno Plus we're gonna see if bigger is better when it comes to headers and even try out a carb spacer for more horsepower.

It's dyno time for this 383 Chevy small block. And we're about to find out what effect our car upgrades have on this motor's power. We started with a single feed 600 CFM 4160 Haley

then added float bowls,

two hanger assemblies,

two floats,

a secondary metering block kit,

needles and seats

two secondary jets and a dual inlet fuel line

running 93 octane for these tests. The upgraded 600 made 427 horsepower, 415 ft pounds of torque.

I don't like to float my own boat, but the upgrades on that carb seem to work very good. Now, I know what you might be thinking. Those are some pretty good numbers. But how much better is that carb than before? The modifications? Well, we just happen to have another one sitting on the shelf. So we're gonna find out.

All right, we made 421 horsepower, 408 ft pounds of torque with the single feet 600. Now, some of you may be wondering what would happen if we added a larger CFM carburetor. Well, we've got that covered too

a few weeks ago. We

dyno the same 383 to test some

ere spark plugs

that time with the Holly 770 Street Avenger and we got 412 horsepower.

All right, we use the same exact set up for all these tests. Now, our upgraded 600 made the most power. So that goes to show you don't necessarily need more CFM to maximize your power. That's especially true with the vacuum secondary carburetor

because if you don't need the extra air and fuel, the secondaries aren't gonna open all the way to begin with.

We made all the runs using these engine three quarter long tube headman headers

since we made more power with a smaller car.

Now, I'm curious to see what happens to the horsepower and torque using a set of engine five eights headers.

All right, with the engine five eights headers, we made 414 horsepower, 402 ft pounds of torque. That's a loss of 13 horsepower and 13 ft pounds. Well, that goes to show you these dart heads like to move a little air. Now, we're gonna get rid of the engine five eights headers and go back to the engine three core

before we call it quits. There's one more thing I want to try a

spacer between the carburetor and the intake manifold can improve power and throttle response by improving their fuel mixture.

The question is which one works better? An open hole spacer or one with tapered holes. Well, we're going to find out

both of these came from trans

DAPT and the open hole which increases planum volume is supposed to extend the power band.

The idea behind the holes in this spacer is better fuel atomization.

So you enjoy more torque and throttle response.

All right, we didn't see any gains using our spacer. And that's because we're running a high rise intake with a one inch built in spacer. Now, if you're running a street manifold, you'll definitely see a benefit. Well, that's it for our carb upgrade and our dyno test. Now it's time to head down to Huntsville, meet up with Joe and watch some of the fastest 10 5 racing in the country.

Well, we're back and now to pose the question are turbo chargers taking over the world of competitive high performance. Well, we've come to a drag strip where all three power editors are here to battle it out

including big bad blowers and of course, good old giggle gas. Nitrous oxide.

The event was the season opener of the year one Orsa

series where rain seemed destined to be the overall winner.

Long delays left time for only one complete qualifying round

and top qualifier in the fastest outlaw 10 5 class was a nitrous turned turbo guy from New Jersey. It just got to be too costly, keeping it together,

break a lot of parts and, uh,

we saw everybody go turbo and running fast so we tried it and we've been there ever since

Joe is learning a 540 inch Chevy big block with twin 91 millimeter turbos, a reliable and more cost effective combination than he had during those

days.

Initially, they probably cost more money to build back when this all started. But now with these big nitro motors,

probably cheaper to build a turbo car from scratch nowadays. And it's a lot more durable piece

of course, whether for racing or daily driving, the concept is the same

turbo chargers are forced induction devices that use exhaust energy to cram more air flow into an engine,

exhaust flow from the headers drives the blades of a turbine wheel before it discharges

on the other side, an aluminum

Ower wheel draws in and compresses fresh air. These wheels ride on a close tolerant shaft that can spend well over 100,000 RPM. S

race motor turbos can easily increase intake pressure by as much as 50 pounds.

Well, you've heard of turbo lag before

the time it takes the process to make power

go for drag racing lag is no drawback at all.

You get your converter, right? And you get up on boost, you're not going to have turbo

at all. You see some cars go out there and leave lazy and the big power comes on later. But

for the most part, you get the starting line boost, right. You're good.

I guess that guy should know he set the outlaw 10 5 world records on both eight mile and quarter mile tracks.

But I owe all that to the turbo charger. I mean,

without a turbo, I don't know where we'd be.

Kim also gives credit to this guy,

Steve Petty from pro line racing.

He's not only Lynch's crew chief, he's got numerous cars here with motors. He blueprinted for precision turbo power.

I do all the combinations of the motors like the team shafts and impression ratios. Rod links.

I basically build the motor on paper.

I just

help them make sure they're in the groove, line them up. A lot of little things, make sure they turn the data loggers on if they go out there and I'm not out there and they have a problem.

The car doesn't stupid. It's best for me to be there to see what it's doing that way

when I get back to the pits. I know what the problem is, how to address it

basically. At 1.5 seconds in the run, I had nine degrees timing, pulled out like a gear card

right there with the converter locks up and wants to shake the tires,

timing,

timing out right there and just kind of

swings up the

craft. There's a big learning curve, I guess. For a lot of guys with these, uh, Turbos, what, what's the biggest part of that

driving and the staging? That's the toughest part.

Really? Oh, yeah.

It's got to have really good brakes, motor tune ups, gotta be spot on motor healthy.

And that's, that's really the, the worst thing

once you let off the button,

you know, pretty easy from there.

I'm just a thoroughbred, largest guy, man. I, I love the nicest stuff that I've had

the builders try to convert me over to Turbos, but

I'm gonna try to stick with the

Niceville

and who could blame die hard nitro guys like Mike Hill for hanging on to their squeeze box. Even in the Ira, you watch the nitro cars kind of fell off for a minute and then

they make a routine and bring them back and I just think we gotta kind of do the same thing, you know, adjust the way we keep parent and

keep the nitro

cars coming. I mean, nobody wants to see a whole turbo field.

Then again, no one wants to change the renegade essence of outlaw racing either where racers can create their own unique power combinations

where they can run anything as long as they plant their power on the same tires as the next guy

for. Now, the turbo trend is a hot one,

but hopefully you'll continue to see clouds of nitrous spray filled the night crack air

and still fill the ground shaking tremors of a blown alcohol burnout.

It's all part of the heritage of heads up racing.

That's pretty cool.

Now, here's a way to make an explosive statement in your race car or off road vehicle. It's cherry bombs, new glass pack muffler that's designed to bolt right up to the header for immediate power and torque. Now, each one features a true straight through three inch core that's wrapped in high temp wrapping. Now, they're available in four different sizes and ready to give you plenty of performance and loud sound. Now, the price, well, how does 95 bucks

tell you? Well, next technology is taking over everything from the way we operate our vehicles to the way we work on them even degree in a cam shaft.

Now, for eons, the tried and proven way was the way the buddy showed you a few weeks ago. That starts with finding top dead center

first to find top dead center. Rotate the crank clockwise, 10 degrees.

Tighten the piston stop until it touches the top of the piston,

then rotate the crank clockwise until it hits the piston. Stop again.

Mark the number divide by two and that's top dead center. Of course. Then he goes on to show you the traditional way to degree it. Well, recently at a trade show, we picked up this gadget called a Digicam.

And well, today we thought we'd give it a shot and see how this thing works.

It uses these crank shaft inserts and after you find the one that's right for your crank, you drop it in,

tighten the set screw with an Allen Rich, then you can slide the digi

cam device over the crank snout

and tighten it down with another set of screws.

It also comes with a spacer that bolts right up to the block.

That's good and snug.

Now you still use the dial indicator like the traditional way, but no more degree will. And

this baby does all the math.

Now to find T DC, you install the piston stop.

Now turn the motor counterclockwise about 30 degrees and

then you run your piston stop until it bottoms out on a piston.

Now press the menu button until T DC shows up and press select

the display will prompt you to rotate the engine clockwise until you hit the piston stop.

Now press the BT DC button

and the display prompts you to rotate the engine counterclockwise

until the piston hits the stop again.

Now press the A T DC button to show the correct piston position.

Rotate the piston away from the stop, remove the stop

and rotate the engine until the display shows 0.0 which is top dead center. Now the degree in the cam, you rotate the engine to find max lift on the intake

valve.

Then zero your dial indicator. If the needle starts falling, it's because your hydraulic lifter is bleeding down,

it will stop in a few seconds.

Now, rotate the engine counterclockwise to 100,000 before max lift.

Press the menu button until the letters CCTR are displayed.

Press select

and the display prompts you to rotate the engine until 50,000 before max lift.

Now press the BT DC button

and this display will prompt you to rotate clockwise until 50,000 after max lift. Now press the A T DC button

and the display will show you the cam intake center line.

Ok, buddy is a guy who's now degreed CAMS, the old traditional way and the digital way. What you pick.

Well, Joe MCC,

I'm using a degree wheel but I can see where this would come in really handy if the engine was still in the car. Very diplomatic. Right. By the way, this thing goes for about 300 bucks. These, uh, inserts. Well, they're sold separately.

Well, that's gonna put the wraps on this week's horsepower. Why you come join us next time?