|
Chapter
7
6/22/00:
Yesterday I drove 800 miles(not in TurboStude...) back and forth to Madison
to the Studebaker national meet. Saw lots of knowlegeable folks and
asked lots of questions. Ted Harbit reitterated how important it
would be once I got some boost to have plenty of carbueration. He
suggested getting the heck to 12 volts so I could use a Holley blue fuel
pump, and regulate it up with pressure from the turbo output, as I had with
the mechanical pump. I found a 12 volt solenoid for the
overdrive. It apparently has an integral relay. There are three
terminals on it with numbers. I don't know which goes where.
Any ideas? Having 12 volts would also allow me to watch rpm on a
tachometer. This website discusses the conversion well: classic truck shop
Also, check this out: 6 to 12
by Steve Delanty
Ted said that it probably wouldn't hurt to try running the turbo without the
water cooling hooked up to see if the smoke is indeed coming from
antifreeze leaking thru at the turbo seal/bearing. He told me how to
properly install a composite head gasket (bought one in case I did blow the
gasket between a water passage and a cylinder). First you soak it in
water, then "wave" it dry. Spray on your aluminum paint and
tighten away. He said I probably will need to run colder plugs than
the AC R-45's that I was able to find. The car is out of my reach for
a few days, but when I get it back, I'll try the water deprivation and
drill some holes in the "waste gate".
9/23/00:
After a long hiatus to get some other stuff done, I have resumed
development. I figured out that the reason the fuse kept blowing on
the overdrive relay was that the wires on the solenoid were reversed, thus
every time the governor reached speed and provided a ground, the relay
bypassed the solenoid altogether and shorted out! Well, the plan is
to get everything over to 12 volts as soon as I can get the car back to my
home shop 65 miles away. I have found an AFB carb which I believe is
500 or 600 cfm. I picked up an aluminum carb-base which is likely
from a 78’ Buick Turbo-Regal which could hold the AFB if I put in a 3/4
inch spacer. 1
2 3 4 (See what happens to it on Salt2Salt.com)
To use
this, I'll need to make a 90 degree bend into the manifold. Also, is
the cross-sectional area of the 'outlet' tube realistic or does it just act
as a restrictor to flow, minimizing the effectiveness of the larger
carb? I am in pursuit of a Holley blue fuel pump now and have learned
how to modify the regulator (ala Harbit). I'll show this soon.
I have found that the routing of the reference tube into the same line as
the carb vent was a bad idea. The carb fuel bowl needs a vent
to run, and instantly shuts the engine down when it was plugged
temporarily. I think the negative pressure waves from the top of the
mechanical fuel pump were transmitted to the fuel bowl. I will
reroute each line separately into the large bore of the turbo outlet.
I'll reroute the boost gauge into the intake manifold below the carb.
I may need to place one direction valves on the pump or fuel bowl at some
point. We'll see.....
10/12/2000:
Got the blue
pump for $15 at a swap meet, but no regulator. Also found out
that a red pump, which is considerably cheaper new, can be modified with a
little spring (Moroso $5) which increases gpm and pressure. Since
the red pump is brand new, I'll put the spring in and see what happens in
terms of pressure at the carb. Purchased a new regulator
which usually comes with the blue pump (#803 $26). Ted Harbit
suggested a mod to reference the pressure that the regulator
"sees" to boost. I removed the locknut from the spring
tension screw on top of the reg and measured the
distance to the body of the reg (17/32 inches).This is a factory
pre-set adjustment of fuel pressure which I'll return to as a starting
point when I put the regulator back together. I then ground down
the top of the regulator to remove the "V" shaped groove which
vents to the atmosphere. The tension screw then was drilled out to
1/4 inches and fitted with a copper tube which will be plumbed up to
the turbo output along with the reference tube from the mechanical fuel
pump. The tube is an interference fit which was sealed with flux
and solder. Place a soft washer of some kind under the locknut.
The finished
regulator needs to be mounted just before the carb.
10/15/2000:
I've come up with a better way to mount the swapmeet AFB (500 or 600)
4-barrel which I found. I'll put it directly on top of the location
used for the single carb using a 5$ aluminum adapter I
found at the same swap. To give the gas mixture a bit more room
to straighten itself out, I made a plywood spacer and
sealed it with paint. Couldn't resist adding an "injector"
like the NOS
guys have which may be used to leak a bit of water and alcohol into the mix
if I start detonating with more boost later..... Next I rebuild the carb and
try to plug the vents and accelerator pump. I'll study the floats and
find an extra set to play with but not change them till I have to.
Home page
Next chapter
|
