Sportwagon from hell...header pics

[jordan]

Great work Bob as usual!

[wrench459]

I'm more interested in the intake.
Tuned exhaust is only worth a few ponys...but if you match the intake with the exhaust flow in the correct proportions.. then you talking.
Nice work Bob.
Are you using the 80 percent flow rate to intake?

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by wrench459 I'm more interested in the intake. Tuned exhaust is only worth a few ponys...but if match the intake with the exhaust flow in the correct proportions.. then you talking. Nice work Bob. Are you using the 80 percent flow rate to intake?

I have to agree about the exhaust on a nearly stock engine. But when you start making decent power with hot cams (like 4x the rear wheel HP of a stock 1.9 Opel), then the exhaust definitely makes a difference!

On the bare head flow, I strive for 75-80% exhaust flow.

Normally when the header is fitted, the exhaust flow will increase another 4-5 cfm.

On this particular EFI intake, the manifold chokes the airflow by about 20 cfm over a bare port. Not great, but far better than the 'stock' carb'd intake that was previously used on this head (2.4). Usually the final numbers are closer to 90-95% exhaust flow once the manifolds are bolted in place.

Here's the old thread where I tested a bare 2.4 intake port, a Dbilas DCOE intake manifold, and the 3.0 litre EFI intake manifold.

HTH,
Bob

[samdog]

My girlfriend, who is not mechanical at all, is truly facinated with Bob's art

[wrench459]

Since you brought it up..
My guess is your going with a symmetric cam profile.
Your thinking out of the box again Bob. Keep it up !!
We might learn a thing or two.

[jeff denton]

It's just the common everyday kind of craftsmanship you see all the time.
At Bob's shop, that is.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by samdog My girlfriend, who is not mechanical at, all is truely facinated with Bob's art

[MantAscona]

Very nice work Bob.......again! I've always admired your quality of work, but the part I like best about what you do is the innovation. It's always interesting to see your unique approach to ordinary tasks. Very inspiring.

Duane

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by wrench459 Since you brought it up.. My guess is your going with a symmetric cam profile. Your thinking out of the box again Bob. Keep it up !! We might learn a thing or two.

Yes. The camshaft is a roller cam, the lift is .498" on both intake and exhaust, the duration @ .050" is 248° on the intake and exhaust. The duration @ .200" is 152°. Advertised duration is 284°. Lobe separation is 112°, and it's installed at 110° intake centerline (2° advanced).

Peak power previously on the dyno was @ 6500 rpms, peak torque I think was at 4800 rpms, but that was with a Holley 2-bbl. I think with the new intake and exhaust the peak hp/torque numbers will occur at a lower rpm.

Bob

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by samdog My girlfriend, who is not mechanical at, all is truely facinated with Bob's art

How does she know I named it 'Art'?

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by MantAscona Very nice work Bob.......again! I've always admired your quality of work, but the part I like best about what you do is the innovation. It's always interesting to see your unique approach to ordinary tasks. Very inspiring. Duane

Thanks Duane. Funny though, I still think you're far more picky about quality than I am! If I ever opened a shop up, I'd hire you as my quality control guy.

I say that with full respect, you did an amazing job on your latest car! The rest of you will have to wait until Carlisle to see it....

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by jeff denton It's just the common everyday kind of craftsmanship you see all the time. At Bob's shop, that is.

Thanks Jeff. If you ever decide to get out there and race your GT again, remember that old offer (from years ago) still stands. I think a neat little custom header could be built and stay within the track rules, plus be unique enough to piss off the regulars.

[azopelnut]

Bob
What plans do you have for the car?
Any unique body or chassis mods?

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by MantAscona Very nice work Bob.......again! I've always admired your quality of work, but the part I like best about what you do is the innovation. It's always interesting to see your unique approach to ordinary tasks. Very inspiring. Duane

RallyBob the Smokey Yunik of Opeldomany job worth doing is worth doing right. Good work Bob

[jeff denton]

Thank you, Bob! I've got a good start on the header, just isn't gonna get finished unless for some reason we want to race that car again. (Autocross has crossed my mind, by the way) And it is legal, just out of the ordinary compared to the competitors, yeah like the whole car is! They just aren't used to something being meticulously built in that class.

[MantAscona]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Thanks Duane. Funny though, I still think you're far more picky about quality than I am! If I ever opened a shop up, I'd hire you as my quality control guy. I say that with full respect, you did an amazing job on your latest car! The rest of you will have to wait until Carlisle to see it....

Thank you Bob, that means a lot coming from you. When do I start?

Duane

[wrench459]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Yes. The camshaft is a roller cam, the lift is .498" on both intake and exhaust, the duration @ .050" is 248° on the intake and exhaust. The duration @ .200" is 152°. Advertised duration is 284°. Lobe separation is 112°, and it's installed at 110° intake centerline (2° advanced). Peak power previously on the dyno was @ 6500 rpms, peak torque I think was at 4800 rpms, but that was with a Holley 2-bbl. I think with the new intake and exhaust the peak hp/torque numbers will occur at a lower rpm. Bob

Judging by the cam specs.
I'm only going to ask only one question yeah right..whats the rod length?

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by azopelnut Bob What plans do you have for the car? Any unique body or chassis mods?

By my standards, it will be pretty tame. But it will have substantial suspension upgrades and brake upgrades just the same. The Getrag 240 will stay, but I will build a short throw shifter. It's getting a 3.89 ZF LSD Opel rear axle with revised geometry. Heim-jointed DOM trailing arms , relocated rear sway bar with adjustable end links, adjustable panhard bar (length and roll center height). Front end will have similar mods, Delrin AF bushings, 400 lb springs, racing Bilsteins, 1" euro bar, solid subframe mounts, 1.5:1 steering quickener, bump steer corrected, 10.25" front rotors with 4-piston calipers, aluminum master cylinder, etc.

The body will stay as it is for now, but it's due for a restoration soon. I will not be involved with that aspect, I wanted to get it mechanically restored first. The one area I will modify related to the body is the front air dam and rear spoiler. The car needs to be stable, it will have enough power and rpms for 145-150 mph. So I have come up with a custom setup in my head, which I'll likely fabricate from sheetmetal.

Bob

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by wrench459 Judging by the cam specs. I'm only going to ask only one question yeah right..whats the rod length?

They're actually stock rods, but with ARP bolts fitted. Bore is 97 mm with forged Venolias, rings are Hastings (1.5, 1.5, 3.0 mm) except for the 2nd compression rings which are Total Seal Gapless. The stroke is stock 85 mm, and the rods are 134 mm so the rod ratio is pretty bad @ 1.576:1. It sees 7500 rpms on occasion, but mostly it's run up to 6500-7000 since it's really very torquey. It pulls strongly from right off idle.

Bob

[wrench459]

Originally Posted by RallyBob They're actually stock rods, but with ARP bolts fitted. Bore is 97 mm with forged Venolias, rings are Hastings (1.5, 1.5, 3.0 mm) except for the 2nd compression rings which are Total Seal Gapless. The stroke is stock 85 mm, and the rods are 134 mm so the rod ratio is pretty bad @ 1.576:1. It sees 7500 rpms on occasion, but mostly it's run up to 6500-7000 since it's really very torquey. It pulls strongly from right off idle. Bob

Bob you got to hate the wide rings
Hastings rings iron I cringe theres got to be a better ring package What 's your thoughts on top ring ? total seals on the top ring? I'm getting two different feedback on this. did I say I hate the metric system.

[jerseyopel]

Originally Posted by RallyBob How does she know I named it 'Art'?

Now that is funny!

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by wrench459 Bob you got to hate the wide rings Hastings rings iron I cringe theres got to be a better ring package What 's your thoughts on top ring ? total seals on the top ring? I'm getting two different feedback on this. did I say I hate the metric system.

The shortblock is about 10 years old. So the Total Seals are on the 2nd ring, back then they didn't have the top rings available yet. I have not tried the top ring 'gapless' setup yet, so I can't comment on how they work.
The Hastings moly-faced rings actually work okay. Deves would have been nicer, but the waiting time is long. I was going to use Total Seal for all the rings, but the price was something like $215 10 years ago!

Yes, wide rings suck! Stock Opel is huge at 2mm/2mm/5mm! I like to run 1mm or 1.2 mm top rings for racing, but since this was a street car with a rather large bore I left them at 1.5 mm. For racing use I found that above 8500 rpms the top rings start to flutter a bit and widen the top ring groove in the piston, so the only thing you can do is go thinner...it helps a lot.

I have been meaning to try the gapless top rings but have not had to build an engine for myself in a while. Basically if they work well I want to build a two-ring piston for my Bonneville engine, this would allow for a shorter piston, longer rod, and less friction.

Bob

[jlthunder]

Originally Posted by RallyBob I say that with full respect, you did an amazing job on your latest car! The rest of you will have to wait until Carlisle to see it....

Not everyone

[markandson]

Great work Bob, I try to create some sweet stuff but yours smokes mine every time, and I love the innovative over the axle widened pipe. The thing I really like is the LIFT that the car is on, I sure could use one of those.

[Tru-Craft]

Originally Posted by RallyBob Yes, wide rings suck! Stock Opel is huge at 2mm/2mm/5mm! I like to run 1mm or 1.2 mm top rings for racing. I have been meaning to try the gapless top rings but have not had to build an engine for myself in a while. Basically if they work well I want to build a two-ring piston for my Bonneville engine, this would allow for a shorter piston, longer rod, and less friction. Bob

Bob, that's a great way to reduce friction. I was wondering if you were thinking of a 2 ring piston for your salt flats car.
Our racing go-Karts use only one ring (2-cycle).
I'm sure you noticed how small and narrow the skirt area is on the F1 pistons we saw at the PRI show. Some even had skirt inserts made from graphite/ceramic or something!
Coatings are illegal in Karting, but a must for your Bonneville car. All the Aerospace coatings are reaching the racing world, new stuff coming out all the time.

The ultimate friction reducer..........roller bearings!
Ever think about trying to machine the Opel engine for roller bearings?
I'm sure you have!

Oh, nice fab work on the exhaust. I love the over the axle pipe...........you are clever!
Lyle