HIPWRED

I recommend and only use Chiptorque.

Someone edited my post. Reposting so it makes sense.

It was actually a few days ago. that's one of his companies. The parent company is still up and going. I spoke to him today, and he said he has a few buyers lined up. He has assured me that Summernats 23 will be going ahead as planned!

Ironically last year they were down on numbers, but for the most part I think the people that DIDNT come were most of the yobs. Depends if you want to have a premier car show (for spectators)... or an expansion on the friday night skids (entrant orientated). There is a difference, and I think Summernats achieves a good mix of both. I entered with my FPV no problems. As for requiring a top 10 car to enter... there are over 1000 entrants every year - so I am pretty sure more than 990 (ie: 99%) of them arent top 10. Leigh

Freezing temps? It was 42 degrees last event, and hit 46 on our way back through Sydney! Its bad enough when Canberra places jack up their prices, but I cant imagine what it'd cost to stay in Sydney once they start jacking it up. Re: food and drink being spilled on the cars... well I think its inevitable with that many people that close to the car... doesnt matter where it is. Either the spectators are miles away from the cars, or its gonna happen. Leigh

I've entered my car 3 years running (and in the first year we actually had 2 cars there). I've never had a beer bottle thrown at my car or been spat at, and its not even a V8. Didnt even come close to looking at it. I've never seen anything thrown at any car, and I've been going there since Summernats 11 and camped there for the first few years, so there wasnt much I could miss. Dont cruise Saturday arvo and you will be fine. I've done it a few times with no issues but I know if there was a possiblity of problems THAT would be the only time you'd be at risk. Powercruise has a long way to go, and Supernats... well cant comment cos I havent been there but yes, if there was a challenger that would be it. Leigh

Well there's 2 dynos... about 20-25 staff, and 2-3 fireys for 3 days, plus seating hire, dyno cages and assembly, and big screen audio visual x8 (2x4way big screen projections). I doubt anyone local and provide that many resources.... so then there's transport costs... Leigh

I can understand their position - it costs over 100k to run the dyno comp, and they get what I would estimate is about 40k in sponsorship for it directly. So its a loss leader UNLESS it gets 60k more ticket sales at the front gate. Even when I didnt compete the dyno cell was always one of the more interesting aspects of Summernats for me. Sure, I like the burnouts and driving events too, but I guess it held the most interest for me. I'll still be going - we sponsor the event - but I guess for me it wont be the same. Leigh

Hi Guys, Now its official I thought I'd let you guys know that unless something changes under new ownership, the Horsepower Heroes comp at Summernats will be gone. They will be having a dyno clinic where entrants can go and have their car dynoed for tuning, or to get tuning advice, and a few power runs by some big hitters as a demo. Just thought I'd let you know just in case someones planning on building a bit of a dyno queen for the next event. I had invested a lot in upgrading my engine so its no secret I am disappointed (and I have told Chic that personally) but most of the upgrades I was going to do anyway and with no comp I now dont have to go so fast. Leigh

Hi I have run E85 in my typhoon with great success and impressive increases in power and even more so in torque. Someone mentioned CO2 released from the crops offsets the lower emissions from the fuel? that's not correct because plants absorb CO2 and release O2. The argument used by E85 supporters is that the NET carbon footprint is lower as the plants absorb the CO2 released by the car, whereas burning fuel from under the ground has no such benefit. One could argue however unless crop size/yield is increased, we are already offsetting carbon output from cars. Of course once E85 demand increases I am sure crop size will increase. It was also mentioned there's lower carbon... well both ethanol and octane (pure petrol) are carbon chain molecules. Ethanol just has an oxygen stuck in there too. Generally the amount of carbon atoms (or more correctly CO2 molecules) released will be the same assuming the same degree of stoichometric tuning. If there's any less carbon it'd be almost insignificant. The cooler charge afforded by ethanol based fuel allows more timing which would allow for a more complete and 'cleaner' burn. I've had no adverse effects of running E85 in my fuel system. We've inspected all the lines and fittings, and they seem fine. I ran my car from Sydney to Canberra on E85 when on the way to summernats. I noticed only I used about 10-15% more fuel. At the time E85 cost 95cpl and regular premo fuel was from memory about $1.30+ in Sydney and higher outside of Sydney. So, it seemed to be quite cost effective for me. When tuning my car for E85 we added a flat 30% to the PULP fuelling to start off and tune from there. We noticed an immediate gain in power (about 30rwkw) with no changes to timing or boost. In the end it seemed around 26% was the magic number over PULP... so to run E85 your fuel system needs to be able to deliver at least that much more volume of fuel. Just my 2 cents.

I didnt say it wasnt possible. Put enough boost in anything and you will make the power. But, for me I am aiming for the lowest boost pressure possible - for the reasons I gave before. In the long run, it will benefit me more. No need to waste anyones time talking about how to go down a path I dont want to go. Sounds like its not Strauberry's path either.

Porting reduces restriction... lower restriction reduces boost, but maintains or increases air flow... so with lower boost, lower temps, more ignition advance, etc etc. It offers as much benefit as it does in an atmo engine - if not more. What is different is how you port it... bigger is not always better.... and in a forced application the method can be slightly different.

Cool. Already got the billet caps and studs sorted though. Will give em a call and see how long to turn one out. Leigh

There may be other places that do it. We're still investigating crankshaft engineering, for example ... this information may benefit others, so there is no need to close the thread. Worry about closing your own threads eh?

Probably dont need $2000 in custom forged pistons and $3800 worth of conrods either, but I got em.... because they are the best you can get & I should never have to worry about them no matter how far I go with it - if its not gonna break with a modified factory crank its DEFINITELY not going to break with a similarly prepared steel one. Thanks for the input but the main purpose of this thread was to find out if such a thing existed, and if so where I can get it and for how much.... not whether I need it or not.

I've broken a v8 crank at much less than 500rwkw. probably half that. But, that was due to a failed harmonic balancer. It didnt mean the crank was weak by any means. Many (poor) engineering practices can weaken a crank... not enough radius 'fillet' on journal grinds can create stress risers. Even things like incorrect input shaft alignment on the gearbox - too much runout will set up a harmonic that will break a crank in no time. So, I would have to say that with such vague information its hard to say that the structure of the crank is a weakness. For the record, I've got 420rwkw on a stock typhoon's engine internals (well- with only upgraded valve springs). I didnt have to spend 50k, and I think with 2k on a turbo upgrade (from stock!), 500rwkw would have been easy - if I wanted to risk it with stock internals. Blowing a lot of money and losing 2 cranks doesnt necessarily mean you know what you're talking about, unless you're implying you learn from your mistakes. I think what some people are implying here, however, is that you didnt. I tend to agree with the others... sounds more like bad tune or possibly dud parts or assembly. But yes we are all digressing... the topic is about where I can get a STEEL crank Leigh

Yeah taxi engines get surprisingly low wear cos they are almost always at operating temps and are usually regularly maintained. Its cold startups that cause most wear to an engine

Hi, Yeah that's who I am getting to modify the standard crank if I go that way. I dont think he can MAKE me a steel crank though. But, might ask. Leigh

Just about everything to do with the block is being changed... so its not gonna make much difference. I'm still in 2 minds about the sleeving even though Jack Bros (whom are very reputable) reckon it will be fine. Same reason as the steel crank - which all this sleeving/boring convo is hijacking - good insurance. I dont want to have to touch the thing once its built - cept for standard servicing etc of course. I've emailed Crankshaft Rebuilders about the crank. I dunno why I didnt think of them in the first place. Leigh

All alloy blocks are sleeved... and even things like topfuellers run sleeves. Sleeves are generally stronger than cast bores. There is more uniform thickness. For example my block is over 6mm thick on each of the thrust sides (where it matters) but maybe only 4mm thick on the other sides. You can get 300 thou (7.5ish mm) thick (all round) sleeves. Was going to sleeve my block but cos it has been unused since factory and has plenty of meat. Unfortunately the guys say cos of the position of the water pump, we cant grout the block, which is always a good insurance policy. Leigh

Stroke is already massive on these engines... Could try overboring and sleeving it to a bigger bore size though...

About 1000 flywheel horsepower. As you mentioned below, its for insurance - and if I wanna go REALLY nuts, I've got the gear to do it already in there. I've got quotes to modify a standard never-been-used crank that I have, including nitriding, big journal radiusing etc and so on... but obviously steel is a better option if its doable. Application.... first place HP Heros Forced 6 cyl class Summernats 23/24. Cheaper than I expected... where did you get it, and do you know if they still do them? Leigh

Looking around on the net during my current engine build up, I notice mention of custom steel cranks for Ford XR6T's but no specifics on supplier or price or lead time. Can anyone fill me in if this is the case, where I get it, and what I am looking at cost wise? Leigh