Hey Gang - I've been wanting to "instrument" my 32 Cab in a way that would enable me to understand how the carbs are working, see how my Air-Fuel ratios are during different driving conditions, monitor EGT temps and in the end . . . hopefully be able to make tuning decisions and monitor the results. Now plenty of us 'Bonneville' type guys use data loggers, engine management computers and technology up the wazooo to monitor, tune and get our race engines down the track - but most of us don't do this for our vintage/traditional HotRods. (Hell - I never have). One of the BIG reasons is that about the last thing we're going to do is mount all this modern **** in the car, then find a place for O2 and EGT gauges in our hotrods - not a chance in Hell. So - what to do??? Well, why not make a PORTABLE monitor - that you can hookup for tuning, then remove it. That sounds cool - but what about the ****ing gauges? This has been a dilemma for me for awhile - THEN I stumbled upon a monitor box from AEM that communicates it's outputs to an iPhone! Ahhhh Hah! Now I have something that I can use when I want and remove it when I'm done -- and no messy **** has to be installed (long term). I could even mount all this stuff under the seat - nobody would see it and my iPhone would communicate the tuning information to me! So - this is what I set out to do about a week ago (after putting O2 and EGT bungs in my new headers) . . . here are the results: 1) Making a Portable Setup: A brief overview of my portable "box": (Note, one bad thing is that AEM has discontinued this - as they only had the software figured out for a iPhone 4. I bought it anyway - as I have an old iPhone 4 sitting in a drawer). Nobody else has something like this that I've found . . . 2) Road Test with my 1932 FlatCab: Now this video is a bit rough - as I haven't mounted my GoPro yet and it is hard to use an iPhone to video another iPhone . . . and drive the damn car, shift the gears and keep it pointed the right general direction . . . all at a pretty high rate of speed. I'll make a better one later - but you get the point. 3) What I Suspect I've Learned: I'm too damn rich (well the engine is anyway)! This car has two Stromberg 48's - with standard 48 jets and power-valves. I thought for sure it would be too lean - but just the opposite. At regular cruise speed (3rd gear - about 50-60 mph) it has an AFR of about 12.2 and an EGT (rear cylinder probe) of about 1050. That is FAT. When I go to full throttle in 2nd gear (power valve operational) - it drops down to about 10.5 to 11.5 . . . way too FAT as well. So, my next step is to change the main jets to the ones that come in 97's - 45's . . . and then rerun the test, see how the car "feels" and see what the monitor tells me. 4) Switching Sides: Now I have bungs on both sides, so before I get too ahead of myself I'm going to switch sensors to the other side - see if I get the same general results. Need to validate this before making any tuning changes. Swap-O-Matic Baby! It takes me about 15 mins to remove it and I can use it in other 6V cars or 12V cars - so it will help me with other projects in the future. This is the only way I could talk myself into doing this - as the gear is not cheap and I can use it for other cars (at least that is my rationalization! LOL) Hope this is of value to you guys . . . B&S
Great way to properly setup your induction system,............But you will get the IT"S NOT TRADITIONAL from someone. Building a Hot Rod that runs properly and performs properly is traditional! KK
Something to log RPM would be usefull. I purchased the Innovate gear to do the same thing, unfortunately i'm electronically challenged. Tom Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk
Maybe this set up will figure out that most flatheads are over fueled huh? I wish I was smarter with technology stuff like computers.
I had a wideband in my 55 for a few years, it was interesting. I came to realize that what the EFI crowd thinks of as "way too FAT" is pretty much just right for a carburated hot rod. I'd live with those numbers... also, I'm tinkering with trying to set up a little computer thingy to display gauge info (including afr) in a slightly OT car. I guess a guy could make sure his little computer thingy has wifi or bluetooth, and make an app that would display the info on a phone. Of course, that's probably something I'd have to get my kid (the computer engineer) to help me with!
They're not BAD, but I'll take some fuel out of it and see if it changes the behavior just a bit (leaner usually equals meaner). I'd like those numbers if the engine was supercharged/blown - but I'd like them to be about 1 to 1.5 points higher for a carbureted situation. With that said, this is a new 'tuning box' - so I'll need to check plugs and validate it's readings - to ensure that I trust it and know what it is telling me. The good news is that I'll have data to work from . . .
The fun part is keeping it rich enough that it still runs well under all conditions. If you're playing around with a wideband on different carbs, try it on a Qjet....they're amazing
I've been thinking about some thing similar, but with a portable probe so I can move it from one side to the other without tools.
If you have any kind of cam at all those numbers are pretty good, I try to shoot for 12.7ish at cruise with mild cam.
Not a bad idea, but beware of Wideband O2 placement, leaking exhaust gaskets, etc.. It is best to have a very tightly sealed exhaust system and have the O2 sensor a minimum of 18" from the closest port - up to about 36".
Exactly what I've been trying to figure out, I don't have the length on my coupe. I might try it just to compare one side to the other and one tune up to another. Also to compare the tri-power to the single 4 bbl when I change over.
Dale do you have a vacuum gauge set up also when you are testing??? Just to see what's going on there while the o2 is reading? I know cams can kill vacuum but you might need any on that mill.
I believe I have a big high quality one that might work - will see if I can 'find it' for the next test. Right now all it is doing is rain - so I'm working on computer programs for the moment. Looks like it is going to rain today and tomorrow - kind of a pisser.
The Jalopy Journal
