Chris Crisenbery wrote:
>
> Thought I would start a new thread, looking at building (or buying) a
> flow bench for small bore cylinder heads and a dyno for 4 cylinder
> engines. I have collected a few articles on the flowbench but they tend
> to differ quite a bit on how they measure flow and what equipment I
> need. So I'm looking for input from my fellow shop-talkers.
There was a good deal of discussion on these subjects on the diy_efi
list about a year or so ago, and there's likely lots on the thread in
their archives:
http://efi332.eng.ohio-state.edu/diy_efi/
I think the cost of even a small dyno capable of recording 150-200 hp is
far beyond the means of sane people with average jobs.... Buying one
would have to be a commericial venture to warrant the purchase price, I
think, and making and calibrating one is not an easy task. These days,
the price of a GForce accelerometer is far cheaper, and probably
accurate enough for general amateur use.
The flow bench is a much more likely possibility--a couple of the hot
rodders magazines have had articles on homemade benches in the last few
years. In the past, one needed all sorts of calculations and a strip
chart recorder to measure barometric pressure, ambient pressure and
thermistor temperatures to run a flow bench, but now, with the
availability of air mass sensors for fuel injection systems, one only
needs to install one of those, find a reference current for a particular
flow and a PC to store the data in, and big suction source under the
bench, and you're all set.
Cheers.
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