Milwaukee Midget

[fordboy628]

Major Tom,

Buena suerte!   OR,     Buona fortuna!

Maybe . . .    Viel gluck!

I dunno, hope somethin' works . . . .

Astroboy

[Dr Goggles]

I have consulted the mystic oracle and I was told "95.1 and counting"....

[Milwaukee Midget]

Long day – and a productive one.

25 pulls to 8000-8200 rpm, countless jet, choke and emulsion tube changes, 3 different headers, 2 different intake manifolds, and bumping up the timing netted a solid 95.1 hp at 8000 RPM.

Don was on dyno lash-up and jet change detail, I took care of ignition programming and wore the welding gloves to change out headers (7 minute hot exhaust change-over with no blisters – TAKE THAT, NASCAR), and Fordboy, along with the long hours of carb prep he's already shown, calculated and documented the changes.

The Grenade tended to defy logic and conventional wisdom – after the carb got close, it tended to want bigger pipes than predicted for the small displacement, but essentially, the last two pulls netted the same peak at slightly different points – the black line is with the 3 into 1 header, the red, the long center branch unit -



What I'm really liking about this curve – actually both curves - is that it's better than 90 hp from 6600 to when we backed off at 8200.  That's a 1600 rpm power range right where I need it.  

According to Sumner Patterson's Excel spread sheet, with my new gear ratios in the box, an 8300 rpm 3-4 shift drops me no lower than 90 horse at about 6600 RPM.

In short – BINGO.

This engine is producing peak power at precisely the right spot.

You might want to get your cipherin' caps out – Mark is preparing a very large info dump.

To those who were putting off a contribution until we were done, I can say now, we're done.

The multiplier is 95.1.

Thanks for all the support, the encouragement and the help.

Chris Conrad

[Rex Schimmer]

$95.10 it is !!! Nice job Chris! See you at the salt.

Rex

[Captthundarr]

Congrats Chris, Fordboy and crew

[Graham in Aus]

Nice power curve! A triumph of considered tuning well executed!

Well done! I guess you'll keep the 3 into 1, on average it looks slightly better right through?

I'd love to hear that Lil Grenade singing at 8300..... Any video?

Superb!   

[Jon]

1.5hp pre cubic inch carbureted NA with the original cast head and a nice broad power curve, got to be happy with that.

25 Dyno pulls in a day with not one mention of dramas, got to be wrapt with that.

You have the hp and reliability proven, good luck on the salt.

Congratulations.
jon

[gkabbt]

I'd love to hear that Lil Grenade singing at 8300.
Superb!  

When Chris and Mrs. Midget were at Maxton a couple of years ago there were several issues going on with the engine.
All I can say is that the Lil Grenade was loud then so I can only imagine what it sounds like now!  
Chris, I guess I had a premonition of what the final outcome would be so I already sent Jon a check for $100.00!  

Gregg

[gkabbt]

1.5hp pre cubic inch carbureted NA with the original cast head, got to be happy with that.

25 Dyno pulls in a day with not one mention of dramas, got to be wrapt with that.

You have the hp and reliability proven, good luck on the salt.

Congratulations.
jon

I'll second what Jon said.....Reliability!  
Congratulations to all involved!

Gregg

[Milwaukee Midget]

I'd love to hear that Lil Grenade singing at 8300..... Any video?

Let's see - video . . . video . . .

Bunch of crap in the window, but I think if you click . . . on . . . this . . .

[Milwaukee Midget]

1.5hp pre cubic inch carbureted NA with the original cast head and a nice broad power curve, got to be happy with that.

25 Dyno pulls in a day with not one mention of dramas, got to be wrapt with that.

You have the hp and reliability proven, good luck on the salt.

Congratulations.
jon

I hadn't thought of that.  It speaks to Mark's experience in a big way.  He led this safari with the preparedness and patience of the former Scout leader he is.

And I hate drama, unless it's on a stage, and I can go get a cocktail during intermission. 

The hiccups were pretty much behind us, and while not cheap, when the parts are at hand, tuning a well sorted Weber is pretty quick work.

Between the first session a few weeks back and yesterday, there have been over 40 pulls on this donk.  It's stayed glued together in a way that I didn't think likely.

Considering the 5 port head arrangement, the diminutive size of the engine and the archaic design of the engine as a whole, plus the extreme things we did to get the combination to work, I can confidently say that yesterday was a HUGE accomplishment.  It's been a long, slow climb, but every indication is that the reciprocating assembly is all but bullet-proof, Elgin's cam is a miracle of modern machine work, and Mark's thoughtful direction with my willingness to listen has turned out an engine I'm pretty darned proud of.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. 

Now I've just got to be sure the rest of the car is up to the motor.

[fordboy628]

How to Modify your Weber Carburetor properly  OR

Weber Carburetor Porn!!!!  OR

How to turn your expensive Italian/Spanish engine bit into an undriveable piece of crap . . . .   Part three . . . .  (yes, this will be a multi-step tutorial . . . .)


Major Tom, et all,

As promised, Weber flow testing, with adaptor, in situ . . . . .                Superflow 1020 Flowbench in action

Slow but sure, one side at a time . . . . . . . .

Unmodified carb @ start  240 cfm/side
Modified carb     @ finish 270 cfm/side        12.5% flow gain & retained signal strength @ aux venturi (booster)

Will give a rundown on each modification and the flow gain for each, with pictures of the before & after of the parts, after the dyno session.    This was a Spanish made Weber, so some of the gains were large compared to an Italian made Weber.    The Spanish castings are not as nicely finished as the older Italian made parts.    That's a "World Economy" in action . . . .

I want them to flow like an Atlas rocket . . . . . .

Astroboy

How to Modify your Weber Carburetor properly  OR

Weber Carburetor Porn!!!!  OR

How to turn your expensive Italian/Spanish engine bit into an undriveable piece of crap . . . .   Part four . . . .   (yes, this will be a multi-step tutorial . . . .)

Midget, et all,

I included the above photos from the previous flowtest session because I did not take any pics yesterday (dyno day).    What I did do prior to bolting on the carb was to flow the prepared carb as set up for the first pull.   What I wanted to determine was how equal the barrels were from side to side, AND, also, how equal the "signal" was to the aux venturis.   With the standard Weber air horns:

                          flow                   "signal" as % of flow
LH side             260 cfm                         156%
RH side             260 cfm                         153%

So that was a pretty good result, equal flow and nearly equal "signal".    So that is where we started.    More info, both carb & engine later today, tomorrow, as I get it crunched out . . . . . .    BUT, nobody hold their breath, 938 data bits/pull X 42/43 pulls . . .  . . . .       And you thought we were finished!!!!!!

Fordboy

[roygoodwin]

This is probably too late to be any help, but there *might* be some power to be had by switching the inlet bells on the carb to something like Prof Gordon Blair's "Best Bell"   http://www.profblairandassociates.com/pdfs/RET_Bellmouth_Sept.pdf

[38flattie]

Chris and Mark, I couldn't be any happier for you guys! I know how much work this was, and it's a helluva accomplishment!

[wisdonm]

Thanks for that info Roy. Actually, we did switch from the bells shown on the Webber to a bell about 1/3 as long on two occasions. Both times we had an increase of 2+ hp with the shorter bells.  Therefore most of the dyno pulls were done using the shorter bells.