OTHER TRICKS
Ignition, exhaust, and intake are the three basic components that you can modify for decent power gains. There are other areas that can be messed with to gain power.
Topics covered below (in this order): Run Rite - Thermostats - Adjustable fuel pressure regulators - Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge - Transmission - Pulleys - Battery relocation - Engine work
Run Rite: This is a product that is offered only through Sunoco to my knowledge. Just take your car up to any local Sunoco and tell them you want the Run Rite stuff. It costs $50 and is worth every cent. They will run it through for you and it takes about 10 minutes or so. To put it simply, it cleans out the build up the happens naturally inside the engine. When I pulled out of the Sunoco I could feel the lost power returning. The actual recommendation is to have it done to your car every 10K to 15K miles. If your car is old, and cash is short, this is the way to go.
Thermostat: http://www.hypertech-inc.com/stat.html This is all you need to know, here it is just incase Hypertech decided to get rid of that link. The following italisized writing is taken directly from their website, its very informative. I have 160 thermostat of theirs and am happy with the drop in temperature. It stay at about the 1/4 mark the whole time.
A Hypertech PowerStat low-temp thermostat improves performance in two ways: first by increasing the mass flow rate of intake air and second by reducing the engine's tendency to detonate.
From the laws of physics, cooler air is denser than warmer air. Since horsepower increases as the amount of air and fuel burned increases, cooler air (with more air molecules per cubic inch) makes more power. The PowerStat allows the engine to cool down to a lower temperature than the factory thermostat to make more power. At the drags, water can be sprayed on the radiator between races to drop the temperature and improve performance, but the PowerStat ensures that you leave the line at the same temperature each run to give consistent maximum performance for bracket racing.
Detonation, usually producing audible pinging or even knocking sounds, refers to the spontaneous explosion of the unburned air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. Detonation abruptly and violently ends the normal combustion process, reduces power, and can severely damage the engine. A PowerStat reduces the temperature of both the incoming air/fuel mixture and the surfaces of the combustion chamber, greatly reducing the tendency to detonate, and allows the engine to safely develop more horsepower.
PowerStats should always be used in an engine controlled by a computer to insure consistent performance. Hypertech ThermoMaster Power Chips have been designed to operate with Hypertech PowerStats.
Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator (AFPR): I have not done this yet. There are many AFPR kits... for mustangs, but not 3100 SFI engines. The following is a series of emails between Aeromotive and myself.
Me: I am interested in purchasing one of your adjustable fuel regulators. It would be used on a GM 3100 SFI engine and I was wondering if it is possible for either one that you offer to be integrated onto that engine at all.
Aeromotive: Since we do not have a replacement for the original equipment, there would be some plumbing issues that you or a mechanic of your choice would have to deal with. The best suggestion is to visit our website and order a full line Aeromotive catalog to make a choice suitable for your needs. Thanks for inquiring.
Me: Thanks for your quick response. I have just one more question. The best mechanic I know, my brother-in-law, told me that fuel pressure on the fuel injected cars can be a little dangerous to start tampering with. He said that with not too much of an increase in the pressure the injectors can break very easily. Have you found this to be true throughout any of your product tests? If so, just how much pressure usually caused that to happen? I still have the OEM injectors too.
Aeromotive: The problem is if you go beyond OEM pressure the injector can go static or the OEM computer will override the signal and go to limp home mode. You shouldn't ramp pressure beyond 45 psi.
Me: I just read at this website (http://neptune.spacebears.com/cars/stories/fuelreg.html) about how one of your regulators "self-destructed" after only two and a half years. I was just wondering what is the average life span of one of your units and if this was just some kind of freak miss-hap or what. Also would better, stronger aftermarket injectors solve the problem of only being able to get to 45psi? And what do you mean by the term "static?"
Aeromotive: Injector size is determined by flywheel horsepower. IE: If your motor is stock with stock injectors, 100 % of duty cycle would be 38-40psi. If you ramp pressure beyond duty cycle the injector in effect becomes larger. If you ramp pressure too far the injector goes wide open due to the amount of pressure. The term static refers to the inability of the injector to fully shut down between firing. Too large of an injector and you get fuel soak. In other words fouled plugs. As far as addressing website chatter, we have never seen a regulator blow up or self destruct. Regulator failure depends on abuse for the most part but, it is a hand made product and nobody is perfect. I will challenge anyone who would say we do not stand behind our product. We have always taken care of the end user direct and will continue to do so. We hope this will clear up any questions. Thank You
Me: So, if the pressure is set too high, it will not result in any permanent damage of the the injectors or any major engine components? I've already had my computer reprogrammed by Fastchip. Can simply reprogramming the computer affect how much fuel is being let into the combustion chaimber at all? Thanks again
Aeromotive: No it can not damage the injectors. It is simply not neccessary to push them beyond their limits if you do not have the horsepower to burn the fuel. As far as will the computer chip or module will allow more fuel in, I have never heard of such a thing. The injector oriface is the only path to the cylinder and a computer chip can not alter the size or pressure.
Here is a direct link to their web page selling the AFPRs: http://www.aeromotiveinc.com/products/inject_reg.shtml
The following is taken from Performanceprobe.com:
"Adjustable fuel pressure regulators are high 'bang for the buck' upgrades. They allow you to additionally tune your fuel system by precisely adjusting for optimal pressure. Cutting back on fuel pressure will decrease fuel to the injectors. On stock Probes, decreasing fuel pressure and leaning out the air/fuel mixture will add a considerable amount of power. If performed correctly by a knowledgeable mechanic with an air/fuel ratio meter, the fuel can be leaned out to provide as much as 5 to 10 horsepower. The downside is, improper adjustment can easily destroy an engine. Even minor adjustments can yield a respectable 2-3 horsepower."
Seems like everyone has something a little different to say doesn't it? Experience is the best teacher. I'd really like to get my hands on one of these. They can retail anywhere from $75 - $200 on average.
Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge: Installing one of these should be a breeze. It wasn't for me however. When I first tried to install my Autometer air/fuel ratio gauge a couple different ways it just wouldn't work at all. After reveiwing the wiring diagram for the car several more times and checking all connections and ground with a voltometer I concluded that the error was with the gauge itself. Here's something the tech guy at Autometer sent me:
On a four wire sensor, you should have the following: one for 12v+ power to heat the element, one for ground for the heater element, one for the signal output from the sensor, and the last as a reference ground for the sensor signal. You will need to run the violet wire from the gauge to the signal wire from the O2 sensor. Also, you will need to get 12v+ SWITCHED power and ground to the gauge for it to operate. As for the readings from the gauge, upon startup, the gauge should only indicate the last green led until the sensor reaches 600 degrees F or higher to operate (at idle RPM, this usually takes from 1-2 minutes). Then you should see the gauge start to fluctuate back and forth.
And here's one more useful tip from the tech guys when installing it:
Yes, the last green LED will remain lit when just power and ground is fed to the gauge.
You would think they would mention that somewhere in the instructions... but trust me, they don't, I read them.
I sent my gauge into their tech department to be serviced and at the moment (6/8/01) I have a new gauge and I am waiting for some free time to install it. This device is very good for helping you fine tune your vehicle, but doesn't serve much purpose other than looking good on a basically stock car. The computer uses readings from the O2 sensor to do its own fine tuning. It trys to stay at a perfect balance accept at full throttle where it runs a little rich for more performance.
Transmission: This is not something I know a lot about. I can change the filter and check the fluid level, and thats it. I can say from experience that a transmission in good shape with the proper amount of oil could beat an identical vehicle that is missing a significant amount of oil. Higher gears will make you go faster for sure, but good luck finding better gears like a 3.73 or a 4.11 for the 4T60-e or any Beretta tranny. The 4T60-e is what the Z26 has. I would recommend checking the bolts on your transmission pan and basically any bolt in view on its underside every 10,000 - 20,000 miles to see that it is properly fastened down. The bolts on my transmission were very loose at one point. One was actually missing. I had started leaking fluid before I realized it. Don't ask me for advice on what to do to hop-up a transmission though, just go to a transmission shop where they work on them all day long.
Pulleys: I've heard mixed reviews about a good set of pulleys. Some say that the faster spinning wears the bearings on your accessory's pulley's faster and require you replace them sooner. It is undeniable that there is power to be gained with a set of pullies though, just not all that much. Rex at Beretta.net did an excellent test to show just what kind of power there is to be gained by a pulley set. Check it out here.
Also, here is the link to hypertech's description of how pullies can help your car develope more power: http://www.hypertech-inc.com/pulley.html Again, here is the article from their page incase they deside to delete it anytime soon:
Power Pulleys improve the performance of your vehicle in three ways. They reduce the power used to "drive" all the accessories, lower the gear ratio between the drive pulley and all driven pulleys allowing quicker acceleration, and reduce the inertia loading of the accessories during acceleration. The energy thus saved ends up at the drive wheels for greater performance at full throttle, and better fuel economy at part throttle.
Since horsepower is a function of torque and RPM, installing a smaller than stock diameter crankshaft pulley (the drive pulley) reduces the RPM of all accessories by 25% and, therefore, the power required to drive them by 25%. When a larger than stock diameter accessory pulley (a driven pulley) is installed, the power needed to drive that one accessory is also reduced.
Hypertech's Power Pulleys allow the engine to accelerate more quickly since the smaller crank pulley provides a lower "gear ratio" between the drive pulley and all driven pulleys. To illustrate this, think of the gears on a ten-speed bicycle. The smaller crank pulley accelerates all the driven accessories more easily for exactly the same reasons that a 10 speed bicycle accelerates more quickly and easily from low speeds when the chain is on the smaller front sprocket.
Since the angular acceleration of the driven pulleys is 25% less with the Hypertech Power Pulleys, the inertia loading on the engine is reduced by 25% further reducing the amount of power required to accelerate the engine.
Because of the cumulative effect of reduced power consumption, better gearing, and reduced inertia loadings, Hypertech Power Pulleys deliver a greater performance gain than simply the increase in horsepower shown on an engine dyno. This is for the same reasons that lower rear axle ratios and light-weight flywheels improve performance even though a car's horsepower remains the same.
Performance improvements found on a variety of cars and trucks we tested average .15 seconds from 0-60 MPH but in some cases the Pulleys chopped as much as .30 seconds off. You can really feel these performance increases.
Power Pulleys are packaged in two and three piece sets. All sets include a lighter and smaller than stock diameter crankshaft pulley to turn the alternator, water pump pulley, and all other accessories at slower speeds, and a larger diameter alternator pulley to further decrease alternator speed. Three piece sets include a water pump pulley. These properly balanced pulleys are computer machined from high grade material for increased durability, have a high-gloss powder coat finish, and are covered by Hypertech's Limited Lifetime Warranty.
Moving the battery to the trunk:
People do this for two reasons: better weight distribution and/or to open up room under the hood. I needed to do this to run my ram air. I just bought a kit from Ramchargers to move it and it was pretty straight forward really. And, uh, this won't make you go faster... unless you paint the mounting equipment yellow.
All the internal engine work.... superchargers ....turbos... nitrous.... don't ask me I don't know, I just have assumptions along with a basic understanding of them. Its better to be quite and look stupid than to open your mouth and actually be stupid sometimes. This is one of those times. Mantapart can supply you with most of the parts you're probably in need of though, and they will offer you any advice you ask for as far as I know. BUT... I can't leave you hanging, so heres a link to how an engine works.... at a a college gradguate level.....
http://www.thrasher-ep.com/tech_htm/adv_engine_design.shtm
It will be beyond you, trust me.
