Valves, Valves, Valves!?!

[fieroturbo]

I'm looking for more HP. I've got plenty of torque (40 more TQ than HP). So what's better, wider diameter valves, or thinner?

And what's the bennefit of stainless steel valves? Less carbon build-up? Cause I'm gonna ceramic coat mine anyway.

[454Casull]

Turbo?

You may as well swing for titanium valves, if you're going to ceramic coat them.

[flylwsi]

why not check with a company like ferrea that does nothing but make valves? there may be a valve style that works better on your car, vs. the usual bigger is better...

www.ferrea.com

just a thought, see what they say..

[flylwsi]

also... if you are looking for more hp, you may want to look for a cam/cams that rev higher than your factory cams, as you can find power up there... and if you do the cams, you are going to have to do new valves anyways, so why not do it all at the same time?

[fieroturbo]

How well does ceramic work with titanium? It work's OK with iron, and great with aluminum, but no one has ever said anything about titanium. (I'll call NASA! J/K)

Yeah, I'm gonna turbo it. I want to live up to my user name!

I've already got the cam thing figured out. Comp Cams has something, but the redline is 6500RPM, so I might just special order something according to what I find works best in my dyno test software. It's wierd though. According to my tests, the top end hydraulic cam (redline 5800RPM) works better than the top end solid cam (redline 6500RPM). But my engine has had a history in NASCAR of doing strange things like that (like making 275 N/A HP, then after it broke in, it went to 500 N/A HP!!!, and it's a 4 cylinder!!!)

I found titanium springs, retainers, and valves, so I'll definitly get them, but I'm not sure about the cam. I'll just have to do more research.

[Holyterror]

Titanium valves are definitely worth it if you can get them. Two reasons:
[list=1][*]Performance - I have seen great results in engines with Ti valves. In highly tuned examples, anywhere from 10-25 horsepower was gained. Some of these valves were slightly different from the ones they replaced (other than being titanium), but regardless, peak horsepower increased. But it doesn't stop there. In my opinion, the best part was how the power curve was affected. Rather than dropping off sharply 200-500 RPM after the peak, the Ti valves allowed the engine to keep producing significant power for almost 2000 RPM past the peak.
[*]Reliability - The reduced burden on the valvetrain will almost certainly mean longer life for the top end. Your valves springs will thank you especially. Even if you go for the hydraulic cam, you may find that the lighter valves let you go a bit past redline. I wouldn't neccesarily advise that, however. I think lifter life increases as well (at least with roller cams). In short, the Ti valves give you some peace of mind with a modified engine.[/list=1]

BTW, I think a turbo Fiero would be awesome. Don't hesitate to ask for advice on turbos, and let us know how it turns out.

[enginerd]

A cam would be better. A cam that holds the valves open longer and pushes the valve farther would increase performance more.

[fieroturbo]

Yeah, I know higher lift is good overall, and longer lift time is great for NOS, but turbo is a bit different. I've got a guide about some 80's GM turbo 4cylinders that have some cam spec's, and I think my engine is included in it. I know there's a few 1.8L & 2.0L Turbo Cavalier's in there, which to my surprise, were factory produced!!! I had a 2.0 non-turbo Olds Firenza, and the cam specs were very different than the turbo version. I'll look it up.

Thing is, my engine can be turbo'd as is. It's a perfect 8.3 compression ratio, and I have plenty of room around the exhaust manifold and headpipe, and the intake tube crosses over it already, so since I need a new exhaust soon anyway, and the air intake is right there, I don't need alot of major mods.

I was going to try finding an A/C-to-Air intercooler that janspeed made for Jag's back in the 80's, maybe 70's too, but I may need to make my own out of some sheet metal and metal tubing. I want A/C, so I might as well use it for performance too if it's going to put on the extra weight and rob 20HP, and an Air-to-Air intercooler is sorta out of the question unless I do some major body changes (Indy Car Conversion?). My engine is between the seats and the trunk (it's a mid-engine). Engine is in front of the axle.

The turbo I'm planning on getting is one that Garrett is still developing, which is supposed to come out this summer, but who knows. It's an electricmotor boosted turbo. Which means no lag. After the right turbo RPM's are reached, the motor turns off, and the exhaust does the rest. The Audi 1.8T is the first to get it, then the aftermarket companies will follow. I just hope it comes out before hydrogen fuel cells and electricmotors replace IC engines (roughly 10 years).

Thanks for the help.

[Holyterror]

A car that's ready for turbocharging. That's refreshing. Sounds like custom fabrication will be minimal. Lucky bastard.

I thought that A/C-air intercooling was just a pipe (pun intended) dream! If you can get gains that justify it, then go for it! Kind of like a supercharger, it's weighing down the crank, but creating lots of power at the same time. I have always liked the idea of being able to get lower-than-ambient intake temperatures, but have never wanted to mess with water-air intercoolers. The A/C would probably be even harder to work with. Do whatever works.

Ah yes, the dynacharger. I was in love with the idea from the moment I heard about it. No turbo lag! We'll just have to see it works in real execution.

Don't worry, my friend. It will take more than 10 years to replace internal combustion. We simply cannot build a battery or a gasoline generator efficient enough to do it. There is an incredible amount of energy trapped in petroleum, and we are getting better and better at harnessing it. For example, Saab is working on a variable compression engine that makes 225 or 245 (I can't remember which) horsepower and [supposedly] gets close to 80 MPG. This same engine has a supercharger than puts out 40 psi! As the technology gets better, internal combustion engines continue to be viable. Heck, in Star Wars, the X-Wings use fossil fuels! Of course, that was a long time ago, etc... The Empire must be full of eco-terrorists, 'cause the TIE Fighters use those dinky little solar panels.

[fieroturbo]

Ok, bit of an update. A 4 cyl turbo Fiero, with a Pfaff turbo, gets it from 96 HP(or 92 depending on year) to 140, and 138TQ to 155, at 5PSI boost, no intercooler.

And a little more about the A/C. My car uses freon (R-12), which cools better than R-134, but depletes the ozone, which reduces global warming, but increases the UV Rays.

So you use R-12, you reduce frying like an egg, and increase skin cancer at the south pole, and R-134 closes the ozone. (Freon is 4 me)

But, anyway, there's no underdrive pulley for my car, so I might as well use the A/C as an intercooler if I can't do squat about the accessories.

I was thinking of just making a metal box (aluminum) with typical air in/out connectors of an air/air intercooler, but I'll coil up A/C lines inside.

In fact!!!, I just had a monstrosity of a window A/C unit die on me, but it was the fan motor that blows the air. The other stuff is ok as far as the A/C goes. I can use that tubing for an intercooler, cause it already has a radiator-like thing with copper pipes running through it. If I just put it into an aluminum sheet metal box, It'll be sweet!!!

I may still have a second unit too, but my pop may have thrown it out though.

But my A/C system in my Fiero is top notch. I just had a leaking valve on the evaporator fixed, so it works too good now. I can't run it at full blast more than a minute, or I need to open a window to let the cold air out.

This is gonna be sweet!!!

[fieroturbo]

Oh, I forgot to mention.

That 140HP is strictly bolt on. No mods performed. With a new cam, rockers, head porting, intake manifold mods, throttle body porting, new ignition coils (DIS), a stand alone ignition system, new (lighter) flywheel, new air intake runner, K&N Air Filter, and better plugs, were talking another 50HP or so.

No Intercooler (just to point out).

And also, I found out that my car got a rating of "excellent" for the climate control system when the car was rated in Consumer Reports back in 84' so that kinda expalins the "hell freezes over" temperatures out of my vents.