DIY_EFI Digest Thursday, September 16 1999 Volume 04 : Number 527 In this issue: Electric Superchargers... solid, port-able filler for intake manifold? See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the DIY_EFI or DIY_EFI-Digest mailing lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 18:38:34 -0400 (EDT) From: William T Wilson Subject: Electric Superchargers... Any sign of a non digest mode yet? >From the "fluffy's stupid idea files"... We've all (or many of us) heard/read about the "electric superchargers" that have been marketed recently, these are devices which connect to the intake and blow in air - but they are electric powered. They typically run for short bursts of time to provide just a little extra grunt when needed, and usually on naturally aspirated engines, especially diesels. Well, has anyone thought of doing this *right*? Install additional alternator capacity to support running the unit consistently. Put in an intercooler, etc. to support higher boost levels, like a real turbo. Such a system has the following advantages: 1) More fuel efficient than a supercharger 2) Very little turbo lag 3) Very precise and simple control of boost (electronic control system can directly vary impeller speed to control boost) 3.5) Knock sensor system can now reduce boost as a way of preventing detonation! Oh happy day. 4) No parasitic drag when not in operation; relatively little even under boost 5) Can build boost on the line even with manual transmission, for drag racing, or at low RPM, for road courses/autocross 6) Easy to install. No need to fuss with the exhaust. I can think of the following disadvantages: 1) Current electric superchargers may not have sufficient duty cycle and/or airflow. 2) Alternator drag/battery drain may be more than I expect. 3) No kits available for this. Do it all yourself. Need an ECU that can understand what's going on. 4) No one else is doing it, so there must be some obvious problem that I haven't thought of. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Sep 1999 23:55:35 -0400 From: Chris Conlon Subject: solid, port-able filler for intake manifold? Hi, For my next silly question, I'm looking for some putty or clay like material to fill in large areas of an intake manifold. Once it hardens I want to be able to come back with grinding tools and reshape it. The reason is that I am having, hopefully, a custom manifold fabbed up, and (a) it's lots cheaper to have it made very rectangular, and (b) it might take several tries to get the porting right. I am thinking maybe J-B Weld, in case lots, or polyester resin. Any and all suggestions and warnings would be appreciated! TIA, Chris C. ------------------------------ End of DIY_EFI Digest V4 #527 ***************************** To subscribe to DIY_EFI-Digest, send the command: subscribe diy_efi-digest in the body of a message to "Majordomo@xxx. A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace "diy_efi-digest" in the command above with "diy_efi".