Header construction

[squaab99t]

Looks real nice. Can't wait to see the final product in 304!

I assume you did some engineering analysis prior to starting construction. Are there any books or websites you can recommend with design guidelines, formulas, etc. to tickle by brain?

If you go to burnsstainless.com they have some great tech articles on header design and fab. This what Kevin wrote back "Honestly, I had Burns Stainless design the headers using their software tool. It costs $75 or is free with a purchase of collectors. That's a fee of $75, not the cost of the software, which is proprietary to Burns."
You give them the specs of your engine and your goals.

[squaab99t]

do you calculate the equivalent length when you do "equal length" headers? I mean do you take into account the different flow resistances through bends or do you strive more for physical equal length?

Based upon volume. I say volume because the design called for 2" and 2 1/8". They happen to be the same runner length. As far as the K factor for different type bend radius that is kinda blown off because you have to do what you have to do to get around engine components, chassis, steering box and what not. The goal would have no bends, but that is not possible.

[Crazyswede]

do you calculate the equivalent length when you do "equal length" headers? I mean do you take into account the different flow resistances through bends or do you strive more for physical equal length?

Based upon volume. I say volume because the design called for 2" and 2 1/8". They happen to be the same runner length. As far as the K factor for different type bend radius that is kinda blown off because you have to do what you have to do to get around engine components, chassis, steering box and what not. The goal would have no bends, but that is not possible.

well straight might be possible but probably not legal

[squaab99t]

I talked to Kevin some more about the equal length. He is trying to get length correct to take advantage of Helmholtz tuning effect or exhaust scavenging. I will be the first to admit I talking out my ass on the subject because I'm a turbo guy and we turn up the boost on the front end. A N/A person needs to pull the exhaust gases out of the head. To do this the timing of the exhaust valve opening and the distance or time for the wave to travel back up the pipe is what pulls the exhaust need to be in sync. It is the change in area that creates the sound wave from the primaries feeding into a secondary collector.

Enough of my blabbing.

http://vimeo.com/57754106
Great vid from a couple different vantage points in the shop. I think it was like two 16 hour days in the shop.

[gmreider]

after looking at the video, all I can say is WOW!! Nice shop and facility. I saw a lathe and vertical mill and of course the Tig. Very neat and looked clean.
Gives the rest of us some things to aspire to.
Who was who in the video?

[squaab99t]

after looking at the video, all I can say is WOW!! Nice shop and facility. I saw a lathe and vertical mill and of course the Tig. Very neat and looked clean.
Gives the rest of us some things to aspire to.
Who was who in the video?

That is my buddy Kevin and myself... Kevin is a Motorsports enthusiast who likes to design and fabricates what he can find off the shelf. His shop is pretty well equipped, but the layout and order is a bit not quite there yet. The welding table is actually his outdoor patio dinning table. His real table is a cast iron surface table, but the welder is not close enough to it to do the back purging. After he gets his big block Chevy engine dialed in he will be re-arranging it so he can get his car in there; '82 Camaro.
Kevin helped me and let me use his machines to prototype my CPS kit. After we had the proof of concept down and a 900c running on it, I farmed out the production runs to e-machine.

He also helped with an 900c Airflow FMIC installation

I figured it was pay back time, so I helped with the headers and his other projects. It also gives a great opportunity to learn on someone else's dollar.

[squaab99t]

After a rocky start and some hurdles we were able to complete all of the tuning.
This included ECU tuning fuel and ignition at wide open sweeps and steady state; load and rpm to fill in the transition areas of the map.
Also did cam retard and advance. He has a Jesel cog belted setup that allows a positive keyed location to allow the adjustment and no chance of slip.
The last and final was the ability to change the length of the primaries, secondaries, and the choke diameter at the merge collector.
60+ runs to get the right combination that suited his goals of good idle quality and top end power. These goals were going to sacrifice mid range torque with the cam they designed. Their theory was to make it up with the Tri Y header tuning and it worked. Mid range 4500-6000 we made an additional 30 hp and 40 ft-lb just by adjusting the lengths.
Video
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28852287@N05/13209370813/

Hard working Mezzanine on the timing light.

Even got my father-in-law in the game. Funny car drag racer back in the day.

Dyno control room

[squaab99t]

Post the steady state, these babies got warm. The stainless pretty much shrugged off the heat.

You can see the bell mouth tubes to add the to the length of the runner. Safety wire coupled everything together.

Now that he has the optimum lengths he can build the final in the correct material and with the engine in the chassis. Most likely have to make compromises to get it to fit, but he now has the data of where it is critical and where there is room to fudge.