Home made flow bench - kinda - Third Generation F-Body Message Boards

firstfirebird · 10-17-2009, 10:21 PM

Flow bench in working condition...

Here's the calibration unit that has to be used everyday the bench is turned on (to zero out the barometer...

and here's what it will kinda look like when the head adapter is finished; ignore the values on the meter and laptop - major vac leaks with the acrylic tube and head resting on the top.

Here's what was purchased...

cost about 1/10'th of a used SuperFlow

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firstfirebird · 10-17-2009, 10:24 PM

The plenum and tubing was home-made haha...

customblackbird · 10-18-2009, 08:06 PM

haha does it work?

firstfirebird · 10-18-2009, 09:49 PM

Man, that's a long sig compared to the post! lol

Does it work? Well, does a bear poop in the woods? This is almost cash worth of equipment, if it didn't work, certainly have my bank pulling the funds back...

I calibrated it several time yesterday with repeatable results, the temperature/burometer dropped dramatically today, went it, re-calibrated and the results again were repeatable.

Looks a little funny right now because the head adapter hasn't been made yet, but I just so happen to have access to a few CNC machines and the last wet bench adapter I made for a friend are more than quality units...

I made 2 adapters for him, although mine will look a little different since not only am I going to test one cylinder at a time. I am also not going to work on V6 engines only (like he does), so something more universal will be needed.

If you doubt if it works, go ahead and check out AudieTech.com (they can email you a price quote). They make the swirl meters, flow meters, cam measuring software etc etc for almost all of the companies you buy from, why not have access to that kind of data in my shop?

Oh, it will measure from 17cfm to 980cfm. Got the 3" upgrade from 2" that would have flowed from 7cfm to 330cfm.

Oh, and while you are laughing at me, that old vac in the pic will still generate 12" of water at 300cfm

bl85c · 10-18-2009, 10:18 PM

That a 3500 head? I'd like to see some flow numbers for verification before I consider them for my car.

firstfirebird · 10-18-2009, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bl85c

That a 3500 head? I'd like to see some flow numbers for verification before I consider them for my car.

That's a 3900 head. The 3500 head flow's in the 270's without the manifolds.

customblackbird · 10-19-2009, 01:44 PM

yea sry i forget to turn off the sig checkbox sometimes.

na i believe u but its funny looking with the head just sitting on it and the homemade PVC piping (which ive used before on a cold air intake and worked great!) good job now lets see some numbers.

always wondered about my patriot 195cc heads... i get conflicting flow rates on them and be curious to see what they actually flow

firstfirebird · 11-08-2009, 07:44 PM

Red is a stock 3800 port, yellow is a set I ported before having a flow bench, top line is where I am at on this port (with chamber de-shrouding).

And here's the flow sheet the software has...

And a few of the tests it took to get there lol...

radical82 · 11-08-2009, 08:15 PM

The flow numbers look great first, and so does your flow bench!!!!! Been a few years, but at one time I worked in a shop and did the flow bench work on heads, intakes, and even headers from time to time.... Biggest advantage a flow bench gives is not seeing how big the numbers can be, but keeping the flow equalized from cylinder to cylinder!!!!! Just takes a bit of "adaptive engineering" to make a tool do exactly what you want it to do....

PS--as final veification of the flow work, I used to double check myself on the dyno with a pyrometer lead in each cylinder's header tube... Getting the cylinder flow equal as well as the EGT's equal is really making that flow bench do it's job!!!!!

Congrats on some really first rate engineering on the bench!!!!