spacers
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Joined: Sep 2000
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spacers
i have a 92 camaro was tbi but i carburated it and have an edelbrock carburater on it and one of my freinds told me to put a spacer on it what exactly will the spacer do better air flow horsepower what
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92 camaro 25th anniversarry polo green with 2 gold stripes
89 camaro
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92 camaro 25th anniversarry polo green with 2 gold stripes
89 camaro
Supreme Member
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 7,072
Likes: 13
From: Philly, PA
Spacers are a tricky subject. And please keep in mind that like everything you will find that there is no substitute for actually trying stuff on your own engine.
The theory goes like this:
A 4-hole spacer will generally improve low-midrange torque. It gives the mixture coming out the bottom of the carb a chance to mix more completely and get it all going in a nice straight column into the intake manifold- for slightly better flow and mixtrue distribution. Fuel economy improvements are even possible with a 4-hole along with better torque.
An open spacer is a different deal. It's main effect is basically like putting a larger plenum on an EFI manifold. More plenum equals more HP up top becuase you have a bigger "reserve" area of air ready to go IMMEDIATELY down whatever intake runner needs it. But unlike an FI engine you are MAY BE trading away some bottom end due to a number of reasons I won't try to explain here.
Now here's where it gets complicated:
What if you put a 4-hole spacer on a single-plane open plenum intake? What if you put an open element on a 2-plane manifold?
The long answer is to dive deep into the theory and argue about offsetting effects of different phenomenon and spend days thinking about it. The short answer is TRY THEM BOTH AND SEE WHICH ONE WORKS BETTER. I have seen 4-holes pick up on the top end and I have seen open spacers add a bucket full of torque to the bottom end in rare instances. Just make sure whatever spacer you try is at least 1" tall. Any shorter and they really won't do much of anything regardless of design.
The theory goes like this:
A 4-hole spacer will generally improve low-midrange torque. It gives the mixture coming out the bottom of the carb a chance to mix more completely and get it all going in a nice straight column into the intake manifold- for slightly better flow and mixtrue distribution. Fuel economy improvements are even possible with a 4-hole along with better torque.
An open spacer is a different deal. It's main effect is basically like putting a larger plenum on an EFI manifold. More plenum equals more HP up top becuase you have a bigger "reserve" area of air ready to go IMMEDIATELY down whatever intake runner needs it. But unlike an FI engine you are MAY BE trading away some bottom end due to a number of reasons I won't try to explain here.
Now here's where it gets complicated:
What if you put a 4-hole spacer on a single-plane open plenum intake? What if you put an open element on a 2-plane manifold?
The long answer is to dive deep into the theory and argue about offsetting effects of different phenomenon and spend days thinking about it. The short answer is TRY THEM BOTH AND SEE WHICH ONE WORKS BETTER. I have seen 4-holes pick up on the top end and I have seen open spacers add a bucket full of torque to the bottom end in rare instances. Just make sure whatever spacer you try is at least 1" tall. Any shorter and they really won't do much of anything regardless of design.
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