a mechanic once told me that if you use permatex and wire mesh, (permatex to get a good seal on the manifold) that it will help break up the fuel to smaller particles for better air/fuel mixture. Has anyone heard of this? i would imagine that it would have to be pretty fine mesh.

 

two sides of the fence on this one man:
there are guys that'll say it will help atomize the fuel and create a more turbulent intake charge, which are both viable claims. the other side says its a restriction in the intake, and therefore hurts the performance. don't know of any real numbers on it, but i assume its probably better for gas mileage. anyway, i suppose its something you could only know for sure with dyno time, and i guess 500 bucks a day isnt worth it huh?

 

That's why the intake runners on a carbureted engine should be left rough cast, and not polished.

Atomization is only a real problem at lower flows. At WOT, the fuel doesn't have time to settle, and the extra restriction of the screen would be an overall flow impediment. The irony is that at lower throttle angles, the downstream edge of the throttle plates tends to help atomize the fuel as much as any screen would, and with a screen in place, only part of it would be exposed anyway.

And you'd always have to be concerned about placing the screens far enough from the throttle plates to avoid interference. Then there would be the worry about sucking a screen into a cylinder if it let go.

Is this the same mechanic that puts magnets on the fuel lines to help break up the fuel atoms, and installs Tornado Fuel-Savers for better mileage, and doesn't believe in those new-fangled hydraulic brakes and tubeless tires?

 

If it helped fuel mileage at all, Flint would have been installing them years ago. After all, they did everything else possible to kill performance an dincrease mileage in many cars since 1974 and before. The screen concept has been around since Chevy was only making inline 6 engines. Some 1930's-something tractor engines with side draft carburetors had them. The closest GM ever got was the little stamped steel deflector plates under the TBI in some smaller engines, but it was a PLATE, not a screen or mesh.