The Muscle Car Guy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 45 - Forced Induction Jun 29, 2015

Show notes

Today I want to talk about forced induction. That means superchargers and turbochargers.

First the Roots blower. Blower is the correct term, as it just blows air faster than the engine can use it and builds boost like that.

Blower and a beautiful car

Plus they look and sound cool.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWqdAb_nOow

The screw type superchargers work similarly, but they actually compress the air inside the supercharger, making them more efficient.

Turbochargers are driven by the engine exhaust rather than by a direct connection to the engine, so when you don't need them, they are just there. That also means, that you have more complex exhaust plumbing to deal with, and you can have lag until the turbo kicks in.

The centrifugal supercharger works like the compressor half of a turbo, but rather than be driven by the exhaust, it is driven by a belt. There are also ones that have variable drive ratios so they can make more power and low and high RPM, since they usually don't make as much at lower RPM.

With turbo chargers, there are ones that can change the geometry of the turbo on the fly, so it can act like a small turbo at low RPM, and a big one at high RPM so you don't get lag at low RPM, or have the turbo not be able to keep up at higher RPM.

With using a turbo for forced induction, you can run with one or two turbos. Assuming they are sized correctly, there really isn't any performance difference. Although with twin turbos, you could run dual exhaust.

There are also set ups that use two different sized turbos, a small one for low RPM and a big one for high RPM. When the RPM goes up, the small one is bypassed.

A quick note on electric superchargers. Most of them are crap. The cheap ones just use a fan that is probably not able to push enough air to do any good. There are a few kits that are good for short term boost. So the worse they make it sound in, the closer to reality it probably is. Also Audi is coming out with an electric boost set up on one of their diesel engines. What it is designed for is for the split second before the turbo can start creating boost.

I would love comments at pat@themusclecarguy.net

Check me out on iTunes at www.themusclecarguy.net/itunes

Episode 44 - Nitrous Oxide Jun 22, 2015

Show notes

Today I talk about Nitrous Oxide.

Check out the show notes at www.themusclecarguy.net/44

Episode 43 - Cast vs Forged Jun 16, 2015

Show notes

Today I talk about cast vs porged pistons, crankshafts and connecting rods. View more at www.themusclecarguy.net/43

Episode 42 - 4 Link Rear Suspension Jun 08, 2015

Show notes

Check out the show notes at www.themusclecarguy.net/42

Episode 41 - Traction Bars May 21, 2015

Show notes

Today I am going to talk about how to get more power to the ground with your muscle car, and that is by working with traction bars to reduce wheel hop and change the twisting motion of the differential and springs into downward force.

First of all, if you are not familiar with what I mean by traction bars, here is what they are:

These are universal ones, which may or may not work well on your car, but it gives you an idea what they are.

What traction bars do is to take the rotation of the differential housing, and uses the bumper or snubber on the front of the bar to push against the spring eye to stop the rotation. That force is then used to push down on the differential since that force has to go somewhere and it helps push down on the tires.

Another option for traction bars are the caltrac type of bar. They work on a similar principal as the regular traction bars, but do so fir more adjust-ability and better use of the force to keep the spring from twisting.

And the pinion gear doesn't climb the ring gear, it is just Newton's third law that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. To show this, just try loosening a tight bolt with a good creeper and not have your feet on the ground, you will just turn.

Another option than using traction bars is to use spring clamps on the front portion of the spring together to stiffen the spring in the front so it won't twist as much, something like this:

Here are the links I mentioned in the show:

Traction Bars diagrams

Make your own Caltac bars

You can reach me at pat@themusclecarguy.net

Episode 40 - Forgotten Classics May 18, 2015

Show notes

Today I talk about looking a forgotten classics for project cars. See more at www.themusclecarguy.net/40

Episode 39 - Automatic Vs Manual transissions May 14, 2015

Show notes

Today I talk about manual vs automatic transmissions

Check out the show notes at www.themusclecarguy.net/39

Episode 38 - 426 Hemi May 07, 2015