Author Topic: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners  (Read 1438587 times)

0 Members and 6 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #690 on: February 20, 2012, 01:02:53 PM »
The NW reunion was a lot of fun.  This is the only time of the year that many of us running under the different sanctioning groups can meet and socialize.  It was nice to talk with all of you and learn about the fastest roadster.

Thanks for the info about the tubes and radials.  Plans are to run Speedweek in 2013 so Gretchen and I can see the cars.  That will be a first time for both of us.  I will run the tube and tire setup I have now.  It works wel.

The paint expert at the store where I bought the Rustoleum gave me some advice.  He said to do the finish coats quickly like Tom says.  He said if a finish coat dries it must cure before the next coat is applied.  Seventy two hours in a warm environment were his recommendations.  This place is heated in the morning and in the evenings, only.  We do not have anywhere that is continuously warm until summer.  It was time for plan B.

In the dinosaur times the headlight shell, fenders, tank, and sidecovers were spray painted by a guy in the neighborhood who had a gun and compressor.  Everything else was brush painted.  I could use any paint I wanted on our family paint shelf to do this.  Rattle can paint was a decadent luxury and my parents would not buy it.  Most of us were good brush painters.  This is what I did.

First, I sanded out the crazed places and reprimered them.  Then I hunted around and found a split can of black stove enamel.  One was left over from a fence painting job.  I buy a big can of paint and ask the store to split it into little cans.  This way, I have fresh paint from a little can.  I rarely use a big can up in one job.  The paint in the big can will go stale if it is opened and stored for a long time.  Next, I buy some enamel brushes.  I used sign painter brushes when I was a kid.  Now the artist store is the only place I can find them.  Note the tapered shape.  Good quality brushes do not shed hair.  This is important so I spend a little extra $ to get some good ones.

The paint should be just thin enough to lay down after it is applied and no brush marks remain.  I always work so the edge of the previously applied paint, that I am lapping over with the new coat, is as wet as possible.  It takes some practice and a good brush job can be as good as a spray application for a lot of smaller stuff, like frames, brackets, the fork tube lowers, etc.     

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #691 on: February 27, 2012, 12:55:19 AM »
This Saturday it was windy, raining sideways, and snow mixed in.  During all of this I was putting the Triumph back together for the street.  It was wet cold and miserable.  There are times I question the smartness of having this hobby and this was one of them.  That evening I read some of the articles in the March 2012 issue of "The Horse - Backstreet Choppers."  One was about a fellow who has been working on his iron head Sportster for years.  It is a gasoline powered naturally aspirated chopper.  He gets good gas mileage and runs as fast as 11.75 seconds on the drag strip.  It is reliable and he tours across the country on it.  Another one was about the worlds fasted knucklehead (that is a type of Harley, not the rider).  The bike, raced by Pete Hill, won five national championships.  Pete made the cylinders out of a railroad car axle.  This was the strongest steel he could find.  All of this gave me some inspiration.  Those guys done good and the bikes they started with had tractor technology.  It was time for me to quit feeling sorry for myself and get to work.  Today I got the bike running.  It rained all day and the sun came out when it was time to fire it up.  The birds chirped, the Triumph started, and everything was OK.  Dyno day is at 10:00 on March 22nd.  Now I need to make a plan and get ready.

 

Offline grumm441

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1447
  • HK 327
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #692 on: February 27, 2012, 02:44:59 AM »
I understand exactly how you feel
It seems I'm always working on other peoples bikes
When I get home, i don't feel much like working on or even riding my own bikes
On Wednesday at work, I had to take my riding gear in as there were a whole lot of finished jobs that needed riding
So it's Guzzi Le Mans IV, followed by a Le Mans III. Then a bunch of Indian Enfields. A Ural with a sidecar.
Next a Vincent Comet. And I'm still not feeling the love.
The final bike was Ducati 900GTS that has been following me from shop to shop
It was then that I remembered why I like the Bevel drive Ducati
So it's Sunday and It's absolutely tropical in Melbourne. I'm sitting on the couch, Air conditioner going, lacing up a wheel for my 750GT
on the coffee table.
It's all good
There is about three weeks to go until I'm standing on a salt lake
The bellytank will not be there, but I will.
G
Chief Motorcycle Steward Dry Lakes Racers Australia Inc
Spirit of Sunshine Bellytank Lakester
https://www.dlra.org.au/rulebook.htm

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #693 on: February 27, 2012, 10:42:18 PM »
Truing wheels and drinking pints of beer at the same time?  Interesting.  Those Ducati GT's are nice bikes.  Rumors here are that half of the world's Ducati spare parts are hoarded on some farm in the AUS outback.

My draft dyno plan is shown.  One task is to stick some tubes on a pair of headers, run the engine at full throttle at the RPM where I want to optimize power, look for the reversion ring, cut the tubes there, and retest to find the maximum power.  The reversion ring is a ring of blue discoloration on the outside of the pipe.  The tubes will be made from unplated thin wall tubing so they discolor easier.

I have never done this and the procedure in the previous paragraph I made up after a very brief conversation last year with a pipe maker.  I might be full of carp.  Will the ring be visible on the outside of the pipe?

The goal is to compare the horsepower produced by the two different headers and to get some tuned lengths for future use.  Any experts, please give me some advice.

Offline DND

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 395
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #694 on: February 28, 2012, 12:42:43 AM »
Hi Wobbley

I have not heard the term Reversion Ring, can you explain it a bit more.

Thanks
Don

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #695 on: February 28, 2012, 12:52:38 AM »
There is a place in the pipe where the acoustics cause an elevated temperature and this blues the pipe.  Waves banging into each other, I think.  I do not really know.

Offline Jon

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 852
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #696 on: February 28, 2012, 05:23:43 AM »
No love for the MkIII Grum :(
I have one for my ride bike now, I don't ride my S2 much since I tidied it up.
I know most Duc riders say S2s are a crap bevel but I wasn't going to make it into another SS fake.

Mate has conned me into riding to Lake Gairdner this year, will be riding the MkIII


jon
Underhouse Engineering
Luck = Opportunity + Preparation^3

Offline Interested Observer

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 433
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #697 on: February 29, 2012, 10:16:17 PM »
Wobbly,
In my humble opinion, using a method (“reversion rings”) that one does not understand and for which there is no plausible explanation as to why it should work, and one which no one else has even heard of, to tune your exhaust sounds like an exercise of complete futility.  You would probably be much better off and actually learn something about the exhaust performance by ginning up some variable length sections to put into the system (or several sections of different lengths) and making dyno pulls with them.

The way you have outlined it, cutting the pipe at the “ring” and assuming that is some sort of maximum power point only gives you one data point.  Who’s to say longer or shorter wouldn’t be better?

Offline salt27

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1734
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #698 on: March 01, 2012, 12:58:45 AM »
I remember reading a article on tuning a drag car where they used collector extensions and cut them at the discoloration.
They claimed a positive gain.
I have not tried it and don't know if it works but I have heard of it.

   Don

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #699 on: March 01, 2012, 09:46:26 PM »
This is my thinking on the idea.  The optimal tuned length depends a lot on the cam timing, piston position during the cam events, and the speed of sound in the exhaust.  The speed of sound is directly influenced by the exhaust gas temperature.    The engine geometry will be the same on the dyno in Beaverton or on the salt at B'ville.  The exhaust temperature might be different and it likely will be.

My plan is to learn what to look for on the dyno with a pair of straight pipes attached to the headers.  I will look for the discoloration.  At the salt I will attach an identical set of pipes to the headers and make a run.  Then I will compare the two.  This will tell me the tuned length adjustment I need make when I develop pipes in Oregon for use in Utah.

The same idea will be used when I run the various cams.  Hopefully the marks will tell me the exhaust length adjustments I need for different combinations.   

I will tune a set of pipes with this method, too.  They will be the special "witch doctor" setup.  Simply put on these pipes, drop a couple of small bones into the fuel tank, and I will be ready to go.         

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #700 on: March 04, 2012, 01:28:42 PM »
Last Friday I had a long conversation with the pipe expert.  He was very nice to find the time to give me help.  What he said is in quotes.  This is not exact, it is what I remember.

"Big header diameters do not always work best.  A lot of people at Bonneville rum too big a diameter pipes.  The 1.5-inch diameter ones you have should be OK with the 865cc motor."  My plan is to order a set of unchromed headers from BUB.  I measured them last summer when I visited there.  They are close enough.  I will use those.

"Megaphones with a 12'' to 18'' long 1.5" taper cones and small reverse cones should work good for that bike.  Figure on cutting the headers and putting on the meggas somewhere around 26 inches from the exhaust valves."  One of my friends got a new TIG welder and he wants to make something.  These megga cones will be a good project.  Bradley in his books "The Racing Motorcycle" show how to lay out and cut the sheets to make cones.  This will be done.

"It is a good idea to make the meggas so they slide back and forth on the headers.  Move them in 1-inch increments and record horsepower.  There should be a curve where the horsepower peaks.  My guess is the 26 inches.  Sometimes the curve drops and rises again as the headers get longer."  Will do.

"Make the bends in the headers as large a radius and as few as possible.  Bends in the headers alter the tuned lengths."  Will do.  This makes using the Arrow mufflers a problem and I will not use them.  One is fairly straight and the other bends like a snake.

"Look at the pipes.  The soot colors on the inside will turn from light to dark.  Cut the headers at this point.  Sometimes the pipes are colored on the outsides where this happens.  Jetting the bike rich makes the color changes easier to see.  My guess is 26 inches."  The standard headers are in the photo.  Sure enough, like he says, they are discolored at right near 26 inches at the cross-over tube.  Unfortunately, I cannot attach meggas there.  No room under the bike.  These are my choices, as best as I can figure.

1)  Make a set of headers that merge into a collector at the correct location around 26 inches.  I had a setup like this on one of my old bikes.  It took a lot of fab and dyno work to get it right and it was easy to get it wrong.

2)  Make headers that wrap around the sides of the engine where the meggas can be placed at the right length.  I did this once.  They were BSA Hornet pipes on my old Spitfire.  Unfortunately, exhaust systems are hot and I am trying to keep the intake air and fuel as cool as possible.

3)  Tune to a longer bounce.  This is what I will do.  My plan is to start with the headers as short as possible and lengthen them an inch at a time.  The megga ends cannot project past the back of the rear tire.  This gives me a lot of distance to work with.

Right now I am on a fixed income.  My fear is the rising gas prices will trigger inflation, in which case I am screwed.  All of this pipe work, if it happens, will be next year.

 

Offline wobblywalrus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 5503
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #701 on: March 05, 2012, 10:55:25 PM »
A few weeks ago I took the fairing up to Kent Plastics in Portland.  They looked at the windshield I wanted to make.  It has too much double curvature to produce by draping a piece of plastic over a form, heating it, and letting it settle down onto the form.  The shield needs to be vacuum formed.  They gave me some guidelines and my job is to make the buck.

In the distant past I made some molds for sand casting.  They were maple.  I had some memories of making fiberglass molds from knotty pine.  This was difficult.  The wood sanded easily in the soft parts between the knots and it would not sand well where the knots were.  The mold was lumpy.  There were high sports at all of the knots and lower spots between them.  My father recommended cabinet plywood with lots of plies.  The ten ply wood like in the photo is what he said I should use.  Unfortunately I forgot what he said when I was in the lumber store.  I bought poplar boards.  They do not have knots and they will sand down evenly with no high and low spots.  The wood is soft and I need to be very careful with it.  It is easy to dent, unlike a plywood buck.

The buck is being made.  One by one I cut a poplar board to shape and add it to the buck.

Offline 4-barrel Mike

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3173
  • Any fool can drive a V8
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #702 on: March 06, 2012, 12:55:35 AM »
A few weeks ago I took the fairing up to Kent Plastics in Portland. 

Geoff's a good guy, isn't he?  Did you see any of my stuff being done?   :mrgreen:  (Anxiously awaiting a phone call to pick it up.)

Mike
Mike Kelly - PROUD owner of the V4F that powered the #1931 VGC to a 82.803 mph record in 2008!

Offline Jon

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 852
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #703 on: March 06, 2012, 04:34:56 PM »
Watchin this with interest, cant find anyone in Aus to make me a screen yet.

Are you vacuum forming it Wobbly or making the buck and taking it to Kent Plastics?


thanks
jon
Underhouse Engineering
Luck = Opportunity + Preparation^3

Offline Koncretekid

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1203
Re: Team Go Dog, Go! Modified Partial Streamliners
« Reply #704 on: March 06, 2012, 05:15:27 PM »
There are several good sites on the internet about making windscreens  without using a mold.  They use plywood with a hole the size of the windscreen base, and involve blowing low pressure air into the plastic when it gets up to temperature. You need a large, homemade, oven with elements in the bottom and temperature control.
Tom
We get too soon oldt, and too late schmart!
Life's uncertain - eat dessert first!