Ok guys......I know I started all this and I dont mean to stir the
pot any more, but I just talked to the man who I quoted as saying that the
switch from mech. fan to electrical was worth about 12 HP. He also is the one
who told me that switching the alternator on and off or moving it to be
powered from the drive shaft was worth about the same HP.
Now I dont know much about calculus and my engeniering experience is
confined to my garage or back yard. One of you guys said that the only way to
tell if this was true was to put the motor on a dyno and that "seat of the
pants" testing was a poor test. Well he did dyno the motor......so his numbers
were not just off the top of his head.
Of course the motor tested was a competition motor and most of the
gains were in the higher rpm range I think, but I still imagine that there
could be something to gain from the fan change.
Building the brackets and a pully to power the alternator off the
drive shaft is a bit much for street applications I think. And I dont know of
many cars that you need to put on jack stands to change the alternator or
tighten the belt! He said that by moving the alternator aft of the
transmission you salvage HP that would be lost anyway instead of pulling HP
from the motor directly. It also helps the front to rear power distribution.
Still only minor points when it comes to street cars.
All this discussion has been very very interesting and I wish that
my friend was on line because I know he would enjoy it, but he only uses his
computer for CADing the suspensions and chassis he builds and other race car
stuff.
Thanks to all those who resopnded. Ill be careful of the topics I
raise in the future! :-)
PLB3
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