1102 replies to this topic

[cptkirk]

Flowmaster DBX Silencer Setup

 

So the twin exit setup appears to be quite a bit louder than I had hoped.....

 

In an effort to keep the db's down I have now gone for a 'Series' setup, very similar to my old twin silencer setup, just with the Flowmaster DBX units instead fo the absoprtion cans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I should add that this setup is for track use, I will be reverting to the twin setup for regular road use as, although loud, it does sound sweet.....

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited by cptkirk, 23 June 2015 - 02:32 PM.

[StefanPieter]

After all that effort of designing and fabricating it must be very disappointing.

The parallel arrangement looked good and it's a pity it didn't live up to test results.

All the best and keep up the good work.

[MotorinFool]

Looks amazing!  Would love to see some video and sound... :)

[RED HOT]

As said above, that's a real shame after the work and design that went into it; good to hear that it sounds sweet so though, at least the locals can enjoy it

[cptkirk]

After all that effort of designing and fabricating it must be very disappointing.

The parallel arrangement looked good and it's a pity it didn't live up to test results.

All the best and keep up the good work.

 

Cheers, I am working on yet another setup, with a feckin great silencer as used on a Dodge Ram 5.9L Diesel, although when I received the silencer from the US I was a bit dissapointed with its build quality and the lack of internal sound deadening material. I will get it fitted and see what difference it makes to the db's some time in the future.

 

Looks amazing!  Would love to see some video and sound... :)

 

Thanks, I will have some of the parallel setup and once I get the car running sweet again (having issues with the new throttle body and idling) I will take some video of it for a back to back and post it up...

 

As said above, that's a real shame after the work and design that went into it; good to hear that it sounds sweet so though, at least the locals can enjoy it

 

They will love it (doubt it, but feck em, I like it), the parallel set up will defo be the daily setup, the new silencers have stopped the drone but given it a rasp instead.

 

 

 

 

 

I will get the db's down, if its the last thing I do, but I need to do it in such a way that it doesn't bog the engine down with masses of restriction/back pressure. The Ram silencer is from Walker exhausts (21443) and is advertised as "Quiet-Flow". I bought it as the internals are all 3", therefore the interal piping wont be a restriction (lots of silencers reduce the ID of the internal piping), I have a fair amount of work to do to it before I can think about mouting it as the inlet is 4" and the out is 3" so need to make plates to reduce this to 2.5". Once I get the end of the silencer road at least I will know what defo works and what doesn't.....

[cptkirk]

70mm Throttle Body Idling Issues - fixed.

 

 

AS some of you will remember I had bought a 70mm Throttle Body from Clockwise Motion, on the understanding that I wouldnt have to do anything to the throttle body to get good idling (as per the discussion with the vendor). Turns out that was a load of horsesh!t, the first time I tried it it idled at about 3k, then would hunt the revs once you'd given it some throttle.

 

So in an effort to fix the problem I went about lapping in the throttle plate to the throttle body, using really fine lapping compound that comes as a powder and mixed with thin oil. After hours of doing this I got the plate sitting sweet with virtually no light coming through, but when you breath tested it there were still streams of moisture breaking through and when I tried it on the car it would still hunt the revs and high idle - I am amazed as to how little amount of air is required for the engine to run.

 

A chat with one of our engineers at work brought up an 'Testors' enamel paint as a possible fix to the problem and is something that has been used in the US for years when trying to cure the very same problem. However in my tinternet exploration of Testors paint I stumbled across people using Dry Moly Lube as an alternative, might I add a much better alternative. Dry Moly Lube is, as it says, a dry lubricant but it has a bonding agent in it so when you spray it onto something it sticks like paint. So I went about masking up the throttle body so it would only spray on the required parts.

 

Once sprayed I light tested it and there was no light what so ever coming through, and a breath test showed no signs of moisture breaking through. It was time to mount it back on the car, I was feeling confident.....

 

I got it all on the car and started it up - it revved at 3K then hunted after blipping the throttle - aaaaaaaaaarrrggghhhhhhh

 

So here is where the investigation started,

 

Firstly I tried covering the hole that feeds the IACV (Idle Air Control Valve), this did not stop the engine, therefore this leaves two possible problems, its leaking past the throttle plate or theres another leak somewhere else.

 

Secondly I put my hand over the opening of the throttle body, this will tell whether there is a leak other than past the throttle plate......the engine still ran.......ah ha.......

 

Then I tried spraying some brake cleaner around the TBa nd inlet to find the leak with no joy, then I started to fumble around it with my hand to find I hadnt replaced the pipe that opens the bypass valve - TW4T.....

 

With the pipe clamped up properly I then started the engine and it now runs and idles..............thank god because it was really starting to feck me off.....

 

Here's a few photo's of the throttle body before I fitted it, so you can see what I did to it:

 

 

Firstly the dry moly:

 

 

 

 

Throttle body, the opposite side is similar but on the top side:

 

 

 

 

 

[Mini 360]

Moly spray is a wonderful product.  We go through far too much of it at work as inspection always manage to rub it away

[cptkirk]

Flowmaster DBX Silencer Setup

 

 

I arranged a static noise test, on the weekend just gone, at Goodwood.

 

After a chat with the guy that does the noise metering we decided to try a few different rev ranges, with and without the extra can that some of you may have seen hanging off the back of the car at Castle Combe and even Goodwood.

 

The results were as follows

 

DBX in Series  - No Extra Can

 

6000rpm - 101db's

5200rpm - 100 db's

 

 

DBX IN Series - Extra Can

 

6000rpm - 100 db's

5200rpm - 98 db's

 

 

Better than the single absorption can, not quite as good as two absoprtion cans in series.

 

Going to try the Walker quiet flow silencer as soon as I get it put together and will report back with figures....

 

I can confirm that the new air filter box has reduced the charger whine in the car and if it still audible outside the car is it from both sides, which will reduce the intake noise by half when being measured from one side.

 

[RED HOT]

Have you tried using a good old fashioned bung in any of your exhaust revisions? I know they aren't the best with regards to power, but the jap boys with their HUGE cans seem to get on ok. Just wondering if this could be a quicker fix come track time and whether or not this would reduce power any more than additional can installation to achieve the same noise threshold! I realise its probably not as exciting to design, research and would involve minimal 3D CAD work

[cptkirk]

Flowmaster DBX Silencer Setup

 

 

I attended a track day at Goodwood on Monday, so get this, using the same db meter as three weeks previous the db's came in at 95 db's @ 5200rpm ????/ what the hell....

 

I am seeing higher engine coolant temps than before, I can only assume this is from increased back pressure.

 

 

[cptkirk]

Brake Fade

 

Whilst at the same track day I experienced a new problem with the braking system. I had recently upgraded my brake pads to Polymatrix A to get better performance from my brakes, they stop much much better but the downside to this is the increased heat from the increased friction. So during a session I could feel there was an issue with the brake pedal as it was going long, I finished the session, came into teh paddocks for a minute or two then headed out to the petrol station. As i drove out of the circuit the brake pedal went to the floor - sh!tballs.....

 

At that point I thought it might be that the wheel bearing had come lose and the disc had lent over causing the pedal to need pumping to get it to work, so I headed of home in in the daily driver to get some tools, this took me an hour. When I got back I jacked the car to check the bearing and they were fine, as good as they've ever been. I dropped it back down and checked the pedal and it was back... no pumping required....what the hell?

 

There is no loss of fluid so it can only be that the Dot5 Silicone fluid had boiled over (or water had entered the system and pooled in a caliper and this had boiled over)....feck it. So I now have the unenviable task of flushing the silicone from the brake and clutch lines and am going to replace it with Wilwood EXP600 which has a dry boiling point of 310degC, 50degC higher than the Silicone. Hopefully this will cure it as I have another track day at Goodwood on 31st Aug (Bank Holiday Monday) with Lotus on track and I need to be able to drive it hard to keep up with some of those boys.

[minigpowner]

Cptkirk, just read through this all and I'm in awe as I'm sure everyone else is!! I really like the way the steering rack comes toward you in a much flatter position than normal. as I've read it is just a basic rack from z cars, do you think it is possible to fit into a normal mini say with a modified drop bracket to attach it to? again absolutely loving your build, a car of my dreams you've built!!

 

joe

[cptkirk]

Cptkirk, just read through this all and I'm in awe as I'm sure everyone else is!! I really like the way the steering rack comes toward you in a much flatter position than normal. as I've read it is just a basic rack from z cars, do you think it is possible to fit into a normal mini say with a modified drop bracket to attach it to? again absolutely loving your build, a car of my dreams you've built!!
 
joe

 
Thanks.

 

I think there's a couple of things you need to consider, my seat is quite a bit lower and further back than a standard seating position. I am aware of drop links that are available at good mini parts places but I couldn't tell you how much they are......
 
I am sure that with a bit of thought and ingenuity you can achieve a similar steering wheel position.

Edited by cptkirk, 12 August 2015 - 08:13 AM.

[minigpowner]

 

Cptkirk, just read through this all and I'm in awe as I'm sure everyone else is!! I really like the way the steering rack comes toward you in a much flatter position than normal. as I've read it is just a basic rack from z cars, do you think it is possible to fit into a normal mini say with a modified drop bracket to attach it to? again absolutely loving your build, a car of my dreams you've built!!
 
joe

 
Thanks.

 

I think there's a couple of things you need to consider, my seat is quite a bit lower and further back than a standard seating position. I am aware of drop links that are available at good mini parts places but I couldn't tell you how much they are......
 
I am sure that with a bit of thought and ingenuity you can achieve a similar steering wheel position.

 

yh i my seat will be going further back anyway as I'm planning on putting in a floor mounted pedal box and using a summit raptor to move most of the normally reachable buttons to the wheel. i thought about asking if z cars could fabricate a roll cage which has the same column mounting as yours does?? 

[cptkirk]

 

 

Cptkirk, just read through this all and I'm in awe as I'm sure everyone else is!! I really like the way the steering rack comes toward you in a much flatter position than normal. as I've read it is just a basic rack from z cars, do you think it is possible to fit into a normal mini say with a modified drop bracket to attach it to? again absolutely loving your build, a car of my dreams you've built!!
 
joe

 
Thanks.

 

I think there's a couple of things you need to consider, my seat is quite a bit lower and further back than a standard seating position. I am aware of drop links that are available at good mini parts places but I couldn't tell you how much they are......
 
I am sure that with a bit of thought and ingenuity you can achieve a similar steering wheel position.

 

yh i my seat will be going further back anyway as I'm planning on putting in a floor mounted pedal box and using a summit raptor to move most of the normally reachable buttons to the wheel. i thought about asking if z cars could fabricate a roll cage which has the same column mounting as yours does?? 

 

 

 

I am sure if you ask Z's can do it.

 

Personally I wouldn't go for a floor mounted pedal box, there's simply not enough room on the floor to do it, without sitting in the back seats to operate them. Go for a top mount system, it will work out for the best.

 

Good luck with your project.