Replacing Air Flow pipe

[philr]

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement air flow pipe for my Chip 500. I am interested in replacing the current one with a heat resistant one to ensure that cooler air enters the system. The current one has had a problem with colapsing under hard acceleration and ran the risk of starving the engine. Fernie have fiddled witht he pipe and so far it hasn''t colapsed, but in theory cooler air entering the system could be an advantage so I want to explore the options. I could just wrap the pipe in heat reflecting material, but wondered about a pipe made of a suitable material. What do you think then guys. Is it worth considering ? Phil

[GreenV8S]

Yes, cold air is definitely a winner. On an engine this size, 1 deg C can be worth about 1 bhp - the difference between baking hot air at 50 deg and cold fresh air at 15 deg is huge. I gave up trying to insulate the inlet duct on the V8S because it ran close to the radiator, cats, manifold etc for about 4 feet altogether. No chance to keep that lot cool. Now I have a cold air intake taking air in from the front of the windscreen, which is a lot better but still absorbs some heat from the engine bay. I'm working on Mk II now. Cheers, Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

quote:Does anyone know where I can get a replacement air flow pipe for my Chip 500. I am interested in replacing the current one with a heat resistant one to ensure that cooler air enters the system. The current one has had a problem with colapsing under hard acceleration and ran the risk of starving the engine. Fernie have fiddled witht he pipe and so far it hasn''t colapsed, but in theory cooler air entering the system could be an advantage so I want to explore the options. I could just wrap the pipe in heat reflecting material, but wondered about a pipe made of a suitable material. What do you think then guys. Is it worth considering ? Phil

[philr]

Peter, the inlet pipe on the chimp is about 4' long in the engine bay as well. I have looked at places like deamon tweaks and it looks a bit pricey. I just wondered if anyone knew of a cheaper place to get heat resistant pipe work or maybe just heat resistant sheeting that I could use to insulate the existing air flow pipe (and maybe others while I'm there). Cheers Phil

[fordy]

if the air flow meter that this pipe runs feeds uses the 'hot wire' method of test how much air is flowing, surely a difference in air temp going in will have an effect on the data it provides - or does the wire heat to such a high temperature that a few degrees difference in air temp will have no effect ???

[GreenV8S]

I lagged the manifold and wrapped the inlet with reflective insulating tape but it wasn't very effective. The engine bay temperature goes over 100 deg C at times and you need 'space shuttle' type technology to keep that much heat out. I reckoned the smart answer was to cheat and not bring the air through there in the first place! Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

quote:Peter, the inlet pipe on the chimp is about 4' long in the engine bay as well. I have looked at places like deamon tweaks and it looks a bit pricey. I just wondered if anyone knew of a cheaper place to get heat resistant pipe work or maybe just heat resistant sheeting that I could use to insulate the existing air flow pipe (and maybe others while I'm there). Cheers Phil