Mike Gigante wrote:
> Garry, perhaps you have experience with the coatings offered for
> internal engine components (combustion chamber, pistons, valves etc).
>
> I discussed these coatings with one of the main race engine builders here.
> It
> seems like a great idea to reduce the thermal transfer from combustion
> chamber to engine castings.
>
> However, he reported that engines coated thus showed a net HP loss.
>
> is this consistent with what you, or others have seen?
What I have seen is that it is actually worth between 5-7 Horsepower on the
dyno when you get everything done right. But when you only have say 45hp to
start off with 5-7 more Hp is ALOT! I have used coated rods bearings for
longer bearing life and it helps reduce the chances of spinning a rod bearing.
You can also put oil shedding polymers on the connecting rods, the crank
weights to help keep the oil off those parts. We (some of the turbo guys)
also put coatings on our camshafts, our camshaft springs, and rockers (or
sliders as we call them) --- alot of this is done to reduce the amout of
friction inside the cylinder head. Now, getting some of the parts coated
inside a 948 and 1275 might be a good thing to try out. Seeing that I am still
new to this, I'm not sure if anyone has already tried any of this. Another
trick we do is coat the tops of the pistons with a ceramic coated, this way we
can through more spark at it and not worry about putting holes in pistons.
the last place is the exhaust manifold or header coated with ceramic. This not
only protects the header/mainfold from rusting but also disapates the heats
better throughout the header --- plus it also keeps the underhood temps pretty
reasonable.
I am sure that some of these coatings will help the 948 and 1275 engines for
sure. I'm just trying to relay my experiences with coatings when used in my
turbocharged engine. I for one will more then likely try some of the coating
ideas on our Bugeye Sprite once we ever get one....
Garry
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