Inlet manifold design (2)
Turbo Mini Forums

Just a thought / question.....

Whilst trying to work out how to get all my bits fitted in with the option of three different injector arrangements, it is obvious for my layout, the clutch master cylinder is the main problem.

To get around this for all options I would have to make the plenum (airbox) a lot smaller (which goes against all the rules for volume of plenum vs capacity of engine) or make it a really weird shape.

I'm already fed up with welding aluminium and don't really want to use stainless because my cheap lathe isn't really up to maching the bits to weld, so how to get a weird shape easily.......

Has anyone considered fibreglass or (dare I say it) carbon fibre ???

A lot of modern cars use various thermoplastics for the inlet manifold - the only major difference I can see with the 5 port is how close the inlet bits are to the exhaust compared to a modern X-flow engine.

So has anyone considered fibreglass or carbon fibre, maybe even tried it, and any thoughts please....

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

I have no experience of glass fibre or carbon fibre so really cannot comment on alternative materials.

I do understand the problem though, as I was trying to figure this out myself earlier this week.

If you lower the plenum from my original design, it has to go further back to get two injectors in back to back. Although the plenum will fit in the space, the air inlet will foul the clutch master if it feeds into the end.

I decided that I needed to put a bend in the plenum to create the clearance. The throttle body can either fit directly on the plenum or on a short extension pipe.

This is just for my road car version of the inlet manifold. On the Miglia, the master cylinder is under the floor :)

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Alternatively what about a mechanical clutch?

check out blown_imp (something along those lines) build.

his plenum was carbon and home made. i have no idea how well it worked and he doesnt seem to have posted in a while......long itme actually.

im not sure how that helps...might be worth a read.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Ah yes,

blown_imp now there was a good thread!

shame he's not on here any more was jolly interesting stuff :(

heres the thread.

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=121495

i had a read through that again before i went on holiday.

its a great thread! got me wanting to do an imp project. but i must resist!

only realised when i last read it that he has the same name as me....surname the lot!! strange, we are obviously just super skilled people us James Hills... haha

How about brass and/or copper? Easier to machine than stainless, and you can silver solder it together.

Edited by Andymini on 3rd Apr, 2009.

My friend Gippo used cf for his plenum, ill try and find his flickr site

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