
Originally Posted by
TZ350
Hard to see whether anybody else thought much of the idea, but I'm interested to see that you think it might have merit.
Fellows are talking there about polishing piston crowns (to considerably reduce surface area, as detectable on a microscopic level), something some of us were doing in outboard racing forty-five years ago, and about ceramic coating the pistons for the same reason but with greater effect.
But then they talk about polishing or coating the exhaust port and passage. I'm not so sure about that idea, partly for the reason I want a finned exhaust header: to keep from heating the portion of the new air/fuel charge that gets that far. I want the exhaust port and passage to be transferring heat as fast as it can to the cooling fins or water jacketing immediately behind the port. Polishing or coating the port drastically reduces the heat transfer to the outside, and that's the hottest part of the engine, and often the area where you get pistons sticking and melting, so I wouldn't want anything that impedes heat transferring out to the outside.
On my old outboard racemotors I always reworked the factory water inlet arrangement (these engines got water from the lake rammed in the front of the lower unit, no water pump) to get the water-in streams flowing across the metal directly behind each exhaust port, with the intent of scrubbing off steam-bubbles as they formed.
Besides adding fins to the exhaust header, AND devising an air-duct or two (surely the best fix) that will blast air directly at the cooling fins on the cylinder and the exh. header, I would also be looking at the various "black-body" coatings that claim to increase heat transfer from the surface of the fins to the air.
This last might only provide a marginal increase in heat transfer, but then most advances come from incremental improvements. You Kiwis probably are familiar with the old "Hundred Pound Rule of Motor Racing," which states, "There's no place you can take a hundred pounds out of the car. But there might be a hundred places you can take out one pound." A goofy little fix like my cooling fins on header pipes won't make much difference in isolation, but three or four such little fixes might add up to something worthwhile.
Gosh, Rob, you quoted me and made me somebody; flattering! I was just going to be a lurker for a while, and not barge into a long-running thread. But I don't mind you quoting me if you think I actually say something of any value, LOL.
(I CAN'T TELL WHETHER THIS PM IS ACTUALLY GETTING SENT TO YOU . . . .????)
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