Jerry Hey wrote:
SevenStock was really great for me. Another large chunk of
education. After all my talking about peripheral ports, I finally
got to see the real thing. There were a fairly large number of PP
engines installed in running cars. In every case the rotor
housings had been purchased from Racing Beat. Naturally, there were
several entrepreneurs looking for business who said they had done
the PPorts themselves on the one hand, and that I could not do it
myself, on the other. But everything I saw clearly originated from
Racing Beat. Racing Beats PPorts would not be suitable for our
purposes. They are huge, over two inches i.d. and the ports are cut
perpendicular to the housing on the curve between the the side and
top. This puts the inserts at too high an angle to get the runners
down close to the top of engine. Further more these ports are
intended to produce 350 hp at 9500 rpm. We are looking for 220hp at
6000 rpm. These are not just different numbers, but a different
world entirely. Car guys cannot put Peripheral Ports and 6000 max
rpm together in their heads. When I put these numbers in front of
them I might as well tapped them on the forehead with my ball peen
hammer. They just lost focus. Several did tell me it was
impossible. They never heard of Power Sport. I am attaching
several photos that show clearly how the PPs are set up. Notice that
the inserts are held in place with Devcon. No mechanical attachment.
Paul and I had the opportunity to hear a P Ported engine idle at
1500 rpm. It was uneven, but not bad. Paul said he had heard
Lycomings that were worse. This engine had about a ten inch intake
runner with the throttle plate at the end and seemed to have very
good throttle response. I saw a couple of P ported cars running up
and down the street in front of Racing Beat. They were able to just
idle along, no problem although the engines were much happier when
the throttles were opened. Shocking power even when shut down after
20 feet. With smaller ports, longer runners and the throttle
plate nearer the port, the aircraft version will be easy to live with.
I saw a really neat little top water pump neck, that we can easily
build that will clear any cowl. It requires that the radiator cap
be on the swirl pot. I asked one race car owner with this set up if
he was running a thermostat. He said no, but that depending on the
outside temp, he would put in restrictors with various diameter
holes, the largest being 5/8". Makes one wonder why we need such
large radiator hoses. Another person, said he was running a
thermostat and a third said he was not. Take your choice. Paul's
idea of just pulling the thermostat and regulating temp with the cowl
flaps is right on, in my opinion. Can an audio warning be used with
the water temp?
I also saw a very neat heat shield that goes just below the intake
and extends straight out about 8 inches covering the exhaust headers.
It attaches to the lower, outside intake manifold bolts. It would
work with any intake system. Sorry, the pictures of the water pump
neck and this shield did not come out.
I attended a seminar put on by Royal Purple. They make claims of
increased power, lower temps and so on that Racing Beat confirms.
They also make an ashless 2 stroke oil. The engineer from Royal
Purple has been racing Rotaries for twenty years. I am going to
try it in my RX-7.
I bought a remote oil filter mount and bypass block. Not cheap but
very well made.
I did not make it to the banquet, and it turns out I missed a lot.
Mr Tanaka (I hope that is right) who is 80 years old and has been an
engineer with Mazda since 1947 and on the Rotary project from the
very beginning talked through a translator. The mood at Mazda is
very strong concerning the Renesis engine. They think they have
come up with something wonderful. I got the same vibration from Jim
Mederer, who said, referring to the potential of the new engines,
that we have not seen anything yet. His excitement was palpable.
Jerry
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