so were doing some R/D on purchasing a dyno/only use is for the slant six. while talking to Neil Newman he stated all engines were hook to their dyno, that's how they determined true HP.
any thoughts recommendations. R/D here.
USAJon

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slant six's RULE!
http://www.usajon.com

I looked into purchasing a chassis eddy dyno back when I got home from the other side of the planet. The problem was size and the price (even for a smaller HP version), I could buy a shop for the price. I figured also that trying to generate revenue to pay for it also was somewhat exclusive, even though EFI tuning and dialing the carb in would be easier that way. The problem became location of the shop to use it (most people expect to pay less an hour if they have to trailer the test car out to BFE to do the time, and neighbors may not appreciate 8 hours of full blown pulls with no mufflers), and how much expertise can you offer if someone walked through the door with an out of the norm engine (this happened to a coworker that took his strip rod to the "BFE"dyno...455 Olds engine putting about 1000+ HP to the rear slicks... the operator was not familiar with engines this high up and by not knowing what to look for, the engine let go and ended up with rods and chunks in a puddle under the car- he had trailered the rig out to BFE to save $30/hr on dyno time...cost him a lot more than that afterwards).

Engine dyno's are a better choice for space concerns, but what you tune on the stand is just that, unless it has the ability to apply some resistance to the rotating assembly, it will give you some nice test numbers and tuning that will require another full round on the chassis dyno with the power/drivetrain parts (and then it will be close, but still need street tuning as you can't dial in a 50 mph headwind in the dyno bay for the car).

Other considerations as well, most dyno places have 'plates' that will allow the common bellhousing patterns to be used (chevy, ford, mopar SB/BB), so they will have to have a /6 plate made to mate it, or you will need to have one made. Also what other options are you going to need for tuning: pyrometer and probes for EGT monitoring for example? Do you have your space properly ventilated with fans and a hook up for the vehicle exhaust (most engine tuners will install an exhaust system to the headers/manifolds like what the vehicle will have).

Make sure that the provider of the equipment will also provide instruction on it and setup (the newer models plug into a desktop and you monitor the data and sensors from there, one of our local state colleges has an Automotive Engineer's section and teaches courses on using dyno's as tools to test engines- a couple decades back one of the Professors had a Pratt and Whitney F4F engine setup for the final in his course).

I would find a local engine dyno place and see if you can stop by while they are testing a client's engine and watch and ask questions, most places are friendly as long as you aren't in the way, and don't disrupt a client's testing session (they usually have an agenda going to minimize the hourly cost or get the most out of the session).

-D.Idiot

OK
my neighbor tells me the sad story of a really big HP drag car coming lose...total destruction close to death for operator.

I'm looking for slant six app only. talked to Taylor dynos 10 mins ago, he said they do not have anything for my use. he referred me to John in NC 704-957-8020

please remember this is a R/D start, it all my be beyond our funding,
but back in the day a close friend had a steward warner balance machine for Harley flywheels assembly's and man he made some coin on that, it was new and beautiful to watch.

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slant six's RULE!
http://www.usajon.com

Were you looking for an engine or a chassis dyno?

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

If you are serious and don't mind poking about, a lot of the "good old days" places are getting the boot from either location, or the owner is pushing 80 and doesn't want to do things like this anymore with his waining years...Grapevine is best for info, but like here the local scrap yard took in an intact 1960's era engine dyno that still had a Ford 6 cylinder bolted to the test stand (didn't ask the price, it's gone now). I know another 'era' speed shop in town that can no longer dyno due to location (3 block from city hall and the police station will do it to you in a big town), I know his is a surplus chassis dyno capable of 1000HP max...the guy is almost 80 and frail, I suspect that when his time comes his kids are going to have a garage sale....


-D.Idiot

engine only test dyno.thats what the factory used in 1959 according to Neil Newman..
keeps things simple.

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slant six's RULE!
http://www.usajon.com

If you are looking for one just to test with, find an older shop closing up or one upgrading. Be aware, dyno's cost money a.d take up a lot of room.

Making money with a dyno can be touchy. Some customers will.never believe what the dyno tells them, and as stated before it is not too hard to knock the crank.out of a motor.

The shop I used to work at had a Dyno Jet chassis dyno. Guy brought over a 10.5 Chevellea supposed top shelf builder had just installed a new 509. We ran it in, tuned it up, and on the first pull all the rods fell out at 4500 rpm. Quick autopsy showed the rod bolts had been left loose. Guy wanted us to pay for it.

You will have a lot of days like that if you dyno for the public.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

just saw a 1936 80 CI flathead harley pull 120 HP on bike dyno (world record last year at saltflats) ...have seen those portable dyno guys ,tune your bike,show you big increase in power...too bad thy leaned it out too far= blown engine on your harley

If going cheap and easy:

Not too long back there was a guy that bought an old 50's style engine dyno that probably wouldn't be too hard to build at home with some engineering help. It had a mount for the engine and a coupler and transfer link to hook up to a pump. The pump was hooked to 2 barrels. The pump had a known curve for power to quantity...so you hook up the engine, and fill one barrel to the top (known 55 gallons/etc...). You fire up the engine and run it at a set rpm then activate the link until it empties the barrel into the other one and record the time...checking the pump curve you can determine the HP or torque based on time and volume.
The guy buying it was using it to test 413 builds he was working on (he had a pile of them from motor homes and industrial setups he got on the cheap- not really the best RB engine...but then it was his idea of fun).

Just throwing out an idea if you are just wanting to see if your tuning made an improvement and are doing it on the cheap, otherwise Dennis is correct.

-D.Idiot

it will be for our use only.
may have storage/use @ a shop or two in Queenstown, Maryland.
Industrial use zoning...middle of no ware.

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slant six's RULE!
http://www.usajon.com

you may find this of interest, a flow bench will be handy too
DIY DYNO

Brendan

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1963 AP5 Valiant 225 PB 904 Stock except extractors & 2 1/4 inch exhaust.


1962 S series valiant 225 PB auto. factory every thing. Full restoration job.
Currently on hold till AP5 is on the road.

When we brought a demonstration car for Dynapack to use at the PRI trade show, these guys always had a demonstration dyno next to us:

http://www.stuskadyno.com/

Their system looked pretty good from what we were able to see - just wasn't in the market for one for DIYAutoTune.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

talked to a use dyno broker and their price range with everything was $15K. that's way out of our range. He sell's units to re-man diesel shops to check HP outputs of their rebuilds.

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slant six's RULE!
http://www.usajon.com

What about the pocket dyno brendan posted? Are those worth it?

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1965 Plymouth Belvedere II Turbo Project - SOLD
2002 Subaru OBS
1995 Lexus LS400 Race Car

Gday again.
From my research into that type of dyno kit linked above ,there are a few cons .
The computer software is what is supplied for $880 or there abouts.
You then have to build your own chassis or engine dyno "hardware"
The easiest way is to use a large heavy flywheel.
Basically the software calculates power, from the time it takes to get the flywheel up to a certain speed.
Therefore the dyno cant be used while keeping an engine at steady speed.
No good for cruise speed tuning.
For that you need a brake dyno.(I believe the software will work
with a brake dyno too.)

However it can be used for WOT tuning. and cruise - WOT tuning.
ie idle -WOT how long it takes to get flywheel up to speed ,determines Tq then hp can be calculated.
The Figures the machine quote for tq and hp are probably not very accurate in absolute terms ,However the system is very repeatable and will show tuning /set up changes in terms of comparing between runs after tweaking your engine.
If you use this system to get the most from your engine, then go to a Load dyno ,and get a HP figure that will be more accurate.
Just go to the dyno with the rep of giving the highest Numbers for bragging rights.
I would say If you are handy with the tools ,you could build an engine dyno for under a few grand including the software.
Have a look at the site for Ideas.
If any-one disagrees with anything I have written ,please speak up ,I would like to hear your comments.
Brendan.

_________________
1963 AP5 Valiant 225 PB 904 Stock except extractors & 2 1/4 inch exhaust.


1962 S series valiant 225 PB auto. factory every thing. Full restoration job.
Currently on hold till AP5 is on the road.