Back in the 90s, I had a buddy who had made his own flow bench. He used Kirby vacuum cleaner blower or blowers for the bench. I think only one, been a long time. I got to put some heads I was working on at the time on his bench, the numbers came out pretty good. He had flowed some heads on his bench, then took them and put them on a Superflow 600, the numbers were very close. So his bench was pretty accurate.
Later on, he gave me copies of the plans he used to build his bench. In those plans, it called for a old Paxton SN-93 blower. I think those old blowers are capable of flowing around 600 CFM. Back then getting my hands on a blower was not easy and there was not much chance if I did so, that I would use it for a flow bench, it would have gone on one of my cars.
Times have changed blowers are cheaper, and more common, with a lot of people pulling blowers to replace them with turbos. So there are a lot of older centrifugal blowers out there, that you can pick up cheaply and I have done so.
I got the plans for the bench sometime back in the mid 90s. I had been porting heads since the 80s. I lost the plans for the flow bench sometime in the early 2000s. Then found the same info online and book marked it. Then my computer crashed and I lost everything on that computer. Then the next time I remembered to look for the plans for building a bench, they were no where to be found on the internet. I looked many times, for many hours at a time, and found nothing. Then the other day, the thought of having a bench got back in my head. So last night I searched again, right off, found multiple posts on building a flow bench. Each one, has different info, each is helpful in one way or another.
Things are different this time, I am not just dreaming of building a bench and hoping to be able to find the pieces I need. I have the pieces and the tools and knowledge to build a nice bench. Some years ago, I picked up a Vortech S trim, for $300, came with some brackets and one or two pulleys. I found all the rest of the pieces to put it on one of my engines. I planned on putting it on my daughter's pickup. But have since decided, that twin turbos would be cooler, but then I found better heads, that I could make plenty of power with, without any boost. So boost would just result in a lot more power, than I think she would want any part of. Then I also picked up a Paxton Novi 2000, for $500. The S trim will flow 1000 CFM at 50,000 rpm. That I know of, there is no cylinder head on the planet, that will come close to 1000 CFM of air flow through one port. So the S trim is plenty big for anything I will ever flow on my bench. The Novi 2000, I have not looked up, but I know it can flow close to double what the Vortech S trim will flow. That blower, I would like to put on something, but really have not decided what yet.
So I have a blower more than big enough for my flow bench. I need to rebuild it, but a rebuild kit for that blower is only $284. Years ago, after I lost all of the info on building a flow bench, which included what size orifices I needed to make and how to calibrate all of the pieces of the bench. So some years ago, I came up with the idea of using a MAF meter, to measure air flow. I can get air flow numbers for a given MAF sensor, then I have the ability to data log the MAF numbers. The same way I would data log the MAF numbers, I could data log barometric pressure numbers at the same time. But was not sure, those numbers would be comparable to what is produced by a production flow bench.
So in my searching the past two days, I found one build done by some college students, who used a MAF sensor, that they were able to get the flow chart for, to measure the air flow. Then a barometric pressure sensor. Then I also found another article, that talked about adding electronic measuring devices to your existing flow bench. Those devices, included a MAF sensor, barometric pressure sensor and a data logger. They claimed the numbers they got, were very close to what was acquired by a Superflow 600.
Then I have a mill now, so I can make the flanges I need. So I plan on building a really nice big bench. Which will be great, I have some heads, that I am going to port, that I know one of the heads, multiple guys have gotten to flow a bit over 400 CFM. The other head, is one I ported a pair of back in the 90s and got some good numbers out of, with just a little work. Those heads are considered to be garbage heads by about 90% of the guys who think they know Ford heads, but the numbers I got years ago, say otherwise. I think with the right size valves and right style valves and some good work, those heads should flow a lot of air. The good part is since, most people classify those heads as garbage, I can pick them up cheaply. So I can pick up multiple pairs to experiment with.
So when I get this bench built, it will allow me to really have fun experimenting with heads and intakes. I used to on rare occasions take heads that I worked on, to other people to get them flowed, so it will be very nice having a bench available at anytime to check the latest work. I will probably get back to doing more porting again.
Later on, he gave me copies of the plans he used to build his bench. In those plans, it called for a old Paxton SN-93 blower. I think those old blowers are capable of flowing around 600 CFM. Back then getting my hands on a blower was not easy and there was not much chance if I did so, that I would use it for a flow bench, it would have gone on one of my cars.
Times have changed blowers are cheaper, and more common, with a lot of people pulling blowers to replace them with turbos. So there are a lot of older centrifugal blowers out there, that you can pick up cheaply and I have done so.
I got the plans for the bench sometime back in the mid 90s. I had been porting heads since the 80s. I lost the plans for the flow bench sometime in the early 2000s. Then found the same info online and book marked it. Then my computer crashed and I lost everything on that computer. Then the next time I remembered to look for the plans for building a bench, they were no where to be found on the internet. I looked many times, for many hours at a time, and found nothing. Then the other day, the thought of having a bench got back in my head. So last night I searched again, right off, found multiple posts on building a flow bench. Each one, has different info, each is helpful in one way or another.
Things are different this time, I am not just dreaming of building a bench and hoping to be able to find the pieces I need. I have the pieces and the tools and knowledge to build a nice bench. Some years ago, I picked up a Vortech S trim, for $300, came with some brackets and one or two pulleys. I found all the rest of the pieces to put it on one of my engines. I planned on putting it on my daughter's pickup. But have since decided, that twin turbos would be cooler, but then I found better heads, that I could make plenty of power with, without any boost. So boost would just result in a lot more power, than I think she would want any part of. Then I also picked up a Paxton Novi 2000, for $500. The S trim will flow 1000 CFM at 50,000 rpm. That I know of, there is no cylinder head on the planet, that will come close to 1000 CFM of air flow through one port. So the S trim is plenty big for anything I will ever flow on my bench. The Novi 2000, I have not looked up, but I know it can flow close to double what the Vortech S trim will flow. That blower, I would like to put on something, but really have not decided what yet.
So I have a blower more than big enough for my flow bench. I need to rebuild it, but a rebuild kit for that blower is only $284. Years ago, after I lost all of the info on building a flow bench, which included what size orifices I needed to make and how to calibrate all of the pieces of the bench. So some years ago, I came up with the idea of using a MAF meter, to measure air flow. I can get air flow numbers for a given MAF sensor, then I have the ability to data log the MAF numbers. The same way I would data log the MAF numbers, I could data log barometric pressure numbers at the same time. But was not sure, those numbers would be comparable to what is produced by a production flow bench.
So in my searching the past two days, I found one build done by some college students, who used a MAF sensor, that they were able to get the flow chart for, to measure the air flow. Then a barometric pressure sensor. Then I also found another article, that talked about adding electronic measuring devices to your existing flow bench. Those devices, included a MAF sensor, barometric pressure sensor and a data logger. They claimed the numbers they got, were very close to what was acquired by a Superflow 600.
Then I have a mill now, so I can make the flanges I need. So I plan on building a really nice big bench. Which will be great, I have some heads, that I am going to port, that I know one of the heads, multiple guys have gotten to flow a bit over 400 CFM. The other head, is one I ported a pair of back in the 90s and got some good numbers out of, with just a little work. Those heads are considered to be garbage heads by about 90% of the guys who think they know Ford heads, but the numbers I got years ago, say otherwise. I think with the right size valves and right style valves and some good work, those heads should flow a lot of air. The good part is since, most people classify those heads as garbage, I can pick them up cheaply. So I can pick up multiple pairs to experiment with.
So when I get this bench built, it will allow me to really have fun experimenting with heads and intakes. I used to on rare occasions take heads that I worked on, to other people to get them flowed, so it will be very nice having a bench available at anytime to check the latest work. I will probably get back to doing more porting again.
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