Installed Vararam Wedge

[E.T.]

Originally Posted by Higgs Boson

97% of racers think conversion factors are excuses. It's not what you really ran. If you live in Colorado then it sucks to be you, sort of thing....

It's not like if you have great air you are going to correct for the good DA and post a SLOWER time, lol. So people just end up choosing the faster of the two. That's crap.



Yeep.

From what I've read, it's not an exact science, either. Just like the dyno correction factors...the will get you close to an answer, but they can't take everything into account. I like the idea of using a DA calc to give me a ballpark of what I would've/could've run in better air, but there's nothing like having that timeslip with the actual numbers

[Pro Stock John]

My corrected summer numbers give me a goal to shoot for. Anyway, who's made a pass with theirs? I'm weather watching for a good day to go.

[Jason@JacFab]

I still go out for fun regardless of the air quality... With an intake only I've been running 13.3x-13.4x @ 106ish in a 4500 DA. When the DA drops to 1200 I can run consistant 12.8s @ 110, still with only an intake. Uncorrected times.

The next track day here is 9/14. Unfortunately there is only 3 races left in the season here, the last race being 9/30. I didn't have a wedge for the last race, but I will try with and without at the next race.

[white ZL1]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

I don't believe in correcting times, that's not what we do in heads-up classes like in the NMCA.

Understood. But in the case of comparing old times against times with new mods, correcting isn't a worthless exercise. Usually.
It just depends on the person doing the correcting and if they understand the other factors outside of DA that affect their timeslip.

[Pro Stock John]

I don't disagree per se but the corrected times are theoretical and I don't personally believe that the MPH will be necessarily accurate.

[Jason@JacFab]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

I don't disagree per se but the corrected times are theoretical and I don't personally believe that the MPH will be necessarily accurate.

While I'm sure it's not entirely accurate, when I correct my high DA times the mph is usually within 1mph of what I run when the DA is 12-1400 here. IE corrected for 0 says I would run 111.x MPH, and I run 110.x in 12-1400 air, down to 106-107 in the 3000+ range. I still correct some times here and there to see what it would possibly be running on a good air day, but I don't bother posting them as most people dont believe in it.

I posted a comparison of a few different intakes using DA corrected times, as that's really the only way to compare them, and I caught all kinds of guff for it, so I just deleted it. It's too hard to compare more than one thing in a day at the track.

Anyway, back to the wedge talk, I'd really like to see if anyone gains anything from running it at the track vs. running without it... Like I said, the next race here is a couple weeks away, so I'll try it then if someone else hasn't already.

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by Dan2510

I'd feel a whole lot happier knowing I actually pulled that number off myself instead of converting.

It's just a way of comparing apples to apples and getting some idea of how changes to your car are helping. I wouldn't say I ran a corrected time. I would say what I really ran if anyone asks. But often the conversation goes "What was the DA?"

On good DA day you get to brag if you want. But you know it was the 60 degrees and lack of humidity that improved your ET.

No whistling here.

[Jason@JacFab]

Swapped the stock intake back on this evening while doing some experimenting/observations for another project. Tightened up the TB bolts again, whistle is gone... Pretty sure
I had an air leak... Probably every time it was whistling eh?

[V8Addict]

I wonder if the sequence you tighten the bolts have anything to do with the whistling. Old school says you should tighten using a cross pattern, but this method is for FLAT mating surfaces. The wedge is on a slant.......maybe it would be better to tighten either the top or bottom first before doing the other. I'll have to try this and see if the whistling disappears. Just cranking down on the bolts could cause warpage.....if I remember right, the throttle body bolts weren't really that tight when I first removed them.

[IndeedSS1]

Originally Posted by V8Addict

I wonder if the sequence you tighten the bolts have anything to do with the whistling. Old school says you should tighten using a cross pattern, but this method is for FLAT mating surfaces. The wedge is on a slant.......maybe it would be better to tighten either the top or bottom first before doing the other. I'll have to try this and see if the whistling disappears. Just cranking down on the bolts could cause warpage.....if I remember right, the throttle body bolts weren't really that tight when I first removed them.

Mine doesn't whistle and I use the cross pattern in several stages. You are right about the actual torque and it is only about 7 ft lbs. I don't use a tq wrench but I do use a 1/4 in drive with about a 6 inch extension and go to snug while only using leverage from holding the ratcheting mechanism to turn and not the handle.

The thing about the wedge, or at least mine, is if I lay it against the back of the throttle body, it bows out in the center and has a gap. The gap closes when tightened down, but that has me wondering if that is where the leak may be coming from if/when the bolts loosen slightly.

[IndeedSS1]

Originally Posted by RacnJsn95

Swapped the stock intake back on this evening while doing some experimenting/observations for another project. Tightened up the TB bolts again, whistle is gone... Pretty sure
I had an air leak... Probably every time it was whistling eh?

Next time, because I know there will be a next time, you have the TB off check to see if your wedge lays flat against the back of the TB.

[E.T.]

Is there any kind of gasket with this thing?

[IndeedSS1]

Originally Posted by E.T.

Is there any kind of gasket with this thing?

Yes.

[Jason@JacFab]

Originally Posted by IndeedSS1

Mine doesn't whistle and I use the cross pattern in several stages. You are right about the actual torque and it is only about 7 ft lbs. I don't use a tq wrench but I do use a 1/4 in drive with about a 6 inch extension and go to snug while only using leverage from holding the ratcheting mechanism to turn and not the handle.

The thing about the wedge, or at least mine, is if I lay it against the back of the throttle body, it bows out in the center and has a gap. The gap closes when tightened down, but that has me wondering if that is where the leak may be coming from if/when the bolts loosen slightly.

Originally Posted by IndeedSS1

Next time, because I know there will be a next time, you have the TB off check to see if your wedge lays flat against the back of the TB.

I have also noticed the bowing as you mentioned. I don't think the TB is the problem, but the intake manifold itself... Something else I noticed is that not all of my threaded inserts on the manifold are flush with the mounting face, and are sticking out slightly. I tried tapping them back in but they wouldn't budge. I suspect it's always been this way. Definitely bowed though.