[Vulcan F-40]

Dear Comrades All,

Am I correct in my understanding that the pistons within Ferrari engines run directly within the aluminium bores and not within a separate liner?

With kind regards,

Vulcan

[CKRacing]

I think all the Ferrari engines use a cylinder liner. The early 308 used steel. Then the QV/328 engines used Nikasil. Then Ferrari changed to Alusil, still used liners.

The Porsche 928/944 used a special Aluminum casting with silicon which allowed Porsche to run pistons in the unlined cylinders.

[Granucci]

Have to say, the Nikasil bores are awsome and very very durable.

[davehelms]

Originally Posted by CKRacing

The Porsche 928/944 used a special Aluminum casting with silicon which allowed Porsche to run pistons in the unlined cylinders.

So did the Vega.....sorry, I could help myself! I had a Vega in the early 70's that got 6 engine replacements..... I had no idea that Porsche used the technology, interesting.

The process was delovoped by Renolds Aluminum for use on the Big Block Chevy engines from the CanAm Racing Series of the late 60's...brilliant stuff and cars that to this day still captivate me... NO limits racing where the moto was "Where Excess is Barely Adequate"... it was Porsche, with their 1500HP monster driven by Donahue, that spelled an end of the series....no one figured they could catch that. A Panzer shod with BIG hair dryers driven by the worlds best and worked on by old cruds like our very own Bad Bruce... I worked on cars that tried to catch it, Ferrari never even tried.

Trying to save one of those Chevy blocks on my race car now.

[212Export]

Originally Posted by davehelms

So did the Vega.....sorry, I could help myself! I had a Vega in the early 70's that got 6 engine replacements..... I had no idea that Porsche used the technology, interesting.

The process was delovoped by Renolds Aluminum for use on the Big Block Chevy engines from the CanAm Racing Series of the late 60's...brilliant stuff and cars that to this day still captivate me... NO limits racing where the moto was "Where Excess is Barely Adequate"... it was Porsche, with their 1500HP monster driven by Donahue, that spelled an end of the series....no one figured they could catch that. A Panzer shod with BIG hair dryers driven by the worlds best and worked on by old cruds like our very own Bad Bruce... I worked on cars that tried to catch it, Ferrari never even tried.

Trying to save one of those Chevy blocks on my race car now.

1500 HP Wow. I meant around 1000 HP was the limit even for the Donahue Porsche (I guess for the racing setup, not for the qualification rounds)?

[davehelms]

Originally Posted by 212Export

1500 HP Wow. I meant around 1000 HP was the limit even for the Donahue Porsche (I guess for the racing setup, not for the qualification rounds)?

1k was for full race longevity...the knob on the dash provided what ever was wanted. One of the dyno operators said their limit was 1200 and it didnt stand a chance. I watched him at Donnybrooke one time when his throttle stuck and he drove it with the ign. sw...two black streaks as far as the eye could see coming onto the front straight. All other cars in that race were rolling chikanes for that Panzer.

If Bruce ever gets out of bed it would be fun to hear what his memories of that car are.... between naps.

[bcwawright]

Originally Posted by davehelms

If Bruce ever gets out of bed it would be fun to hear what his memories of that car are.... between naps.

Ha ha ha...just woke up from a nap and your much baiting has drawn me in..lol

At my age all I have is memories but with the age also comes memory loss.

The original design build was pretty simple..i.e. join 2 race proven 6cyl. engines...but as with most things that may start off with a simple idea came some complex issues that had to be resolved to make it viable.

One of the issues was cylinder heat dissipation...being completely air cooled by a single horizontal flat fan it was impossible to extract the cylinder heat using conventional cylinder barrels with a liner(totally different than a liquid cooled set-up)...hence the use of an unlined aluminum cyl. barrel with a nikasil coating applied. Doing it this way also had an added benefit..weight savings of the engine proper.

There was no difference in race trim vs qualifying trim....everything had to do with the little knob which set the boost limit of the turbo's. With the cooling fan turning just below the speed of sound at full rev's and a monster oil cooler these are the only ways we could control overall engine operating temps. It was the drivers responsibility to monitor the temps and adjust the boost at their discretion. After sufficient data had been acquired thru testing the drivers were fully aware of the pitfalls of leaving the boost in the higher quadrant..e.g. decreased longevity to an all out engine melt down.

The 917/30 series were capable of producing in excess of 1500hp and on a few occassions(very very few because nothing else could even come close except another 917) the ole boost knob would be full to the right not only for a qualifying run but during the actual race(short spurts)...again this was pretty much left up to the driver and very few of these drivers could handle such an intense drive at full boost.



Well I have to go...it's nap time

[Boxer]

How long would it last at 1500 bhp ?