I turned another year old today, either got more inventive or more stupid. , has anyone ever used Nitrous shot to help just a bit of boost for needed power on demand?
I know of T's with Turbos. Or is this just another way to blow a head gasket ?
I've used to use the ole water injection kit , with Alcohol and that seems to work on 4 cylinders
Nitrous in my opinion would be a good way to destroy the engine. If you only blew a head gasket, that would be lucky. It takes a very sturdy engine to handle the boost nitrous provides, a T engine isn't.
Before you could blink your eye you would have a Model T salad for a engine.
The problem I see with bolt-on gadgets that add power to the Model T engine (straight-through carburetors, high-compression heads, enlarged intake manifolds) is that the crankshaft is delicate and putting excess power through it will shorten its service life. Then again, if you happen to have a SCAT crankshaft on board, well...
Being it's half way into the birthday. I've decided to be a wise old man, keep it simple, so T and I can Have more time and be longer around on the roads.
Crankshaft pressure is my concern
To increase speed, increase lightness. In other words forget about that cheeseburger and beer.
I have a SCAT counter-balanced crank and I still wouldn't use nitrous...or a turbocharger. If I was desperate for more HP, I would look at polishing and porting, maybe some type of electronic ignition, better camshaft, higher compression head, and precise timer for more accurate ignition. But in the end it is a Model T. So I kinda wonder what the point is? It is supposed to drive like and under-powered tank with bad brakes.
I have used Nitrous on my race cars in the past. The power increase is incredible when applied to a properly built racing engine. However, providing you were willing to add the equipment required to even make it work, you would surely meet with disaster. Nitrous requires an instant injection of extra fuel to richen the mixture. Otherwise, the NO2 burns so hot it will lean out and melt the innards. So in order to inject the extra fuel through the N02 solenoid, you would need a fuel pump to provide pressure.
Do yourself a favor... creep your way up the hills in low gear like a Model T is supposed to. Otherwise, you're might get hurt. I can envision a catastrophic engine failure to the point where you could end up with a pressurized gas-fed fire you can't easily put out.
The post on the Montana 500 thread by Tom C. tells a tale of a H.H. Wilson using nitrous til he blew the tops of the pistons off.
Anyway, the early T's tried that already, see the Nitrous Oxide tank on the running board of this one.
I think I said pistons, but meant combustion chamber. I heard that story second-hand from a couple of people. It might be apocryphal.
If there is Nitrous Oxide in that tank, is that man driving a dentist? Brings his gas along with the car?
(The tank on the running board is acetylene for the headlamps.)
(But I think Dan T and Dave H know that)
(Leg pulling time?)
(SHHH!)
Oh, just get a Jato rocket and mount it in the bed.
If you can still steer then you got it made!
I agree. Rocket, or at the very least, a small block Chevy. After all, Henry would have used them if they had it in his day, right?
Never ceases to amaze me.
If you want to zip up the hills in high, get a Packard.
James Lyons:
What kind of hills do you have in West Virginia that you have to use Low Pedal, they must be steeper than in Colorado?
No; the man is not driving a dentist. He's driving a Model T.
Dave, they do have some pretty steep hills back east. Their mountains aren't very high, but some of the older roads go up at a mighty severe grade. Even here in so-called flat country, with no mountains within hundreds of miles, we have a few low pedal hills. They aren't very long, but they're steep enough for low.
In reference to the beginning of this thread, couldn't propane be used instead of nitrous?
I think a period-correct supercharger on a T would be ridiculously cool. Just enough to add maybe 2 lbs of boost. That'd definitely help get you up the hills!
Increased compression will give you boost in the hills, and better fuel economy when not using the extra power.
I'll digress a little more with this picture of a typical Kansas low pedal hill. Down a steep slope into a ravine, then up a steep slope out of it.
You could probably get up this in high if you took a fast enough run at it, but you don't want to drive a T that fast on a road like this.
As I recall there was a hill between Goshen and Torrington CT that I had to go into Ruckstell or maybe even low-pedal. It went straight up a hill and then straight down the other side. Not too long, but very steep.
Tom I know of the hill and it is no fun to drive a T , if you want long and steep hills above 8% grade you can look in Barkhamsted CT where my Grandpa lives.
Sorry I mean't no fun to drive a t on, Its always fun to drive t's
Wes wrote, "In reference to the beginning of this thread, couldn't propane be used instead of nitrous?"
Nitrous adds oxygen to the fuel and adding propane would just add fuel and the limiting requirement would still be air/oxygen just like running on gasoline.
From Wiki:
Internal combustion engine
Main article: Nitrous
In vehicle racing, nitrous oxide (often referred to as just "nitrous") allows the engine to burn more fuel by providing more oxygen than air alone, resulting in a more powerful combustion. The gas itself is not flammable at a low pressure/temperature, but it delivers more oxygen than atmospheric air by breaking down at elevated temperatures. Therefore, it is often mixed with another fuel that is easier to deflagrate.
Nitrous oxide is stored as a compressed liquid; the evaporation and expansion of liquid nitrous oxide in the intake manifold causes a large drop in intake charge temperature, resulting in a denser charge, further allowing more air/fuel mixture to enter the cylinder. Nitrous oxide is sometimes injected into (or prior to) the intake manifold, whereas other systems directly inject right before the cylinder (direct port injection) to increase power.
The technique was used during World War II by Luftwaffe aircraft with the GM-1 system to boost the power output of aircraft engines. Originally meant to provide the Luftwaffe standard aircraft with superior high-altitude performance, technological considerations limited its use to extremely high altitudes. Accordingly, it was only used by specialised planes like high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, high-speed bombers, and high-altitude interceptor aircraft.
One of the major problems of using nitrous oxide in a reciprocating engine is that it can produce enough power to damage or destroy the engine. Very large power increases are possible, and if the mechanical structure of the engine is not properly reinforced, the engine may be severely damaged or destroyed during this kind of operation. It is very important with nitrous oxide augmentation of internal combustion engines to maintain proper operating temperatures and fuel levels to prevent "preignition", or "detonation" (sometimes referred to as "knock"). Most problems that are associated with nitrous do not come from mechanical failure due to the power increases. Since nitrous allows a much denser charge into the cylinder it dramatically increases cylinder pressures. The increased pressure and temperature can cause problems such as melting the piston or valves. It may also crack or warp the piston or head and cause preignition due to uneven heating.
Automotive-grade liquid nitrous oxide differs slightly from medical-grade nitrous oxide. A small amount of sulfur dioxide (SO
2) is added to prevent substance abuse.[11] Multiple washes through a base (such as sodium hydroxide) can remove this, decreasing the corrosive properties observed when SO
2 is further oxidised during combustion into sulfuric acid, making emissions cleaner.[citation needed]