Quote:
I don't believe an air-flow meter in the bottom of the air cleaner will help. Not unless you mean just over the carb throat. There are three different air-flow meters that I know of; one uses a swinging flap (a "barn door") that gets pushed out of the way by incoming air, one uses a piece of wire that gets heated and measures how much heat is lost to the incoming air, and the third uses a similar method but has a film that is heated.
The first can, especially in older engines like the L-jet Bugs, simply run a rheostat--a variable resistor. You can hook that to a gauge easily. The other two require electronics to feed and read. Those can be connected to a data-logging system or DIY meter, similar to the MPGuino.
You may be able to find some vintage rally equipment, like a gear-reduction box for the odometer cable. That way you can calibrate your speedometer and odometer.
I wonder if there's a reasonable way to read fuel flow from the tank to the carb? That would be a bit of a lagging indicator, because the fuel measured would be going into the float bowl and not directly into the engine immediately.
|
• The moving flap sounds easiest, but I like the no-moving-parts-covering-the-intake part with the other two. I believe the MPGuino would work with a carbed, non-OBD-II engine.
• The gear reduction box will have to get in line behind marks painted on the speedometer face.
• I saw some discussion here of in-line flow meters that made it sound like it's hard to measure the small volume flow accurately. But late model cars do it somehow.
botsapper -- Easier in Photoshop than in actual metal. Back in the 70's I saw a VW bus with the fastback roof from a 1950 Kaiser grafted on; that would be the closest I've ever seen. This design needs more taper in plan. I will address this with another photochop.