19bonestock88's 2004 Saturn "Ion Green Line" build...

[Isoldmysaturn:(]

I had an ion, and I deleted the air diverting flap in favor of a piece of Coroplast between the bumper cover and radiator. I never once saw increased temps from this because that panel makes the air tat goes through the lower grill more efficient. Also worth a look would be removing the bumper cover and sealing between it and the radiator, then you could likely block not only the upper grill, but part of the lower one, too, as you only need 1/6th your radiator area in grill under ideal circumstances. Also, a belly pan between the rear of the floor and rear bumper is hugely beneficial, maybe flexible rubber would work better than the coroplast I used.

[19bonestock88]

Guys, I haven't gone away, I just lost constant access to wifi, so updates are minimal...

I switched to a set of factory 16" alloy wheels and a 205/55 tire, because that was cheaper than buying a whole set of 195-65-15, fuel economy has dropped 10-15% due to the wider tire, and it might stick out more into the airstream around the bottom of the wheelwells...

[19bonestock88]

Guys, sorry it's been so long, my home situation leaves me without much internet access at all... I've been trying to make headway with my build to be limited by finances... I've got a couple questions though...

I've been working on better intake flow based on the gains I realized from an intake tube on the Malibu I had before(also had L61 engine), and I've got a couple questions...

1. Any gains from a ported TB? I've done a spare one from another L61 car, it's no bigger but has a smoother inlet and smoother size transitions...
2. Sizing of intake tube- would a 4" intake tube help more over a 3"? My thought is that reducing 4" tube to my 58mm TB would generate better velocity, maybe better torque?
3. Water vapor? I've considered filtering PCV gases through a catch can and then a bubbler to generate a small part of water/methanol vapor(washer fluid) to induce into the intake tube, would this help any?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

Water vapor? I've considered filtering PCV gases through a catch can and then a bubbler to generate a small part of water/methanol vapor(washer fluid) to induce into the intake tube, would this help any?

Sounds interesting, but I'm not so sure if that would be safe. Maybe routing the PCV gases through a water jacket could be less prone to increase the risk of causing moisture contamination for the oil. Just might need to consider some other alternative to filter the vapors and catch most of the oily remains to prevent them from reaching the intake tract.

[19bonestock88]

I just thought that the PCV pressure would provide extra gas to bubble the water to create a little more vapor(still a trace amount anyway)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

I just thought that the PCV pressure would provide extra gas to bubble the water to create a little more vapor(still a trace amount anyway)

Maybe the hot vapors and the pressure could eventually help vaporizing the water, but it's also more likely that water would simply cool down those vapors, with a risk of contaminating the oil. Unless you would run those vapors through a heat exchanger inside a water tank, but venting this heat exchanger to the usual location where the PCV discharges its flow to the intake manifold.

[19bonestock88]

The catch can would hopefully catch all of the oily stuff, but if routin it into the bubbler still sounds dangerous, I'll just route the PCV gases to atmosphere

[19bonestock88]

I've now got a 50% lower grille block done, I'll try and grab a pic to try and post somehow, but it's improved warm up time a little...

[Daox]

I just did a full lower grill block on my Mirage. It definitely improved warm up times.

[19bonestock88]

Even at only 50% lower and full upper blocks, during extended periods of high speed driving(late to work, etc) the engine begins to get warm... I ran late one night and it got up around 215* as I averaged about 73mph(compared to my normal 40-ish mph)