FI: Unique but useful products list (Add your finds) !!!!

[belacyrf]

Dimms post of the his interesting product, got me thinking. Many of us (at least I know I have had this issue) dont know that certain things are possible because we are unaware of products or vendors that exist on the market today.

So in this thread I'd like users to post products or (non-sponsor competing) vendors they know of that are not well known, that are specialty products in the area of Forced Induction or Nitrous.

For example:
Dont post about a cool looking blow-off valve you found.
Please post if you find a blow-off valve that sings the national anthem when it goes off.
Dont post about a vendor who sells autometer gauges really cheap.
Please post if you find a vendor that sells rubber hoses that can withstand 2000 degree temperatures.


Lastly, some parts might be well known in other circles but people who dont live in that area might not be aware of them. For example, there might be a special detailing clay bar that is out there, that by some magical happening is able to remove oil off of compressor housings. So by all means please post that.


---------------------------------------------------------

Here is one that I knew nothing about but everyone in I.C.E knew about:.

Electrical Distribution Blocks, a very common thing in the electrical world. I have heard the term alot but never really knew what they looked like or where to get one.

Ray (demonfire) showed me this website:
http://www.knukonceptz.com/productMa...0Fuse%20Blocks

Products include electrical distribution blocks, fused distribution blocks, inline fuse adapters etc...

This is useful for battery relocation, or providing power to all your gauges.

[belacyrf]

Originally posted by Dimm taken from another thread:

Originally Posted by dimm

One day about 2 years ago I had a conversation with a certain tuner who was telling me that they use a special "box" to get rid of the high impedance in favor of low impedance injectors but have awesome driveability even with 72 pounders and up.

I found the special "box" today by accident.

I understand the basic electrical principal of how it works. But it may prove interesting considering you could possibly ditch the high impedance injectors for lower impedance. I have no clue what this would do with our cars though.


Here's the linky: http://www.acceleronics.com/home.htm

[ZX3TUNING]

we use those PB and BC-1448 distribution blocks for battery relocate kits, just from a different brand.

handy places to pick up power/ground underhood for trouble shooting/testing too...

[Ray]

Added to the references thread.

[DigitalGT]

Here is one thats always been somewhat unique but very useful. A Pre-oiler. For those of you that don't know what one is, its basically a separate oil tank that gets pressurized by the oil pump when the engine is running. But when the engine is turned off and the oil pressure drops to zero, this oil tank retains that pressurized oil. With an electrically controlled valve, that pressurized oil is released into the engines oiling system before the engine is cranked over hence the term "pre oiler". As we all know, engine wear (and turbo wear, though not as much) increases at a cold startup. This device helps to prevent some of this by lubricating everything before it starts to spin.

For hardcore autocrossers and road racers, this device can be a God send. Under heavy cornering forces the potential for the oil pick up tube to become uncovered increases. If this happens, the engine loses oil pressure. Not a good thing. But a pre-oiler will release its pressurized oil back into the engine's oiling system when that happens and will continue to do so until it runs out of oil or the oil pump continues pumping oil.

British American Transfer stocks them in 1, 2, and 3 quart capacities. I have a 2 Quart model along with an electrically controlled valve and it works beautifully.

http://64.202.180.37/files/accus.pdf

[w00w00]

wow i had no idea BAT was selling accusump. ive gotten mixed feedback about the idea/implementation but thought it was pretty cool when i first saw it.

heres a link to a page about ion sensing ignition control. not exactly a consumer product but pretty neat technology anyways:

http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~jbarlow/

[dimm]

As great of an idea megasquirt is, I could only use that on a kit car when I'm trying to save money.

Unfortunatly it just lacks the resolution and is a severe PIA to tune. I've ridden in one car with one that would die when altitudes changed quickly because the maps just aren't detailed enough and half the people don't know how to use em.

I've seen several cars catch on fire because people can't follow the damned instructions. Great Idea for people on the cheap though.

For me a F.A.S.T system, accell, factory ecu chipped, or a sds system are way ahead in terms of tunability and ease of tunability.

Here's several other usefull links.

http://www.tweecer.com/ This does work well, actually a little bit too much access to most ecu's. The software for programming is a bit buggy. It will work just as functional as sct software. Non-svt focus support. Not sure about how much access is there for the focus ecu but still it's another option.

http://www.tweecer.com/tweecer_rt.htm This link is for the DIY'ers of the board.

There's a helpful link to data q instruments. You can build your own very capable datalogging piece for 29.00 all the way up to about 500. Software is the key to make it functional though.
One other problem is the bit resolution on the lower cost units from data q. Think of the bit rate kind of like a thermometer, the lower the bit rate the less accurate your reading will be. So it's like having a thermometer that reads 10,20,40,50. A higher bit rate like 24 bit would meen a wave or graph that would read more accurately, kind of like a thermometer that reads 5,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24, etc. ect.

Hope you enjoy.

[belacyrf]

Another one that most people know of by now, but some may not:

The compressor qwick-tap to get boost signal to your boost controller:

http://www.atpturbo.com/Merchant2/me...egory_Code=BCS

[dimm]

We actually use that as a grounding point for our oxygen sensor. We tee off the waste gate.

Svo t3's came with a plug there that you could unscrew them and put that style fitting in.

Good find though alot of people don't do that much anymore.

[Dudley]

Here's a not-so-commonly-known product that I've sort of been using for the last 18 months. It's a push-on style hose barb. When used with the proper hose, you don't need any hose clamps.

The fittings look like this:



That's a banjo fitting that ATP sells. The hose barb end differs from a typical hose barb - note that it's got a "fir tree" profile, so it looks like this from the side:

7
7
7

Whereas a typical hose barb looks like this from the side:

>
>
>

The fir-tree style barbs also seem to be deeper than standard hose barbs.

Usually, there's a plastic collar that serves to capture the end of the hose. Here's a pic from McMaster-Carr's catalog (search for "push on hose" to find it at mcmaster.com):



At the bottom left of this picture, you can see the banjo fittings that were included with my XIOS turbo kit. Note the yellow stop collars:



With this type of barb fitting, and the appropriate hose, you simply slide the hose on and you're done. No clamps are needed.

Push-on hose comes is several brands. Examples include Parker Push-Lok and GoodYear Insta-Grip.

I haven't actually tried "going clampless", mainly because the 5/16" ID of my turbo's coolant lines isn't as easy to find as, say, 3/8" push-on hose, and switching my fittings to 3/8" isn't worth the cost, time, or effort.

Nevertheless, this is an intriguing product. Note that there is one potentially significant down-side to using push-on fittings. The hose WILL NOT come off the fitting once it's been assembled. The only way to remove the hose it to cut it free. I learned this the hard way while trial-fitting my turbo kit's coolant lines.

This product may be just the ticket for anybody who's trying to plumb coolant lines in a tight spot where accessing a hose clamp would be difficult or impossible.

[LornesBored]

Originally Posted by w00w00

wow i had no idea BAT was selling accusump. ive gotten mixed feedback about the idea/implementation but thought it was pretty cool when i first saw it.

heres a link to a page about ion sensing ignition control. not exactly a consumer product but pretty neat technology anyways:

http://www.engr.uvic.ca/~jbarlow/

haha you quoted my cousins site

[sprout2287]

Helicoil has helped me out of a bind before. I found it very useful. These go into a stripped out bolt-hole to make the original bolt fit again. I used it on my header bolts because I stripped a couple of them. Since the head is aluminum, it is easy to overtighten if you don't use a torque wrench.

To use, you drill out the hole, then tap it with the included tap, install the coil with the included tool, and voila! the bolt fits again.

http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.asp

You can get them at the local parts stores, advance, napa, pep boys, etc...

[belacyrf]

Another one, that I always wondered about.

Vacuum Manifold.
This will help you bring in one vacuum source and create multiple vacuum outlets for your wastegates, boost gauges, FPR's etc...

The one I use is here:
http://shopping.lightningmotorsports...?productid=138

But you can find others.