1stgen_tn

Can anyone give me an educated guess on the HP gains for a stock ported 12A?

How 'bout a street ported?

I think I read some time ago on here that the Sterling carb has about the same CFM's as a 48IDA Weber (err, somewhere around there anyway) If so, then HP gains would be the same? Rotary Shack est. HP gains for the Weber at 60HP.

Just wondering.....cuz Christmas and Tax Return time is around the corner!

The Wankler

iTrader: (14)

That would depend on your existing set up... Explain.

1stgen_tn

Existing being completely stock. (For those who haven't done ANY mods to there sevens yet)

Now, here's what I've done to mine so far... I still consider little to NO gain from any of this though.

ACV block-off plate
No Air pump
Well, you know...complete Rat's nest removal.
Headers
No cat (straight pipe back to free-flow exhaust)
New OEM cap, rotor button, NGK wires
*Will be installing Electric Fan within the next week or so.

Now, I am assuming going with ANY carb upgrade that I will also be adding a higher PSI fuel pump and FPR, that's a given.

Dunno about ignition upgrade. Any gain there with carb upgrade?

1stgen_tn

No one got an answer to this one? Even a butt dyno maybe?

cdrad51

less than 60 hp.

RotaryRyan

Im guessing that didnt help him much

Im getting a gtech performance meter(cuz im too cheap to dyno) soon and i could tell you my HP with a sterling carb. Ofcourse i have a couple other mild modslisted in my sig below

Im interested if this gtech will be accurate. guess we'll see

1stgen_tn

RotaryRyan: Well, not really. But that answers my question about comparing to a Weber though.

cdrad51: You have pretty much EVERY mod done to yours that I want to do to mine someday. Have you noticed a considerable gain from each mod you've done? .....or did you do you do all of them at once? I've been looking into the Bonez intake too. How do you like your sterling/why did you go with it?

1stgen_tn

Yeah, gtech dyno sounds cool. Can't wait to hear from you on that..

RotaryRyan

well i got my sterling carb because everyone who has them has been happy with it(that ive read).

it looks alot better under the hood than the dirty(in my case) stock carb.

mechanical secondaries ROCK!! (except for the gas mileage you get if you romp it too much)

And the Sterling carb is more responsive.

1stgen_tn

"mechanical secondaries ROCK!!"

This may sound stupid but, what do you mean by that? High-end power??

nevarmore

Roughly. The secondaries open immediately when you mash the gas rather than when the engine makes enough vacuum to open them. The gas pedal is down enough to open them under hard acceleration and at the top end.

cdrad51

No, all those mods were done over a period of about a year. Let's see. Rat's nest removal did not give any hp gain, all the others did to a small degree, the biggest one of course was the streetporting of the engine. The Bonez intake system, cat replacement pipe were done before streeporting the engine, the rest were done after. The sterling carb really shines when put on a modified engine, and is easier to fine tune than a normal (clogged with emission stuff) carb. Just yesterday I changed jets in my secondaries to bigger ones, and from feeling I must have gained about 10 hp!

BTW, the cat replacement pipe will be available for sale soon, as well as the Bonez intake system. Going with RB header and presilencer, and RB's intake system. PM me if interested, both items in excellent condition.

1stgen_tn

cdrad51:

Thanks for the info. I PM'd you. I guess I'll start saving up to get my 130k mi. motor streetported. I got SP templates on ebay off a guy in Hawaii (Pineapple Racing maybe?) last year and just waiting for the money to get a professional rebuild from Rotary Resurrection here in Tennessee. He only charges $1,000 for the job and uses the Atkins rebuild kit. Both intake and exhaust templates and they appear to be a pretty good size bigger than std.

Once that happens, I guess I'll be getting the 48IDA weber (unless someone can confirm the Sterling is just as good) I'm not concerned about Idling and starting, I can cope with that for more power (if there is more)

Xavier8

Dyno numbers: holley 465 12a streetport, 150 hp at the crank. 50% over stock. Pretty good jump if I say so myself.

FB II

paul yaw got 154 Rwhp from a stock port 12a with his built "street rod" nikki. so that tells you the potential is there. it is ALL ABOUT THE TUNING! yep yep

cdrad51

That's what I'm the process of doing right now (plus adding some better exhaust and intake flow)

RotaryRyan

Was there any other mods involved?

FB II

same stuff most have, good free flowing exhaust, spark plug wires, umm, your usual bolt ons. just some very very VERY effective tuning. the thing is though, you need to be able to not only change jets, but air bleeds and emulsion tubes. he went thru it all.

1stgen_tn

So just was is a "street rod" nikki? aka-Sterling carb??

Couldn't Sterling do the jets and stuff for me for this VERY effecting tuning you're talking about?

cdrad51

Only if you send him your car attached to the carb you want rebuilt and tuned

RotaryRyan

lol^

they will help you through tuning issues/questions and all. they seem to be great with the tuning support and just general carb help. I know sterling anwered and my stupid question when i bought my carb

1stgen_tn

:P HaHaha....no really, I was thinking they mounted your carb to one of their sevens and got it running on their car and then boxed it up and sent it straight back to you good to go. Not the case, huh?

I'm still confused by what you meant by "street rod" nikki.

If this is a Sterling we're talkin' about here, 142hp is impressive for just modding the nikki, along with headers and free exhaust. Or was there more to that???

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

The car, enclosed in a portable habitat which mimiced the temperature, pressure, altitude, humidity and style of your most common driving.

You see, TUNING is very specific to many variables, which is why everyone has to do their own tuning on their own car.

Mods on your car, such as your exhaust flow, spark system, air intake etc... have an effect on the way the carb runs, but so do things like I mentioned above (altitude, climate, driving style).

To properly tune your car, it takes time and effort. A carburetor built in FL/NY by Carl/Sterling is definitely not going to be tuned perfectly for me who is driving in Ottawa at a totally different altitude, in different temps and humidity, with a different driving style with a car that has only a partial list of mods!

*that's* why carbs are never just a slap-it-on-and-go affair. It's also why mazda included an altitude compensator and a range of other do-hickeys that would make the car run similarly in many different places under many different circumstances. It limited the performance of the car in any *one* circumstance, but assured that the car would perform well under the maximum number of different circumstances.

Jon

1stgen_tn

Oops. 154hp, sorry.

I guess 142hp will be more like it on my car though. (after streetporting that is...)

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

They *do* get it roughly tuned on their cars. Their cars just aren't your car. And they just aren't you, and don't share all the characteristics of you and your car!

The "Street Rod" nikki was from PAUL YAW, not Sterling. Paul yaw was the 'Sterling' of the nikki world before Sterling came around! He still mods carbs, and does a damn good job, but he is a bitch to get ahold of and has concentrated more of his efforts towards the Rx8 now. His website is www.yawpower.com , and you can read his many good articles about carbs and various carb-related things.

I don't know of anyone who has taken enough time to tune and dyno a Sterling carb yet, but we guess that when tuned properly on a well set-up car (exhaust, etc...) that it could meet or beat the Yaw carbs. His flow tests have shown better flow, and the performance of his untuned carbs points towards that case.

Keep in mind though that you also need a successful fuel system to take full advantage of either carb.

Jon