I got the RB Holley Intake kit for the 13B 6-Port engine, and assume I just remove the sleeves, and don't use them because there is no reason for them and they would not have any way to stay in place. Is this correct? THere is no mension of the sleeves in the kit's instructions. Other than that the directions are very detailed, and easy to understand.

 

Yep, take them out and throw them away.

 

What about using pineapple sleeves to improve the airflow?

 

Glue them in. Just be sure to take out that rod that is sometimes problematic and now useless anyways.

 

What! They don't do anything so why is one guy telling me to take them out and you say glue them in? Which is it? I don't like the idea of gluing Sh*t in my engine.

 

I said take them out completely but that is the easiest thing to do. I personally have an engine that has an epoxy radius in the port runner itself and no sleeves and I have never had an issue with it. If you want to use the Pineapple sleeves then glue them in. They will turn themselves to the closed position if you don't. I didn't say glue them in with an impressive amount of glue. Just use enough to hold them there. I've used a small dab of Devcon on the very end of the sleeve. You can still get them out if you need to. Someone was talking about how they do nothing at all. The funny thing is that the increase in airflow does show up on a flow bench. Even with the rods in place the increase is 1% but without them the number goes up. It isn't much but it is something. The argument is from a textbook example of fluid dynamics where gasses travel the fastest along the inside of the turn. Thats all fine and dandy but the heavier fuel doesn't always. It is more prone to inertial effects. The textbook example which someone sent to me only accounts for one type of fluid and not two with two different weights. Air is a fluid too. Also the opening from the runner to the port itself is very rough and this causes turbulence. The turbulence is what hurts. The Pineapple sleeves while adding a radius at the back, also reduce this edge turbulence.

 

what kind of glue do you use? Is standary epoxy heat resistant? What is Devcon?

Thanks.

 

just take the 5th and 6th port sleeves out, you don't need them.

 

Still convinced that they work? I'd love to see the flow bench data on the flow increase between a pineapple sleeve and the stock sleeve if all they do is add that little wedge. Anybody got this?

It doesn't matter whether the flow is singe phase (just air) or two phase (air with gasoline mixed in), it will still behave the same way. EVERYTHING with mass is influenced by inertial effects, even air!

You are correct, however, in stating that the edge effects influence airflow. The more smooth you can make the entrance into the combustion chamber from the port, the more air you'll flow. This can be quite significant so make sure there aren't any sharp jutting edges or even right angles in the airflow path. Turbulence can be good and bad but it's mostly bad when talking about the flow entering the combustion chamber from the port.

 

E-mail Paul Yaw at Yawpower. He's the one who has the airflow data. If Paul says they work, they work!

 

From Paul:

"Brandon

I agree. I have played with the sleeve on the flowbench using modelling clay, and found very little benefit. Even then, the benefit was from a shape different than the pineapple piece. The pineapple piece ignore the fact that the air is travelling upwards as it exits the port, and in my fiddling with modelling clay there was very little I could do to help it out. The port window itself is in the way.

So that's my take. I guess we're in agreement."

 

As I said before, he had told me that there was a 1% increase in flow with the actuator rods in place. Admittedly it isn't much but it is something. He didn't use the Pineapple sleeves then either. The gain could have come from just a smoothing of the opening itself but he didn't elaborate. He just mentioned the radius.

 

So how much HP gain would come from a 1% increase in airflow?

 

None, you're more likely to notice the variability in the inlet air density.

 

And how would I notice that? Can you talk in terms of performance?

 

Leave the sleeves off. I wouldn't glue anything on the inside of an engine anyway.