re: You can post your controversial automotive opinions here

Minvans are great because you can drive them forever. There will always be spare parts for them in the Junk Yard.

quote:

---

I have a 1993 Chevy k1500 4wd that unfortunately has a v6. Before I decide whether to buy a crate V8 engine you damn well better know I'm going to massively increase the air intake with a throttle body spacer, cold air induction, performance air filter, remove the cat and install a dual 3" exhaust with flowmasters, which will make the truck rumble and gain a Lot more performance, life and feul efficiency.

---

Explain to me the engine life issue, it makes no sense.

Note I did say modern engine, your K1500 is old enough for antique tags and built in an age where 165hp and 230 pound feet of torque was acceptable for a 4.3L truck engine. You get a lot more horsepower and torque from a pedestrian Camry 3.5l today. So yes, old engines can benefit from reduces intake and exhaust restrictions but it is because they were designed so poorly, to begin with.

As for sound pressure levels they are only marginally connected to power (they are lost power after all) there are plenty of engines smaller than that 4.3l making a lot more HP and torque that don't produce a lot of noise.

In the end, you could easily build that 4.3 to make more HP and torque than just opening up each end and at the same time reduce fuel consumption and sound. Just build it like a modern engine is built so that approach is indeed lazy or cheap or a combination of the two. Or you simply like a loud truck, which doesn't bother me until it becomes truly obnoxious but I doubt yours is.

Anything made by International or Volvo is absolute trash

Giant, unnecessarily loud, obnoxious trucks = total doucher.

I miss driving my AWD Volvo S60R more than my Challenger R/T

quote:

---

If you don't understand how a truck getting rich cold air intake and a nonrestrictive exhaust doesn't make it work more efficiently and effortlessly there's no helping you understand the big picture.

Can you not run a short race or marathon if you can breath with no restrictions? It's no differnt. It can affect your heart/pistons wear and tear when running it less hard.

Are seriously saying that You really have no clue how it makes an engine run more effortlessly?

Do I need to hold your hand just so you can see the big picture? Because I will if I need to.

---

I didn't want to get snippy but you simply don't understand what the frick you are talking about.

You can open up the front and back of the system all you want but if you leave the air pump (engine) in the middle significantly restricted you get minimal gains at best.

That is a late 4.3 with the counterbalance in the valley. You pull those heads off and put them on the flow bench and you MIGHT get 110cfm on the exhaust side. Add to it a relatively low lift OEM cam without much overlap and 1.94/1.5 valves and you have an engine that just can't breathe very well so opening up the intake and exhaust doesn't do much besides making more noise. I guarantee you didn't add more than 20hp and most of that is only at high RPM and if it hasn't ever been rebuilt you might be back to stock levels. You probably lost some torque from transitioning from that tiny stock manifold to a 3" pipe through lost scavaging. To point out how silly that dual 3" exhaust is considered the numbers. That cross-section of mandrel-bent pipe will flow 750 cfm per side, unless you put a blow through supercharger on that engine it will never get CLOSE to pumping 1500 cfm. A dual 3" pipe exhaust system is good for a roughly 700 horsepower engine. 2" dual pipes on that truck would be overkill. I bet the exhaust manifolds don't have more than 1.75 in sq of area but you think opening it up to 6.5" will somehow make up for that.

You are a typical guy that has zero idea how an engine works and given the parts and tools to build one would look like a monkey fricking a football. I could talk you through a 4.3 build to get ~300 reliable HP but it is clear I might as well be teaching my dog quantum physics.

Saying that reduced intake vacuum and reduced back pressure in the exhaust reduces piston (compression ring) wear is laughable. Compared to the pressures they see during the power stroke is like adding a drop of water to the Pacific ocean.

The bottom line is you did nothing to reduce the restrictions inside the engine and the gains you saw are mainly in your ears.

Rack and pinion steering is overrated

Luxury trucks are fricking stupid. I actually had someone on Facebook that I worked with post they needed someone haul dirt and they own an F150 Platinum. Seriously dude? You have a fricking truck that's what it's for.

Oh, oh, I'm sorry, you don't want to get your F150 Platinum's bed dirty.

German luxury cars are overrated. I owned a 1989 BMW 325i a while back and it was expensive as hell to repair. An American luxury car and even Japanese luxury cars are practical while providing the same amenities you expect in a luxury vehicle. Even better is what Hyundai is doing with the Genesis brand.

GM only makes decent trucks and the Corvette. Everything else sucks.

quote:

---

I have no problem paying for quality and performance, but analog clocks, leather, wood grain surfaces, ads with British accents, etc. all feel kind of effeminate and "fancy lad" to me

---

I'm talking panel gaps, fit and finish, button design and placement, intuitive user design, timeless exterior design, etc.

quote:

---

I have a 1993 Chevy k1500 4wd that unfortunately has a v6. Before I decide whether to buy a crate V8 engine you damn well better know I'm going to massively increase the air intake with a throttle body spacer, cold air induction, performance air filter, remove the cat and install a dual 3" exhaust with flowmasters, which will make the truck rumble and gain a Lot more performance, life and feul efficiency.

---

Meanwhile, we’ll all be getting laid.