I wouldn't worry, ARP bolts are usually fitted to Zetecs that are gonna be revved higher than 7200rpm-ish, I don't think there's much of an issue as long as you don't regularly go above this. Another engine is £50 for a 1.8, a bit more for a 2litre, just bolt stuff on 'til it pops, then unbolt it and fit it to another £50 engine. If you do it often enough you'll get an engine change down to 2-3 hours :)
Try getting an insurance quote before you get too enthusiastic. I tried a few years ago to get insurance for my Westfield with only using the nitrous off road. Most brokers wouldn't even consider quoting and the one that considered helping said it would be very hard to convince the insurance company that it would only be for off road use since all the fittings and bottle would still be in place when travelling to the off road venue and even insuring it for the road, how does the insurance company know how much power you're adding? If you're specifically going to use it on road you'll have a hard time getting someone to insure you.
If you're intending keeping the car for some time it would work out cheaper adding a scrapyard turbocharger conversion. Nitrous Oxide isn't cheap and won't last long if you use it often. Once you've got a turbo it's there whenever you need it for as long as you want and doesn't cost you extra everytime you use it.
the Gearbox will have a life measured in seconds. The engine isn't particularly stressed at 300bhp and the Eaton supercharged 300bhp versions run fine for years on end. If they can take it then a 40% nitrous boost isn't going to shred the engine unless the nitrous is a bodged install.
Well, we're talking DIY so it'd have been you fitting it, are you a bodger ;-) ?
I say this, because whilst I am no bodger, I can guarantee you that allow me to try any involved spannering on a car is a 100% sure fire way to induce more bills...
I did ferlow the instractions on UR web site an it seem like evereefin go all OK. But NO! I as a lump of aluminum on mi car park by mi trailer it is all UR Folt!
Errm that's profoundly untrue. A turbocharger costs more every time you use it. If it doesn't then it's not doing anything useful. And unlike nitrous, it's there all the time and costs money all the time, unless you now start driving your car like a granny.
Besides nitrous can be a hoot. There's an American car club not far from where I live. They have a few cars with nitrous and I've seen a *very* unhappy Porsche driver being outdragged by a Mustang on the local dual carriageway. Worth the cost of the nitrous just to see the look on the Porsche driver's face.
Hehe! Whilst I'm sure for a man of Burgerman's undoubted knowledge an experience, fitting NOS is a one hour job - but for someone with my spannering skills that may as well be written in hebrew.
I had a small bottle of nitrous and a small bottle of propane in a rucksack at one time. Also in the bag 2 solenoids and a couple of model car "buggy" battery packs. And a button.
Unroll the two small taped together pipes and poke them up the air intake of whatever car I happen to borrow/hire/etc. Even diesels. rout pipes out rear of bonnet and into passenger seat (in the rucksack). They all go better. Only 30bhp better but enough to make the owner or me smile. It shows people that their car works safely on nitrous with no drilling or any other messing about. It needs no tools.
There is no "correct" as such. If your engine is already close to detonation then richer is better. If not then leaner is better. But the "correct" mixture for nitrous isnt the one that gives best power anyway as that would damage your engine possibly. A typical bought system is about 60 to 80 percent richer than the chemically correct ratio.
Plus the faster you want to go the richer and more retarded you need to be to be safe.
You are aiming to increase the AVERAGE cylinder pressure while keeping the peak pressure the same. (By retarding the ignition) so no detonation caused by high cylinder pressures.
And
You are aiming for similar combustion temperatures to stock by running richer than ideal.
This way a stock engine is safe and suffers no more danger or detonation problems than stock. It just goes faster!
On a race vehicle with stronger race parts and a close eye on things and race fuel etc then you can lean things out a bit more.
The general safe rule is to add enough extra fuel so that it actually goes slower on the nitrous and then in stages weaken the mixture (smaller fuel jet and/or reduce pressure) until you get acceptable performance while still seeing/smelling extra fuel in the form of a touch of black smoke or black specs on the plugs after a full power run and plug chop.
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