The ideal one I would have to say is a single cast piece by Rowland Manifolds out of Cape Town, South Africa.
I spoke with Rowland Stanton and after a few questions placed an order for the M012...and in 12 days exactly, X-mas (I love Christmas) arrived and in the Texas heat of all days.
For your perusal: Great offset to keep the carburetors parallel due to the 20v head having a slight slope on the intake mating side.
Both the carb and the head mating surfaces are very clean. No slop.
Rowland was kind enough to include a 5/16 barbed fitting and hex set screw.
Quick note: though it came with the above aforementioned hardware it did not include the mounting studs for the carbs which are 8mmx1.25. Pick some up at your local hardware store in the specialty drawers.
The left 3 mounting bolts on the under side of the manifold had some slight clearance issues only because the engine I have used flanged head bolts. I just swapped them out with comparable ones without the flanged head and slipped some lock washers under them.
Difference between the mounting bolts I mentioned above. This may not be an issue for others but in the off-hand chance that someone might accuse me of not being thorough (it can still happen) I thought I'd cover that detail.
With a stripped Mikuni 44PHH carb I confirmed that the stud holes were drilled straight and I didn't have to fight or force the carburetor on 1 & 2...
...or on 3 & 4.
Of course the carburetors will not be mated all the way to the flange as either phenolic spacers or soft mounts are usually employed. This just illustrates how the Rowland manifold is designed with detail in mind and important details at that.
This is a shot down the manifold to the head. Very little (if any) blockage/protrusion is visible on the part of the head that would impede disturb flow. This is consistent on all 4 runners.
This is a view from the carburetor side to the manifold. Again, very little to no (really the latter) obstruction from the manifold to disturb air/fuel flow. Again, this is consistent on all 4 ports.
Rowland Manifolds has made a great piece. One less troublesome component to help make your 20v carb conversion project that much more a painless process.
Now for some lunch...
June 6, 2011
Carbing the 20 valve - Ignition control
For spark and ignition control I'll be using the following items:
- x4 - Coil On Plugs from an Echo, Yaris,Prius...basically the 1NZF(X)E motor - I was able to procure a set of them for just $65. I'm sure there are even better deals out there.
x1 - Megajolt Lite Jr programmable ignition unit by AUTOSPORTLABS - They're currently working on a Megajolt Lite Jr/C unit that will have on board drivers and allow for above 8,000 rpm as well as full sequential ignition. Keep a weather eye out for it y'all
x2 - Ford EDIS units
x1 - VR Sensor (the pick-up usually located at the trigger wheel of the donor car)
x1 - 36:1 Trigger wheel
The great thing about the Megajolt Lite Jr. unit is that it has accommodations for controlling extra external components that require a simple on/off actuation at any designated rpm (as well as aux input data e.g. wide band readings, etc...). It's also very affordable and a deceptively simple unit. So given that information, it's perfect for energizing the VVT solenoid.
Why two EDIS modules? The following diagram should explain (the coils used in following illustration were from the 1MZFE and were only 2 wire coils - the +12v and ground are all that are required even with a 4 wire coil): This way, I can run the coils in a waste spark configuration (this is the exact setup I've been using on my 16v hi-comp) as well as maintain a 2 coil per EDIS module configuration which is the original duty each module saw in their original application. It may not be necessary but it keeps them as close to their original cycle and decreases the chance of pre-mature failure.
Decide on where you plan to mount your VR Sensor at TDC and by that align your trigger wheel with the sensor pointing directly at the 9th tooth (4 cylinder offset) CCW from the missing tooth. Here's a great illustration from AUTOSPORTLABS' installation guide:
June 18, 2011
Carbing the 20 valve - Ignition control part II
Referring to the coils; as mentioned before they are coils from Toyota's 1NZF(X)E motor.
The portion of the coil fitted in the 20v spark plug "tube" is 115mm: The coil on the left is originally ~24mm in dia at the coil neck. The one on the right is ~23mm after taking it to the belt sander for a snug fit: Sam of SQ Engineering has a great little mounting plate to keep these coils neatly secure: Lovely work Sam!
August 27, 2011
Carbing the 20 Valve - Carburetors & mounting
I apologize for the infrequent updates but here's a quick one: I recently made spacers out of a green phenolic material I had laying around that I had randomly picked up a few years ago. I also cut out some gaskets out of grey sheets of gasket material (easily had from BAP * GEON or your favorite auto parts store).
It's a clean shot of what you'll have to work with regarding the Rowland manifold. I'll be tapping the no.3 runner so I can mount the 2nd rod end that'll be part of the throttle shaft for the pair of linkage arms.
Just one last shot of the mounted Solex/Mikuni 44 carbs:
Here again soon...