setting ignition curves without dyno

[William Woodruff]

Hello,

	I'm a new subscriber to this list.  My background is mechanical
engineering with an emphasis in fluid flow (and my favorite color is...)  My
pet project is to develop a EFI system for my Triumph straight 6 (perhaps
for my Austin Healey too - depending on the success of the Triumph Project)
by essentially taking a complete system from a common donor car like a Ford
Taurus and messing with the ECM. 

Anyway, I have made in situ torque measurements on an automotive driveshaft
in order to measure engine output.  My system used a little fm transmitter
(Binsfeld model F-3000 transmitter www.binsfeld.com) and a torsional strain
gage mounted to the driveshaft.  The hardest part of the operation was
calibrating the shaft; although conceptually we were just putting a known
load on it and measuring the system output.  If you were just going to make
relative measurements, you wouldn't have to worry about the calibration.  In
the end, the system worked very well and I hope to use something similar in
my project. 

BTW, the Binsfeld system is probably way more than you need for tuning an
engine.  Perhaps someone knows of a similar product or plans that are more
in keeping with the home mechanic? 

William W.

----------
> Greg Hermann wrote:
> 
> > >How about this idea..............actually build a dyno into your car. 
Put a strain gauge on the driveshaft. You might need to cuctom make a
shaft with a torsion bar in it. If so, put in an inductive device to
charge the battery for the transducer as well, and a centifugal switch