Dyno question

[chuck1022]

Anyone here own a dyno shop...or know someone that owns one? I just wonder what a setup costs?

 

[56f100bbw]

Dyno

I am no help but I got this friend in Nashville that has his AC cobra on a Dyno this week 790 hp

 

[phred]

Last engine I had dynoed cost about 500 bucks. We did 4 pulls the get a baseline and then did 6 or 8 more with different timing, carbs etc until we got the numbers we thought were the best we could do.
That’s been a few years ago.

 

[chuck1022]

I was wondering how much the machine costs. Is the dyno and computer....$50k....$200k?

 

[chuck1022]

Dont get me wrong...I couldn't afford to get my 7 1/2 cylinder 302 dyno tested let alone buy a machine...I just wondered what that costs

 

[Broncobowsher]

Engine dyno or chassis dyno?

Low end (from what I recall) is about $20k for a basic dyno. As you add features you can send it north of 6-figures. A good one should be $50k. This is off memory and years ago dreaming of getting one.

Used ones do show up from time to time. But so rare it is impossible to price one.

The cheapest ones I have seen are boat dynos. Take the prop off and a hydraulic pump is installed where the prop should be. Don't know how accurate they are. The idea is you can put a boat under a load while it sits on a trailer. So you can work on those stubborn "it does this while cruising across the lake" problems without actually having to put the customer's boat on the lake and have it break down on the back side and need to get towed back.

An interesting dyno you almost never see is a towing dyno. It is a trailer with a drive axle on it. Tugs on the trailer hitch. These are almost always an eddy current absorber. Engine dynos are water brake. Most chassis dynos are inertia based but some like dynomite put eddy current absorbers on the wheel flanges. Mustang chassis dynos are eddy current, I think.

The Cat engine plant outside Peoria has a carousal that starts off spinning the engine without fuel and notes the current ripples to verify a correct built before fuel is put to them. From what I have seen that is how most engine plants run.

Just saw a listing for a Superflow 901 on eBay for $19k

Years ago I knew an AZ dyno shop that had a chassis dyno. There was a lot of construction costs to cut a hole in the slab and fit the chassis dyno. Just having the tool is only part of the costs. For an engine dyno there is usually a separate room that needs massive amounts of ventilation.

Best dyno story I have heard. Back in the 60's in California (Long Beach) Bill Stroppe was getting ready to ship an engine to the Indy 500. There was a giant muffler that used a forklift to put in place. That night they forklift would not start. Early in the morning they said the hell with it and ran an unmuffled Indy engine full song on the dyno. Brian (my friend who was there) commented you could watch the house lights turn on all up and down the neighborhood. They were up on a hill. Few minutes later the cops came running up the hill. The engine passed the final check and was shut down, some sweet talking with the cops, and off to Indy for the engine to race.

 

[nvrstuk]

That there's a great story!

 

[Rustytruck]

I am no help but I got this friend in Nashville that has his AC cobra on a Dyno this week 790 hp

what the hell is a 2000 lb ac cobra going to do with 790 HP ? your going to need a whole lotta down force.

 

[Broncobowsher]

what the hell is a 2000 lb ac cobra going to do with 790 HP ? your going to need a whole lotta down force.

Ask Bill Cosby, the only other twin Paxton supercharged 427 Cobra. Before he sold it and the guy that bought it wrecked it. Leaving Shelby's personal car. Was owned for several years by a guy in Chandler, AZ. Sold a few years back. Not sure where it is now.