The Carburetor Shop adds performance-tuning service
with chassis dynamometer
by Brian Manley, Parts
& People
Englewood, CO--Horsepower. It oozes from the walls and eagerly idles
in a dozen customer vehicles parked around the perimeter of The Carburetor
Shop in Englewood. A classic GTO, a Pantera, a Street Rod, a quarter-mile
drag car--they all have one thing in common; they’ve all been performance-tuned
on Jay Kidwell’s new chassis dynamometer.
Last year, Kidwell, owner of The Carburetor Shop Inc., purchased a chassis
dynamometer and installed it in an empty bay, transforming it into a high-performance
diagnostic and tuning service center. “This is much more than
just a horsepower dyno,” Kidwell said. “I can run a vehicle
in virtual reality, simulating the road and conditions like going uphill and
pulling a trailer, while monitoring miles –per hour, primary acceleration
(MPH/Sec), total power (HP), engine RPM, air-fuel ratio, engine torque (ft/lbs),
fuel pressure, and other data.”
With the new dyno, the shop’s first, the experienced crew of engine
performance technicians and horsepower junkies can repair an emissions failure
or tune an 800-HP engine and dyno-test it before it ever leaves the shop.
“There’s no way to predict the best performance adjustments for
a particular engine,” Kidwell said. “Different engines need
different things.
“My high-performance customers love our dyno-tuning because we can run
a true quarter-mile sprint while recording shift points and engine data, and
we can also analyze torque converter performance” Kidwell said, adding
that “933 horsepower is the record that we’ve recorded so far.
It’s capable of 225 MPH, 1,750 HP, and 2000 ft/lbs of torque.”
For customers who require an emission repair or engine performance fix, the
dyno can be used to simulate road load, 0 to 60 mph time, passing gear acceleration,
and even an I/M 240 drive trace. “We’ve performed over 600
emission failures over the years, and because many of the standards have been
tightened from 90 grams –per mile for carbon monoxide to 20 GPM, a dynamometer
is almost a necessity to fine-tune the gases emitted from an engine over a
wide range of loaded conditions,” Kidwell said.
Kidwell charges $75 to chain a vehicle down and run two or three passes on
the dyno while recording torque and horsepower. That’s for the
basic horsepower test that some customers request. “This is a
starting figure,” he said. “If we add data acquisition options
such as a five-gas analyzer or an ignition oscilloscope, the price will increase.
We once had a full-sized Bronco with an intermittent, high-speed misfire.
We ran it on the dyno with the ignition analyzer and found a defective ignition
coil. This would have been difficult to diagnose without the dyno.”
Kidwell said he uses the chassis dyno to evaluate the power characteristics
of his customers’ vehicles. It will tell not only how much power
is being generated but also where the power is in the speed range. For
emission failure repairs, he said he can evaluate modifications one at a time
or as a complete system. For race engines, he said he can ensure that
the engine is right before it runs on race day. Whatever the engine’s
purpose, he said he can use the dyno to perform a quality audit and ensure
that the engine does what it’s intended to do. He’ll quantify
the results of modifications and prove that you’ve built the engine
you meant to build or ensure that the vehicle will pass the emissions test
before you return for your retest.
Kidwell and his wife, Rose, decided to dedicate the use of their second dynamometer,
to be up and running in July, to the repair of diesel emission failures.
“We purchased a diesel opacity meter to use with our other dyno,”
Rose Kidwell said. The Carb Shop’s Repair Effectiveness Index (REI)
is always in the 90 percent range, which Jay Kidwell said is superb considering
that the shop takes in all emission failures, many of which have been to other
repair shops first.
“Our name says ‘Carburetor Shop,’ but we’re well-trained
in the service and repair of any fuel-injected, computer-controlled power
train,” Kidwell said.
In business for 20 years, Kidwell purchased The Carburetor Shop from the owner
back in 1983 for “what the guy owed me in back wages.” He
says that the only items that he inherited were a pile of carburetor cores,
a carb dip bucket, and a 1957 air compressor. The old shop had dirt
floors, a wooden double barn door, a small office slash waiting room, a couch,
and enough room to get 3 cars inside if they were all small cars. Today,
Kidwell’s shop has 14 service bays and five full-time technicians.
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