Matt

 

Scottinbend,
The couplers come in red, blue and black, and are a custom thickness to ensure they seal properly to the IC and manifolds.

MSFITOY,
I can guarantee, that your can is collapsing some amount under idle and part throttle. Not that our can can't take it, but i would get a support for itl sooner rather than later.

With all this talk of hooking catch cans to the grey hose, we will be offering just after the first of the year, a support for the can in polished aluminum, and a special set of instrucitons on how to hook it up. This will be seperate from the normal catch can and will allow people to either convert their catch can they already own, or to buy 2 of the regular ones and make one with the support.

ALTA Performance

 

I have the Perin/Alta OCC. I have it hooked up with the can hooked up to the SC side only so far. My can collapses under idle. I just went to the local hardware store and bought a 2 in PVC coupler. The outside Diamater of this PVC Coupler is exactly what I needed. Get the Full coupler. The inside diameter of the silicon Can tube was around 2.75 in. The cost was 60 cents. You can cut the coupler to the length you need.

 

I'm not sure what you mean. It was collapsing prior to my insertion of a PVC tube inside of the Silicon body. It (your Alta catch can) wasn't able to handle the vacume under idle by it self. It's ok now after my modification. I'm not able to check it under boost (because I'd be doing a hundred mph )...I wonder if it's blowing up like a balloon

 

ALTA2, could you post the correct way (the way you want us) to hook the catch can up? I'm getting the catch can very soon and would like to know.

Also, the Bentley manual says that the breather pipe (on the intake side of engine) allows air to flow both ways and is under vacume under normal conditions. Once pressure is built up, the PCV valve (on the S/C side of engine) opens under manifold vacuum allows gasses into the intake system. Under high load, the PCV valve might be overcome so gasses will enter the intake system from both the PCV and breather pipes.

In an earlier post, you mention plugging one of these pipes. Although I'm not arguing (I'm not even not sure which one you want to block), what happens when the pressure isn't able to stabalize as if it were open? Can a breather be put on instead?

 

MSFITOY,
The can will not blow up under boost because that grey hose goes to the SC case, after the Throttle body and before where the SC starts compressing things. So it will only see vacuum never boost. So no worries about the can blowing up!

kapps,
Like we mentioned before, in the long post, there are 2 ways to hook the catch can up. One method is following our directions, using 1 can. The other method is hooking up the catch can to the grey PVC hose. Hooking it to the grey PCV hose requires you to support the can. Like i mentioned before we are going to offer a support for the catch can along with some instructions and fittings needed, as a separate kit for those who will hook it up to this hose.

If you choose to use the second method, we recommend to use 2 catch cans. One hooked to the PCV system and another hooked to the valve cover vent. In our extra kit with the support, we will be supplying instructions to hook the catch can to the pcv system and instructions how to hook up 2 catch cans.

So in the end there are 3 methods, but our original method works great. Blocking the high vacuum from the PCV line(like our original method) and using the intake hose as the vacuum source stops the oil from getting into the IC.

ALTA performance
www.altaminiperformance.com

 

Is polycarbonate compatible with Motor oil? The reason is that I have been researching DIY oilm Catch cans and found that some WRX folks are using catches used for compressed air applications. The bowl is, however made of polycarbonate material. I just need to see the compatibility. I would buy another Perrin/Alta Can but it is pretty tight in the engine bay as it is.

Thanks,
Carl

 

ARLY,
Most plastics aren't great with oil (either discolor, or eventually break down) unless they are nylon, teflon or glass reinforced nylon. The valve cover, the intake hose, grey pcv hose, are all nylon of some form. I think Poly would work ok, just not as good as the aluminum support that we will be supplying.

Also since you bought our catch can for a WRX, you didn't get the instructions showing the 2 places to put the can in the MINI. If you have a fax number i will be glad to fax the instructions. I would email it but its 30MB.

 

Alta,
Can you email it to me at carl.micki@sbcglobal.net? I make my own bracket that works well.

Carl

 

This is the bracket I put together.

 

Another thing I haven't mentioned is the bothersome fluid leaks from the sight tubes. Sometimes it does, other times not. I replace the tube when it leaks but that only solves the problem for a week or so. And I'm not happy about having to stick a PVC tube in there to solve the vacume collapse which ends up taking up volume. The more I look into this the more I like M7's solution. I'll tell you more after the install.

BTW, I've thought getting the copy on Ebay but it is not of the correct dimension to fit in the cowl area and the... "ALL SALES FINAL, NO RETURNS OR EXCHANGES!" bothers me a little

 

MSFITOY, I've only emptied my can twice since I installed it, but both times I had to cut that level tube shorter before I re-inserted it so I could get a good seal.

Alta, how much for a level tube replacement?

 

LOL...it's not worth waiting for in the mail. You can get them by the foot at any good hardware stores for a few pennies. Still a bother

 

who copied who? my guess is M7 just had his logo imprinted on the pre-made can

 

I don't know...all I'm saying is that they may be of identical source but they are not of the same dimension. M7's version is custom sized and fitted specifically for the Mini (including the mounting hardware). The M7 logo is a nice bonus

 

Has any recorded the amount of vacuum the engine is pulling over the RPM range.

BTW...Racers running about 15 psi of vacuum and are seeing 2% to 5% gains in HP by just using a vacuum pump. This is on NA small blocks. The gains are greater for FI engine due to the higher pressures.

There are crank driven and electric vacuum pumps. GM has used a number of electric one on their cars.

 

I just got two in from the eBay store. Here's what I've learned:

The can is of good quality and construction. It's just under 3 1/4" in diameter, I'll get the length later.....

The fittings are so-so. The ones for the sight-glass (or is it sight-plastic?) are fine, and should work for vacuum and pressure (but to do it really correctly with plastic hose, a little metal sleve should be used in the end of the plastic tube to prevent collaps and provide a good seal). The ones for the vent hoses are pretty, but don't seem to be made of the best materials.

You have to cut the tubing for the sight glass to length yourself. And none of the fitting come intalled. (the two in the top are finger tight, and they don't provide teflon tape, but you have to take them out to tape them up to install them). The drain plug is as promised, with a magnetic plug that uses a gasket. This isn't installed either.

There are three pairs of blind, threaded mounting holes on the can. They are at the 12:00, 4:30 and 9:00 positions. The kit comes with a small. 90 degree mounting bracket and some screws to attach it to the can (well, one of the two kits did), but there is no other hardware to attache the can inculded in the kit.

It comes with clear, nylon reinforced tubing, and four hoseclamps......

I got two for $79, but I have to assemble and leak and pressure test the unit. I also have to make a mount for the can as well.

So, overall, it's a good $40 oil catch can. The machining of the can alone justifies the cost. But it's not complete, and you have to do a bit of real work to get the benefit of the lower price. No big deal for people who turn wrenches and have lots of tools to do the fab work for the mount, but for the ~$90 difference to the retial of the M7 unit, I'm sure it still makes sense to many..... If it were only a $30 difference, it would make sense to me too!

For those on the quest for the buget mods, the eBay can is a fine unit.

Matt

 

Well JLM you will have to " guess " again as I pesonally provided the mfg. with the Mini specific dimensions for our catch can. Happy holidays


Randy

www.m7tuning.com

 

That's wild. Did you tell them to make it look identical to the ones on ebay?

 

so for that you certainly deserve your 300% markup; i'm only guessing, of course.

 

I'm qurious JLM. I see that you're a vendor. What do you sell and where can I find your store on NAM?

 

MSFITOY and SFJAMES2
The clear tubes need to be pushed into the connectors until they stop. The pushlock connectors have an o-ring inside of them and if the clear hose doesn't get pushed passed them, it can leak. If you call us up, we can mail you the clear hose for free. Or if you have a local person to get it from, the hose is standard 1/4. We will be supplying an extra hose in the newer kits just for this reason.

fastcars,
I too have heard of the vacuum pumps providing additional HP on NASCAR cars, but this is, like you mentioned, is for NA engines. When it comes down to boosted engines, there isn't a benifit to this. The Boost pressure in the cylinders does the same as the vacuum in the block, helping seal the rings.

 

Actually the ebay catch cans came out about a month after we submitted our requirements. We do thank you all for the interest as we now have to turn in a re order sooner than expected Keep up the good work Andy we are counting on you : )

Randy
www.m7tuning.com

 

The 300% markup is for those intangable items Proper hoses, connectors, and most importantly INSTRUCTIONS and SERVICE. If you notice the only ones that are having any kind of issue with this are NOT our customers For many people peace of mind is apparently a very valuable plus or we would not be rushing more into the pipeline. In any event thanks for the bump and have a happy holiday

Randy
www.m7tuning.com

P.S I noticed Msfitoys question as to what it is that you are a vendor for but I couldn't even make a " guess "

 

i guess I am a vendor to vendors.

why don't you cut the BS about your can. are you saying its worth wbar $90 more for what, exactly? Save the hype for the real products you are trying to develop and leave a good deal alone without trying to leverage cash out of it.