Add-On Parts Sales Can Boost Your Business Profits
POP, or point of purchase. At the movies, buying popcorn? How about something to drink? At the supermarket buying detergent? What about bleach? The connection is fast and direct. Not completing it is missing a huge opportunity for any business.
Is the PWC Market Still Making Waves?
The strength of the PWC market in recent years has been reflected by new models the OEs continue to crank out, and with every new model that hits the water, there’s market opportunity that follows with service and repair.
Will You Have a POP or a SODA?
Across the nation it seems we don’t always agree on what to call things. For example, when you order a soft drink to some it’s “pop.” To others it’s “soda.” I know what you’re thinking – where is this going, and why am I thirsty all of a sudden? We’re going back to the
Valvetrain
Selecting the right components to make a rock-solid valvetrain is key to assembling an engine that will last – and win. The pushrods, rockers and valve springs must be able to handle all of the stresses of the camshaft rotating with high spring pressures and with huge lift. Weakness in any part of the system
Gauging Engine Data
Gauges not only provide vital data about your car or truck’s engine, but can also add some style to the vehicle. There are many different routes to take and angles to consider when deciding on what gauges to add to your vehicle.
Value-Added Services
How many times have you had a customer come in for an engine build who asked if you do engine installations? Those dollars are leaving your shop and going elsewhere.
Engine Builds Often Start With Radiator Resoration
Keeping Your Cool About This Hot Topic Engine builders who work on older collector cars are always interested in sources of vintage radiators – after all, you can’t run a liquid-cooled engine for any length of time without a good radiator. Of course, There have always been shops that fix radiators, but the judging standards
Performance Oiling Systems
Regardless of what type of engine you are building, the oiling system must be capable of creating and maintaining adequate oil pressure and flow no matter what. Accelerating, cornering, hard braking or extreme RPMs should not cause even a momentary drop in oil pressure. It only takes a few seconds of oil starvation to spin
Exhaust(ing) Your Options
Here in the pages of Engine Builder magazine we have countless articles about choosing the right set of pistons, putting in the perfect crankshaft, selecting the best connecting rods and the list goes on and on for identifying what parts and products go into your engines. However, there is one item we seldom cover –
The Street Rod Engine Market – What’s Hot and What’s Not in Selling to Hot Rodders
Street Rod/Hot Rod engines? Yeah, right! Defining this particular engine market has been likened to trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. There is an almost endless number of factors that cross engine “styles”’ usage and applications. It’s no different with hot rods. One hot rodder may want a stock unit just to keep him
Don’t Throw Those Old Mustang Parts Away
Don’t throw those old Mustang parts away. That’s what Bob Perkins of Perkins Restoration (www.perkinsrestoration.com) in Juneau, WI told many Ford dealers back in the 1970s. Perkins somehow came up with a list of every Ford dealer in the country and whenever he traveled around, he would visit them and try to buy up their
How You Can Increase Your Payoff by Including a Transmission With Your Engine Builds
Bundling two or more products into a single package simplifies the buying process for a consumer, saving both time and money. This isn’t limited to household goods and groceries. An engine builder can increase his bottom line by selling more than one product, such as a transmission. And additional accessories and services also can be added.
The Little Details Add to Your Bottom Line
A restoration shop owner we know sends his engines out to professional rebuilders. There are two engines sitting in his shop right now – a six and an eight. Both were rebuilt by different shops. One of those shops will be getting all of his engine work in the future. The reason isn’t the quality of work or even the price; it is the attention one shop paid to details.
Toyota Looks to Overhaul its Engines
After ignoring the internal combustion engine in favor of its hybrid car models, Toyota Motor Corp. is preparing a powertrain makeover. The automaker is designing common parts to spread costs across large numbers of engines. This will allow it to economically customize engines for specific vehicles with fuel injection, turbocharging and more.
Consider a Dyno/Flow Bench for Your Shop
Any engine builder that is doing performance work or high volume engine building can benefit from owning an engine dynamometer. A dyno is not just a tool for plotting horsepower and torque curves. It’s also a tuning tool for plotting and adjusting fuel mixture and ignition calibration, a quality control tool to assure proper engine break-in, valvetrain adjustments and to verify compression, ring seating and gasket sealing. It can also be used as a performance and/or durability research tool.
Sticker Shock – The 392 Magnum Gets Ready for Auction
As you can see in the pictures, we’ve reached a point where we can say the engine is built and ready to install. Or in this case ready to dyno and auction off. We certainly would not have been able to produce such a cool piece without the help of our contributors and Grawmondbecks Competition Engines. The 392 V8 Magnum engine is currently being auctioned off on eBay Motors. The auction ends Dec. 21.
What’s Your Exit Strategy?
I recently asked a friend in his late 50s about his plans for retirement. He told me he expected to die at his desk – and he was serious. He gave no thought to a time when he wouldn’t be in his business. Part of being a proactive business owner requires that you look a
Head Bolts Added to Growing Magnum Gaskets Product Line
Magnum Gaskets resellers have requested head bolts as a natural add-on sale to complement Magnum’s recently introduced cylinder head gaskets and the entire premium Magnum Gasket line, according to thecompany. “With the introduction of torque-to-yield head bolts in the early ‘90s, replacing head bolts with every head gasket installation became a necessity because bolts
The Raptor Takes Flight
In an age when kids would rather hot rod their computers than their cars, it’s kind of amazing that old fashioned hot rodding still exists – even thrives in today’s society. While computers certainly have their place, the younger generation is still looking for entertainment and thrills – whether captured in HD?or in real life.
Muscle Car Engines: What’s Old Is New. And The Greates Of All Time
Baby boomers wanted to go fast even if they were just driving to the grocery store. The open road was calling and America answered. But the government intervened and quickly started killing the culture in the early to mid-’70s. Then the gas crisis of the late ’70s put the final nail in the coffin. Or