2/1/2002
Machine Shop Survival In The New Millennium, Clarence Clark
By Clarence Clark
It’s getting tougher and tougher for the jobber machine shop to survive. Engine technology has changed. The market place has changed. Heck, since Sept. 11, the whole world has changed! I think the jobber shop who doesn’t change is doomed.
I once heard that there were no new ideas, that everything had been invented and we were just putting a newer spin on existing ideas. In the 1940s and ’50s, there wasn’t a lot of engine rebuilding or remanufacturing, as we know it today. Most of you are too young to remember, but in those days, it was called the "overhaul."
Knurlizing pistons, fitting new oversized wrist pins, GI inserts on the top ring groove and knurling valve guides were all common practices. Perfect Circle sold the "Manual Lathe" to cut the top ring groove for a spacer; I remember they even had a knurling machine for piston skirts that put their logo on the skirt. Remember their old Dr. of Motors program? Rather than a wholesale replacement of every part in the engine, they fixed just what was wrong and reused the rest of the parts over again.
We’ve come full circle. Stop and think about what you’re seeing on the late model engines you tear into. Many of them have very little cylinder wear, even at 100,000 miles plus. Better lubricants, better ignition, better fuel metering, less piston ring load, all play a part in it. Regardless of the reason, if there’s no cylinder wear, why rebore the cylinder? Cracked powdered metal connecting rods present a similar concept. Whether it’s the lubricant, the material or the design, these rods are pretty stable. How many really need to be reconditioned?
We can carry this concept right over to cylinder heads, too. OHC designs don’t, as a rule, have much valve guide wear compared to the push rod motors we’ve known. Roller cams and lifters exhibit almost no wear and damaged and receded valve seats are few and far between, too. By now, you’re probably wondering, "Where are you headed with this, Clarence?" Well, if you think for a minute, one of the biggest issues the jobber shop faces today is an inability to compete with the production engine rebuilder (PER). The PER’s efficiencies of production combined with their purchasing power and assembly line work-flow does make it real tough to compete, especially if showing a profit is on your list of must-do items! The worst part is there’s not much you can do about these things; they’ve just flat out got you beat. What you’ve got to start doing is thinking about this from the opposite direction! What do I do or can I do that they have a hard time with?
PERs are geared to production. They bore all the cylinders whether they need it or not and replace all the pistons as well. They grind all the crankshafts, recon all the rods and so on! In the days when most engines needed that stuff, this was all right, but as we approach the day when most engines don’t, that may be an operational inefficiency. As you’ve probably gathered by now, I think that day is about here. Selective reconditioning doesn’t fit a PER’s operational style, but it does fit yours – a custom jobber engine builder.
You can take in a late model engine, do the cleaning and inspection, possibly replace the rings, re-use the pistons and rods, inspect the crank and replace only bearings if that’s all that’s needed and be darned competitive with the production rebuilder. (The same concept applies to cylinder heads). Are you building the same quality engine? Maybe not, but what quality do you need to build? Many of the newer motors will see 150,000 miles before they need work. How many customers need another 150,000 miles from the replacement motor? Fifty or sixty thousand additional miles is probably enough for most customers, so from their standpoint why pay for what you don’t need?
Also, don’t lose sight of the other advantages you’ve always had over the production rebuilder because they all still apply. You don’t need a core. A PER can’t supply an engine if there’s no core to start with. This is a major competitive advantage on low volume engines. Another advantage is your customer gets the same engine back, so they know everything will fit back in the right place. Also, your customer knows the engine’s history, whether it has ever been damaged or broken? No surprises when the engine goes back in the vehicle. The name of the game is "exploit your advantages." Put a package together that makes sense to your customers and at the same time, takes advantage of the things you do best.
One of the things I like best about this avenue of work is there’s minimal investment for you in the shop. You’ve probably got all the tools and equipment you need already. You’ll have some processes to work out, standards to develop in terms of what’s acceptable to reuse and what is not, and a real need for accurate information on late model engines. Reliable specifications are very important and so is a source for replacement parts in standard sizes versus the oversized parts you used to be ordering. None of these things are real tough, so you can start this project anytime you want, on about any scale you want.
I think there’s a future in our business for the jobber or custom engine rebuilder who’s not afraid to change with the times. Change is all around us. I think in the case of this issue’s topic, the time to change is now. Let me know what you think.
A Note From Clarence ...
As I wrote this in mid-December, I was home recuperating from quadruple bypass surgery. I was in the hospital during the PRI show and want to thank those of you who found out and called to wish me well. I’m on the mend and hope to continue my traveling machine shop seminars before winter is over here in Missouri. I really enjoy traveling the country visiting shops and talking about our business and how to improve what we do. I hope to share some of the things I’ve seen recently when I write my next column for Engine Builder magazine. Until then, so long!
Clarence Clark
PS: I’d also like to thank the folks at Engine Builder, AERA, Clevite Engine Parts, K-Line Industries, Lock-N-Stitch and U.S. Tool and Manufacturing Co. It’s their support that enables me to spend a whole day in your shop for just $350.