More than 250 engine builders learned about the most recent developments in engine building and toured the University’s soon-to-be completed High Performance Technology Building. Seminar topics included:
Cylinder Head Welding;
Proper Piston Ring Filing;
OHC Cylinder Head Disassembly;
CNC Machining;
Dynamometer Technology;
Performance Engine Technology;
Crack Detection;
Honing for Performance;
Cylinder Head Performance.
“This was a real information seminar,” said sponsor spokesman Bob Dolder of Sunnen Products. “We didn’t have fancy carpeting on the floor and flashy spotlights – it was a working seminar with real participants in the industry.”
Attendees and sponsors alike said the format of the program allowed ample time for education and instruction on the capabilities of engine building equipment, and the regional location was an attractive draw to shop owners.
In addition to classroom sessions and a mini trade show featuring representatives from Lincoln Electric, Federal-Mogul, Dynamic Test Systems, Sunnen, Goodson Shop Supplies, DCM and RMC Engine Building Equipment, attendees were taken on a tour of the new 64,000 sq.ft. Jeff Jarvis High Performance Complex currently under construction on the University’s campus. The $7 million project, scheduled to open in late 2005, will include state of the art dyno facilities including two engine and two chassis dynamometers, a fully equipped engine machining and engine building shops, cylinder head diagnostic and flow testing room, welding lab, restyling and customization area and separate classroom facilities. The grounds of the building will also include a test drag strip, test scrub radius oval and off-road suspension test area.
For more information on the University of Northwestern Ohio, visit www.unoh.edu. For information about future Spotlight on Performance seminars, visit www.sunnen.com.
AAIA Board Approves Funds for Engine Repower Council PR Program
The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association’s (AAIA) Board of Directors has approved funding for a marketing and publications program presented by the Engine Repower Council (ERC) to educate consumers and service providers about the option and benefits to choosing to have a rebuilt/remanufactured engine installed rather than purchasing a used engine, used or new vehicle. The campaign will be implemented by the Car Care Council in conjunction with the “Be Car Care Aware” campaign.
“This is the first time since the inception of ERC that a plan has been put down on paper and funding approved,” said former ERC Chairman, Dave Wooldridge, publisher of Engine Builder magazine.
ERC will begin work on the consumer Web site first to improve content, increase the database for remanufacturers and rebuilders and also service repair facilities that install rebuilt/remanufactured engines. Helping consumers find a resource for rebuilt/remanufactured engines is an important step to getting them to choose this option, say ERC committee members. For more information about ERC, visit www.aftermarket.org/
erc/Engine_Repower.asp.
EPWI Names Reman Vet Polich As New Logistics
And Inventory Manager
Engine and Performance Warehouse, Inc. (EPWI) has named Joe Polich, former executive vice president of the Production Engine Remanufacturers Association (PERA), as its Logistics/Inventory Process Manager. In this newly created position, Polich will be reviewing current systems, sources, and costs as well as exploring and identifying opportunities beneficial to EPWI and its customers and vendors.
“Joe’s organizational skills will be useful in continuing our efforts to fine-tune our operations and help EPWI prepare for the future,” said Paul Van Woensel, president of EPWI.
Polich began his automotive career while still in high school in Denver, CO, with Ford Grinding Service, a full-service machine shop. It became a full-time occupation when he joined his brother’s auto parts store in Craig, CO, in 1979 to start up a machine shop operation. The shop first began as a cylinder head shop, but developed into a full-line automotive machine shop in 1981. A complete driveline shop was added in 1983.
Leaving the family business in 1985, he joined the Automotive Engine Rebuilders Association where he was responsible for the creation of the Technical Services Department, the Technical Hot Line and the video tape training program. In 1988, he became Vice President of Operations.
Polich was recruited by the Production Engine Remanufacturers Association as its executive vice president in 1991, where he created and introduced the PERA Core Identification Program, the industry’s first computer based engine and engine component identification database that included pictures. This program was reintroduced in 2002 under the SourcePERA identity in a totally revised format mapped to the AAIA standard lookup tables and included electronic cataloging capabilities.
Polich left PERA in 2003 and has recently been the River Valley editor of Parts and People, a five-region automotive publication. He will remain in Grapevine, TX, with an office in the EPWI Dallas facility.
Engine Masters Challenge
Champs Build For Max Horsepower On Pump Gas
The 2005 “Jeg’s Engine Masters Challenge” pitted 39 performance engine builders against themselves and each other to build powerful yet “streetable” performance motors. When the roar of the dynos faded, Orlando, FL’s Lennart Bergqvist (Autoshop Racing Engines) and wife Brigitta (a very capable wrench-turner in her own right) collected a whopping $82,500 in prize money for their efforts.
As born in the minds of the editors of Popular Hot Rodding magazine in 2002, the idea was to establish a general set of parameters that would typify a “street” engine – yet give engine builders sufficient latitude to come up with unique solutions to the challenge at hand. The contest organizers wanted to underscore the “streetability” aspect, so instead of awarding the prize for peak horsepower, the judging criteria called for a points system based on the average horsepower over the range of 2,500 to 6,500 rpm, plus the average torque reading.
For 2005 the rules called for big block engines not to exceed 510 cubic inches. The contest format calls for builders to submit their entries in writing, with the most interesting accepted by the PHR editors and given the go-ahead to compete. Because the contest also is designed to encourage uniqueness, a smattering of other marques are selected to do battle with the predominant Chevy and Ford entries.
The contest was held at World Products’ facility in Ronkonkoma, NY, with three identical DTS dyno cells used to test all engines under the same conditions.
To make the 2005 edition of the Jeg’s Engine Masters Challenge more interesting, two-time champ Jon Kaase opted to abandon his familiar Ford roots and entered a Pontiac. The selected field included 18 Chevys, 9 Fords, 3 each Cadillac, Chrysler and Pontiac V8s, two Buicks and a lone Oldsmobile.
The Jeg’s Engine Masters Challenge format calls for the engine to be pulled three times, the builder given five minutes to review the data, a half-hour to make any tuning adjustments (typically timing and jet changes, with occasional valve lash settings) and three final pulls. The averages from all three pulls are then averaged to determine the final score.
Runner up Tony Bischoff (BER Racing Engines, West Harrison, IN), who was third in last year’s competition, collected $34,000. Third place finisher, John Lohone (Livernois Motorsports, Dearborn Heights, MI) went back home to Michigan with nearly twenty grand more than he came with, thanks largely to contingency postings from about fifty performance parts manufacturers.
Federal-Mogul Receives ‘Best Supplier Award’
From Iveco Corp.
Federal-Mogul Corporation has received Iveco’s Best Supplier Award for superior performance in 2005.
Iveco, a global company that markets a comprehensive range of vehicles and engines, is committed to the transport world and to the satisfaction of its customers. This year for the first time the company’s Best Supplier Award provides recognition for results obtained in the areas of quality, service, cost reduction, technology innovation and technical proposals. Markus Wermers, vice president of sales and marketing for Federal-Mogul in Europe, accepted the award from Paolo Monferino, chief executive officer, and Loris Spaltini, vice president of purchasing, Iveco, at a ceremony during the Iveco Supplier’s Leadership Conference in Madrid on September 29.
AETC Moves South:
Orlando To Host 16th
Conference Before PRI
The 16th annual Advanced Engine Technology Conference (AETC) will be held just prior to the opening of the Performance Racing Industry Trade show Nov. 27-30 in Orlando, FL.
“The AETC event generates such energy it is amazing,” said COMP Performance Group VP Scooter Brothers. “It offers a terrific opportunity to network with insiders who share a great deal of innovative and useful information. Often they let you in on secrets that you would never have heard anywhere else. There is no other event that has been so beneficial for those looking to increase their industry and technical knowledge and enhance their contacts.”
Speakers and topics scheduled for this year’s conference include:
Dave Henniger, configuration specialist, Fuel Air Spark Technology: “Demystifying EFI for Performance – A Common Sense Approach to EFI.”
Tim Collins, design engineer, Managed Programs: “Intake/Head Port Optimization Using Computer Simulation.”
Ron Johnson, VP of sales and marketing, Moroso, and Kevin Brown, product engineer, Moroso: “The Current State of Oil Pump and Vacuum Pump Technology.”
Bill Glidden, many time Ford drag racing champion and engine builder: “Making Power and Interpreting Rules in a Strictly Controlled Class.”
Danny Lawrence, track co-coordinator and engine builder, Richard Childress Racing: “Managing Multiple Teams and Making Power Show Up at the Race Track.”
Fritz Kayl, owner of Katech Engine Development: “Development Secrets of the LS7, from LeMans to the Showroom.”
For registration information, go to www.aetconline.com.
GM Reshuffles Top Leadership, Names New
Performance Manager
General Motors is shuffling top management in its performance division as it pushes to reorganize product development on a global scale.
Mark Reuss, 42, handed over the reigns of the performance division to 25-year GM veteran Bob Kruse, 49, effective Oct. 1. Kruse retains his position as executive director of GM North America vehicle integration.
Reuss replaces Matt Tsien, 45, as executive director of GM North America vehicle systems and a 25-year GM veteran. Tsien is now executive director for global central engineering.
Reuss, who has worked for GM since 1983, had been executive director of GM’s performance division since 2002.
“Mark has a completely new job,” says GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson. “His responsibilities now concern the development of the vehicle systems such as body chassis, interiors, electronic controls and software.”
‘How Do You Use Your Loctite’ Contest Seeks Creative Adhesive Uses
Henkel Corp. is launching an applications contest for its Loctite brand in the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarkets. The promotion is open to all professional technicians and will be promoted under the theme, “How do you use your Loctite?”
The contest will start on January 1, 2006 and run through June 30, 2006. Technicians who send in their most creative ideas will get a chance to win valuable prizes, ranging from race weekend travel packages, to professional tools, to free Loctite products.
According to Loctite product managers, there are at least 1,000 applications currently specified by Henkel and its OEM partners for Loctite products. But the automotive aftermarket team at Henkel believes that the market holds a wealth of unique, innovative and even offbeat applications that have been invented by individual service technicians and motorsports crews.
For information, go to www.loctiThe contest will be heavily promoted in the media, and Henkel plans to use its website as a key conduit for providing details to customers and accepting contest entries. In addition to the prizes, winning entries will also be recognized by Henkel in related company communications such as newsletters, publicity, trade ads and the company website.
Dana Announces Deep Cost Cuts
Dana Corp. recently announced plans for a new round of cost cuts through layoffs, asset sales, plant closings and a shift to more manufacturing to Mexico.
In a recent release, Dana said it plans to narrow the depth and breadth of the Toledo, OH, engine parts and drivetrain company. Three business units will be put up for sale including engine hard parts, fluid products and pump products. About 9,800 people work for those business lines in 10 countries.
The units being put up for sale include well-known industry names such as the Perfect Circle, Clevite and Glacier Vandervell brands.
Dana announced that it plans to incur noncash charges this year of about $315 million before taxes to reduce the net assets of these businesses.
Cummins Inc. Says Third Quarter Most Profitable Quarter Ever Posted
Cummins Inc. recently saw its most profitable quarter ever, reporting third quarter net income of $145 million, or $2.90 per diluted share, on sales of $2.47 billion. Sales were strong across the entire business and the company said its gross margins rose to its highest levels in more than eight years.
“We continued to deliver on our commitments to our customers and shareholders in the third quarter,” said Cummins Chairman and CEO Tim Solso. “Our business outlook remains positive, and our focus on execution has significantly improved margins and strengthened the bottom line.”
Net income in the third quarter rose 25 percent from $116 million in the same period in 2004, while sales increased 12 percent from the $2.19 billion reported in the third quarter of 2004.
For the first nine months of the year, Cummins has earned $383 million, or $7.70 per share, which is more than the company earned for all of 2004 – its most profitable full year ever.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $240 million also were a record and, at 9.7 percent of sales, were at the high end of the company’s target range of 7 to 10 percent. The company’s gross margin of 22.7 percent was the highest since the second quarter of 1997.
Third-quarter sales were slightly below the record set in the second quarter of 2005, but improved margins contributed to a 3 percent quarter-to-quarter increase in net income.
“These results are another sign that we are building a “New Cummins” — a company that is less cyclical, more diversified and committed to turning a greater share of its sales into profits,” Solso said. “Not only have we delivered higher year-over-year quarterly earnings for seven consecutive quarters, but we also are investing in future growth and focusing on prudent cash management. And, as good as 2004 and 2005 have been, I am confident 2006 will be an even better year for Cummins and that we are well-positioned for the future.”
Cummins increased its full-year earnings guidance to $10.70 to $10.80 per share from its previous guidance of $10.10 to $10.30 per share, resulting in fourth-quarter guidance of $3 to $3.10 per share. The company generated cash from operations of $230 million in the quarter, just off its record set in the fourth quarter of 2004, bringing its total to $385 million for the first nine months of 2005. In addition, the company has paid down debt by $278 million this year from operating cash.
