Commentary Archives - Page 6 of 21 - Engine Builder Magazine
New Normal of Business Requires New Ideas

No matter how great you are at building engines, you may not be nearly so confident in your ability to build your business.

In Engine Building, Predictions Don’t Always Meet Reality

Here we go again. The fax machine will kill the mail system… TV will kill the radio… Movie rentals and streaming videos will kill the movie theaters… The above three statements were cited many times over the years, but strangely, none have them have even been remotely close to coming true. Every year the U.S.

Things That Go Bump in the Night – Demolition Derby Engine Tips

I grew up in a small town of 5,000 people. Each year on Saturday night at the county fair they would have a demolition derby. The local salvage yard would always hold cars back during the year that were good derby car candidates, knowing that two months before the fair, the locals would come shopping for

Learning Engine Self Defense

All engines that are upgraded in horsepower, whether accomplished mechanically, with power adders or both, need to have the proper defensive steps in place or your now more powerful engine could suffer serious failures.

Challenge Accepted

What keeps you awake at night? Or rather, what is it that wakes you from a sound sleep, reminding you that you did something, didn’t do something or have to do something RIGHT NOW?! Can you ever go back to sleep again once that happens? I met an industry friend at the SEMA show in

We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1918

No disrespect to Prince, but 1999 was really nothing to party about. At least not when you consider the possibility of celebrating 100 years with no end in sight.    But before we get too deep in the past, let’s return to the present … and the future. As of May 1, 2018, engine builders,

Building the World’s Fastest Indian

Burt Munro was born Herbert James Munro on March 25, 1899 in Edendale, New Zealand. From an early age Burt had a need for speed. It started with his father’s horses; he would ride each of them flat out, to see which one was the fastest. From horses, he graduated to motorcycles. His first motorcycle,

Where Do We Go From Here?

A bout a year ago, a long-time advertiser and true friend of Engine Builder, Chuck Barnett of Dura-Bond Bearings, sent a note to the Engine Builder team with the headline asking, “Which way do we go?” In the body of the note, he challenged Engine Builder to look ahead to what was next, to help find

You Didn’t Need a V8

What to Know When Rebuilding Ford’s Powerful 3.5L Six-Cylinder Engine Platform Originally named TwinForce, Ford had a simple and specific directive with the development of its new engine family: “Build a low-emissions vehicle, with good fuel economy, that performs so well that the driver forgets they are driving a low-emissions vehicle with good fuel economy.”

Beware of Bogus Search Engine Info

Iknow in many of my articles, I harp on the importance of dealing with actual facts. But I am compelled to share this recent bizarre interaction with misinformation. A few months ago, a former customer called meabout the 460 Lincoln engine he runs in a local bogging stock class. He told me when he entered

Enter Now for Engine Builder of the Year Consideration

As of May 1, 2018, engine builders, customers and fans have been able to nominate their favorite custom engine builder for one of the titles of Engine Builder of the Year. Together with our title sponsor Fel-Pro Performance Gaskets and several other iconic brands from Federal-Mogul Motorparts, we will announce the names of our Race,

Building Relationships Key to Building Business

Answer honestly – do you REALLY spend enough time making sure that you’re getting something out of your business other than a paycheck? Not in a new-age, warm-and-fuzzy “love your job and you’ll never work a day in your lfe” way, but in a way that satisfies your inner definition of success.