Engine Building Bloopers
I learned early when doing an engine for a customer, especially a partial job, with the end user finishing construction, the importance of knowing that person’s capabilities – or better put – incapabilities. Over my many years I have witnessed some amazing engine bloopers.
When You Can’t Buy It, Building It Expands Your Shop Capabilities.
We all get crazy ideas from time to time. Sometimes we see something and that sparks an idea. Other times we’ll have a need and, “necessity being the mother of invention,” we come up with an idea of how to build that special part or tool that would fix the problem. The majority of the
S & S Brings Know-How and Nostalgia to V-Twin Engines
As a maker of high-performance motorcycle engines, S&S can be linked to the industrial history of Wisconsin. However, the S&S story actually starts in Blue Island, IL, right after World War II. That’s when George J. Smith returned to his home in Blue Island and began tinkering with the engine on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Smith
Change Your Social Status
If you haven’t noticed one of our newer article series in the past 18 months called Engine of the Week, first off, where have you been living? Kidding, of course, but in all seriousness, Engine of the Week has been a popular article series for us where we tell a little bit of YOUR story
If You’re Not Measuring, You’re Guessing
Today’s tolerances are much closer than they have ever been and that is why exact measurement is necessary. Way back when, we mostly had to deal with three decimal places. Today we’re going out to four decimal places. Why? What has changed?
The Face Behind the Voice on the Phone
Whether it’s over the phone or over the front counter, customers – many of whom are women – are often intimidated by what they don’t know when it comes to their cars.
Heads or Tails
If you’re feeling a bit confused right now, not sure which way is up and worried that you may be losing your grip on reality. If you’ve found this column after reading Engine Builder’s High Performance Buyers Guide and things just look, well, strange – try this: turn the magazine over. Now, does that
What Goes Around Comes Around
While researching the article on the efforts the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may or may not be making to put you out of business (page 44) I took a walk down memory lane.
Driven to Succeed
Optimize Personal Performance To Maximize Professional Profits I was looking back over the past 10 years since my first article appeared in the May 2008 Engine Builder issue and noticed a trend. Much of what I write about has to do with performance. Not speed or high performance, but something that might resemble personal performance. While
Heads or Tails
If you’re feeling a bit confused right now, not sure which way is up and worried that you may be losing your grip on reality. If you’ve found this column after reading Engine Builder’s High Performance Buyers Guide and things just look, well, strange – try this: turn the magazine over. Now, does that
When Do You Blow the Whistle?
When do you cover for the prior mechanic or engine guy? When do you have to tell the customer the truth to justify the correction and parts? There have been times I have done it each way. And for a couple, I regret my decisions.
Proving Yourself
Well, it’s 2018. If you’ve already made, broken and forgotten your New Years’ resolutions, let me welcome you to the club. This time of year, it’s easy to say we’re going to do something better, for our health, for our finances, for our business and, most of the time, we truly believe what we say. At least I do, for a while.