Race Engine Challenge 2019
The build started with an LS1-based 5.3L factory block. The rules of the competition have a minimum cubic inch limit of 370 cid.
Utilizing Instagram
“When we started, we had no business at all… that’s when I started using Instagram,” Yaghoubian says. “Back then I didn’t know a lot about social media, but it works for business really well, and especially the automotive industry on Instagram.”
Why Size and Strength Matters with Pushrods
When you start modifying OHV engines from their stock form – meaning low speed, light load, and rpms in the 6,000 to 6,500 range – the dynamics change. Installing a hot cam with more lift and duration means you’ll also have to upgrade the pushrods and valve springs to handle the higher engine speeds and loads.
Offshore Marine Engines
While offshore racing has widely been known as a ‘rich man’s’ sport, today, more people than ever are getting involved, making the offshore engine market one of great opportunity for engine builders.
Small Diesels, Orange Barrels and Big Opportunity
It’s really quite simple. Any discussion of the United States infrastructure leads to the fact that it is in dire need of repair. It’s here, it’s all in place, it’s just all old and outdated; the roads, the bridges, all of it.
Oil Starvation
“The cornerstone of any lubrication system is the engine’s demand for oil,” says Mike Osterhaus, VP Aftermarket Products, Melling Engine Parts. He explains that the engine’s highest specific rate of demand (gallons per engine revolution) is at hot idle.
Import Drag Racing
The import racing community is bigger than ever, and with drag racing classes such as All Motor, Nitro All Motor, Sport Front-Wheel Drive (SFWD), All-Wheel Drive (AWD), Index class, and others, we don’t see it going away any time soon.
Fastener Fascination
According to ARP’s Chris Raschke, engine builders need to make sure to have the correct fastener for the application first. “When you get a new fastener, you need to take it out of the package, inspect the fastener, make sure there’s nothing wrong with it.
Higher Revving Education
We’ve all seen the ads in magazines and online for schools, classes and seminars on tuning an ever-increasing number of engines and even transmissions in today’s cars and trucks. The better ones will include the use of a chassis dyno to show real-time results of the step-by-step methods they teach.
Chassis vs Engine Dyno
We spoke with a couple shops that utilize both dyno types to get their take on the advantages, disadvantages and reasons to have one over the other or both.
Automatically Speaking
It’s inevitable, and probably already common that your customers will ask you about rebuilding or building their automatic transmission. For some reason automatics can be intimidating, and most of us can probably cite more bad experiences than good when it comes to rebuilding, so what do you tell your customers when they ask about it?
Tradeshow Season
While the rest of the world tends to slow down in the fourth quarter, our industry is starting to rev up. That’s because it’s tradeshow season, and the excitement for next year is always palpable!
