The recreational use of nitrous oxide as a horsepower-enhancing compound first came into prominence in the 1960s. But its first application to internal combustion engines was for far more deadly purposes. During World War II, the Germans reportedly were the first to install nitrous oxide systems on their fighter planes....
The things you overhear on crowded buses! While attending two recent rebuilding conventions, I had the opportunity to discuss many of the industry
The performance market is hot these days. No doubt about it. Motorsports is the number one spectator sport in America. Millions of people not only attend professional auto racing events all around the country, but are avid viewers of racing on cable and broadcast television. What
Valve, guide and seat repairs are the cornerstones of rebuilding cylinder heads. It makes no difference if the head is a 350 Chevy or one with dual overhead cams and four-valves-per-cylinder. The basics of refinishing the valves, guides and seats are essentially the same. The newer high tech heads will...
Defective returns. These two words have many undesirable connotations to the power steering rebuilder. Starting with a replacement part request, other claims could be forthcoming. These range from labor for removal and reinstallation, which can sometimes exceed three hours, to and including alignment, possible towing charges, rental car and even...
Anyone who
Although it shared many common dimensions, looked much the same and even had a few common parts, it was totally redesigned to provide more power with lower emissions and better fuel economy. Compared to the 1991 Chevy 350 L98 with TPI, the LT1 made 20% more horsepower, got better...
Cleaning is the cornerstone of every rebuilding operation, be it a small one or two man shop or a large scale production facility. Dirt, oil, grease, carbon and other contaminants must all be removed from components that are being processed so they can be inspected, machined and restored to like-new...
Those of us who have been in the valve business all of our career tend to forget that everybody else hasn
Sometimes we need to exceed even our own expectations. That’s the message from Jim Ormsby, incoming Production Engine Remanufacturers Assoc-iation (PERA) president and current general manager of Franklin Power Products, a production engine remanufacturer (PER) located in Franklin, IN. They’re words that all PERA members should take to heart if...
The numbers speak for themselves. The annual replacement market for front-wheel drive axle shafts, all-wheel drive axle shafts and four-wheel drive shafts is estimated to be around 12 million units a year and growing with total sales in excess of $450 million. Within five years, the number of shafts being...
The usual core supplier issues are all alive and well, and the talk among those in the core business continues to revolve around supply and demand, domestic and import cores, parts proliferation and the like. But this year there is a new concern, that being the involvement of Ford Motor...
A year ago, we described the term "application specific" as the buzzword of the aftermarket brake business. It was, and still is an important issue, brought about by the end of the "one friction material fits all" concept and awareness of how brakes perform in different vehicle designs, plus advances...
These days, OEMs push the envelope in terms of precision engine building techniques. Will machine shops be able to pass added technology costs on to their customers? After a recent tour of the DaimlerChrysler Kenosha, WI, engine plant, I came away with a lot more questions than answers about the...
As often as not, a high performance or race engine is built to replace one that already exists. When that
In Part I of our annual profile of the custom engine rebuilder/machine shop market (see June, 1999 issue, page 54) we provided details on the average number of engines, cylinder heads and crankshafts produced monthly by the typical machine shop during production year 1998. Also included in Part I
Each year, the staff at Automotive Rebuilder magazine recognizes one machine shop that displays business practices that go above and beyond the norm. This year, along with input from the Engine Rebuilders Association (AERA), we have selected Metric Automotive Engineering (Pty) Ltd., from Germiston South, Republic of South Africa. Metric...
It is easy to do a performance three or four angle valve job, but it is very difficult to find a shop to properly do one for you. Well, I will explain to you the proper way to do a great performance valve job either using stones or pre-shaped...
There are probably few topics of more interest to machine shops and custom engine rebuilders than charges for specific shop labor operations. In January, Automotive Rebuilder surveyed 2,400 machine shop members of the Engine Rebuilders Association (AERA) throughout the U.S., asking for labor charges for 22 basic labor operations performed...
The average number of engines rebuilt by custom engine rebuilders/machine shops rose slightly in production year 1998 compared to production of engines in 1997. Machine shops rebuilt an average of 19.4 engines monthly in 1998 compared to 18.29 in 1997. An extensive survey of machine shops located primarily in the...
