Advanced Machine Tooling
The key to boosting productivity is to remove more metal in less time. However, faster cutting speeds and feeds require tooling inserts that can take the heat and abuse without dulling. To achieve these goals, tooling suppliers have come up with various cutter shapes, edge geometries and surface coatings that significantly improve tool performance and
When Parts Collide: VW?And Audi Engine Repair?Information
Nothing makes this truer than the changes in automobile engine design over the last 20 years or so. For example, in the early 1970s, VW/Audi designed a small, efficient and reliable engine that was easy to work on and made use of the then fairly new technology of a rubber timing belt without the possibility
Take Care of Your Tooling and It
Let’s face it, when you invest in new state-of-the-art equipment, some or most of that investment is in the tooling. That tooling needs proper care – especially if you want your new machine to perform according to the manufacturer’s specs. These newer machines don’t have a clue that your tooling is dull, bent, nicked, burred,
Cummins B Series Engine Rebuilds
The Cummins B Series engine was developed by Cummins for use in a variety of industrial applications such as aircraft tugs, wood chippers, drill rigs, material handling equipment, etc. The B Series engine was developed as an American alternative to Perkins, Deutz and other industrial engines in the 70-150 HP range. Unlike those industrial engines
Get Ready For The Perfect Storm
Prior to $5 per gallon gas many of us wouldn’t have given the sport compact market a second thought. After 13 years of meteoric growth, the high performance sport compact market stalled, nosed over, and settled into a holding pattern. The Fast & Furious crowd just lost interest. The huge sport compact enthusiast books suffered
Race Engine Pistons and Rings
Cubic inches is the name of the game today. The performance piston market is being driven by bigger bore blocks and stroker crankshafts. A few years ago, a 540 cubic inch motor was a monster motor. Nowadays, some professional drag racers are running engines as large as 850 cubic inches, and 600-plus cubic inch big
New Metals-New Challenges
Cast iron is like an old familiar friend to most of our readers because it’s been around forever. Vehicle manufacturers like cast iron because it’s cheap compared to most other metals, it is strong and durable, and it can be easily cast and machined to make engine blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts, connecting rods and other
Riding the Powersport Wave
If you just look at the number of engines being built year after year – a steady downward trend – it may seem like there is no way to survive in this industry by building production automotive engines. However, most shops that are thriving have found something that gives them an edge. You have to
Shop Line
Q: I’ve had difficulty getting the main bearing clearances correct on some Ford 2.5L engines. Do you know of any updates? A: The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information regarding the main bearing bore for 1993-2002 Ford 2.5L VIN B and KL engines. This engine is made by Mazda and has been used in
Tech Notes
Engine Builders: The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information on coolant loss on 2001-2004 GM 6.6L diesel VIN 1 engines. Some owners may comment on engine coolant loss with no visible leaks. Excessive white smoke or a coolant type odor coming from the exhaust pipe, along with low coolant levels, may indicate coolant entering
Coretalk: NAPA Awards Crank Biz To Hi-Tech’s New Venture
The Hi-Tech Blueprint series crankshaft is restored to the original factory blueprint specifications. Blueprint Series crankshafts are delivered directly to NAPA stores in the U.S. on an overnight basis, including a program for Alaska and Hawaii. The company offers application coverage for more than 1,000 part numbers for auto, truck and marine. “NAPA chose this
The Latest in TIG Welding Techniques & Equipment
Like the swallows coming back to Capistrano, the monarch butterflies finding the same wintering site in Mexico generation after generation or the buzzards returning faithfully to Hinckley, OH, in my neck of the woods, I am back with an annual March update on TIG welding in general and welding aluminum cylinder heads and other engine
The Mid-range Diesel Engine Market
The diesel engine market is a very complex one, but it can be broken down into three basic categories: light-, medium- and heavy-duty. These categories could then be broken down further into on-highway, off-highway and agricultural. In 2004 roughly 1.5 million new diesel engines were produced in North America, a whopping 79.6 percent of which
Not So Stock: NASCAR Motors and Their Street Counterparts
The engines in NASCAR’s newly introduced Strictly Stock class of stock car racing in 1949 were literally stock, right off the dealer’s showroom floor. Today, they’re anything but. So what happened? Evolution. Like any sport or industry, evolution has moved NASCAR racing to where it is today, a multi-million dollar business. The engines, called ‘motors’
Sprint Car Motors
While the World of Outlaws, the All Stars, and USAC are the most well known of the sprint car racing organizations in this country, there are nearly fifty organizations that sanction sprint car racing. In addition, that doesn’t take into account the racetracks throughout the country that have their own division of sprint cars. Although
Putting the ‘Power’ in Powersports
Performing rebuilds and other machine services on ATVs, personal watercraft (PWC) and snowmobile engines may provide your shop with a little added boost during a down period without having to retool your entire shop. However, to make the most of the opportunity, you should know what type of market you can serve best – ATV,
Rebuilding The Chrysler 2.7L
It was rated at 200 HP and it was originally used as the base motor in the Intrepid and Concorde, but it’s been the optional engine in the Stratus and Sebring since 2001 and it will be the standard engine in Chrysler’s new 300 sedan that’s coming out later this year. So, while there are
Maintenance Means You’re Set For Honing, Not Moaning
Let’s start with one of the main ingredients of honing: the honing oil. Automotive type transmission fluid is NOT honing oil. Period! Don’t let me catch you using tranny fluid in your honing machine! Honing oils are not all alike either. Always use the highest quality honing oil from a supplier you can trust. It
The Future Of Boring Is Exciting
Boring out cylinders to accept oversized pistons or sleeves has long been a common practice in the engine rebuilding business. Boring allows worn blocks to be salvaged, and stock cylinder bores to be enlarged for more displacement. More recently, boring is also being used to install special cylinder liners with hard surface treatments in high
Little Engines, Big Money
For the rebuilding facility familiar with typical automotive or heavy-duty engines, the small displacement, four-cycle, air-cooled engine may seem insignificant. After all, these one-cylinder motors, which may produce just 5 hp, are found in lawn mowers, rototillers and kiddy go karts, for cryin’ out loud! Although the small four-cycle engines from Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh,