Crankshafts:Stock and Performance
The crankshaft is the working arm of the engine. All the force generated by combustion and the downward motion of the pistons is focused on the crank throws. The leverage effect of the force exerted on the crank journals twists the shaft and converts the up-and-down reciprocating motion of the pistons into rotational motion of
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
Has Hot Honing Cooled Off?
No matter how perfectly straight and round it may be when it is machined, a cylinder bore will change shape when cylinder heads are installed and when the engine reaches normal operating temperatures. During a presentation at the 2002 PRI Show, the subject of “Hot Honing” caused a tremendous stir of excitement among performance engine
PERA’s Core Corner: Solving The Riddle Of The V10 Chrysler Cylinder Head
In this month’s Core Corner, we ask the question: “When is something you know not what you think you know?” Sounds like a mystery, doesn’t it? For example, when is a car not a car? When it turns into a parking lot! I know, I know – don’t quit my day job. But that really
Fast Lane: Boundless Opportunities Await You in 2005
By now you have all made your New Year’s resolutions, and hopefully, at least one of those goals tions is to look for new opportunities that will help your business become even more successful. This month’s column should give you some help in keeping that resolution. The elections are finally over and the economy is
Coretalk: GM, DaimlerChrysler Join Forces To Produce Hybrid Automobile Engines By ’07
Although financial terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed, the collaboration is likely to involve an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars between the automakers. The first of the vehicles is to debut in 2007 – when Toyota has said it hopes its hybrid model sales will total several hundred thousand worldwide. GM, which has
Piston Ring Technology: Stock and Performance
Piston rings have one of the toughest jobs inside an engine. They’re slammed up and down between the ring lands thousands of times a minute; they’re subjected to searing temperatures and extreme pressures; and they’re constantly scraping back and forth against the cylinder walls. In spite of all of this, the rings are expected to
What A Year It’s Been…What!? It’s Been A Year?
As I sit here pondering the many topics I could choose to write about for my last column of 2004, I’m suddenly struck by the unbelievable fact that it is December already! Of 2004! Where did 2003 go? What happened to April, for crying out loud? Of course, the holiday shopping days always seem to
What A Year It’s Been…What!? It’s Been A Year?
As I sit here pondering the many topics I could choose to write about for my last column of 2004, I’m suddenly struck by the unbelievable fact that it is December already! Of 2004! Where did 2003 go? What happened to April, for crying out loud? Of course, the holiday shopping days always seem to
Tractor Pulling: It’s Not Your Granddad’s John Deere Anymore
Tractor pulling has been with us for as long as there have been tractors. Farmers used to pull their horses, mules or oxen and, just as today, each bragged that he had the biggest and strongest. Today, at the top echelons of pulling, the technology is equal to anything else in motorsports. Although you won’t
What’s Hot In Performance – Cams, Lifters & Rockers
The camshaft is really the heart of every performance engine because the cam defines the engine’s breathing potential, its torque curve and peak horsepower. The camshaft controls when the valves open, how quickly they open, how far they open (with some help from the rocker arms), how long the valves are held open, and when
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’
Big-Inch Cadillac’s
While some engines are relatively rare in machine shops, the big Cadillacs have remained a consistent source of income. These engines are Cadillac’s last big hurrah at traditional big-cube, flagship GM engines. Surprisingly, they are also a scaled-down version of a V-12 engine that made it through early production and road-testing before being scrapped as
2004 AETC Conference
The 14th annual Advanced Engine Technology Conference (AETC) saw a return to the Antlers Adam’s Mark, in downtown Colorado Springs, CO, Jan. 8-11. The return to this facility, though higher priced than those used in the recent past, was requested by a poll of last year’s attendees because of the higher quality of the hotel
Building Drag Racing Cylinder Heads
One thing every drag racer wants is to go faster – even bracket racers. There are lots of ways to shave tenths of seconds and even whole seconds off an elapsed time. It all comes down to how much money the racer is willing to spend in his quest for speed. One way to go
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
Lord(s) Of The (Piston) Rings
“He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.” – Gandalf, Fellowship of the Rings. This is certainly not the case with piston ring technology, although Gandalf from the Lord of The Rings never directed his comments towards engine builders or piston ring manufacturers. Piston ring manufacturers
Pushrods – Key To Performance
Pushrods are the weakest link in the upper valvetrain. Pushrods transfer and redirect the upward motion of the lifters, which goes in one direction, to the rocker arms which move in another direction. Consequently, they are subjected to bending forces as the load and engine speed increases. For stock engines, mild steel stock pushrods are
TIG Welding Opportunities: Working Magic In Cylinder Head Emergencies
Is there a machine in your shop that can be said to work magic? Not only can it fill cracks and repair broken castings, it has the power to create profits, restore power and turn back the hands of time. You might call it a TIG welder, but many of your most desperate customers will
In Search Of New Markets, Mike Jeffries
Looking for new markets is one of the toughest things we do, so every time the phone rings we listen for an opportunity. Most of what we find is suspect, but over the past 12 months we have rebuilt a number of compact diesels and sold a number of rebuild kits. As a result we