Classic Muscle: Kammer & Kammer Make Mopar Magic
Most of the time, amateur racers are customers at the nationally known Kammer & Kammer Mopar High Performance Shop in Dayton, OH. Kammer says his business consists of about 65 percent racing and 35 percent street performance, and the most important thing he provides is a good relationship between himself and his customer. “When I
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: May 2010
Don’t Just Absorb Incidental Charges There are lots of bad habits that machine shop owners get into over the years that can suck the profit out of a job. One bad habit is quoting a job and forgetting about the extra costs that are typically absorbed. Many shops do not charge for incidental charges that
Selling Vintage Speed Can Help Business Until Business Gets Better
Due to these hard times, fewer customers are looking for your services, and they’re looking to spend as little money as possible. A small shop can survive on low-margin jobs for only so long before the overhead simply eats you alive. One alternative plan is to add a line of vintage performance engines that command
Balance of Power
Everyone is looking for balance in their lives – balance between work and family, between responsibility and recreation, between give and take. Too much of one at the expense of the other can lead to dire consequences. The same thing can be said about the engines you rebuild. Balance between the crankshaft and its related
Building to Race, Racing to Win
Building championship-caliber engines isn’t a new concept to Jeff Williams. Since he started building his first stroker 302 Ford at age 14, the West Texas native/Southern California transplant has been looking for ways to go faster than his competition. These days, that’s often a very challenging assignment. But more on THAT in a minute. “I’ve
SSSSSnake Bit!
In 1974, America watched 93 cars get destroyed in a 34-minute car chase. “Gone In 60 Seconds,” an independent film written, produced and directed by and starring Toby Halicki was an otherwise forgettable ’70s movie. The plot revolved around Mandrian Pace (Halicki) and his car thief cronies and 48 cars that they needed to steal
Performance Carburetors
Carburetors persist because they are relatively simple and inexpensive compared to electronic fuel injection (EFI). Most racers and hot rodders are familiar with carburetors and know something about how to install, tune and adjust a carburetor. They may not always do it right, but all they usually need is a screwdriver and a wrench. They
Five Ways To Break The Nose of a Crankshaft
Scat Crankshafts has determined that 99 percent of the time it is the parts that are being used in conjunction with the crank and the additional machining done to the parts that are being used with the crank that are mostly responsible for crank breakage, NOT the crank. 1. IMPROPER MACHINED CRANK GEARS • Champher
Grassroots Road Racing: Will They Line Up For Your Engine Expertise?
Are there any opportunities in grassroots road racing? The answer depends on what is being raced. For the most part, track day cars and spec classes are going to offer only a few opportunities for engine builders, but there is a bright side in that you may get to do work for these racers after
Stroker Tips – Getting It All to Fit
Almost since the first production engine rolled off the line, people have known that when it comes to power, it’s cubic inches or cubic dollars. In some cases both. There’s only two ways to get more cubes – bigger bore and longer stroke – so engine builders use both to get the performance they want
Stroker Tips – Getting It All to Fit
Almost since the first production engine rolled off the line, peoplehave known that when it comes to power, it’s cubic inches or cubicdollars. In some cases both. There’s only two ways to get more cubes –bigger bore and longer stroke – so engine builders use both to get theperformance they want from the available components.
Piston Options and Opportunities
The sport compact market, it was thought, was going to breathe new life into the performance engine market, and for many years, the rapid growth of the market seemed to indicate that there was no limit to how big those little engines could get. Then something happened: to quote Engine Builder columnist and performance expert
Kicking Asphalt
In this election year it somehow seems appropriate to talk about a movement that reaches the common citizen…the working man…the small-business person. Political rhetoric aside, it has the potential to gain traction in the industry and showcase what’s great about America – grassroots road racing. There are no multi-million dollar sponsorships (multi-million dollar wallets not
Connecting Rods: So Many Choices
Choosing a set of connecting rods for a performance engine is not as simple as it sounds. The rods you ultimately choose to use in an engine will depend on a number of factors, each of which can be critical to the life of the motor and the success of your customer. Your decision will
Still The Same Old Grind?
The market for crankshaft grinding has changed a great deal in recent years. With many passenger car and light truck engines now lasting upward of 200,000 miles, there’s much less demand for grinding crankshafts than there used to be. By the time the engine needs major work, the vehicle has often depreciated to the point
Balance of Power (and Profit)
One of the keys to a smooth running, long lasting engine is proper balance of the reciprocating and rotating parts. When a crankshaft is out of balance, the uneven distribution of weight can generate centripetal forces that shake the engine with increasing intensity as engine rpm goes up. Centripetal force (which many people mistakenly call
Kansas
Kenny Burns, machine shop manager for Harry’s Machine Works, Inc., Dodge City, KS, has won the 2007 MAHLE Clevite Machinist of the Year Award. Burns is an ASE Master Engine Machinist. He is ASE-certified as a cylinder head specialist, cylinder block specialist and engine assembly specialist, and is also a member of the Engine Rebuilders
Bringing A GenIII LS1 Stroker Back to Life
Performance engine builing is as old as the first Model T rebuild, but thanks to today’s new engine platforms and a plethora of aftermarket equipment, many engine builders can be intimidated by the scope of the possibilities. But, as we highlight in this article, there are basic engine practices and philosophies that work whether it
R & R Engine and Machine: The 2006 Machine Shop of the Year
Over the hill? Hardly. Celebrating 40 years in business, R&R Engine & Machine feels more relevant than ever. With a positive outlook and a refusal to stand still, the Akron, Ohio-based winner of the Engine Builder Machine Shop of the Year Award proves 40 isn’t the end of the good times – it’s the best
Scratching The Niche
If you have been a reader of this magazine for any length of time, you’ll know that one thing is certain: this isn’t the same industry it was even just a few years ago. Not so long ago, a car or truck that was more than six years old would have been considered a junker,