Understanding The Mysteries Built Into The Ford Power Stroke Engine
After servicing and answering questions about these engines for several years, it finally occurred to me that the owners of these engines didn’t understand how they work – and, frankly, neither did many repair techs. I remember when Ford introduced the Navistar engine in the middle of 1994. The rumor on the block was that
Gaskets, Seals, Sealants and Fasteners
The factors that typically cause a gasket to fail include age, heat, thermal expansion, abrasion, pressure, vibration, corrosion, material breakdown or poor design. Some gaskets go the distance and others do not. With head gaskets, problems like detonation and engine overheating can damage the gasket very quickly, causing an otherwise good gasket to crack or
Mysterious Processes, Proven Results
While cryogenics – the technology for producing and using cold in a variety of ways – saw significant achievements in technology and applications in the latter half of the twentieth century?(and continuing, of course, today), scientists have been developing ways to make things colder and colder since the late 1800s. The successful process of liquifying
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
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: July 2009
The Modular Block ‘Main Event’ When performing main bearing housing bore work on an LS1, LS2, Ford 4.6L or other modular blocks the following procedures should be followed. First do all of your cap indexing, with cutting or aftermarket cap installation, then put the final torque on the mains. Next, install both cylinder heads and
Restoration Market Holding Strong
In 2008, the restoration market held its ground and fended off economictroubles. With the overall market shuddering in the wake of myriaddisasters, enthusiasts looking to restore their automotive passion andcollector cars came through decidedly. Despite a small dip in retail sales, the restoration marketplacesurvived 2008 with $1.45 billion in retail sales, just 3% off theprevious
Ernie Silvers Selected as Candidate for the SEMA Board of Directors
The SEMA Board Select Committee has chosen Egge CEO Ernie Silvers as a candidate for the 2009 SEMA Board of Directors’ election. Silvers is part of the prestigious slate of 10 candidates for six open seats. "Put a New Face On…" is the theme of the campaign for Ernie Silvers. The central campaign piece is
Crankshaft Balancing
The first step in understanding crankshaft balancing is to understand the purpose of the counterweights. The counterweights are designed to offset the weight of the rod and pistons. You have the weight of the crankshaft and the pistons and rods. At any point in the assembly’s rotation, the sum of all of the forces are
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: April 2009
Top 10 Machine Shop Business Tips Engine Pro recently held a series of 8 focus-group meetings in the Midwest. Each meeting consisted of 8 to 10 machine shop owners and a moderator. Three questions were asked during the meeting. “What’s working? What’s not working? What do you need most to help you ‘make it’ for
The Truth About Valve Springs
Valve springs are one of the most critical and most overlooked components in your engine.Proper selection of the valve spring begins with identifying theapplication and selecting all of the valve train components to achievethe engine builders’ goals. Thespring is selected to complement the system and must be matched withthe entire valve train in order for
Time for Chains: Stock and Performance Timing Sets
Timing chains and gears are engine parts that are usually replaced when an engine is rebuilt. Over time, gear teeth wear and chains stretch. This can cause noise, retarded valve timing (and ignition timing if the engine also has a cam-driven distributor), and a noticeable loss of performance and fuel economy. A new timing chain,
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
What’s Rockin’ In Performance Rocker Arms and Valve Springs
Horsepower is in the heads. But for a cylinder head to breathe efficiently, the valvetrain must be rigid and strong to minimize flex, but also lightweight. For most performance applications, that means replacing the stock rocker arms, valve springs and pushrods with some type of aftermarket roller rocker arms, stiffer valve springs and stronger pushrods.
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: September 2008
Top 10 Machine Shop Business Tips TIP #2 – Get The Job In The Door: As one shop owner who is also a fly fisherman put it, “You gotta set the hook.” Most shop owners would agree that once the job hits the floor it turns to cash. The key to getting more jobs to
Taming The New Tiger
Say the name Arnie “Farmer” Beswick and many an old Pontiac fan will nod and share a story or two about Arnie and his legendary GTO, the Tameless Tiger. About two hours down the highway in Illinois, Jim Riskovsky, owner of Turbo Connection in Edwardsville, IL, is learning to tame his own tiger, his 2005
Pointers for Servicing Leaky Gaskets
Question: When replacing leaky gaskets on an engine, do I just scrape or peel off the old gaskets, or do I have to do something else? Answer:Removing gaskets used to be a fairly simple procedure. Most enginesused to have cast iron blocks and heads, with iron manifolds andstamped steel covers. Iron castings could withstand a
Fueling the Need for Performance Fuel Systems
Consider this – a high 10 second drag car will burn up one gallon of gasoline in 25 seconds or less, but a car that can run a 7 second E.T. will burn the same amount of fuel in half the time. The physics involved with fuel flow to create horsepower is difficult for even
AAIA Releases Newly-Expanded 2009 Aftermarket Factbook & Lang Annual
The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) has released its newly-expanded 2009 Aftermarket Factbook & Lang Annual, featuring more than 300 pages of one-of-a-kind industry trends and analysis. Now conveniently compiled in a single publication is the 98-page traditional AAIA Aftermarket Factbook and the 210-page Lang Aftermarket Annual. Hundreds of trends cover six distribution channels, 16
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
EngineQuest Unveils New Web Site
EngineQuest (EQ), the engine parts division of AAEQ Manufacturers and Recyclers, recently introduced its new Web site at www.enginequest.com. The Web site features out-of-production or hard-to-find automotive engine parts for import and domestic vehicles that include gas or diesel applications. “Much of the EQ product line was developed in response to specific requests for help,”