Protecting Your Customers’ Info: Understanding The ‘Safeguards Rule’
By now, most shops should have implemented their information security programs and taken steps to ensure compliance with the Safeguards Rule. If you have not, we recommend taking steps to get in compliance immediately. If you have, it’s still important to periodically review and assess your program to ensure you remain in compliance. History President
Valve Seat Selection, Finishing & Materials
Over time, erosion and corrosion can eat away at the metal resulting in compression leaks, elevated valve temperatures and sometimes valve failure. If a valve seat insert doesn’t have the correct amount of interference fit in the cylinder head, it’s possible the seat may loosen up and fall out damaging the valve, head and piston.
Making Dollars and Sense Cleaning Blocks, Heads
Unless you’re starting with all new parts, cleaning is as important to your engine build as disassembly, inspection, machining and reassembly. Without taking the cylinder heads and engine blocks down to bare metal, you can’t properly inspect the castings for cracks, wear and other defects. For something so important, proper cleaning technique is often misunderstood, overlooked
Cylinder Bores-Machining To Sleeving
The function of a cylinder bore is fairly simple yet quite demanding. The bore is nothing more than a cylindrical void which contains the engine’s air/fuel mixture as it undergoes compression and combustion. The walls of the cylinder have to be strong enough and rigid enough to withstand high combustion pressures and temperatures
Diesel Engine Glow Plugs: Not Just For Starting Anymore
Since diesel engines ignite by using the heat of combustion, they usually need help when the climate changes to the cold of winter. Veteran owners of “old school” diesel engines understand what I’m talking about when I mention the “one-minute of silence.” This was the time every morning when you would turn the ignition switch
Waste Not, Want Not: Waste Oil Heaters Can Drastically Cut Costly Shop Heating Bills
The heater burned the waste oil that accumulated from oil changes and other jobs to produce heat for the shop. It was a great way of getting around the highcosts of natural gas used in conventional heaters, plus it got rid of all the used oil that the shop produced. So, if your shop creates
How to Tune Standalone ECUs for Smooth Idle
The idle control settings are not the most important thing to adjust to get a smooth idle. This may seem counter-intuitive, but consider this: If the engine is idling at constant load with the throttle held at a constant opening, shouldn’t you have a constant idle speed? If your idle surges or hunts under these
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: January 2012
Finding Better Ways to Clean Fasteners I work on all brands of American classic cars, and mostly rebuild their engines. Most of my clients desire the preservation of original parts as much as possible, especially exposed fasteners. Here are the ways I clean and detail head, pan, front cover, valve cover, intake and exhaust manifold
Champion Oil and Diesel Motorsports Announce 2012 Drag Racing Schedule
Diesel Motorsports has announced the following seven race schedule for the 2012 season: May 5, 2012 – Bungart Motorsport’s Sled Pulling Tune-up /Sled Pulling /Dyno Missouri State Fairgrounds, Sedalia, MO June 23, 2012 – Pure Diesel Power’s Thunder in Muncie /Drags /Pulls Gaston Lion’s Club, Muncie, IN July 20 -21, 2012 – 1-800Autoparts East Coast
Egge Machine Company Presented Motoring Legacy Award
Egge Machine Company was honored as the recipient of the 2012 Motoring Legacy Award presented by the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA). The honor recognizes Egge Machine’s outstanding achievements and high level of commitment to ensuring the continued drivability of classic cars. Based on club member ballots, the CCCA bestows The Motoring Legacy Award
Designing and Building a World-Record Beating Porsche V8
We would build for the Blown Gas Modified Sports (BGMS) class where the record is currently 231.5 mph. Another record we were after was the Porsche marquee record for the 928 of 205.6 mph. Our math told us that – because we knew our final drive ratio, tire diameters and engine redline; and if our
A Million Here, A Million There
First, Fisher’s a former winning sprint car driver running with the top-gun World of Outlaws and All-Star groups. Then, there’s the fact that he’s got the mind of a skilled surgeon when he probes the innards of his engines looking for more performance. The guy is a graduate engineer (Ohio State – 1975), but his
Cracked Cylinder Head Repair
It seems as if many cylinder heads are doomed to crack from the very start because of their lightweight construction and design. Aluminum overhead cam (OHC) heads, in particular, are often found to be warped as well as cracked. But so too are many pushrod cast iron heads. Cracks are often blamed as the cause
Hydraulic Camshafts and Lifters 101
Closing up the gap between the tip of the rocker arm and the top of the valve stem reduces the pounding effect that can accelerate valve and rocker wear. Because of this, most of the push rod engines that have been built for the last 60 years have come factory-equipped with hydraulic camshafts and lifters.
Five Top Suppliers Honored by Engine Parts Group
Companies recognized as Featured Suppliers included Durabond Bearing Co., Ferrea Racing Components, Hastings Piston Rings, Melling Engine Parts and SA Gear. Featured Suppliers are selected by EPGI members for exhibiting value by offering exceptional programs, policies, and working relationships. Companies chosen for the award also must be the primary source in its product category to
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: December 2011
Avoiding Hydraulic Timing Chain Tensioner Trouble Be certain to carefully follow the manufacturer’s recommended torque settings when installing hydraulic (oil pressure fed) timing chain tensioners. Over tightening the tensioner can result in distortion of the tensioner piston bore, which in turn can cause the piston to bind up in the bore instead of doing its
Gasket Surface Machining is Critical to Cylinder Head Repair
According to this representative, the relatively short production life of modern engines also shortens the time that an aftermarket gasket company needs to remedy application-specific cylinder head sealing problems. Another issue is that, if the company develops a superior gasket sealing design for specific applications, the engine might disappear from the market before the company’s
Subaru WRX Engine Mods & Dyno Testing
Balancing ultimate performance within legal parameters and practicality is what Z Sport (www.zsport.com) is all about. I spent several hours being shown their clean and well-equipped shop in Everett, WA. Manager Charles Damewood and Owner Gary Watts both were very helpful in explaining what it is that Z Sport does, and how their shop makes
Engine Rebuilding Technical Guide 2011
November 2011 GM 3.4/3.5L Back in 1980, GM introduced an all newV6 that originally displaced 2.8L/173 cubic inches, but over time it grew into a 3.1L/191 cid, a 3.4L/207 cid, a 3.5L/213 cid and finally a 3.9L/237 cid version in 2006. Contributing Editor Doug Anderson takes us through the
Understanding The Differences, Challenges Between Crankshaft Position Sensors
I have suggested to you to watch for this and make sure that you have that, and encouraged you to be certain that it is indexed to this position and so on. But I don’t believe that I have ever written about watching out for damaged as-cast reluctor rings, spark triggers or whatever other name