Building Your Business With Performance Engine Kits
As hard as it is to believe now, the concept of an “engine kit” hasn’t always been well understood. Thirty years ago or so, an engine builder who said he was buying an engine kit probably meant that he was headed to the hobby store to buy the “Visible V-8 Engine” plastic model for his
Coretalk: Recon Automotive Founder Armand J. Mancini Dies
He leaves behind his wife of 42 years, Carole, and three sons and a daughter – Armand, Vincent, Daniel and Carrie Mancini Young. He is also survived by three brothers, a sister and six grandchildren. Mancini was an icon of the automotive remanufacturing industry, having founded Recon in 1973 and building it into one of
Performance Pistons
Piston manufacturers are introducing new performance pistons for all of these applications as well as refining existing piston designs to reduce weight, and improve strength, durability and ring sealing. Piston design and manufacturing used to be a relatively low-tech process. Now, with the aid of finite element analysis and other computer modeling techniques, many aftermarket
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
Coretalk: PERA Promotes Profit At Tech/Marketing Meeting
The following is the agenda for the meeting: Friday, April 29 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. – Registration. 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. – PERA Continental Breakfast. 8:00 a.m. – Opening Remarks & Introductions. 8:15 a.m. – “Performance Market,” Scooter Brothers of Comp Cams. 9:00 a.m. – “Performance Market,” Ed Keibler. 9:45 a.m. – Refreshment Break. 10:00
Coretalk: AERA EXPO 2005 Set For Las Vegas Hilton In April
The EXPO will showcase leading edge technology with live, operating demonstrations of equipment, tools, supplies, parts and services. Exhibits will be open on Thursday, April 28, from 10:30 am-6 pm; Friday, April 29, from 10:30 am- 6:30 pm; and Saturday, April 30, from 10:30 am- 2:30 pm. EXPO will include a keynote address from NASCAR
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
Engine Kit Opportunities
In nearly all aspects of today’s competitive consumer market, the customer is king, brand means everything, and warranties on parts and services are a given, right? Great news for the value-minded shopper, but what about the supplier? In the automotive industry, of course, OEMs have been offering unprecedented warranties and financing terms for the past
PERA’s Core Corner
I am convinced that the 4.6L Ford SOHC V8 engine casting component proliferation is attempting to compete with the children’s movie “The Never Ending Story:” it just keeps changing as it goes along for no apparent reason. However, what we are going to look at today is more of a James Bond mystery since no
Topline Automotive Buys, Reopens Hylift Facility, Engine Builder, August 2004
A full-line of flat mechanical tappets, lash adjusters and encapsulated hydraulic roller lifters are again being produced by the original Hylift machines and team. The previous Hylift OE lines that were in Zeeland, MI, have now been relocated to the Muskegon plant. “The same people who made ‘The Beautiful Lifter’ are back manufacturing with precision
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
Pera’s Core Corner
In the quest to find the latest and greatest information about different casting identification, oddities and interchangeability to assist those within the engine remanufacturing or rebuilding industry, it is easy to lose sight of valuable information from the past. No, I am not talking about the ’50s and ’60s, although that may be an idea,
Core Corner
Whenever I see a new subdivision being built further out into the rural areas of larger cities, I think about the new owners, many of whom will be young married couples moving out of apartments or condos and finally getting to that place where they are ready to start a family. Once that baby booming
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
PERA’s Core Corner
Have you ever had a tune get stuck in your head and it seems to follow you everywhere? No matter what you do, or where you go, it continues to go around in your head over and over again. For me, that is what it feels like with this month’s subject, the 4.6L SOHC Ford
High Performance Piston Options
Ask the kid on the street what performance is and he’ll raise the hood of his Honda. Ask the Funny Car drag racer about performance and he’ll take you to the starting line to breathe the nitromethane. Ask the mother on vacation and she’ll tell you about driving to California from Indiana pulling a car
Rebuilding The Ford 2.0L
The old 1.9L was modified and upgraded in the process of making it into the 2.0L. The new engine was bored and stroked, it had siamesed cylinders that made the block stronger and quieter, the crank had four more counterweights that made it run smoother, and it had domed pistons for more compression. The
Increased crankshaft journal dimensions for 1995-2002 Kia 1.8L VIN 5 engines.
Engine Builders: The AERA Technical Committee offers the following information on increased crankshaft journal dimensions for 1995-2002 Kia 1.8L VIN 5 engines. The main journal diameter for the crankshaft of this engine was increased beginning with the 1998 model year. Mazda manufactured these engines prior to 1998 while Kia manufactured all subsequent engines. Use caution
Rebuilding the Ford 4.6L SOHC Engine
The 4.6L was lower, shorter and lighter than the 302, but the base engine made more power than the 302, got better fuel economy and passed all the emission tests without a thermactor pump. Ford called it its “modular” engine because it was part of a whole new family of engines that were intended to
Coretalk: September 2001
Ford Plans to Revamp Parts Distribution Network Ford Motor Co. is working to restructure and expand its United States parts distribution network to deliver service and repair parts to its dealers faster and more efficiently. Over the next three years, Ford plans to increase the number of parts distribution centers from 10 to 21, creating