Crack Detection
Take a look in the mirror. Smiling back at you, you’ll notice that row of pearly whites. They probably look pretty good. Maybe a bit stained from coffee or smoking, but overall, they seem to be pretty solid, right? If you’re like many people, the fear sets in as soon as you sit down in
Drag Racing Engines
From the early days of drag racing up until the recent past, racers built everything for their cars themselves, from the engines and chassis to the shop equipment. Most racing teams pulled their racecars to the track behind the family station wagon or pickup truck. The personalities who participated in the sport were as colorful
Performance Drag Racing Heads
A quarter-mile strip of asphalt is not a great distance. But drag racing isn’t about distance. It’s about time. The car that reaches the finish line first wins the race. But the car that wins isn’t always the fastest car or the quickest car. It’s usually the car that runs with the most consistent elapsed
Timing Chain Selection: And a look at ‘new’ and ‘how to’
The simple timing chain: it has a distinct function, yet constantly changing designs, materials, procedures and refinements make for a part that seems to evolve by the month. With such changes going on, how do we know what chain and gears are the best to use on a particular engine? When the automobile was invented,
Line Boring Equipment: A Boring Subject?
But as the British philosopher Bertrand Russell noted, "Change is one thing; progress is another." While some might say the basic techniques for line boring main and cam bearing bores in engine blocks hasn’t changed much in 30 years others say that isn’t such a bad thing. A horizontal boring bar with cutters mounted on
Machine Maintenance, Follow The Clues To Avoid The Comeback Blues
Even before you start the teardown, you can gather many clues about what needs to be done. Encourage your counter guys to engage in as much conversation with the customer as possible. Just listening to him tell why he is bringing you this engine will yield tons of information that goes a long way toward
Pistons and Pins: What’s New
Asking piston manufacturers “what’s new” reveals a number of trends that are reshaping the piston business today. One is that there’s no longer a time lag of three or four years for aftermarket piston suppliers to tool up for the latest piston applications. Production engine remanufacturers (PERs) and custom engine rebuilders (CERs) are asking for
Advances in Cleaning Equipment
You could argue that the dishwasher is one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century. Up until its introduction in households, people had to wash each dish individually, by hand, and dishpan hands were common among women and children. But the dishwasher changed all of that for families, and on its arrival, children everywhere
Balancing Equipment: a weighty matter
Everybody knows what balance is, right? You maintain your own balance by centering your body mass over your feet. If you lean too far forward or backward, or too far to the left or right, you’ll lose your balance and fall unless you grab hold of something or reposition your feet. Moving your center of
Rebuilding The Ford 4.6L
That’s good news for rebuilders, because most of them are in vehicles that are worth fixing when they need an engine, but there’s some bad news, too. Ford has made a lot of changes over the years, so building the right engine can be a challenge. In fact, if you include the front cover with
Old Iron: Old Gaskets And Seals Won’t Stop Vintage Job Profits
It has been a long time, but I still remember – despite the snow on the roof. I had to go through a flathead Ford to try and seal it up and clean the engine for a restoration project. This was about 35 years ago. At the time I found fairly quickly that when it
Performance Notes, How To Compete With The Crate Motor Business
If you are a regular reader of the performance automotive consumer magazines you may have spotted a trend – many of the feature cars and tech articles are focused on crate motors. To an engine builder specializing in custom high performance engines, and for engine builders looking to get into the performance arena, this could
Head and Block Resurfacing
Resurfacing cylinder heads and engine blocks is an essential aspect of engine building today, whether the work is being done by a production engine rebuilder, a high performance specialist or small custom shop. Bimetal engines, multi-layer steel (MLS) head gaskets and tighter assembly tolerances make accurate surfacing more critical than ever before. The key to
Fast Lane, Is Diversification Your Key To Performance Profits?
In past “Fast Lane” columns I have talked about how important it is for a shop to start slowly when entering the high performance and motorsports field. Starting slowly would mean starting with just one type of engine, or racing “class” or organization, so that you can become very good at what you do. To
Cutting Edge Tooling – Superabrasives in the Shop
The need for faster production speeds and higher quality surface finishes has made superabrasives almost mandatory for most resurfacing, honing and grinding operations. What makes these materials so indispensable for engine building today? Their superior hardness is a major factor because it provides outstanding tool life that far exceeds conventional abrasives. A set of metal
Performance Notes, Inspiration Leads To Innovation For Resurfacing Tool
All too often we start with a good rebuildable engine core only to find the camshaft thrust surface has taken a beating at some time in its previous life. This is not a new problem for engine builders. Machinists have come up with a number of solutions to these problems throughout the years. Some of
What Are The Costs?
In the equipment industry, it’s a similar situation. Change and development have been furious. Advancements in technology have made nearly every step of the rebuilding process more exact than ever, which has made it easier for shops to meet the ever-tightening tolerances and reach OE specifications. But these advancements haven’t come without their costs, both
Bringing Monsters To Life
The New York City native’s journey started out as a line mechanic in NY before tackling marriage and working in Florida. It only took him a year in the sun before he returned to New York to work at the soon-to-be famous Motion Performance. His job description there was builder, tuner and driver of the
Head Gaskets – Sealing the Engine
Sealing an internal combustion engine has never been easy. In the last 100 years gasket manufacturers have tried many things, including paper, leather and even beef tallow, to try and seal the joint between the head and block. Today, engine leaks are not what they used to be but can still be quite a headache
Aqueous Cleaning Systems Offer Economical, Ecological Benefits
As concern for the environment and worker safety has increased over the years, attention paid to the cleaning processes used in engine rebuilding facilities has sharpened as well. No matter what size the shop, engine components are dirty and need to be cleaned. There are numerous ways to clean parts, of course, and no method