Coretalk: Consolidated Mfg. Cuts Staff, Shifts Focus Away From Remanufacturing
During a plantwide meeting in late February, company officials told 100 workers their jobs were eliminated. The company retained 20 employees for 30 to 60 days to handle the transition, said Greg Gordon, company president. Consolidated will retain 18 employees. The company, founded in 1940 and one of the nation’s first Ford Motor Co. engine
Ward’s Auto World Names 12th Annual ‘Top 10 Best Engines’
Ward’s Auto World Names Twelfth Annual ‘Top 10 Best Engines’ The winners of “Ward’s 10 Best Engines” awards for 2006 demonstrate U.S. auto consumers still can have it all: many of the winning engines highlight sophisticated new technology that generates exhilarating performance – but also improves fuel economy. The 2006 list marks the 12th year
Coretalk: IMCA Engine Claims Top 400 Through Late Season
A total of 402 claims were made through late September, including 149 in the Modified division, 113 in the Stock Car class and 136 in the Hobby Stocks. There were also two claims in the Sprint Car division and one each in the Northern SportMod and Jeff’s Performance Southern SportMod classes. Claims so far in
Machine Maintenance: Don’t Neglect Your Shop’s Other Machines
Over the past couple of years we’ve discussed the various maintenance requirements for your big machines – surface grinders, crank grinders, cleaning machines, etc. Now we’re going to take a look at five other devices that play an important part in building the best possible engines for your customers – the air compressor, hydraulic press,
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
Coretalk: Pentagon 9/11 Survivor To Keynote PERA Convention
After American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, very close to his second floor office, LTC Birdwell was thrown to the ground and engulfed in flames. Of the burns that consumed 60 percent of his body, nearly half were third-degree burns. With more than 30 operations and months of multiple skin grafts and burn
Engine Parts Coatings
Lubricity, heat management, corrosion protection and cosmetics. These are the main benefits that coatings can provide when applied to the surface of various engine parts. But there are different coating materials for different purposes, so the key to maximizing engine durability and performance with coated parts is using the right coating materials in the right
Coretalk: Sunnen, RMC Form Strategic Alliance To Market Equipment
This Sunnen/RMC alliance is effective immediately. RMC products will be sold under the Sunnen/RMC brand. Sunnen’s team of field engineers and service specialists will now represent and support the RMC line. “The new Sunnen/RMC branded products complement Sunnen’s existing product line,” said Mike Haughey, Sunnen’s chief operating officer. Ray Meyer, president of RMC, agreed: “The
Common Technologies, Uncommon Fuels, New Challenges
There is a “shade tree law” from the 1970s that states that computing capacity doubles every few years. In fact, computing capacity for the size of the computer or device has outstripped that by several orders of magnitude in the last five years. As evidence of that, we now see cell phones that were only
The Lives of Lifters, What You Need to Know
It’s like any other mechanical part in an engine. It has a simple yet specifically designed function, it’s not overly complicated and it’s definitely not the proverbial rocket science, tricked-out part. But there’s more to know about the valve lifter than you may think. First off, there are two distinct styles of lifters used in
Searching For The Complete Clean
Many shops have systems that work well for one but not so well on the other. Are there effective ways to clean both types of metal with one setup? The answer to that depends, in large part, on what you consider clean. Most shops have some type of cleaning equipment, whether it is an automated
Building Drag Racing Engines and Modification Work
Although drag strips are far outnumbered by oval tracks in the United States – approximately 1,043 oval tracks to just 295 drag strips – the number of competitors in drag racing nearly equals those in the circle track ranks. The NHRA alone has more than 35,000 licensed members. One reason might be that virtually any
Crankshafts:Stock and Performance
The crankshaft is the working arm of the engine. All the force generated by combustion and the downward motion of the pistons is focused on the crank throws. The leverage effect of the force exerted on the crank journals twists the shaft and converts the up-and-down reciprocating motion of the pistons into rotational motion of
The Latest in TIG Welding Techniques & Equipment
Like the swallows coming back to Capistrano, the monarch butterflies finding the same wintering site in Mexico generation after generation or the buzzards returning faithfully to Hinckley, OH, in my neck of the woods, I am back with an annual March update on TIG welding in general and welding aluminum cylinder heads and other engine
Making Horsepower and Horse Sense From Your Dyno
A dyno can give an engine builder an enormous wealth of information and even separate the truth from lies. It’s one thing for a builder to have an idea of what the engine he or she is building is capable of and quite another to know exactly what’s been created. That’s because a dyno, more
Blast Cleaning Technology
The future, they promised us, would be full of amazing things. We would be commuting in flying cars, we would be using robots to do most of our manual chores and space travel would be fairly routine. First, the future was 1984 – then it was 2001. Now, in 2005 we do have highly exotic
Machine Maintenance
Is your shop a safe place to work? Good question, isn’t it? What do I mean when I say is your shop safe? Let’s put everything into perspective. One injury could potentially cost you everything. Lest you think I’m being overly dramatic, consider this … while working on an important job your top machinist gets
Tractor Pulling: It’s Not Your Granddad’s John Deere Anymore
Tractor pulling has been with us for as long as there have been tractors. Farmers used to pull their horses, mules or oxen and, just as today, each bragged that he had the biggest and strongest. Today, at the top echelons of pulling, the technology is equal to anything else in motorsports. Although you won’t
Crankshafts and Bearings – Keeping the Relationship Strong
Today’s engines typically have very tight tolerances everywhere and the crankshaft bearings are no exception. The truer the crank is in its alignment with the mainline and cylinder bore, the tighter the tolerances can be. Bearings and mainline bores must be very precise because during operation the crankshaft is not actually straight: it is elastic.
Washington Way
OSHA MSD Rules Make Workplace Safety Rules Even More Confusing Small shops aren