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Aqua Allisons – Part 1

The Allison engines were used just about every imaginable way. First, they were used as a single engine, then combined as a pair of them, and even three or four of them-all on a single vehicle. Since their development and release in aircraft in 1930, engine builders following WWII began to pry more power out of them and the rest is history.

Selecting Pushrods, Rockers and Springs for Your Build

Everybody knows you need the right combination of valvetrain components to maximize an engine’s power potential. The trick is figuring out which components are the “right” ones for a given application. A high revving engine with an aggressive cam needs lightweight rocker arms and stiffer valve springs to keep up with the cam.

Lining Up Sleeve and Liner Work

Whether their purpose is going to be repairing an OE application or to go all out in the restructuring of the engine block, liners and sleeves have to be able to perform a number of tasks. Here are some tips to help you with their installation:

Choosing the Correct Camshaft for the Build

Choosing a particular type of camshaft for an engine build is an important decision that has to be made before any other parts are ordered or machined. Choosing a cam requires answering some basic questions, the most important of which is the engine application itself.

Engine Break-In Oil and Assembly Lube Needs

Engine building is a process that should go well when everything is done correctly. A lot of things can go wrong during those first few minutes following the initial start-up of a freshly built engine. The engine has to build oil pressure quickly so all of the critical wear surfaces will receive lubrication.

Brand Building Efforts Solidify and Boost Customer Loyalty

If you think you’re too busy running your shop to focus on branding, you might want to think again. Thanks to longer service intervals and better-built cars, your customers don’t have to visit you as often as they did in the past. Having an established brand could certainly help you fend off the increased competition and build loyalty.

Web Tools: Improving Business Through the Internet and Social Media

For years, engine shops have used the Internet to try and increase business. But too often, a shop’s website wasn’t being used to it’s full potential. Today, engine professionals are using their website as a tool to increase profits by selling reman/rebuilt components from their shop online.

The Evolution of Surface Treatments

In the never ending quest for better performance, durability and reliability, various types of surface coatings and treatments have evolved as solutions for problems that have vexed engine builders for years. Coatings that were once considered exotic race-only solutions are now being used on a wide variety of stock and performance applications. If you’re not

Why Pushrods Fail

The Michigan firm Trend Performance is a manufacturer and supplier of pushrods. In 1988 when Bob Fox founded his pushrod company after working the phones as a tech rep at Diamond Racing, things were different. During his time at the piston company he noticed that the performance of competition pushrods was a little better than adequate—their

The Demands on Diesel Pistons and Sleeves

The pistons are some of the hardest working components inside a diesel engine. Diesel engines are high compression, high heat engines that demand a lot from their pistons. Compression ratios are typically in the 16:1 to 20:1 range, which improves thermal efficiency and fuel economy, but also creates more pressure. Cylinder pressures in many production

Pick-a-Part: Selecting Valvetrain Components for a Performance Build

Selecting the right components to make a race-worthy valvetrain is crucial to assembling an engine that will last – and win. The pushrods, rockers and valve springs must be able to handle all of the stresses of the camshaft rotating with high spring pressures and with huge lift. As we all know, weakness in any

Dyno-Might: Utilizing a Dynamometer to ‘Boost’ Engine Builds

Some would say that one of the criteria for being a “real” performance engine builder is having your own engine dyno. A dynamometer is not just a tool for measuring horsepower and torque (though some people think that’s all a dyno is used for). It’s a quality control tool that allows you to make sure

Time in a Bottle — Reasons Behind Changing Engine Oils

When I was just a young pup in the 1960s working on lubes for Shell Research and Development, passenger car motor oils (PCMO) were much simpler and easier to understand. There were only three performance levels: motor light (ML), motor moderate (MM), and motor severe (MS). Auto manufacturers and lube oil marketers worked closely with

Identifying and Removing the “Time Stealers” from Your Shop

Your engine shop may be great at rebuilding powerplants for customers, but one thing your staff can’t do is build “more time.” Whether it’s silver, gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies or even cold, hard cash, we take numerous measures each day to protect our valuable items, some more drastic than others. We use locks, banks, safes

Identifying and Removing the “Time Stealers” from Your Shop

Your engine shop may be great at rebuilding powerplants for customers, but one thing your staff can’t do is build “more time.” Whether it’s silver, gold, platinum, diamonds, rubies or even cold, hard cash, we take numerous measures each day to protect our valuable items, some more drastic than others. We use locks, banks, safes

Using Customer Feedback to Improve Your Business

As a business owner, feedback is generally accepted as a way to make improvements to your shop or services, and is even a helpful method to short-term and long-term business decisions. For most shop owners, customer feedback is often immediate, allowing you to act upon it quickly. Feedback. We all seem to get it —

Racing Oils

The latest API-certified SN and ILSAC GF-5 motor oils are fine for everyday driving in late model vehicles, but most off-the-shelf motor oils (even many synthetics) come up short in the anti-wear department in a racing application – especially if the engine is running a flat-tappet cam or a radical roller cam with a lot

Super Comp Drag Racing

There are no rules for engine size, but engine builders should look to build for consistency in this class What does it take to build a winning engine for Super Comp drag racing? The Super Comp drag racing class runs on a 8.90 time limit, with essentially no rules regarding engine displacement, carburetion or type

Racing Oils

Performance engines built for racing deserve the best possible lubrication. Ordinary street oils don’t cut it on a race track. By Larry Carley The latest API-certified SN and ILSAC GF-5 motor oils are fine for everyday driving in late model vehicles, but most off-the-shelf motor oils (even many synthetics) come up short in the anti-wear

Performance Gaskets & Surface Finishes

The most critical engine gaskets are the head gaskets since they have to withstand the heat and pressure of combustion. And unless the engine is a drag motor with a solid billet or filled block, the head gaskets also have to keep coolant out of the cylinders.   Many performance engines are capable of making