Power Adders: Turbos, Blowers and Nitrous
The engine can only inhale so much air because the atmospheric force that’s pushing air into the engine is only 14.7 lbs. per square inch at sea level. To make matters worse, atmospheric pressure decreases with elevation. Air density also decreases with temperature because hot air is thinner than cold air. Most stock naturally aspirated engines
MAHLE Clevite Introduces More Than 60 New Part Numbers in March
MAHLE Clevite Inc. says it introduced more than 60 new part numbers in March for various types of bearings, cylinder components, filters, gaskets, piston rings and turbochargers. The new part numbers are available for a range of light vehicle and heavy-duty applications. “In March, we introduced a total of 64 new part numbers for various
The Importance of Training
You’re gonna get it…training, thatis. You’re going to get trained one wayor the other. When it comes to business,you can do it the hard way or you can do it the easy way. Personally, I am far too lazy to work very hard, so I’ve always soughtthe easiest way to do things. Goodtraining is simply
How Do You Reuse Cummins ISX and QSX Connecting Rods?
There are two types of ISX & QSX connecting rods; “Drilled” and “Non-Drilled”. A drilledconnecting rod has an oil passage drilled up through the shank of the rod to supply lubrication tothe connection at the piston pin. A drilled rod can be used with either two piece articulated orone piece steel pistons. There is no
Big Block Chevy Cam Identification
While turning the distributor during diagnosis process your customer noticed the other four cylinders would start running and theoriginal four go dead. Now, since it is a big block I truly understooda phrase that my brother always used: "There is no substitute for cubicinches," because it did actually run on either of the four cylindersets.
Today’s Performance Connecting Rods
The crank and rods handle all the stresses of converting up and down motion to reciprocal motion. And when you are building a performance engine, those stresses are much higher and consequences of a failure are much greater. Therefore, selecting the right parts for your build is critical to the success of your engine and
MAHLE Clevite Inc. Introduces Over 60 New Part Numbers
The part numbers are available for a range of light vehicle and heavy duty applications. New part numbers are available for the following products: Air Filters, Oil Filters, Oil Filter and Pan Gaskets, Engine Camshaft Bearing Sets, Connecting Rod Bearings, Crankshaft Main Bearing and Thrust Washer Sets, Engine Pistons and Piston Pin Bushings, Catalytic
MAHLE Clevite Introduces 59 New Part Numbers
MAHLE Clevite says it introduced 59 new part numbers in December for various types of bearings, cylinder components, filters, gaskets and piston rings. The part numbers are available for a range of light vehicle and heavy-duty applications. New part numbers are available for the following products: air filters, cabin air filters, engine camshaft bearing
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
Holley to Supply EFI Throttle Bodies to NASCAR Teams in Transition to Fuel Injection
Holley has a long standing relationship with NASCAR helping assure high quality fuel delivery products have been supplied to their teams for over 40 years. Holley Carburetors have powered every professional NASCAR team since the 1960s. “Holley is proud to have powered the amazing machines found in NASCAR for over four decades. We’ve successfully delivered
PCV System: Sometimes Things Just Have To
I am certain that each and every one of you have, at some time in your life, experienced the horrific event of having the “wind” knocked out of you. If you can remember back to the first time it ever happened, before you knew that you would in fact breathe again, it was like you
Cam Drives and Timing Components
Cam timing plays a huge role in an engine’s power curve. Advancing cam timing shifts the power curve more toward the lower rpm range, while retarding it moves the power curve higher up the rpm scale. If an engine is being built for a particular application (stock, street/strip, drag race, circle track, you-name-it), how the
Smooth Moves: Today’s Surfaces Often Demand Different Finishes
When multi-layer steel (MLS) head gaskets became commonplace a number of years ago, there was a lot of concern that aftermarket surfacing procedures might not be able to reproduce the mirror-like finish that the vehicle manufacturers said was absolutely necessary to seal MLS head gaskets. The challenge was to duplicate the factory finish using out-dated
Racing Rotating Assemblies: Cranks, Rods and Pistons
Building a performance engine requires assembling the optimum mix of rotating components that are compatible with the block and heads, properly matched with each other, and balanced to precise tolerances. The easiest way to get the right combination of parts is to buy a complete rotating assembly from a supplier who offers such kits. Most
Build With Bolt-On Horsepower, But Proceed With Caution
Whether the speed equipment is old school hardware or electronic in nature, you can be sure it is designed to turn automobile engines into more efficient air pumps. “Because the engine really is an air pump, I tell my customers one of the biggest things they can do is bolt on a different exhaust system,”
Cleaning Cylinder Heads and Blocks
The cleaning process should remove all of the dirt, grease, oil, rust, scale and carbon deposits that have accumulated over the years. With painted castings, the old paint also has to be stripped away so the surface can be repainted. Even if you’re working with brand new castings, a final cleaning is still necessary after
Tips for Hotter Street & Strip Performance
Long’s HO Enterprises Performance Auto (www.hoenterprisesclassics.com) in Birnamwood, WI, sells hot rod parts, but his once traditional view on performance is changing as he sees his sons working on late-model imported cars with port fuel injection and “coffee can” exhausts. “Yeah, I think it’s all electronics now, but at least they’re car guys” Long points
Racing Oils
As a motorhead physicist, I get to look at engine lubrication from theviews of both an oil formulator and an engine failure analysis expert.Since I used nitromethane fuels when I raced funny cars, I’ve seen morethan my share of engine failures. I’ve also formulated oils for usewith alcohol and nitro burning engines, but let’s leave
Performance Lifters, Pushrods and Valve Springs
Low friction roller lifters replaced flat tappet lifters many years ago in stock production engines, but there are still plenty of hot flat tappet cams bumping the valves open in vintage muscle cars, street rods and race cars. Even NASCAR is still using flat tappet cams to actuate the valves. The advantage of flat tappet
Oiling Systems For Grassroots Racing
One of the first things to look at when building an engine is the oiling system. Dry sump systems are very scalable and efficient but are not known to be inexpensive by any means. Wet sump systems, on the other hand, offer affordability and can handle some impressive performance applications, but using all stock components