Differentiate Your Business From Your Competition and You Can Dominate Your Market
For the rest of us, competition from businesses that supply similar products and services is part of our daily business lives. The more popular the product or service, the more competition there is. Sometimes this is geographically dictated; where I live in the desert southwest, there are literally hundreds of swimming pool builders and air
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
Sunnen, MAHLE Clevite to Host Tech & Skills Conference Feb. 25 in Glendora, CA
AERA says engine builders can gain industry knowledge and network with other people with the traveling expense of going to a national trade show. AERA has teamed up with a regional host to offer opportunities in different regions of the country that is closer to a number of shops. Along with the outlined technical programs,
AERA?Offers Tabletop Displays For 2012 Tech & Skills Regional Shows
By teaming up with a regional host, the conferences make it easier for engine builders and rebuilders to attend a show and meet with vendors. All AERA?members, as well as non-member shops from that particular region of the country are invited to attend. Industry manufacturers, suppliers and vendors can reserve a table to display products
Cracked Cylinder Head Repair
It seems as if many cylinder heads are doomed to crack from the very start because of their lightweight construction and design. Aluminum overhead cam (OHC) heads, in particular, are often found to be warped as well as cracked. But so too are many pushrod cast iron heads. Cracks are often blamed as the cause
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
Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Champions to Earn Trip to NASCAR Acceleration Weekend
Six Divisional winners and four wildcard teams will compete at the "Showdown at SEMA", sponsored by Edelbrock, and held Nov. 1 – 4 in the grand lobby of the SEMA Show. The top-10 high school auto tech teams who advanced via regional competitions across the country will compete head-to-head for the best average time as
Competing for Diesel Dollars with OEM?Dealers
About 13 years ago we – like many members of this industry – our business was struggling because our focus was only on machine work – our sales basically imploded and we needed to change. In our internal discussions, we put this dramatic change to two things: First, efficient engine design (including things like electronic
PERA Convenes Near
The Production Engine Remanufacturers Association (PERA) met September 20-23 in Ypsilanti, Mich. for educational and networking opportunities. “The program committee did a great job of organizing this year’s event,” said PERA President Matt Weinzapfel, Jasper Engines & Transmission Exchange. “We had three great plant tours provided by PERA member companies Melling, Mahle and Dart, which
Chevy 3.1L/191 Cam Bearing Bore Issues
If a new cam bearing is installed in a bore that has been damaged, it will spin in the block, cut off the oil to the cam, and cause an immediate failure. Inspect the cam bores in all of the late 3.1L castings (10137093/ 10191737/ 24504089/ 24504150/ 10224227) very carefully, paying special attention to the
Inside Flat Tappet Camshaft and?Lifter Technology
Roller cams have a couple of advantages over traditional flat tappet camshafts: they reduce friction, and they can be ground with more aggressive cam lobe profiles to make more power. You can also swap roller cams without having to replace the lifters. But the roller cam’s main disadvantage compared to flat tappet cams is its
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
Running To Stand Still: Natural Gas and Diesel Power Generation Markets
Turns out, many engine builders are experts at building for applications that don’t move as well. And there’s a wide-open market for power system units that either run an electrical generator or power another system such as an irrigation pump through a power take off (PTO) shaft. While there are a number of large, established
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
Ford 4.6L SOHC Labor Cost Study
Ford has built the 4.6L motors in both the Romeo Engine Plant, located in Romeo, MI, and at the Windsor Engine Plant and the Essex Engine Plant, both located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The 4.6L has been offered in 2-valve SOHC, 3-valve SOHC and 4-valve DOHC versions. The engines were also offered with both aluminum
Common Failure Modes
For years, B&G Machine had been a diesel machine shop serving Seattle and the upper Northwest part of the U.S. To address certain market conditions in the mid- to late-’90s, we began building diesel engines. In doing so, we tried to identify the engines that would best serve a captive market – markets that would
Sometimes You Get The Unexpected
I’m speaking of cam bearings, particularly those in OHV engineapplications. What brought this to my attention was what I would call a“textbook” case of cam bearing oil bleed-out that caused the rodbearings to fail. Don’t follow me? I’m not surprised. I’m certain manyof you may be scratching your heads wondering what I mean by that.
School of Automotive Machinists To Host AERA Regional Conference April 28
The School of Automotive Machinists (SAMs) will host an AERA Tech & Skills Regional Conference April 28, 2011 in Houston, TX. Along with the outlined technical programs, AERA is inviting leading manufacturers of engine building/rebuilding tools, supplies, services, parts and machinery to attend this conference. These suppliers will have table-top displays that will be accessible
Evolving Crankshaft Designs and Applications
In the early days, a crank didn’t have to be very sophisticated or strong because most engines were an inline design, and the loads and speeds were relatively low. Fast forward to today. The evolution in engine technology, power and performance has led to a whole new generation of performance crankshafts that are a mechanical
Booths Now Available for 2011 International Big R Show
This year’s International BIG R Show will be co-located at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel withthe Powertrain Expo run by the Automatic Transmission RebuildersAssociation (ATRA). In addition, the International Big R Show will onceagain feature a section on the floor plan for the Diesel Engine market. “As we have done in the past two years,