High Performance Rocker Arms, Valve Springs, Retainers and Locks
On a small block Chevy, altering the rocker arm geometry without changing the rocker arm lift ratio can add 15 to 20 horsepower at the rear wheels. The stock lift ratio for a small block (SB) Chevy V8 rocker arm is 1.5:1, and for a big block (BB) Chevy V8, the ratio is 1.7:1. Bolt-on
Tech Notes
Engine Builders: After 75,000 miles, your customers’ engines can begin to show their age. They may consume a bit more oil or oil could leak past intake valve stem seals. Higher Mileage specialty motor oils typically contain additives that condition the rubber seals to help reduce oil consumption. They can also have high quality base
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
Coretalk: Seeking Industry Growth, PERA Names Boland New Executive Director
“We will help grow this industry,” said Ray Fink, PERA President, “and that means nos more business as usual. The time for change is now.” Boland brings an extensive background in successful association restructuring and will be responsible for all business management functions of PERA in order to meet the needs of the association’s members.
Coretalk: Dallas To Host PERA Spring Technical Meeting March 30-April 1 2006
The meeting, a combination of technical sessions and facility tours, will begin with a cash reception in the hotel’s lobby bar on Thursday, March 30. The technical program is slated to begin on Friday, March 31st, following breakfast hosted by PERA. Ray Fink, PERA’s new president and president of AER Manufacturing Inc., in Carrollton, TX,
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
Rebuilding the Ford 3.0L
This engine came out of the Cleveland Engine Plant #2 (CEP2), originally opened in 1955 to manufacture the 361 cid truck engine. By 1985, this facility was down to 400 employees and on the verge of closing. Then in 1988, plant renovation was begun (with the 3.0L Duratec engine family on the drawing board) at
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
Performance Pistons
Piston manufacturers are introducing new performance pistons for all of these applications as well as refining existing piston designs to reduce weight, and improve strength, durability and ring sealing. Piston design and manufacturing used to be a relatively low-tech process. Now, with the aid of finite element analysis and other computer modeling techniques, many aftermarket
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
Connecting Rod Reconditioning: More to it than you might think
The connecting rod plays a vital role in the engine. But a connecting rod is under tremendous stress, with the weight of the piston sitting on top, changing direction thousands of times per minute. This continuous stopping and changing of direction combined with the weight of the piston and speed of the engine hammer on
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
PERA’s Core Corner: Trying To Make Sense Out Of Detonation Sensors
Here it is the New Year and I’m sure many of us have gone through the challenge of making resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking and so on and so on. We’ll look back 3 months from now and try to make sense of how our resolutions got lost in the shuffle. This month we
PERAs Core Corner
It seems that the thirst for knowledge on the Gen III GM engine applications is growing almost as aggressively as the information for the 4.6L Fords. I addressed the subject of Gen III long and short crankshafts in a recent column (See September 2004 Engine Builder Core Corner). But based upon the number of responses
What’s Hot In Performance – Cams, Lifters & Rockers
The camshaft is really the heart of every performance engine because the cam defines the engine’s breathing potential, its torque curve and peak horsepower. The camshaft controls when the valves open, how quickly they open, how far they open (with some help from the rocker arms), how long the valves are held open, and when
PERA’s Core Corner
I am convinced that the 4.6L Ford SOHC V8 engine casting component proliferation is attempting to compete with the children’s movie “The Never Ending Story:” it just keeps changing as it goes along for no apparent reason. However, what we are going to look at today is more of a James Bond mystery since no
Can You Keep Up With The Changes In The Industry?
In this fast-paced world, keeping up with any industry can be very trying. Keeping up with the latest trends can be the difference between success and failure. Those businesses that remain successful are those that continually stay at the forefront of their chosen field. The engine rebuilding business has seen tremendous change in the past
Ford Timing Chains and Belts
So if a customer is driving a vehicle that is more than 5 or 6 years old, he may be driving on borrowed time if the timing belt has not been replaced. The risk of belt failure goes up sharply once a belt surpasses its recommended replacement interval, which for most Ford applications (except the
Getting To The Bottom Of The Great Ford Cover-Up
Lately I’ve been noticing an increase of instances where an engine may be the same from one year to the next, with the exception of one major change: the front cover, primarily with SOHC or DOHC engines. Well, we are back this month with an old friend: the Ford 4.6L SOHC engine family and its