10 Mistakes To Avoid When Selling Your Business: An Insider’s Guide
There comes a time for every business when ownership changes, whether through a transition to the next generation or an outright sale to a first time or an experienced buyer. The majority of challenges and frustrations experienced by sellers can be avoided with solid information about the pitfalls of selling a business in today’s market.
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: February 2013
5 Tips For a Manual Milling Machine Editor’s Note: A manual milling machine is typically at the heart of every machine shop. In the following, Jim Kovach gives some useful tips on how to get the most from your mill. 1. Always use a high-quality machinist’s square on the mill. You will be surprised how
HPBG: Burnt Aluminum and Motor Oil
It’s a late-August Sunday in 1988 and I am staging up my Outlaw Pro Stocker for the final at the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova, IL. I am driving my legendary ’79 Mercury Zephyr (Zeke) powered by the NOS assisted 1,600 hp “Monolith,” a 672-inch Kaase Boss Hemi Ford engine. I need
Racing Rocker Arm Technology
The rocker arms play a more important role than ever these days in high performance valvetrains. The rockers are the teeter-totters that translate the upward motion of the lifters and pushrods to the downward motion that opens the valves. It seems like a relatively simple task, but it demands the utmost from the design of
Using Customer Feedback to Improve Your Business
Feedback. We all seem to get it — whether we request it or not. But, 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,
Breakin-In Is Hard To Do
Before we begin discussing assembly lubes and break-in oils, I would like to emphasize that no one factor is responsible for racing success (or failure). It’s like an algebraic equation with a lot of variables, all of which must be addressed. The same is true of engine assembly and break-in. You must utilize only those
Advertising Does Not Work, And I Can Prove It!
There was a time when I only relied on word of mouth, the yellow pages andan occasional ad in the local paper. I would throw together an ad myself andwhen the results were poor, I would convince myself it was because advertisingdid not work –when this simply was not true. In today’s world of business,
Pneumatic Tool Innovations
Pneumatics is that section of technology that deals with the study and application of pressurized gass to affect mechancial motion. Or, said differently, pneumatic tools use compressed gas (usually air) to make them work. I would venture to guess that most, if not all, of you reading this use air tools frequently, or have used
APRA Technical Website Soon to Surpass 110,000 Bulletins
The Automotive Parts Remanufacturers Association (APRA) recently announced that after adding 2,459 new bulletins, the association has now surpassed108,233 technical bulletins on www.AutoBulletins.com, a website designed specifically for professional technicians diagnosing vehicle problems. “Using AutoBulletins.com gives the automotive and light-duty technician the ability to look-up Original Equipment Service (OEM) bulletins for almost any car
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: May 2012
Why Engine Valves Break The following are some of the most common reasons why engine valves break. This information is courtesy of Basso S.A., a manufacturer of engine valves for original equipment and aftermarket customers. Break between valve head and stem: Cause: Repeated stress to valve stem Contributing Factors: - Weak springs -
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
2011 LS Engine Parts Buyers Guide
This directory is composed of companies who told us they supply various parts for the LS?engine. You’ll want to check with them for their latest offerings. This isn’t an exhaustive list – only companies who responded to our survey (or our advertisers) were included. For more company contact information, visit our exclusive online resource,
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
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
Federal-Mogul Launches New Electronic Catalog for Performance Applications
Federal-Mogul’s new eCatalog covers all of its brands and product lines, including Carter, Champion, Fel-Pro, Sealed Power and Speed-Pro. Users can look up and store multiple part numbers for the same job without re-entering search criteria. The catalog’s comprehensive interchange and numerical lookup tools help users identify the correct part even when they don’t have
Your Shop Machines Have No Idea If They
Shop machines don’t have a clue that your tooling is dull, bent, nicked, burred, or the wrong size. It does exactly what you direct it to do, and if your tooling isn’t up to spec you’ll surely junk out a work piece in record time. Let’s start with tooling made from carbide. Carbide tooling comes
Selecting The Right High Performance Rocker Arms
The rocker arms in a pushrod engine serve two purposes. The rockers serve as fulcrums to redirect the upward motion of the lifters and pushrods into downward motion to open the valves. The lift ratio of the rockers also serves to multiply the amount of valve lift generated by the cam lobes. Stock rocker arms
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: January 2011
Keeping Gaskets In Their Place Can’t get a hard to reach gasket to stay in place even using various types of sealers? Try this trick that worked for me. Simply tie the gasket in place with sewing thread through available bolt holes/studs and/or any area that can be used for a temporary tie off. Once the gasket has
Dynos and Test Stands: Profit Center or Business Black Hole?
Dynamometers allow an engine builder to test, tune and tweak his engines before giving customers the opportunity to do something foolish with them. In a recent poll on Engine Builder’s website, we asked our readers how important a dyno is to their business. According to our (admittedly unscientific) results, 44 percent of Engine Builder readers