Little Engines, Big Money
For the rebuilding facility familiar with typical automotive or heavy-duty engines, the small displacement, four-cycle, air-cooled engine may seem insignificant. After all, these one-cylinder motors, which may produce just 5 hp, are found in lawn mowers, rototillers and kiddy go karts, for cryin’ out loud! Although the small four-cycle engines from Briggs & Stratton, Tecumseh,
High Performance May Be Your Shop
As an automotive machine shop owner, you’re reading Automotive Rebuilder magazine because you want to stay abreast of all the happenings in your industry. Along with that, you’re also searching for ways to improve your bottom line by adding additional products or services to your operation. High performance machining could be the ticket. The explosive
Automotive Rebuilder Interview with Brad Hartmann, Hartmann Bros., Inc.
Brad Hartmann is president of Hartmann Bros. Inc., a heavy duty rebuilding operation located in Abilene, TX. He is the incoming chairman of AERA’s Vanguard committee, the group providing leadership opportunities to AERA members under the age of 40. Hartmann, 31, has been with the company since high school in the 1980s, beginning full-time employment
Message From Incoming PERA President Jim Ormsby
Sometimes we need to exceed even our own expectations. That’s the message from Jim Ormsby, incoming Production Engine Remanufacturers Assoc-iation (PERA) president and current general manager of Franklin Power Products, a production engine remanufacturer (PER) located in Franklin, IN. They’re words that all PERA members should take to heart if they wish to re-energize shrinking
Rebuilding Hot Rod Honda Engines
Traditionally, hot rodding has been as American as apple pie, baseball, hot dogs and Chevrolet. Certainly, imported vehicles have been "hopped up," but serious hot rodding has always been dominated by enthusiasts who believe that engines have eight cylinders, pushrods and 16 valves. For the past 40 years, machine shops catering to devotees of high
On Market Issues: Staying In Touch With The Forces Driving Today’s Market.
The Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association(APRA) incoming chairman, Steve Fallen, knows the importance ofstaying in touch with the forces driving today’s market.What are those market forces? Fallen, 49, who is also presidentof Ennis Automotive, Inc., Ennis, TX, a supplier of rewound stators,rotors and armatures to electrical rebuilders, feels that demandfor rebuilt product is expanding. However, due
Engine Installation Opportunities
Much has been reported recently regarding theneed to grow the engine rebuilding and remanufacturing markets.We’re all aware of the Automotive Repower Council (ARP) whichwas recently formed to increase customer awareness on the alternativesto buying or leasing a new vehicle. And Automotive Rebuildermagazine has provided a number of features and columns dedicatedto ways to expand the
Washington Way: The Activities Of ACC
Americans have a love/hate relationship withtheir motor vehicles. We love the freedom and mobility the automobilegives us. We love the feel of a good car on the open highway andhow it handles on a challenging stretch of road. And we love thestatement that a car makes about who we are and what we want. On
1998 Market Update – Electrical
The information provided in this article is excerpted from a presentationmade by Doug Barron, Manager of Freedom Battery Design & Application,Delphi Energy & Engine Management Systems. The presentationwas made at last year’s Independent Battery Manufacturers Association(IBMA) Convention in Chicago, IL. Barron’s comments pertain to the future requirements of automotivebatteries. However, they also address the increasing
1998 Market Update – Brakes: The Application Specific Bandwagon…The Buzzword Of The Aftermarket Brake Friction World Today
Many in the brake rebuilding market are getting on the ApplicationSpecific Bandwagon. It’s the buzzword of the aftermarket brakefriction world today. "We’re going to have to be application specific because ofperformance requirements coming out of testing procedures thatthe Brake Manufacturers Council is working on," observesGil Laycock of the Friction Materials Standard Institute (FMSI).As one who
1998 Market Update – CV Shafts
One of the biggest issues still facing rebuilders is the controversyover the pros and cons of grinding CV joints. Though many CV unitrebuilders will tell you it’s getting harder to remain competitiveunless you grind, nobody grinds unnecessarily in this tight marketbecause of the costs of machine work and labor. Craig Russell of Drive Plus, Inc.,
Ideal Supply – “Farming” For Opportunities
As the winner of our fifth annual "MachineShop of the Year" award contest, Ideal Supply Co., Listowel,Ontario, can claim a number of "firsts." It is the firstCanadian recipient of our award and, to our knowledge, it is alsothe first machine shop which has obtained ISO (International StandardsOrganization) 9002 certification. About two hours due east of
Steering A Course Through The Rack Wars: Today’s Market For Remanufactured Rack-And-Pinion
Is today’s market for remanufactured rack-and-pinionsteering units meandering through the doldrums of a mature aftermarket,or is it heading in a new direction that may soon create new opportunitiesfor rebuilders? Some say the worst is behind them. They sayrack prices have bottomed out, competition has leveled off, anda growing number of retailers have come to realize
Cost Accounting In The Shop
Do you feel that your shop has the type ofcontrol over costs, expenses and productivity that it needs tosurvive in today’s market? Do you understand how to calculatethe actual cost of each job that you do and the efficiency thateach of your employees achieves on a daily, monthly or annualbasis? Unfortunately, most shop owners do
Updating The Asian Import Engine Market: The Learning Curve For Part Identification
"The learning curve for part identificationis awesome" says Bob Gibson as he describes the difficultiesof imported engine core identification. As vice president forsales and marketing at Engine Masters, Inc., a Dallas, TX, productionengine rebuilder, Gibson knows that the demand for import enginerebuilding is growing, and that he’ll do what it takes to be apart of
Motor Service, Inc.: Brian Casey, Incoming Engine Rebuilders Association (Aera) Chairman
What do you do after graduating from WorcesterPolytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA, with a degree in managementengineering? Why, run a heavy duty machine shop and service repairbusiness, of course. Well, maybe not always. But that is the wayit has turned out for Brian Casey, incoming Engine RebuildersAssociation (AERA) chairman and one of the guiding hands
Mopar Engine Platforms – 318, 360
Chrysler Corp. hasn’t built a rear wheel drive, V8-powered car (with the exception of the Viper) since the turn of the decade. And the cars that harbored V8s beneath their hoods during the late 1980s were about as appealing to performance enthusiasts as the front-wheel driven vehicles that replaced them. In spite of that fact,
Performance Marine Engines – Meeting Customer Expectations
Life is a series of compromises. Human relations almost alwaysinvolves compromises of some sort. You want Chinese for dinner,she wants Italian; something has to give. Even if you go yourseparate ways, it’s a compromise and a decision to not dine together. Believe it or not, it’s the same with machinery. Any exercisein design is a
Building Horsepower Through Dyno Testing
Pick up a copy of any racing-oriented automotive publication andas you thumb through its pages you’ll notice a smorgasbord ofads from engine builders. Most of them will have an assortmentof horsepower figures large enough to rival the national debt. Of course, all the numbers are suspect because, in most cases,they were obtained on the advertisers’
1997 Shop Kinks
Machine shops and custom engine rebuilders are, and always havebeen, a resourceful group. Our industry was founded on the principalof bringing component parts from a condition of disrepair to onethat offers equivalent performance to that of a new part. Rebuilt engines offer cost savings and performance benefits thatcan not be found with any other products,