CNC?Head Porting & Machining Centers
The fact that CNC machines have come down in price over the years, coupled with less complicated interfacing systems means that today they can be used by nearly anyone. You don’t have to relearn everything. You don’t have to take endless courses on how to make a tool change. Today’s machines are sophisticated and savvy
It
A bold statement, you may think. Are you thinking that it doesn’t apply to your business? You may think you’re doing okay. Yet my statement applies to everyone – from a one-man shop to a shop with 100 employees or more – because if you don’t do it, your competitor will! The most recent Machine
Street Performance Cylinder Heads
Where I grew up in Connecticut wasn’t the hotbed of street racing like Woodward was in Detroit, but we had the Berlin Turnpike, River Road in Middletown, plus a few local small-town hotspots. It was during this period that I got my first education about the importance of cylinder heads. A local rich kid got
Selecting Cranks, Rods and Bearings For Your Next Build
Racing engines are made for one thing – speed. But speed is a wide target. It is in the sum of parts that are bolted together to make up the package that speed is delivered to your customer. Engine builders know that one of the biggest areas where races are won and lost is in
Head and Block Surfacing Equipment Update
How smooth is smooth enough? You used to be able to tell by dragging your fingernail across the surface of a cylinder head or engine block. And besides, it didn’t really matter because the composite head gasket would fill any gaps that your equipment or technique left behind. But with MLS gaskets the requirements have
The Inside Angle on Valve Seats: What you need to know to go with the flow
No one knows airflow better than the legendary Joe Mondello, who rose to fame back in the 1960s for his race-winning cylinder head work. “Back in those days, we didn’t have flow benches to test our work. Our test bench was the drag strip. If a modification worked and made the car run faster, that’s
Choosing A Replacement Camshaft
Unless you are doing a totally stock rebuild and reusing the original camshaft, selecting a camshaft depends on what kind of engine you are building and how that engine will be used. A stock engine for a daily driver is obviously an entirely different application than an big stroker motor for a Pro Stock racer.
Valve Seat Technology For Stock and Performance Applications
Valve seats are a critical engine component because they are the foundation of the valvetrain. The seats provide a surface for the valves to seal against when they close so there’s no loss of compression or pressure from the combustion chamber. The seats also help cool the valves by conducting heat away from valves into
New Metals-New Challenges
Cast iron is like an old familiar friend to most of our readers because it’s been around forever. Vehicle manufacturers like cast iron because it’s cheap compared to most other metals, it is strong and durable, and it can be easily cast and machined to make engine blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts, connecting rods and other
Drag Racing Cylinder Head Selection
Experts say that the key ingredient is high velocity matched with good flow. But the high flow numbers may blind your customers from seeing the whole picture, so it is up to you to explain. Some cylinder head experts compare flow numbers to horsepower numbers on a dyno – but guess what? They’re not all
The Ups And Downs Of Valves
It’s always good to take a fresh look at some of the many engine components we work with. Rather than being lulled into complacency, the idea is to see what’s new, what trends are in play and to get a current reading from others on the inside. In other words, it’s good to keep it
Resurfacing Cylinder Heads & Blocks? Mistakes to Avoid
Cylinder heads and blocks may need to be resurfaced to restore flatness or to improve the surface finish, or milled to change the deck height for a variety of reasons. The deck surface on the head or block may need to be resurfaced if the surface isn’t smooth or flat. A head may need to
Honing Stones & Equipment
The finish on the cylinder walls is critical for proper piston ringlubrication and sealing. The bore geometry is also important, and mustbe round, cylindrical and straight for optimum sealing and minimumblowby. The equipment used to hone cylinders has changed in recent years as thedemand for better surface finishes, faster cycle times and lowerproduction costs have
Aluminum Cleaning & Machining
Steel may still be the big dog when it comes to the content of the world’s motor vehicles, but aluminum usage in cars and trucks continues to increase. Fueled by the desire to save weight, time and energy, aluminum is gaining ground with manufacturers of parts and components. How does the use of aluminum in
Coretalk: National Crankshaft Co. Becomes Newest EPWI Branch Warehouse
NCC joins other EPWI warehouses located in Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Dallas, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Houston, San Antonio, Portland (OR), Tacoma and Anchorage. “EPWI is making enhancements to the programs and product lines currently offered, as well as adding many new product lines” according to Paul Van Woensel, president of EPWI. “NCC’s customer support programs are
Pushrods & Lifters
Pushrod engines have been dubbed as antiquated technology by some, but for many engine builders these engines are far from suffering the fate of the horse and buggy. In fact, with both GM and Chrysler keeping the pushrod engine alive in their current product lineups with the Gen IV, Hemi and others, pushrods and lifters
The Lives of Lifters, What You Need to Know
It’s like any other mechanical part in an engine. It has a simple yet specifically designed function, it’s not overly complicated and it’s definitely not the proverbial rocket science, tricked-out part. But there’s more to know about the valve lifter than you may think. First off, there are two distinct styles of lifters used in
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
The Latest in TIG Welding Techniques & Equipment
Like the swallows coming back to Capistrano, the monarch butterflies finding the same wintering site in Mexico generation after generation or the buzzards returning faithfully to Hinckley, OH, in my neck of the woods, I am back with an annual March update on TIG welding in general and welding aluminum cylinder heads and other engine
Coretalk: AERA EXPO 2005 Set For Las Vegas Hilton In April
The EXPO will showcase leading edge technology with live, operating demonstrations of equipment, tools, supplies, parts and services. Exhibits will be open on Thursday, April 28, from 10:30 am-6 pm; Friday, April 29, from 10:30 am- 6:30 pm; and Saturday, April 30, from 10:30 am- 2:30 pm. EXPO will include a keynote address from NASCAR