Making Dollars and Sense Cleaning Blocks, Heads
Unless you’re starting with all new parts, cleaning is as important to your engine build as disassembly, inspection, machining and reassembly. Without taking the cylinder heads and engine blocks down to bare metal, you can’t properly inspect the castings for cracks, wear and other defects. For something so important, proper cleaning technique is often misunderstood, overlooked
Cylinder Bores-Machining To Sleeving
The function of a cylinder bore is fairly simple yet quite demanding. The bore is nothing more than a cylindrical void which contains the engine’s air/fuel mixture as it undergoes compression and combustion. The walls of the cylinder have to be strong enough and rigid enough to withstand high combustion pressures and temperatures
Diesel Engine Glow Plugs: Not Just For Starting Anymore
Since diesel engines ignite by using the heat of combustion, they usually need help when the climate changes to the cold of winter. Veteran owners of “old school” diesel engines understand what I’m talking about when I mention the “one-minute of silence.” This was the time every morning when you would turn the ignition switch
Ohio Technical College Earns Fourth Consecutive Weatherhead 100 Award
The 2011 Weatherhead 100 Award recognizes the fastest growing companies in Northeast Ohio, based on the percentage of sales growth from 2006-2010. Ohio Technical College placed 46 out of 100 companies on the list. To be eligible for the award, companies also must have net sales over $1 million and have a minimum of
Waste Not, Want Not: Waste Oil Heaters Can Drastically Cut Costly Shop Heating Bills
The heater burned the waste oil that accumulated from oil changes and other jobs to produce heat for the shop. It was a great way of getting around the highcosts of natural gas used in conventional heaters, plus it got rid of all the used oil that the shop produced. So, if your shop creates
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: January 2012
Finding Better Ways to Clean Fasteners I work on all brands of American classic cars, and mostly rebuild their engines. Most of my clients desire the preservation of original parts as much as possible, especially exposed fasteners. Here are the ways I clean and detail head, pan, front cover, valve cover, intake and exhaust manifold
F-M Technical Education Center Announces Training Workshop, Webinar Schedule
The Federal Mogul Technical Education Center (TEC) in St. Louis this year is offering more than 40 in-depth, hands-on training workshops and 20 free online webinar sessions covering a variety of engine repair, undercar and underhood topics. Federal-MogulTEC offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive training programs, with hands-on instruction in modern classrooms and 12
S.A.M. Wins Engine Masters Challenge Street Division with Holley EFI Ford Small Block
The School of Automotive Machinists team (SAM), led by instructor Chris Bennett, brought a 435 cid small block Ford topped with Holley’s Dominator Throttle body, Holley Avenger EFI in the Street division. This basic engine combination has proven to be one to watch, and team SAM showed that it had the skill and experience to
A Conversation with the MAHLE Clevite Champion Technician Winner Dave Arce
Dave is the owner of Arce Engines in El Cajon, CA. He remanufactures engines, performs general installation and repair, does engine rebalancing and has quite a resume when it comes to high performance racing engines. Dave’s daughter Hollee nominated him for the contest and wrote an excellent essay about all of her dad’s accomplishments throughout
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
A Million Here, A Million There
First, Fisher’s a former winning sprint car driver running with the top-gun World of Outlaws and All-Star groups. Then, there’s the fact that he’s got the mind of a skilled surgeon when he probes the innards of his engines looking for more performance. The guy is a graduate engineer (Ohio State – 1975), but his
Cold Weather Caution: Crank No Start, Rough Idle or Misfire due to Compression Loss
Models affected: 2000-2009 All GM Passenger Cars with Gasoline Engines 2000-2009 All GM Light Duty Trucks with Gasoline Engines Condition/Concern: Crank no start when cold. The engine may crank over very fast, as if there is low/no compression. It may also run rough for up to 5 minutes after starting the engine and may exhibit
Booth Visits Remind Us Why We
There’s something to be said for stability and as we come to the last issue of 2011, I’d like to thank all of our long-time readers and advertisers for their continued support of Engine Builder magazine. Since we can’t physically come to each of your shops to do it, I’m instead sending out a virtual
Tips For Selecting The Proper Circle Track Cam
This isn’t always your fault, but this is often followed by the racer selling the cam to a fellow racer who thinks it’s the best cam he ever ran. Why did this cam work so well for one racer and not for another? The reasons can be many. The following are some tips for selecting
Engine Builder Shop Solutions: December 2011
Avoiding Hydraulic Timing Chain Tensioner Trouble Be certain to carefully follow the manufacturer’s recommended torque settings when installing hydraulic (oil pressure fed) timing chain tensioners. Over tightening the tensioner can result in distortion of the tensioner piston bore, which in turn can cause the piston to bind up in the bore instead of doing its
Besides Octane, What Else Should You Consider When Selecting a Race Fuel?
It’s entirely possible to generate more horsepower with a lower octane fuel if it’s designed properly with respect to its other key properties. It’s also possible for two fuels to have the same octane rating, but perform very differently due to their other key properties.?? 1. OCTANE: Octane is simply a rating of a fuel’s ability to
Subaru WRX Engine Mods & Dyno Testing
Balancing ultimate performance within legal parameters and practicality is what Z Sport (www.zsport.com) is all about. I spent several hours being shown their clean and well-equipped shop in Everett, WA. Manager Charles Damewood and Owner Gary Watts both were very helpful in explaining what it is that Z Sport does, and how their shop makes
Understanding The Differences, Challenges Between Crankshaft Position Sensors
I have suggested to you to watch for this and make sure that you have that, and encouraged you to be certain that it is indexed to this position and so on. But I don’t believe that I have ever written about watching out for damaged as-cast reluctor rings, spark triggers or whatever other name
1960 Indy 500 Winner Jim Rathman Dies at 83
Jim Rathmann, winner of both the 1960 Indianapolis 500 and the international 500-mile "Race of Two Worlds" in 1958 at Monza, Italy, died Nov. 23. Rathmann passed away in a hospice in Melbourne, Fla., nine days after suffering a seizure at his home. He was 83. Rathmann, who was inducted into the Auto Racing Hall
Cadillac 4.6L DOHC Cylinder Head and Block Cautions
The problem is cracking of the aluminum block casting around the cast iron liner (Figure 1). Knowing that this possibility exists, I strongly suggest that you take the time to make a close examination of the deck prior to doing any machining at all – and before you then spend numerous hours installing cylinder head