Consumers Already Cut Spending Because of Rising Gas Prices
With the national average fuel price at approximately $3.20 per gallon atthe time the survey was conducted (Feb. 25-28) another 18% say theywould reduce spending if gas prices climb to $3.75 per gallon.Forty-one percent place their pain threshold at $4 per gallon or more. “There has been quite a lot of debate about the impact
Still Seats Available For ‘How To Build Horsepower’ Seminar March 11-13
With only little more than a week to go, there are still a handful of seats left in the "How To Build Horsepower" seminar by David Vizard, being held held March 11-13 at the University of Northwestern Ohio. Eighteen months in the making, this seminar will be delivered largely by David Vizard, who claims his
Use Caution When Replacing Ford Diesel Cylinder Heads
According to Ford TSB 06-24-4, some 2003-’07vehicles equipped with a 6.0L engine may require the cylinder head tobe replaced, while design changes can affect interchangeability betweenmodel years and service of 2003-’07 6.0L engines. According to the bulletin, the manufacturer for this engine used twoseparate facilities. And while both locations built engines with thesame design data,
Federal-Mogul Named Supplier of the Year by Parts Warehouse Inc.
Federal-Mogul was recently was named Supplier of the Year by Parts Warehouse Inc. (PWI), one of the nation’s 10 largest distributors of replacement automotive components. Based in Little Rock, AR, PWI operates 165 wholly owned Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts stores in eight states and services approximately 350 independent jobbers. The company offers a full
Honda Performance Development To Continue Support For Quarter-Midget Racers
Support for quarter-midget racers will be offered through Honda Performance Development (HPD), Honda’s racing company within North America, and its Honda Racing Line program. Although the Quarter Midgets of America (QMA) recently announced a plan to phase Honda engines out of competition, both HPD and Honda Power Equipment will continue to support QMA racers and
Dyno Decisions Depend on Business Model
If you need a dyno only three or four times a year, you’re probably better off renting dyno time from another facility. If you build race engines for a living, an engine dyno is an essential part of how you do your job and ultimately the value you provide to your customer. So what are
The Business Case For Buying a CNC Machine
Like a good chef, a good machinist does a lot by feel and experience. These things can’t be learned in a few hours or even days – it takes years. When it comes to CNC machines, sometimes the sum equals more than its parts – but many times the parts generate more than its sum.
Balancing And The Bottom Line
Balancing, once considered to be important in this industry only to performance engine builders, has lately become a sought-after service in some segments you may never have considered. Yet good-old-fashioned engine balancing remains an important profit center in many machine shop operations. If the engine components (pistons, rods and crankshaft) aren’t in balance you’ll experience
Federal-Mogul Reports Strong Fourth Quarter 2010 and Full-Year Results
Federal-Mogul Corp. has reported higher sales, gross margin, net income and EBITDA for the fourth quarter and full-year 2010. The company’s sales in the fourth quarter increased $180 million to $1.6 billion with growth in all business segments and all markets, led by a 20 percent OE and 12 percent U.S. aftermarket sales increase versus
House Blocks Sale of E15
The amendment to H.R. 1, the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act 201, was introduced by Oklahoma first district Congressman John Sullivan and was passed by a House vote of 286 to 135. Sullivan said the amendment prevents consumer confusion at the pump and protects the engines of vehicles and outdoor power equipment. “My amendment ensures
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
How Piston Rings Affect Horsepower
The rings seal the pistons to prevent air and oil from being drawn past the rings into the combustion chamber during the intake stroke. During the compression stroke, the rings make sure the air/fuel stays in the combustion chamber and is fully compressed before it is ignited. During the power stroke, the rings prevent pressure
Be Careful With Your Email
As technology infiltrates every aspect of your business, you need to know that email has become the most popular communication tool at the office. That makes it all the more important to approach email as you would any other type of communication. For example, there may be people in your shop who don’t treat their
Win up to $10,000 In Experimental Crowd-derived Combat-support Vehicle Design Challenge
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to engage the crowd for its latest challenge. The Experimental Crowd-derived Combat-support Vehicle (XC2V) Design Challenge, facilitated by Local Motors, Inc., is seeking individuals to conceptualize a vehicle body design for two different missions – Combat Reconnaissance, and Combat Delivery and Evacuation. This is an opportunity
Booths Now Available for 2011 International Big R Show
This year’s International BIG R Show will be co-located at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel withthe Powertrain Expo run by the Automatic Transmission RebuildersAssociation (ATRA). In addition, the International Big R Show will onceagain feature a section on the floor plan for the Diesel Engine market. “As we have done in the past two years,
IMIS Reschedules 2011 Indianapolis Trade Show Dates for Dec. 8-11
Immediately following the inaugural IMIS in 2009, the four founders of the show, Chris Paulsen, owner of C&R Racing, Tom Weisenbach, executive director of the Indiana Motorsports Association (IMA), Jeff Stoops, president of Stoops Freightliner, and two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, announced a lifetime contract with the City of Indianapolis and released
Edelbrock to Host Rev’ved Up 4 Kids Charity Car Show
On Sunday May 1st, Edelbrock will host the Rev’ved Up 4 Kids Car Show located at "Vic’s Garage" in Torrance, CA. Participants are invited to come out and enjoy a day of hot rods, great food, live entertainment and all around good fun. This charity fundraising event benefits The Center For Learning Unlimited, a private
Understanding Today
Metallurgy is one of the oldest sciences in the world – it’s a history that can be traced back to the beginnings of civilization. It’s hard to believe that in the thousands of years since the discovery of gold and silver there have only been 84 new metals discovered. In fact, when the automobile was
High Performance Diesel Market Includes?Growing Number of Parts
In many cases, the diesel engine is taking over the hot rod world. Instead of a small block or big block Chevy in the classic cruiser, people are looking at the Duramax diesel. The same goes for the Ford engines being replaced by the Powerstroke and the Dodge being substituted with the Cummins. The desire
Sprint Car Piston Design and Other Topics Discussed at the 21st AETC
People always ask what I get out of going to AETC? The simple 30 second elevator answer is you take the smartest people you know, or have ever met, and throw them all in a room together for three days and see what comes out of it. It usually doesn’t disappoint. As expected, a lot