Benefits of Water/Methanol Injection
Some companies such as Snow Performance and AEM are now offering easy to install water/methanol injections systems that are available for naturally aspirated or forced induction gasoline and diesel applications. These systems inject a roughly 50/50 mixture of methanol and water into the engine using a high-pressure pump. This mixture allows for more ignition timing,
Making Combustion Chamber Molds
Ross Pistons recommends the following process to make a combustion chamber mold: • Clean both the chamber and head surface; chamber must be free of all dirt, oil and grease, and valves must be installed. • Place cylinder head properly on the block using no head gaskets. Snug cylinder head bolts or studs with dowel
MAHLE Clevite Introduces 59 New Part Numbers
MAHLE Clevite says it introduced 59 new part numbers in December for various types of bearings, cylinder components, filters, gaskets and piston rings. The part numbers are available for a range of light vehicle and heavy-duty applications. New part numbers are available for the following products: air filters, cabin air filters, engine camshaft bearing
Identifying Six Common Fastener Failures
While few engine builders have access to sophisticated analysis equipment, a standard Bausch and Lomb three lens magnifying glass will generally show 98% of what you want to see. Several of the photos have been taken utilizing a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and are presented to simply illustrate typical grain configurations after failure, according to
HPBG: Racing Piston Technology
Munro had a problem with melting his cast pistons so he kept trying to develop his own out of melted down GM pistons. Today’s piston makers use a little more modern techniques, but the principle is the same: try, test and improve. On the outside, pistons tend to look the same. They are round slugs
HPBG: Don
In that discussion we hashed over the disparity in coefficients of expansion between cast iron and aluminum (that caused a revolution in head gaskets around the time of the Cadillac 4.1L). We discussed surface conditions and how that affects gaskets and scrub. We discussed gasket coatings and how they remain plastic while not scrubbing and
Understanding
The light turns green and the truck bellows out a plume of black smoke and in a flash all you see are the taillights. You’re struck that diesel trucks have really made an improvement over the past fifteen years. It’s amazing when you realize that a Corvette would have a hard time keeping up with
Valve Seat Selection, Finishing & Materials
Over time, erosion and corrosion can eat away at the metal resulting in compression leaks, elevated valve temperatures and sometimes valve failure. If a valve seat insert doesn’t have the correct amount of interference fit in the cylinder head, it’s possible the seat may loosen up and fall out damaging the valve, head and piston.
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
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
How to Tune Standalone ECUs for Smooth Idle
The idle control settings are not the most important thing to adjust to get a smooth idle. This may seem counter-intuitive, but consider this: If the engine is idling at constant load with the throttle held at a constant opening, shouldn’t you have a constant idle speed? If your idle surges or hunts under these
DEI/Ny-Trex Named Official Nitrous of 2012 Diesel Motorsports Race and Pull Season
NADM/DIESEL Motorsports offers multiple competitive events including drag racing, sled pulling and dyno-pulls that put the finest diesel engineering to the maximum test. The season begins in early spring with affiliate events before it begins in earnest at the Missouri State Fairgrounds on May 5. “The timing for a sponsorship of NADM could not
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
Champion Oil and Diesel Motorsports Announce 2012 Drag Racing Schedule
Diesel Motorsports has announced the following seven race schedule for the 2012 season: May 5, 2012 – Bungart Motorsport’s Sled Pulling Tune-up /Sled Pulling /Dyno Missouri State Fairgrounds, Sedalia, MO June 23, 2012 – Pure Diesel Power’s Thunder in Muncie /Drags /Pulls Gaston Lion’s Club, Muncie, IN July 20 -21, 2012 – 1-800Autoparts East Coast
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
Cracked Cylinder Head Repair
It seems as if many cylinder heads are doomed to crack from the very start because of their lightweight construction and design. Aluminum overhead cam (OHC) heads, in particular, are often found to be warped as well as cracked. But so too are many pushrod cast iron heads. Cracks are often blamed as the cause