Proven Performance – Vintage Classic Cars and PennGrade1 Performance Oil
Find out why PennGrade1 should be in your classic car for the ultimate engine protection.
Don’t Count Out The Classic Cruisers as Customers
People’s interests go in cycles. Right now the modern muscle cars and their fantastic engines are riding a screaming rocket to the stratosphere, with no end in sight. I am fascinated and admire the modern muscle. Being an NHRA tech official at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, I get to see many of them
Indy 500 Car Engines
Each May since 1911, thousands of auto racing fans have gathered to watch the most famous and talented drivers compete in the Indianapolis 500-mile race – better known as just the Indy 500. Winning the Indy 500 has been the goal of racing professionals for more than 100 years. Taking the checkered flag at the
The Lost Art of Knurling Pistons Takes Skill – And Guts
Thanks to my late friend Pete Baldoni, a former NAPA store owner many years ago, I am the proud owner of a genuine Perfect Circle Piston Nurlizing Machine (Note: Perfect Circle spelled knurl with an N). Pete gave me that PC machine years ago, after closing the machine shop part of his NAPA store.
Old Car Engines Never Die
I have not worked on everyday, common engines for years. Everyone who comes into my shop is a hobby-level special car enthusiast. I build all types of performance American brand engines. A huge part of my business has become building and rebuilding engines for classic cars, which it turns out, there is an adequate market for
Going Faster in 1954
I have a large library in my office consisting of Hot Rod How-to books and annuals from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. During one of my recent review sessions I found a chapter introducing nitromethane and its use for drag racing. Keep in mind this is 1954 technology… The article began by explaining that hot rodders
To The Victor Go The Spoils – Victory Engines
Ray Banyas was given two weeks to decide if he wanted to buy Myles Engineering and go from long-time employee to owner of the Cleveland-based engine shop. The alternative? The business would shut down after being open 70 years. “A friend of mine said, ‘You might as well try it. You’ll kick yourself if you
Waupaca’s “Time Machine” Machine Shop
The readers of Engine Builder include thousands of skilled machinists who are also car enthusiasts. Over the years, there have been countless stories printed in this magazine about vintage cars. Rarely, if ever, do you read a story like this one about a vintage machine shop that’s been miraculously preserved by just a handful of
From a Dump Truck Dynasty Came a Speedboat King
Garfield Wood never intended to go into the boat building business. His goal in life was to personally set every speed record on water and be recognized as the world’s speedboat king. However, a need for speed on the water came about at an early age working with his father. Garfield Arthur Wood was born
Pro Stock Quandary
One of my first writing heroes was Robert Benchley and his first book I read was when I was a freshman at LaSalle Peru (IL) High School in 1954. While researching materials to use as an exordium for an English assignment, the humor literature section caught my eye. I found Robert Benchley’s 1936 collection of
Your Mission: Find Engine Parts For the AMX-Javelin
Having just returned from the American Motors Owners Assoc. (AMONational.com) 2016 convention, it’s hard not to be impressed by this Wisconsin automaker’s sporty AMX and Javelin models. When the car show awards were given out on Saturday night, they went to one or the other of these “pony cars” for at least a steady half
The Lost Art and Business of Head Porting
If I had my current shop rate paid to me in a lump sum for every hour I spent porting and flowing heads and intakes in the ’70s and ’80s, I could build a new race car. In ’76 when I started running Pro Stock, my wife Linda got me a SuperFlow 110 for Christmas