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Special Report: Maximizing the Web for Better Business SERVING ENGINE BUILDERS & REBUILDERS SINCE 1964 2014 AUGUST
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Contents 08.14
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Features
ON THE COVER
Head Gaskets and Fasteners The relationship between head gaskets and head bolts is an intimate one. For this marriage to last, there has to be constant tension — not too much, otherwise the bolts may stretch or break, and not too little, otherwise the gasket may lose its seal. Find out ways to properly play matchmaker with head gaskets and fasteners.
14 Surface Treatments In the quest for better performance, durability and reliability, various types of surface coatings and treatments have evolved as solutions for problems that have vexed engine builders for years. If you're not familiar with coating technology and the benefits coatings can provide, read this feature to understand what’s available and what coatings can do for your engine build.
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Cycling In Engines Take a look around your shop. You have the equipment. You have the tools and you have the employees. But do you have all of the work your shop can take on? It may be time to add a niche to your engine building services and draw in new customers. One specialized engine market that can provide additional revenue to your shop is motorcycles — specifically, the vintage ones.
28 Columns
Profitable Performance ...............36 By Dave Sutton Breaking the rules with our Magnum 392 Charity Engine Build
Shop Talk .....................................46 By John Gunnel Ford’s NASCAR Boss 429
Special Report - Web Tools ..........56 By Mark Claypool and Heather Blessington Protecting your business online and marketing it through social media
Racing with the Ramchargers Neil Newman wasn’t a member of the Ramchargers, but he was an engineering student at the Chrysler Engineering Institute when the racing team members were enrolled there. This feature takes you inside the CEI in it’s early days and behind the scenes of the legendary Ramchargers.
62 COVER DESIGN BY NICHOLE ANDERSON
DEPARTMENTS Editor’s Notes ............................................................4 Industry News & Events ............................................6 Shop Solutions ..........................................................12 What’s On the Dyno?..................................................61 2014 Supplier Spotlight..............................................67 Cores/Classifieds/Ad Index ........................................70 On the Road ..............................................................72 ENGINE BUILDER founded Oct. 1964 Copyright 2014 Babcox Media Inc.
ENGINE BUILDER (ISSN 1535-041X) (August 2014, Volume 50, Number 08): Published monthly by Babcox Media Inc., 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333 U.S.A. Phone (330) 670-1234, FAX (330) 670-0874. Periodical postage paid at Akron, OH 44333 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ENGINE BUILDER, 3550 Embassy Parkway, Akron, OH 44333. A limited number of complimentary subscriptions are available to individuals who meet the qualification requirements. Call (330) 670-1234, Ext. 275, to speak to a subscription services representative or FAX us at (330) 670-5335. Paid Subscriptions are available for non-qualified subscribers at the following rates: U.S.: $69 for one year. Canada: $89 for one year. Canadian rates include GST. Ohio residents add current county sales tax. Other foreign rates/via air mail: $129 for one year. Payable in advance in U.S. funds. Mail payment to ENGINE BUILDER, P.O. Box 75692, Cleveland, OH 44101-4755. VISA, MasterCard or American Express accepted. Publisher reserves the right to reject any subscription that does not conform to his standards or buying power coverage. Advertising which is below standard is refused. Opinions in signed articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of this magazine or its publisher. Diligent effort is made to ensure the integrity of every statement. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by return postage.
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Editor’s Page
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Getting the Recognition You Deserve
EDITOR Ed Sunkin esunkin@babcox.com
I
f you haven’t nominated your shop to be recognized as tops in this industry, you better hurry. The deadline for online nominations in the annual Performance Engine Builder of the Year Award is Sept. 30! Engine Builder magazine and Speed-Pro POWERFORGED Pistons are looking for the best example of creativity and innovation, training and education, merchandising and promotion, professional standards and conduct, appearance, solid business management, community involvement, business growth, achievement and victories. If that’s you, congratulations! This is the third year for the Performance Engine Builder of the Year Award. The winner will be announced at a special presentation during the 2014 Advanced Engineering Technology Conference (AETC) December 11-13. The online nomination process is simple. Just go to topperformanceshop.com and fill in the required fields and tell us a little about your shop — the types of engines
Past winners of this national award include: 2013: Kroyer Racing Engines, Las Vegas 2012: Ed Pink Racing Engines Van Nuys, CA you build and why your shop is the best at what you do. Performance builders of all types are eligible. Engine builders can nominate their own businesses, or others can nominate performance engine building businesses. Don’t be shy. If your shop, or a shop you do business with is tops in the nation, it’s time that it gets recognized. And, don’t delay. Remember, online applications are being accepted until Sept. 30.
Performance Award Award
4 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
We’ll see you at PRI! ■
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Industry News
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The State of the PERA As Seen by Incoming President Frank Owings By Greg Jones, managing editor
When Frank Owings grew up, his generation viewed cars as a passion. It was freedom. “When we turned 16, it was a right of passage to get a car,” Owings says. “We worked on it, we fixed it and we customized it.” For most guys Frank’s age, cars are still a passion. And like a lot of people who are involved in the automotive industry, Frank grew up in it. He helped his father in his shop as a kid, he owned several businesses himself, and when Mark Fellanto (from Promar Precision Engine Rebuilders, Paterson, NJ) introduced him to the Production Engine Remanufacturers Association (PERA), Owings saw what a great way PERA was to keep that passion going. Since that initial meeting with Fellanto, Owings has moved up the ranks within the association and this September, he will become PERA’s 66th president. Here is how he sees the state of PERA and the industry. “I realized that PERA is really the think-tank of our industry,” Owings says. “Our membership is made up of some of the most prolific companies in the automotive remanufacturing business. We have Jasper, AER, LKQ and the big guys who move our industry. We’re kind of the clearinghouse for ideas.” One of the biggest assets of PERA membership, Owings says, is the networking availability. You can pick up the phone and call a competitor and talk about a problem or challenge you’re having to seek help and advice. “That’s refreshing in a small organization,” he says. “When you’re talking to these huge companies like a Jasper and AER and you ask a miniscule question and they gladly tell you here’s what you need to do, here’s what you need to buy, here’s how you need to fix it, you don’t find that in other industries.” With PERA’s insights and perspectives the association 6 August2014 | EngineBuilder
continues to help its members become more profitable and healthy. “What we as an organization are striving to do, and I hope I can help move this along, is provide value for our membership,” Owings says. “We’re potpourri – we have the large PERs who are 800 or more engines a month, medium-sized guys who do 150 engines a month, custom shops,
engine parts manufacturers and distributors, core suppliers, equipment vendors and chemical vendors, and somehow or another they all come together and dovetail into this great organization that just helps everybody.” That camaraderie has and will again come in handy in this industry, according to Owings. “Our market is changing, our customers are changing and the Internet sales are changing an awful lot,” he says. “Competition is becoming more acute. The marketing arena is changing dramatically, and we all as builders are trying to follow this curve and make sure we’re still on the inside of this sphere to where we can maintain our business in a healthy way.” The remanufacturing industry has become a hyper-competitive market, but companies are still trying to build quality product. “We all strive to build a better product every time we build something,” Owings says. “It’s not necessarily what can we do to make this cheaper and make more money. I’ve not seen that. All I’ve seen are companies striving to find ways to make products better and make them last longer, from the big guys all the way down. We’re all trying to produce that quality item and market it in a competitive
market and make profit.” Despite the strong efforts of some of these companies, the industry has presented a mentally tough environment that some haven’t survived. “The environment of the market has lost a lot of good competitors that weren’t able to make it and it shaved the pool down to the guys that are left,” Owings says. “The industry is at a pivotal point as far as where we are going because our engines are changing so rapidly. Just to build the new stuff we have to buy new equipment and adopt new procedures. We’re all working on a day-to-day basis to get better and get ready for that next move.” As the incoming president of PERA, Owings realizes he has big shoes to fill. “I follow an incredible group of guys like Steine (from Tri Star Engine Supply), Weinzapfel (from Jasper Engine & Transmission Exchange) and McGraw (from AER Manufacturing),” he says. “Sometimes I feel like I’m walking up to the tee following Tiger Woods. These guys are phenomenal and they
Industry Events August 28-September 2 NHRA Chevy Performance US Nationals Indianapolis, IN www.nhra.com or 317-718-8750
October 28-30 Engine Expo Novi, MI www.engine-expo.com
November 3-6 AAPEX 2014 Las Vegas www.aapexshow.com
November 4-7 2014 SEMA Show Las Vegas www.semashow.com
For more industry events, visit our website at
www.enginebuildermag.com or subscribe to
www.aftermarketnews.com.
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Industry News work for phenomenal companies.” Providing value to the association is one of Owings’ key priorities. From helping parallel AERA and PERA, to providing more quality and available assets for the association, such as freight and logistic issues, insurance issues and pollution regulations, Owings is looking to provide quality and understanding for PERA members.
“At the top of that list is ongoing education,” he says. “We have a webinar series that’s growing phenomenally. We are dedicated to making that particular program grow, because we need to educate our members as much as we possibly can when we know the product. The
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vendors are the first channel from OE and they are good about sharing that info.” Piggybacking on Owings’ desire to provide more education is his desire for PERA to appeal to younger generations. “With the young crowd that’s coming into the industry, we’re not drawing enough young people in,” he says. “We want to forge a relationship with some of the technical colleges and maybe we can provide some small scholarship monies or provide an avenue of employment for those who come through this class or program. We need to align ourselves with these universities. The people that are taking over our association, the young guys who understand our industry, have great business savvy, but there are not enough of them.” Despite a few areas where PERA has shortcomings, Owings remains extremely positive about the direction it and the industry are heading.
“I think the industry is going to slowly explode,” he says. “We’re not talking about a catastrophic force 10, but we’re seeing business increase. We have rearranged and reinvented ourselves and have kept going, and we will keep going.”
WIX Filters Marks 75th Anniversary WIX Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products, marked its 75th anniversary with a Founder’s Day event highlighted by a $7,500 donation to Gaston County Schools as a kick-off to the system’s annual school supply drive. The event also included
proclamations from federal, state and local officials recognizing WIX’s spirit of innovation and rich tradition of excellence, a luncheon for WIX’s community partners and employees, and a visit by Richard Petty’s classic 1972 STP Show Car. In recognition of its 75th anniversary, as well as the importance of community involvement and the workforce of the next generation, WIX timed its donation to Gaston County Schools to coincide with start of the new school year on Aug. 25. What began with three Circle 6 for more information
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Industry News employees, two screwdrivers, a pair of pliers and a typewriter in 1939 has evolved and innovated into a global company that manufactures more than 210 million filters annually for customers in over 80 countries. WIX today employs more than 4,500 people worldwide, including 1,500 in the Gastonia area. WIX Filters was founded on Aug. 1, 1939 in an old cotton mill in Gastonia by Jack Wicks and his business partner, Paul Crenshaw, who needed an inexhaustible supply of pure white cotton thread waste for the filtering media of their new company. At the time, Gastonia and Gaston County produced more combed cotton yarn than anywhere else in the world. Wicks and Crenshaw soon saw a need for filter replacements and simplified the filter changing process with the invention and patent of a spin-on oil filter design – known at the time as “twist of the wrist” – that quickly became the industry standard.
Hastings Names Sarah Kollar Marketing Manager Hastings Manufacturing Company, a global manufacturer of piston rings celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2015, has announced the appointment of Sarah Kollar as Marketing Manager. Sarah previously performed account management for the company’s OEM activities as well as significant interaction with
Aftermarket activities including Customer Service. In her marketing capacity, Sarah will be responsible for leadership and direction to the sales and marketing team to develop both aftermarket and OEM partnerships worldwide that support the company’s strategic growth plans. For more information, visit www.hastingsmfg.com.
VP Racing Fuels Taps Chris Wall as CMO VP Racing Fuels has announced the appointment of industry veteran Chris Wall as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Wall will be responsible for developing and executing a longterm cohesive international strategic marketing plan that encompasses all VP divisions, including Race Fuel, Consumer Products, Retail Branding and Specialty Chemicals. Wall arrives at VP Racing Fuels from Pirelli Tire where he headed the marketing department for the motorcycle division for over a decade. Prior to Pirelli, Wall held key
positions in advertising and public relations at Porsche Cars North America and Yamaha Motor Corporation.
Holley Sponsors NCM Motorsports Park Control Tower Holley Performance has announced a new partnership with the NCM (National Corvette Museum) Motorsports Park, and is sponsoring the Park’s Control Tower and Event Center in Bowling Green, KY.
The two-level Holley Control Tower and Event Center will feature 6,300 square feet on each level (12,600 total in building) including 1,800 square feet of meeting and classroom space, lobby/retail area, restrooms, catering kitchen, reception office, administrative offices, race control room, storage and more. The second level will feature a 2,100 square foot open-air viewing deck, available for private events. A Winners’ Circle Podium is slated for the paddock side of the building, and the overall design of the Holley Control Tower and Event Center mimics that of the Museum. Construction on the Holley Control Tower and Event Center is planned for 2015.
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AVI To Provide Technicians with $1 Million in Free Training AVI (Automotive Video Innovations) is giving back to the automotive community that has given so much opportunity to the Florida-based video company. To carry out that mission, AVI reports that it is pledging to give away $1 million worth of training to students, technicians, shop owners or teachers with the desire to expand their automotive knowledge. The course is a collaboration of electrical and electronic systems education that covers everything from electrical theory to understanding circuits, meter usage, diagnostics and more. Those who sign up will also receive free ongoing training tips, newly-issued training video notifications covering topics like ASE Test Prep, Hybrids, Diesel, HVAC, Management and more. To get started, visit: http://aviondemand.com/million-dollar-giveaway
During the second qualifying heat, it was reported that Ryan took a corner to fast near the bottom section of the climb, sending the cab airborne some 30 feet off Pikes Peak Highway near Jack's Corner. Ryan was unhurt in the accident, as small trees virtually cushioned the force of the fall. The truck however, suffered heavy damage, and eliminated the No. 777 from the event. The truck is equipped with a 14.0L Detroit Diesel 60 series engine with a compression ratio of 15-1 and a fuel redline of 2700 RPM. For more on Ryan and his Gale Banks Engineering/Banks Power Freightliner, see the May issue of Engine Builder.
Ryan’s Pikes Peak Record Attempt Ends with a Crash Mike Ryan’s attempt at a new record in the 10,300pound, 2,400-hp, black-and-red Freightliner Cascadia ended in a crash during qualifying. Fans of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb were disappointed the vehicle would not make a 17th journey to the summit of America's Mountain.
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Photo by Kevin Carmody, Colorado Springs Gazette, http://gazette.com
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Cleaning Bucket Style Hydraulic Lifters Unlike their flat tappet cousins, bucket style hydraulic lifters can often be reused if inspected, validated and cleaned. The problem is taking them apart. I developed this hammer tool to separate the plunger from the body. Insert the bucket (upside down) and secure with the cover plate. Next, a few good blows of the hammer against a firm surface will jar the plunger from the body. Simply unscrew the cover plate, clean and inspect both the plunger and body, then reassemble with light oil Dallas Mace Auburn Auto Machine Auburn, WA
Spark Plug Tube-Ectomy When removing spark plug tubes from heads like the Chrysler Magnum's, it is important to not damage the tube if you want to reuse them and have a secure fit. These heads have usually been in service for a while and will have a rusty bond to the cylinder head. I usually soak them in penetrating oil and give them some light taps to help the oil do its job. Then I find something like a large socket or piece of dowel that will fit 12 August2014 | EngineBuilder
snugly inside the I.D. of the tube to help prevent crushing the tube when I grab them with a large pair of pliers or channel locks. If the penetrate has done it's job, a gentle twist is all it will take to pull them out. Undamaged tubes will easily tap right back in after the head and tubes have been cleaned. Darrin Anderson Sterling Bearing Inc. Kansas City, MO.
RV Valve Springs Most of our rebuilds are 1970-80s V8s. Quite often our customers want a camshaft upgrade. The socalled “RV” cam is often requested. The grind most everyone uses was designed for a SB Chevy using 1.5 ratio rocker arms. This same grind is offered for most Ford V8 engines as well. The trouble is these engines use either a 1.6 or a 1.73 ratio rocker arm, which gives a much higher valve lift than when used in the Chevrolet. Some of these engines have a very short valve spring installed height due either to a short valve length or the use of a rotator for a spring retainer on the exhaust valves. The factory valve springs on most of these engines were never designed for higher valve lifts and fast ramp speeds. For these reasons we always sell new valve springs that are designed for use with these camshafts. New retainers will be needed to replace many stock retainers and rotators if so equipped. Don’t forget to check for retainer to valve seal clearance when using a performance cam in a Ford, or any engine for that matter. This is often overlooked. To ensure long engine life and performance make sure you match the correct valve spring with the camshaft you’ve chosen. Patrick Paulsen Laughlin Machine Laughlin, NV
AMC Distributor Gears Matched Set Where distributor gears may work if replaced individually, the failure rate increases greatly if you don't replace both the distributor gear and the camshaft drive gear on an AMC V8 as a matched set. There are at least three versions of gears, each with a slightly different pitch, so it's hard to know which one is in your engine. This is why a lot of AMC distributors are sold without a gear. Also, it never hurts to coat the distributor gear and the cam gear with break in paste on any engine to help “bedding” in of the components. In the case of AMCs, do not get this paste into the four holes on the cam gear. The distributor drive gear has four holes amongst the gear teeth where pressurized oil is fed to the distributor gear. When this gear is installed, it is critical that the holes are not obstructed by the camshaft snout. The camshaft to the end of the gear has an open area so oil can feed through these holes. Make sure the oil holes all align and if they do not you can use a round file to clearance. In the case of a higher RPM AMC engines, it's a good idea to have the gears’ hardness tested. Paul Wampler Engine Performance Warehouse Denver, CO
Inspecting Valves Before Rebuilding A Cylinder Head Using a gasket scraper, clean all carbon deposits from valve heads. Follow this by cleaning with a wire brush and solvent. Keep all valves organized so they will be put back in their original locations in the head. Measure valve stem diameters using a micrometer at about 10mm from the tip, at the midway point and near the bottom of the stem about 10mm from the throat. If a valve shows any variation from the
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correct diameter at any point, replace the valve. Next, inspect the valve face angle. Grind the valve face just enough to remove any pits and/or carbon deposits. Then, using a caliper, check each valve's length. Any valve measuring over .003� less than the original valve length should be replaced. Inspect each valve tip for wear. If the valve stem tip shows wear, resurface the tip. Check the valve length again. If it is over .003� less than the original valve length, replace the valve. Engine Parts Group Technical Committee with thanks to Toyota Motor Sales, USA (Revised from an article on reconditioning a OHC cylinder head)
Shop Solutions – The Power of Knowledge Engine Builder and Engine Pro present Shop Solutions in each issue of Engine Builder Magazine and at enginebuildermag.com. The feature is intended to provide machine shop owners and engine technicians the opportunity to share their knowledge to benefit the entire industry and their own shops. Those who submit Shop Solutions that are published are awarded a prepaid $100 Visa gift card.
Engine Pro is a nationwide network of distributors that warehouse a full line of internal engine components for domestic and import passenger car, light truck, heavy duty, industrial, marine, agricultural and performance applications. They also produce engine parts under the Engine Pro name that offer premium features at an affordable price.
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Sealing Feature
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Improving Relationships: Head Gaskets and Fasteners
T
he relationship between head gaskets and head bolts is an intimate one. The clamping load applied by the head bolts is what allows the head gasket to maintain its seal. For this marriage to last, there has to be constant tension – not too much, otherwise the bolts may stretch or break, and not too little, otherwise the gasket may lose its seal. What's more, the clamping load needs to be as consistent as possible from one bolt to the next, and evenly distributed around each cylinder. Violate any of these rules, and the marriage will fail. Head gasket failures in stock engines can be caused by any number of things. These include engine overheating that causes the head to pull away from the block and/or warps the head, hot spots near exhaust valves that can crush or burn the armor around the combustion chamber, detonation that can crack the armor around the combustion chamber, excessive movement between the head and block in bimetal engines that can cause a composition gasket to pull apart, and coolant corrosion that eats away at the gasket at mating
14 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
surfaces in the block and head. A head gasket that failed because of overheating or a hot spot will often be crushed and measurably thinner in the damaged area if you check the thickness of the gasket with a micrometer. By comparison, a gasket that has failed due to detonation will usually have cracked armor around the combustion chamber which leads to burn-through. Gaskets are critical components to any engine rebuild. And, the relationship between the head bolts and the head gasket should be like a rock-steady marriage. Photo courtesy of Fel-Pro.
BY LARRY CARLEY, TECHNICAL EDITOR
Installation errors can also lead to sealing problems or gasket failures down the road if a gasket is not installed properly (mounting the gasket upside down or using sealer on a coated gasket that does not require any sealer), or if the surfaces on the head and block deck are not clean, flat and finished to the proper smoothness. Head gaskets can also leak or fail if the head bolts are not tightened in the proper sequence
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Sealing Feature (usually inside to outside), or to the recommended torque value and/or angle. On late model engines with Torque-To-Yield (TTY) head bolts, reusing TTY bolts that have already been stretched once is asking for trouble because using them again increases the risk of the bolt failing when it is stretched beyond its initial design limits. TTY head bolts are typically longer and narrower than standard head bolts. Factory service manuals will tell you which applications use TTY bolts, and you can often tell from the head bolt tightening procedure if the bolts are TTY or standard. TTY bolts typically have an angle tightening specification rather than a specific torque value (which requires using an angle gauge to final tighten the bolts after a certain torque value has been reached). With performance engines, there are additional challenges the head gasket and head bolts have to contend with. Increasing an engine's horsepower also increases combustion temperatures and pressures. This, in turn, compounds the problem of head lift when the engine is working hard at full throttle. On engines like Chevy LS where head lift can be a problem even with slightly modified stock engines, adding a blower, turbo or nitrous oxide only makes matters worse. On these kinds of applications, the stock head gaskets may have to be upgraded to an aftermarket Multi-Layer Steel (MLS) performance head gasket, and the stock head bolts replaced with stronger aftermarket head bolts or studs to keep the head gasket from failing.
Something’s Gotta Give Although we think of head bolts as being fairly rigid
fasteners, they have a certain amount of "give" designed into them. By stretching slightly, head bolts apply a constant load that clamps the head gasket in place. The load should offset the thermal expansion that occurs as the head and block heat up and cool down as well as any compression set that occurs over time in a composition style head gasket. How much a bolt can safely stretch depends on the type of bolt (conventional or TTY), the length of the bolt and the diameter of the shank. Some bolts may be designed to stretch only a few thousands of an inch while others may stretch as much as .040 inches! If a bolt is tightened too far and reaches its yield point, it cannot stretch any further without being permanently deformed. What's more, once the bolt exceeds its yield point and starts to deform, it won't apply any more clamp load. It will just continue to stretch until eventually it breaks if it is stretched too far. That's why TTY head bolts should only be used once. TTY bolts are intentionally designed to reach their yield point at a lower clamp load than a conventional bolt so they will stretch and limit the clamping force on the head gasket. This produces more even loading across the face of the gasket and also reduces distortion in the cylinder bores. If a conventional head bolt is stretched less than its yield point, it will act like a rubber band and maintain its clamp load on the gasket. It will also return to its original length when the load is relieved and the bolt is loosened or removed. Measuring bolt lengths is one way to identify bolts that have been permanently stretched and should be discarded. MLS head gaskets work well with TTY head bolts as EngineBuilderMag.com 17
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Sealing Feature well as conventional head bolts because there is no layer of soft material that can take a compression set over time. The layers of embossed spring steel maintain tension between the head and block, which reduces the amount of clamp load the head bolts have to provide to maintain a long lasting seal. Consequently, late model engines with TTY head bolts typically require less torque on the head bolts than older engines with conventional head bolts and composition or graphite head gaskets.
Perfect Match
When torquing the cylinder head bolts, the bolt force generates a surface pressure, which is essential for achieving a perfect seal. Photo courtesy Mahle Aftermarket
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MLS head gaskets are usually made of three, four or five layers of embossed stainless steel, although some OEM gaskets use more layers. An outer coating of nitrile rubber or Viton on the gasket improves cold sealing. The outer coating is typically thicker on aftermarket MLS gaskets so they can more
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Sealing Feature
easily accommodate a slightly rougher surface finish. Many aftermarket MLS head gaskets can handle up to 60 to 70 microinches roughness average (RA). Even so, the recommended finish for some aftermarket MLS gaskets may be 30 RA or less depending on the application and
the thickness of the rubber coating on the gasket. Most OE MLS gaskets have a relatively thin outer coating and require mirror-like finishes on the block and head deck surfaces that are usually 20 microinches RA or less. Composition gaskets and graphite gaskets require different
surface finishes. For bimetal engines with iron blocks and aluminum heads, these types of gaskets usually seal best with a surface finish in the 20 to 50 microinch RA range. For stock and lightly modified engines with iron blocks and heads, a surface finish of 60 to 120 RA range has traditionally be acceptable, but 60 to 80 microinches RA is probably optimal for many applications. Accurately measuring surface finish requires more than guesswork. It requires the right kind of resurfacing equipment, the proper feed and speed rates for milling, sharp tooling and the right type of tooling inserts (PCD works best for aluminum while CBN is best for iron). It also requires a profilometer to check your work. A profilometer drags a diamond-tipped stylus across the surface to measure the microscopic peaks and valleys in the metal. Roughness average is only one of several perimeters that can be measured. A more accurate perimeter is "Rz" which is the average difference between the peak height (Rpk) and valley depth (Rvk). RA can have a wide variance across a given surface profile, so Rz gives a more accurate indication of the actual texture across the surface. If you are using a profilometer to check surface finishes, use the Rz readings rather than the RA to see what's really going on. A 20 RA surface finish for an OE MLS head gasket would be about 120 Rz. For an aftermarket performance MLS gasket, look for Rz readings in the 180 to 300 Rz range. For composition gaskets, don't go smoother than 240 Rz (40 RA) or rougher than 600 Rz (100 RA). A surface that is too rough can leave gaps between the gasket and metal while a surface that is too smooth for a composition gasket can increase the tendency for the gasket to flow and blow out.
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Flatness is also essential for a good seal. Use a straight edge and feeler
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As engine technology continues to evolve, so do the designs to seal them. This Multi-Layer Stopper design utilizes an integrated stopper layer for combustion chamber sealing and improved clamp load around the cylinder, without increasing bore distortion. Photos courtesy Cometic Gaskets
gauges to check all critical areas -especially those between the cylinders. Flatness specifications vary depending on the application, but on most pushrod engines with cast iron heads, up to .003 in. (0.076 mm) out-of-flat lengthwise in V6 heads, .004 in. (0.102 mm) in four cylinder or V8 heads, and .006 in. (0.152 mm) in straight six cylinder heads is considered acceptable. Aluminum heads and performance applications, on the other hand, should have no more than .002 in. (.05 mm) out-of-flat in any direction. The maximum amount of out-of-flat should not exceed .001 inches within three inches in any direction in a stock engine, so even less is best for a performance build.
temperature coatings and other design innovations for specific engine applications that help them handle higher temperatures and loads. Some of these MLS gaskets use a more gradual radius on their embossments to reduce stress and improve conformability so the gasket will evenly distribute load across the contact area. Some MLS gaskets destined for performance applications may also undergo a special stress relieving treatment to improve their durability and ability to retain torque.
Choosing to Upgrade
Going for Power
As we said earlier, as an engine's power output goes up, so do the demands on the head gaskets and head bolts. If you are doubling an engine's power output, or are going much over 550 to 600 hp, you should upgrade to aftermarket performance head gaskets and head bolts or studs. Composition gaskets can usually handle up to 600 hp or so as can some OE MLS head gaskets. But for serious increases in power, you need to upgrade to a purpose-built performance MLS head gasket. Many of these gaskets feature special embossments, an extra stopper layer around the combustion chamber, higher
For really high horsepower racing applications like Top Fuel and Blown Alcohol funny cars and dragsters, copper head gaskets with stainless steel o-rings to seal the combustion chambers are usually needed. Such engines can produce 10 to 12 times the cylinder pressures experienced in a stock engine (up to 12,000 to 15,000 PSI)! Copper makes a good head gasket material for these extreme applications because it can easily conform to surface irregularities on the head and block deck surfaces, and it conducts heat far better than steel. The head gaskets are usually nothing more than a flat sheet of copper. Various thicknesses are
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the head is clamped down, the o-rings deform the copper gasket to provide the combustion seal. Sealer is required around any coolant or oil passage openings between the head and block (if used).
Considering Studs It's the same story with head bolts. The more horsepower the engine makes, the greater the lifting forces exerted The importance of tightening fasteners to their required preload cannot be emphasized against the head and the enough. If a fastener is not tightened properly, the fastener will not apply the required prestronger the bolts have to load on the application it is being used for and may become susceptible to failure. Conversely, be to keep the cylinder if a fastener is overtightened and stretched too much, it becomes susceptible to failure by exceeding it's maximum yield point. head from lifting away from the block. The quality of available depending on the desired into the head and block surfaces aftermarket performance head bolts compression ratio and deck around each combustion chamber and studs is far superior to that of clearances. Grooves are machined to position the steel rings. When most stock head bolts. Higher grade materials are used and manufacturing techniques assure the highest quality threads. Most performance bolts and studs have a tensile strength of 175,000 to 220,000 PSI or even higher compared to 150,000 PSI for many stock grade 8 head bolts. The higher tensile strength allows the bolts to handle greater clamp loads and stretching before they reach their yield point. Many racers replace their head bolts with studs for a couple reasons. If the engine has an aluminum block, the studs only have to be installed once. This allows the heads to be taken on and off the engine repeatedly without any wear or tear on the bolt threads in the block. Studs also have fine tooth threads on the top which allow more accurate tightening than coarse threads. This, in turn, allows more even clamping force across the face of the gasket.
Torquing it Down
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In most cases, follow the head bolt tightening procedure and torque values recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. Make sure your torque wrench is accurately
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Sealing Feature calibrated and is adjusted to the proper setting. Performance engines may or may not benefit from slightly higher clamp loads depending on the type of gasket and head bolts used. You need enough clamp load to keep the head from lifting off the gasket, but not so much clamp load that you overload the bolts and risk stretching or breaking the head bolts. If a bolt is not coming up to normal torque or is not holding a reading, it means trouble. Either the bolt is stretching or the threads are pulling out of the block. Most composite gaskets and MLS head gaskets do not require retorquing, although in high performance applications retorquing may help assure a longer lasting seal. Each time the head bolts are loosened and retightened, it burnishes and smooths the thread surfaces. This reduces friction and increases the clamp load for the same amount of torque that is applied to
the bolt, so there is a risk of overloading the gasket. If retorquing is used, do it after the engine has cooled down, not while it is still hot.
Don’t Forget the Lubricants Head bolts should always be installed with some type of lubricant on the threads, never dry. Motor oil, moly grease or some other type of thread lubricant should be applied to the bolt threads and the underside of the bolt heads. Most of the effort that is applied to a torque wrench when tightening a bolt is to overcome friction between the threads, so using a lubricant reduces friction and increases the actual clamp load on the gasket up to 25 percent or more. There can be considerable differences in clamp loads for the same torque wrench reading depending on the type of lubricant used. Some gasket manufacturers say you get more accurate results and even bolt loading by using a
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moly grease rather than motor oil on the bolt threads. If the bolts have a black oxide coating, you should also buff off the coating before applying the grease. One aftermarket bolt supplier has developed a special thread lubricant that they say achieves more consistent loading than motor oil or moly grease. For head bolts that extend into a coolant jacket, coat the threads with a flexible sealer. Failure to do so may result in a coolant leak. Also important for accurate torquing and loading of the gasket is the condition of the threads on the head bolts and in the block. Chasing worn, damaged or corroded threads is recommended for accurate bolt loading. On aftermarket studs or bolts, never use a die to recut the threads. Most have "rolled" threads that are stronger than standard threads. Use a thread chaser to clean up the threads. â–
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Motorcycle Engines
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T
ake a look around your shop. You have the equipment. You have the tools and you have the employees. But do you have all of the work your shop can take on? It may be time to add a niche to your engine building services and draw in new customers. One specialized engine market that can provide additional revenue to your shop is motorcycles — specifically, the vintage ones. While the new bike business has had its ups and downs, interest in vintage motorcycles is as strong as it ever has been. Although statistics are hard to come by, vintage rallies and concours events are attracting the same participant numbers they have for the past 10 years. Prices at vintage bike auctions are down somewhat, but old bikes are still selling.
Millennial Market “While some in the industry may complain that there’s not a lot of business with vintage, but the vintage business is always steady,” said one parts supplier for a variety of bikes. It’s not as big or as lucrative as the new bike business, but it is always there.” In fact, a new type of old bike 28 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
enthusiast is beginning to appear. Twenty-somethings are starting to buy vintage motorcycles. One owner of a parts and restoration provider for Triumph and BSA triples based in Central California, has noticed an upswing in young customers. “People in their twenties have no mechanical skills, but they are getting into vintage anyway, and they need someone to work on their bikes. There’s a lot of old Triumphs out there, but I only know of two people in the Los Angeles area who are working on them. I only know of three people in California, including myself, who know how to work on triples.” “CB 350 Hondas are the most popular bike,” explained a sales manager of an aftermarket carburetor and vintage parts business. “Young people are buying them and cafe’ing them out. There’s even a racing class for them. We can’t get aftermarket carburetors for 350s in fast enough. Other popular bikes are CB750s, Kawasaki H1s and H2s and Norton Commandos.”
Cycling In New Business Thinking about adding some classic motorcycle work to your shop? Here are some tips on how to draw in some new customers.
ADAPTED FROM MARGIE SIEGAL’S ARTICLE IN MOTORCYCLE & POWERSPORTS NEWS
Host a Vintage Show A vintage show is not only a lot of fun, but can make good business sense. One owner of a repair and restoration facility for old Hondas, points out four reasons to put on a show: “First, you are going to gain a lot of good will in the community. Second, you are going to get a lot of traffic to your door. People love old bikes and will go out of their way to see them. Third, you are going to see what kinds of old bikes are popular in your community. If you are thinking of developing a vintage bike sideline,
CHANGING CUSTOMER BASE: Roughly 12% of the country's motorcycle owners now are women – an increase of about 30 percent over the last decade, according to the latest estimate from the Motorcycle Industry Council.
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its helps to know what your neighbors are riding.” “Last, and most importantly from a business owner’s standpoint, if there is a swap meet with the show, you can see who is buying and how much they are willing to spend. Even if a bike is popular, if the owners will not spend any money on it, there is no reason for you to get involved.
Utilize Clubs You don’t need to do all the work of putting on a show yourself. Approach the local vintage bike clubs. For example, the Antique Motorcycle Club of America, (www.antiquemotorcycle.org) the Classic Japanese Motorcycle Club (www.CJMC.org), the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club (www.vjmc.org), the Cushman Club (www.cushmanclubofamerica.com ) or the Kawasaki Triple Club (www.naktc.com). The clubs should do most of the organizing and advertising. Involve the Boy Scouts or the Lions Club to sell hot dogs and drinks and have an area reserved for the swap meet. Another idea is to attend the local tracks and strips to see what types of old bikes show up at Bike Nights. If you go to the races, there are often vintage classes. These venues can give you an idea of the classic bikes that are popular in your community.
Order Parts You can extend the good will and interest gained from your vintage show by learning what parts are available for locally popular vintage bikes and special ordering them for customers. Remember, vintage bikes are here for a reason. Riders have kept them that long because they really like that bike. If you are able to take care of a vintage bike that a customer loves, you will have a customer for life — actually a lot of customers. The enthusiast community will get the word out about a shop that can help.
Handling Vintage According to one bike broker, new 30 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
If you do plan to take on vintage restoration work, you may be delivered a bike intact. Cyclepedia.com offers tips on removal and installation of engines for motorcycles, as well as scooters, ATVs and other small engined powered utility vehicles. As with any specialized job, the best place to start is with the right tools and information. Having a service manual with the order of operations and torque specs will help you get the job done in less time and make sure it’s done correctly. The following are tips to help make these tasks as smooth as possible. A good selection of jacks of various types can make the difference between an easy job and a back breaker. For some very heavy engines, use a scissor jack beside the frame to transfer the engine to the jack and then lower it to the lift as needed. Many modern engines use thrust adjuster mounts. These allow the mounts to be retracted or removed for extra room to get the engine in and out of the frame. They usually require special lock nut wrenches. Be sure to follow the order of operations with these components, and use the torque specifications for installation. The chassis rigidity can be compromised if these fittings are not installed correctly as the engine is used as a stressed member of the frame. Improper installation can lead to a damaged frame, engine, or a poor handling chassis. The V-twin engine is one of the most popular motorcycle engine configurations. The taller and more narrow the “V” angle, the more awkward it is to get in and out of a frame. They tend to try to fall side-toside when they are freed from their engine mounts. It can be helpful to use a strap around the upper frame tube and engine to keep the motor from flopping to the side and falling out of the frame while you’re trying to line up the engine mounts. Removing or installing an engine can result in some nasty scratches to engine and frame surfaces. Cover components in duct tape where they may make contact. In some instances, removing an engine cover may give you more room to maneuver. Removing the valve cover on a tall single cylinder engine can be the difference between an inch of clearance or an 1/8, just be sure to keep sensitive components from banging into the frame on the way out or back in.
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PAY TO PLAY Make sure you get paid for the work you do. As one engine specialist explained, a lot of vintage bikes need a lot of work. “I work out pay-as-you-go plans with my customers. They give me $500, and I do $500 worth of work, and then stop until the customer sends me another payment.” bike sales these days have slowed. “The most money you can make on a motorcycle today is on a used bike. Used motorcycles for sale are drying up — people are not buying new. A new bike has an MSRP. On a vintage motorcycle, you can name your own price. A motorcycle shop I know is getting into vintage, he is
making more money on the used bikes and the vintage bikes than he is on the new bikes.” While displaying vintage motorcycles, offering your parking lot for a show, and ordering parts for customers involves little risk, working on vintage bikes can be problematic.
“Encourage a young engine builder who is interested in actually learning about mechanical stuff,” advised one cycle shop owner. “A 750 Honda is a history lesson. It’s a design that hasn’t changed dramatically over the last 40 years, and it’s what turned America on to in-line fours.”
MOTORCYCLE ENGINE TECH TIPS Step 1 - Prepare the Pistons and Cylinders Remove the engine cover and pistons. Pull the pistons up and to the side. Check the pistons and cylinders for sign of wear or damage. You may find that you need to re-bore them. After they are re-bored, wash the heads well with soap and water. Dry them then clean and oil the cylinders. Clean the pistons by wiping them down. Step 2 - Prepare the Rings Wipe down the rings, making sure they are clean and smooth. You'll see that each ring has a very small gap that is set to the engine manufacturer's recommendations and based on the size of the bore. This can vary between .08 and .25 millimeters. You measure it by placing the ring in the cylinder and pushing it to within one half inch of the top of the cylinder.Using the piston to do this squares the ring and guarantees and accurate measurement. If the rings don't meet specifications, adjusted them by very carefully filing the ends of the ring. Step 3 - Install the Piston Rings Piston rings are hard and brittle and break easily. You can use a ring expander to stretch the rings for the piston, or you can use your fingers. The danger of using the ring expander is over spreading the ring and snapping it. Different types of engines use a different number of rings, too. On a four-stroke engine, you can have a one piece ring or a three piece ring. One at a time, slide the rings down the piston and into the grove near the top. Be careful not to twist or overlap them. If using the three piece ring, stagger the gaps around the piston one half to one third rotation to help maintain compression. Step 4 - Replace the Pistons and Engine Top Make sure entire surface of the rings, piston, and cylinders is oiled well. Replace the pistons and engine cover by reversing the pattern you used when you removed them. Remember: Piston rings are made different sizes to fit different engines.. Always use the recommended size piston ring. Trying to improve the engine compression by using a large size ring only results in an incomplete seal between the piston and the cylinder.
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Also, determine if the brand is already familiar to you, said another. “For example, if you already work on Kawasaki engines, a vintage Kawasaki isn’t going to be a real challenge.” But, you should look into more training if you plan to rebuild a bevel drive Ducati or a 1929 Henderson if such engines haven’t been in your shop. If your shop is already rebuilding performance, racing and late-model engines, understand that working on vintage bikes is not the same as working on new bikes. In fact, many modern dealerships don’t have the current expertise to work on an older bike,
which may be a plus for an engine shop like yours. The key to unlocking vintage restoration and rebuilding is getting a competent engine builder, said one shop owner. “I have one guy who only works on vintage BMWs.” If a engine specialist is not experienced in vintage motors, he or she won’t have the special skill set required to competently repair vintage machinery.” One parts supplier explained that a pre-Evolution Harley is put together very differently from today’s Twin Cam machines, and the engineering concepts are not the same. “Mechanics who are capable of working on a Panhead or a classic Indian are either retired or have their own independent business.” One mechanic who has made a specialty of working on preShovelhead Harleys, cautions that a person with the best of intentions can ruin the value of these bikes during a rebuild. One of those ways is by sanding and polishing the many castings on them. “There is no way to replicate the original casting look after sanding and polishing. You can’t get it past a concours judge.”
For the Love of the Bike Before you take on smaller engines like vintage bikes, make sure you enjoy the work. “You have to love it,” says one engine specialist. “While you are not going to make a $100,000 a year doing it, vintage is Circle 34 for more information 34 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
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Motorcycle Engines steady. And vintage bikes draw customers for your new bikes.” One motorcycle specialist explained how he started his current business. “I used to work on anything old. Then, someone brought me a Superhawk. I got it running well. The customer told me that no one would work on it, and he had friends with old Hondas. Next thing I knew, people were bringing me Dreams and 160s. I had customers I liked and bikes I liked to work on. I had a whole new business model.” So if you have the shop resources and a staff person and are looking for ways to make money outside of the box, classic bikes are one suggestion. “Get a bike, and use the restoration process to train your people,” suggested one restoration specialist. “Put the bike on the shop floor, get sources for parts, put the word out and people will come to you.” ■
Show Stopper The American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) has announced the inaugural Retro Affair, Vintage Motorcycle Show, presented in partnership with the Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club (VJMC). This judged motorcycle competition, to be held at AIMExpo in Orlando, Florida, October 16-19, 2014, will showcase historic, restored and customized American, Japanese and European motorcycles built before 1984.
Motorcycles entered into Retro Affair will be seeded into classes based on make, model and year and judged on condition, originality and functionality. Top placing motorcycles in each category will be awarded trophies, merchandise and cash prizes with a special prize going to the Best of Show. Retro Affair will consist of a variety of classes. Vintage classes will be open to all make and model of motorcycles from all over the world with other classes specifically for café racers, the Honda Ruckus and Grom, and motorcycles under 125cc. The goal of this bike show is to create a quality showcase with a large variety of bikes to engage all motorcycle enthusiasts. Entries into the competition must be submitted on-line to: www.regonline.com/AimExpo2014RetroAffair For more info: AIMExpoUSA.com.
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Sometimes It's Okay To Break The Rules. BY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR DAVE SUTTON
B
reaking Some Rules — that's what we've been doing and promoting with our 392 Magnum engine build. And with our plans to raffle the finished product and raise money and awareness for the work being done by the Independence Fund (www.indepencefund.org ) for our disabled veterans, we're really doing something different, at least for us. “Dare to be different” was what I challenged when I first promoted the idea of taking the engine that's under the hood and thinking a little outside the box with an engine build. The premise being to take a less then popular V8 like our 1977 318 Chrysler, and with parts readily available and often used on the more popular so called “Muscle Car” engines, build a powerful and dependable performance alternative. Even though the aftermarket continues to pump out new engine blocks for your typical
Our new EngineQuest head. You can see the larger intake ports and lack of exhaust crossover. Our CH318B heads come from the factory with the early “LA” style intake bolt pattern. 36 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
Our original core engine. Notice the small port heads with exhaust crossovers. Also note the non-adjustable shaft rocker arm system of the early heads.
high demand small and big block Chevrolets and Fords, not everyone will be willing to afford one for their particular project, nor do they need to. Yes, you can still find rebuildable muscle motors, but a good, say for our case, 340, 383 or 440 complete core motor could set you back a hefty amount, and you haven't even started your build. With our motor as outlined in previous articles, we've cleaned, checked and machined up the
block we had. We bored it and clearanced the bottom of the cylinders a little and then used our theoretical funds to purchase a stroker crankshaft and a custom set of pistons. And, we also acquired a good set of aftermarket cylinder heads. The rest will pretty much be similar to what we would have invested in a higher demand factory performance engine we might have gone out and bought to rebuild.
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Profitable Performance The difference here will be the quality of the new high performance internals and the added cubic inches. We'll have 50 more cubic inches than a 340, and we'll be slightly bigger but substantially lighter than a 383. With our 4� stroke and the cam and cylinder head combination, we hope to make power and especially more torque, like a 440 cubic inch Chrysler. And again, we'll be substantially lighter. We'll also know that the engine will go right back in under the hood of the car it came out of with no effort. Like I said, we addressed the machining of the block and the parts for our rotating assembly in the previous issues of Engine Builder. Those articles are archived on the magazine’s website www.enginebuildermag.com. (Just
search 392 Magnum on the home page.) This month we'll address the cam and lifter choice, our cylinder heads, valve train and adjustable rocker arm
The EngineQuest castings are a very nicely finished piece right out of the box. Here you can see the valve seats before modification.
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conversion. These items, more than anything else will determine the performance potential of our combination. Right from the start I promised to
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Profitable Performance use shelf stock items and the manufacturer’s cataloging and tech to choose our parts. And that’s what we have here. Last time we introduced you to our EngineQuest replacement cylinder heads for the Chrysler 318 and 360 Magnum engines. We threw in a twist by ordering their alternate “B” head that is drilled on the intake side for the earlier “LA” style early small block. The thought being that it would open up our options for intake manifolds. Or, maybe someone started playing with their 318 and had already changed the manifold to an aftermarket aluminum piece that you wish to continue using. Another option would have been to use the “Magnum” style intake pattern and possibly some late model fuel injection. This did not fit the model for our project or the premise of the series, but could always be an option for your customer. The Engine Quest heads are beautiful right out of the box, and are a “power improve” piece designed to not only replace a cracked factory head, but they will also out flow and out perform the originals. But how interesting would it be to write about a set of “bolt-ons”? Plus, with the added cubes and the desire to obtain muscle car type performance, we’ll need to modify and upgrade them a bit. I need to thank the guys over at EngineQuest again for their donation, and mention the many other suppliers who have contributed to our build, this time in the form of camshaft and valve train. It’s no news that the camshaft and cylinder heads must work together to maximize performance. Right out of the box our heads flow enough air to support the kind of horsepower I’d like to see us obtain, but they must also accommodate the upgraded valve train. So we started with a Lunati cam and lifter kit and then we’ll work up to the valve springs and adjustable rocker arm components to support our cam choice. A quick peak in their catalog finds us a description and some cam specs that I thought matched our goals.
After a call to the generous folks at Lunati, they confirmed and donated a cam and lifter kit to meet our needs. We’ll use a cam from their Voodoo Hydraulic Flat Tappet Cam Series. Our cam specs look strong for a 340-360 cubic inch motor, but should be quite streetable with 392 cubic inches. The advertised duration is 276/284 (int/exh), with 234/242 @
.050’ lift. The cam has a lobe separation angle of 110 degrees, with a 106 intake lobe centerline. Here is where you need to be careful when upgrading to the Magnum heads. Early small block Chryslers used a shaft style rocker arm with a 1.5 ratio rocker. Our Magnum heads use a studmounted rocker with a 1.6 ratio. The book specs on our cam state
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Profitable Performance installed height. Since we planned on using shelf parts, we turned to Comp Cams to get their Adjustable Rocker Arm Conversion Kit for the Magnum cylinder heads. In the pictures you’ll see a very complete kit designed to make this a bolt together proposition. The staff at Comp were very gracious to donate not only their rocker arm and pushrod kit, but also the spring retainers we’ll need to adapt our springs to our valve choice. There are not at this time many choices for valves to fit the Magnum heads. This is where some experience searching the manufacturer’s valve specs and Here is a comparison of valves. The ones on the left are from the early 318 heads, the valves in the center are stock 318-360 Magnum and our Ferrea competition series valves for GM LS motors are on the right. Decreased weight with increased size and flow.
.513/.533” lift (int/exh). Our motor will have a higher theoretical lift .547/.569” lift (int/exh). Now I use the word theoretical for a reason. Anyone familiar with the pushrod angle in the small block Chrysler knows that some cam lift is lost on it’s way to the rocker arms. But, we’ll use these figures to make sure we have enough valve spring, enough valve to piston clearance, enough retainer to valve guide clearance and spring travel so we don’t coil bind. The added lift will be perfect to expand the RPM range
and feed our bigger motor, while keeping it very streetable. Moving back to making our heads work with our cam and rocker choices, we needed to modify our heads a little. Before choosing a spring, I had to determine an
We had to hone the valve guides slightly to fit the 8mm LS stems. ,002” clearance was given to both intakes and exhausts stems.
comparing them to the O.E.M. specs will net you some options. Because we would like to work with the Comp rocker kit right out of the box, we chose to keep our valve length as close to stock as possible. Our choices looked something like this: stock replacement valves for a 318-360 Magnum; bore the guides for the tried and true 11/32” stem small block Chevy valves; or GM LS or Gen III type valves. At this point I had more then basic valve dimensions to worry about. Stock valves will work fine for some builds. They are a very modern At this point we cut the valve seats with a multi-cutter to fit our larger valves.
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Profitable Performance engine that will be able to see at least 6500 RPM, this did not seem prudent. Stock LS valves are close dimensionally, but have too small a head on the exhaust valves. There are however, great choices to be had in aftermarket LS valves. Many of you know or have been previously introduced to the owners and employees at our machine shop, Grawmondbeck’s High Performance Engines. Joe Degraw and Stacy Redmond, Here is the spring seat cutter in owners and avid performance motion removing some guide boss to enthusiasts, have been more than make room for the dual Engine Pro helpful and completely responsible valve springs. The valve seal shoulder for the progress we’ve made on our remains stock. project to date. And I can’t thank them enough. We were introduced to design. They have a 5/16” stem the third man in this group, Steve diameter and the exhaust valves are Tosel, when he donated the core 318 quite large at 1.625” head diameter. for our project. And he’s been very Since we are running a substantial helpful for me negotiating the ins amount of valve lift and plan on an and outs of the small block Chrysler. Somewhere along the line, I got the message that it would probably be a better idea for me to come up with something besides Chevy valves, if I wanted a Mopar guy like Steve to build our cylinder heads. Enough said. By going with a valve designed for an LS motor, I was able to keep the small stem diameter, 8mm, and find some Here is the mix of Ferrea valves, Engine Pro springs, valves that were just a locks and seals, and the set of Comp Cams retainers bit larger than our stock we used for our high performance valve train.
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Here you can see the amount of material that was removed from the intake seat and the moderate amount of work to fit the exhaust valves.
The heads look like they were made for the larger valves after Steve came in with an 80 degree Bowl Hog to blend the new oversize intake seat to the port.
diameters, which will also help feed our larger motor. Most of you are familiar with Ferrea Racing Valves. They had just what we needed to adapt a larger one-piece performance stainless steel valve to our street performance heads. Their generous donation to our charity motor build really bailed me out and I need to thank them. Dare to be different also means dare to work through limited availability,
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Profitable Performance substantial exhausts went up slightly from 1.625” to 1.650”. I could have gone larger on the intakes, but since we are working with a slightly smaller bore of 3.950” and did not wish to open up for any shrouding in the combustion chamber, we’ll hold the intakes at 2.00”. Minor work was required as you can see in the pictures. To finish our heads These are all the parts you will kit in the Comp Cams we choose a set of dual adjustable valve conversion kit for the Chrysler valve springs out of the Magnum heads. Engine Pro Performance catalog. The people at and in this case a little politics. Plus, EPG helped us with parts for both we ended up with a great set of our short block and rotating valves that will surely increase the assembly, and parts for our heads. performance potential of our heads Another group we must thank for and gave us access to additional their generous donation to our cause. shelf parts we’ll need to assemble The springs are perfect for the cam this combination. We increased the selection and meet the fairly short size of our intake valves from 1.920” installed height of the Chrysler to an even 2.00” while our already
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We CC’d our combustion chambers and found them to be 64cc with our new valves. This should put us right about 9.4:1 compression ratio.
heads. We used a set of Comp spring retainers that I previously alluded to that were designed for a GM LS motor and a set of Engine Pro 8mm 7-degree machined valve locks. Look
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Profitable Performance
Comp Cams studs and guide plates installed. These special studs convert the 5/16” bolt-down factory rockers to a 3/8” stud mounted 1.6 ratio roller tip rocker.
at the specs in the books. The parts are there for many combinations. We’ll also use an EPG steel clad viton valve seal that will fit the stock valve guide. You’ll see in the pictures that we did need to hone the valve guides slightly to fit our LS valves and we did cut the step out of the guide boss to make room for the dual spring. A great alternative to the dual spring would be a set of conical springs designed for a small block engine, Lunati Voodoo series cam kit. Hydraulic Flat Tappet Cam. Hot Street cam, likes 2800 converter, Hi-Rise type dual plane intake with 750cfm carb, headers, 10:1 compression and 3.73 gears. RPM Range: 22006400 Likes up to 200HP nitrous.
but the decision to use a dual spring came back to my design of a factory style muscle engine and a readily available performance spring for the small block Chrysler engine. Block machined - Check. Rotating assembly balanced - Check. Cylinder heads flowed, machined and assembled - Check. Next we’ll address assembly and then we’ll be ready to dyno and see how we’ve done before we offer you a chance to be a part of our final goal. Details will soon be available on how you can purchase raffle tickets and donate to the fund that will ultimately be our donation to the Independence Fund, and our goal to raise money for a high tech wheelchair that can change the life of one of our disabled vets. Dare to try something different. Dare to think outside the box. Dare to get involved. Dare to break the rules from time to time. And, dare to stay tuned for more! ■
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Shop Talk
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Ford’s NASCAR Boss 429 Owen Russell’s “Job 1”
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hen the Central County Flyers meet for their flyin lunches on Friday afternoons in the summer, Owen Russell and his friends plunk down $8 for a hearty meal and a shot at weekly bragging rights. Owen could win the rights hands down week after week if he started telling tales from the six years he spent as an engine doctor in Ford Motor Co.’s mid-1960s “Total Performance” stock car racing program. Owen’s job was to make the NASCAR Boss 429 work better. The lanky Wisconsinite remembers his 1963-1969 Ford years as a “very good time for someone who was interested in racing.” He started at the company’s proving ground and moved to the Special Order Dept. In 1968, he worked his way up into the automaker’s NASCAR Racing Program. While there, he was the Power Plant Systems Group Engineer with responsibility for all of the moving and reciprocating parts in the competition version of the Boss 429 V8. Russell says he worked on only the NASCAR 429 that developed 550-560 hp. A detuned version of this motor was used in the 500 Boss 429 Mustangs Ford built to make the engine race legal. The engines that Owen helped build were used in cars driven by David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Bobby Isaac, Bobby Allison and Lee Roy Yarbrough. “Ford never lost a race with that engine,” says Russell, with a real sense of pride
46 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
in his voice. Russell reminds one a lot of Shelby, not the Texas drawl, but the tall, blue-jeaned cowboy image. At 15, he knew he wanted to be an engineer. His dream was to design an engine to win the Indy 500. His first serious engineering job was with Ethyl Corp., between 1955-1963, where he served as a fuels specialist. But during that time, he also spent two years as a Marine Corps Heavy Equipment Officer. Russell went to Ford after turning down a job offer from
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR John Gunnel jgunnel@enginebuildermag.com
Owen Russell could probably pass as Carroll Shelby at a glance.
This casting for a Boss 429 connecting rod was never machined.
Determining why this piston broke was Owen Russell’s job.
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Shop Talk
l
The engine guru picked up many trophies during his own racing career. One of the many sports racing cars that Russell built and drove.
Neil Newman at Gorman-Rupp in Mansfield, OH. Newman later went to GormanRupp where he and Newman became good friends. However, Russell had to give the
Ford thing a try, since he heard that Ford was interested in adding Ferrari to its racing stable. Between his stints at Ethyl and Ford, Owen built three sports racing cars. His first one, which wore No. 10, was constructed while he was living in Texas. It had a
Crosley engine, a Fiat 500 transmission and frame and enough get up and go to start a serious interest in motor sports. Ford’s ”Total Performance” program was in full swing, and Russell wanted to be part of it. He sent a resume and was soon packing his bags. “By
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Shop Talk
Russell had to go through at least three subtle redesigns before he got the radius for this con rod cap just right.
1968, when I got into the NASCAR Racing Program, I had been racing my own sports cars, but Ford had a big, no-holds-barred, unlimited-
budget program where not winning was not an option,” he says. Russell’s work involved developing, creating,
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manufacturing, inspecting and monitoring the performance of the special connecting rods used in the NASCAR 429. The special-for-racing rods were made at Ford’s forging plant in Buffalo, NY. Russell still has one of the unmachined forgings, as well as a collection of bits and pieces of pistons, con rods and other parts that broke in races. Holding up one broken rod, Russell said, “This was an attempt to use a stock con rod in the NASCAR 429.” When the stock rod broke, he had to come up with a fix. “I had to work out a good radius for this piece and we broke a number of rods until we got the best radius. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good ones.” Russell showed me one of the huge pistons from his engine that broke during a race. He had to find why things broke and correct the problem. “This failure was traced to a weakness in the wrist pin,” he said. “The wrist pin was flexing inside the motor and the piston broke. I had to stop the flexing.” Although it was fun to be involved in Ford’s racing program, it was stressful. “I worked in Detroit, but on Friday night I had to get on an airliner to North Carolina, where I would work on cars at Holman & Moody to ready them for the race. Then, I took a plane to the race. Then, I had to fly to Detroit and be at work Monday morning.” Russell still has power curve graphs for the NASCAR 429 when it was tested on the Holman & Moody dyno in Charlotte in 1968-1969. Eventually, Russell decided to move to Mansfield to work for Rupp, where he helped set up the company’s engine department. He remembers that Mid Ohio in nearby Lexington, OH, was always his favorite track to race on. His Lister-English Special was once photographed in the pits there, and appeared in a sports car racing magazine. He also competed at the Waterford Hills course in Michigan. After Ohio, Owen went to CurtissWright to help develop its first rotary engine. Owen built a Lotus 19-based car that raced with numbers 18 and
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Russell Owen saved Holman & Moody dyno reports on the Boss 429.
Engineering. He would spend 20 years in Wisconsin working for Mercury Marine and later retired from that company. In Wisconsin, Russell raced a car wearing No. 83 that was powered by a 3-cylinder Scott outboard motor that he obtained from Newman. Unfortunately, this car was destroyed in a garage fire. After retirement, Russell’s racing days were over, but he wasn’t finished building interesting machines to fly or drive. He put together a Mercury RV0 Rebel amphibious airplane, which he
This is the third car that Russell built.
193. It was a new concept in sports cars and was featured in various racing magazines. The car got to be well known in the Midwest, but racing was starting to lose its appeal for Russell. “I quit racing like an alcoholic quits booze,” Russell said. “I stopped going to tracks, sold my car and cancelled my subscription to Competition Press.” Russell’s friend Neil Newman had gone to work for Carl Kiekhaefer’s Mercury Marine Co., in Fond du Lac, WI. This opened an opportunity for Russell. Mercury Marine had long been involved in speedboat racing and had competed in NASCAR in the ‘50s. The president of the company flew to an F1 race in Detroit, where he met Russell and offered him a racing job. Ultimately, Russell came to Mercury as Director of Outboard
still has today. Another of Russell’s retirement projects was a replica of the Ford GT 40 that he built using a Fiero body and a Taurus SHO V6. He made one for himself and one for his brother-in-law. Using his mechanical mindset, Russell discovered that he had to engineer special axle half-shafts for both cars. Another challenge was mating the GM wiring harness to the Ford harness. After the cars were completed, they were sold. It’s easy to see that over the years, Owen Russell has contributed his technological talents to a number of companies, as well as the field of racing — which we are all thankful for. ■
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Coatings Feature
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Seeking Treatments The Evolution of Surface Coatings
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n the never ending quest for better performance, durability and reliability, various types of surface coatings and treatments have evolved as solutions for problems that have vexed engine builders for years. Coatings that were once considered exotic raceonly solutions are now being used on a wide variety of stock and performance applications. If you're not familiar with coating technology and the benefits coatings can provide, keep reading because it's time you get up to speed on what's available and what coatings can do.
First of all, there are different types of coatings for different purposes:
Anti-Scuff & Anti-Friction Coatings These can be used on engine bearings, piston skirts and valvetrain components to reduce friction and provide lubrication in the absence of normal lubrication. Most of these are some type of dry film lubricant that contain molybdenum disulfide, graphite, tungsten disulfide and/or PTFE (Teflon) in a thermosetting polymer binder (water or solvent
BY LARRY CARLEY, TECHNICAL EDITOR
based). Many of these coatings also have oil retention properties that attract and hold oil to maintain lubrication on critical surfaces on bearings and piston skirts.
Hard Surface Coatings These include hard anodizing aluminum pistons, nitriding crankshaft journals, and applying thin film coatings such as titanium nitride, chromium nitride or Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) on valves, lifters, wrist pins and other parts.
Thinner coatings are usually applied to engine bearings, typically .0001” to .0003” thick. The coating is thin enough that it won’t affect installed normal bearing clearances.
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DITOR
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Coatings Feature
Thermal Barrier Coatings
Thermal Dispersants
These include various types of metallic and ceramic coatings that insulate parts and reflect heat. Thermal barrier coatings are typically used on the tops of pistons and inside combustion chambers to improve thermal efficiency and power, and to help pistons and other parts run cooler. When used on exhaust manifolds and headers, thermal barrier coatings retain more heat in the exhaust which increases exhaust velocity and improves scavenging. It also reduces the amount of heat that is radiated into the engine compartment. Thermal barrier coatings can also be used on the undersides of intake manifolds, carburetor throttle bodies and in the intake manifold and cylinder head ports to help keep the air/fuel mixture cooler (which means more horsepower and less risk of detonation and preignition).
These are coatings that improve the rate at which heat radiates away from a surface. Thermal dispersants are one of the most underutilized coatings but can be effectively used to help the engine, oil and coolant run cooler. Thermal dispersant coatings can be applied to oil pans to help radiate heat away from the oil, to carburetor fuel bowls and the upper side of intake manifolds to help cool the incoming air and fuel, to radiators, oil coolers and turbocharger intercoolers to improve thermal efficiency (as much as 20 percent or more in many cases!), and to help cool such parts as alternators, transmission housings, differentials or even electric motors.
Oil Shedding Coatings These prevent oil from sticking to surfaces so it will return to the oil pan more quickly. These types of coatings cause oil to bead up and roll
off rather than wick and stick to the surface. Applications include coating crankshaft counterweights and connecting rods to reduce crankcase windage and drag, and coating the insides of valve covers, valley covers and oil pans to improve oil return to the oil pan. Before we move on to more specifics, it's important to understand that different applications require different types of coatings. There is no single magic coating that does it all. The coatings required inside a Top Fuel drag motor are going to be different from those for a Saturday night dirt track racer or a street performance motor. The real experts on this topic are the people who apply the coatings and the manufacturers who develop and supply the coating raw materials. They have the experience and know-how to guide you in the selection of which types of coatings will accomplish what you are trying
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Coatings Feature
to achieve. Let them tell you which coating will work best for a particular application rather than trying to tell them what type of coating you want applied to a part. Quality control of the coating materials that are used and how they are applied is also essential to assure good surface adhesion, the proper surface finish and dimensional control. Some coatings are so thin that they have little or no effect on assembly tolerances. But in some cases, the thickness of a coating can be increased to compensate for wear or to address other issues such as piston slap or excessive piston-to-bore clearances.
Bearing Coatings Bearing coatings first appeared back in the 1970s as a means of helping crankshaft rod and main bearings survive
According to designers, ceramic thermal barrier coatings used on the top of a piston allows the piston to reflect heat back into the combustion chamber for better combustion and more power.
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Coatings Feature grueling racing conditions. If an engine loses oil pressure for any reason during a race, it's usually the end of the race for that engine. Rod and main bearings won't survive very long at high RPM without a protective oil film between the bearings and crank. If the oil film is lost, the bearing will scuff or seize resulting in a spun bearing, a damaged crank journal and/or possibly a broken connecting rod. Bearing coatings provide a layer of dry film lubrication that takes over when there is little or no oil film in the bearing. That includes dry starts as well as loss of oil pressure while the engine is running. The sacrificial coating provides temporary lubrication that often prevents expensive damage to the crank journals — at least for awhile. Many bearing coatings also attract and hold oil on the bearing surface. This allows some lubrication to continue even if oil pressure is lost momentarily during hard acceleration, hard cornering or because of high speed cavitation in the oil pump. Many oil pumps cavitate above 5500 RPM causing oil pressure to fluctuate or even drop. Using coated bearings reduces the risk of bearing damage or failure if an engine has a history of oil pressure problems. Most bearing coatings are relatively thin, only about .0001 to .0003 inches thick so they should not affect normal bearing clearances. Coatings can also be burnished down to near zero thickness and still provide a layer of protection. One of the latest applications of bearing coatings is to protect the crankshaft bearings in new cars that utilize fuel saving Stop/Start technology. Many hybrids as well as a growing number of nonhybrids shut the engine off at a stop light or when a vehicle stops moving for more than a few seconds to save fuel. The problem is as soon as the engine shuts off, oil pressure drops to zero and oil starts to drain out of the bearings. Today's ultra-thin 0W-20, 0W-40 and even 5W-20 oils are great for reducing friction but not so great at
maintaining the oil film in the bearings when oil flow to the bearings stops. Consequently, there's a significant potential for increased bearings wear in these Stop/Start engine applications depending on how frequently the engine is shut off and restarted. It's not quite as bad as cold starting an engine that sat overnight for several hours, but it's not the same as continuous driving with a steady supply of oil either. Another application for coated bearings is for engines that may experience high cornering forces and oil starvation issues with their stock oil systems. General Motors is using specially coated rod and main bearings in their Corvette LS7 engines. The bearing manufacturer says its proprietary polymer coating reduces bearing wear up to 500 percent and fatigue by 20 percent over standard overlays. The bearings also have partial oil grooves to reduce oil pump losses
by 30 percent. Research is also being done by several bearing manufacturers to develop next generation bearings that will use some type of coating in place of traditional babbit in a trimetal bearing. These new "leadless" trimetal bearings may be used in engines with Stop/Start technology or as a substitute for traditional trimetal or bimetal bearings. Using coated rod and main bearings is certainly not a necessity for many racers, but it does provide an extra layer of protection in applications that can be hard on bearings. One supplier told us that some of their drag racing customers are running the same coated bearings for up to three years (over 850 runs!) without any problems. When the engines are torn down for inspection, the surface of the bearings show almost no wear — although the bearings have lost
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Coatings Feature
These days, there are many different types of coatings from which an engine builder can choose. The coatings used by parts manufacturers can improve lubricity, heat control and performance. Photo Courtesy of Speed-Pro.
some crush due to the pounding they've taken over time. Even so, the addition of a coating to a high quality base bearing allows these racers to save a considerable amount of money over several racing seasons because they don't have to replace bearings as often. Top Fuel drag racing is one of the most demanding applications as engine bearings are concerned. Hammering the bearings with up to 12,000 PSI or more for a four second run down the quarter mile usually means the bearings have to be replaced after every race. But according to one coating supplier, its special coating for Top Fuel bearings allows the same set of bearings to last up to four or more runs.
Coating Pistons Many piston suppliers offer pistons with anti-scuff skirt coatings either as a standard product feature or an extra-cost option. The coatings may be applied by a silk screen printing 54 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
process or sprayed on. Some coatings are designed to be more of a break-in coating while others are designed to last the life of the piston. Break-in coatings typically scrub off as the piston and rings seat in while long-life antifriction/anti-scuff coatings protect the piston against dry starts, loss of lubrication on the cylinder walls and overheating. Most anti-friction/anti-scuff skirt coatings are relatively thin (.0005 to .001 inches) so there is no need to compensate for piston-to-bore clearances when the pistons are installed. Normal clearances can be used as if the coating wasn't there. The thickness of the skirt coating may be increased in some applications to compensate for piston or bore wear, to reduce piston slap or piston vibrations. On diesel applications, some engine builders have found that using a heavier anti-friction skirt coating reduces cavitation wear in wet cylinder liners. Apparently the skirt coating acts like a vibration damper to cushion the piston as it moves up and down in the cylinder. Anti-friction/anti-scuff skirt
coatings can also be combined with other piston surface treatments such as hard anodizing. Anodizing forms a hard, corrosion resistant layer on the surface of aluminum. There are various types of anodizing treatments, and some that form the hardest surface layer can also leave the surface slightly rougher. This improves the durability and wear resistance of the piston and rings, but may increase bore wear due to the abrasive nature of the anodizing. Some anodizing treatments are somewhat kinder in that they can impregnate molybdenum disulfide or other compounds into the surface to make it both hard and self-lubricating. For drag racing, hard anodizing pistons may not make much difference in terms of bore wear. But for a street engine or endurance racing such as NASCAR or road racing, a hard anodized skirt coating may increase cylinder wear. To reduce bore wear, the piston skirt can be coated with a dry film moly-based lubricant. The cylinder bores may also be coated with a wear-resistant surface treatment such as Nikasil (a hard electrodeposited coating of nickel and silicon carbide). Nikasil coated cylinders are quite popular in many forms of racing, from motorcycles and marine to off-road and circle track. For engines that have aluminum cylinder bores and aluminum pistons, a thin coating of iron can be applied to the pistons to create a barrier between the similar metals. Without some type of coating, uncoated aluminum pistons won't survive in an aluminum bore. Iron particles may also be used in some skirt coatings for pistons that are used in cast iron blocks or aluminum blocks with iron sleeves.
Thin Film Coatings Thin, hard coatings can also be applied to the wrist pin bores in pistons or to the wrist pins themselves if increased durability is needed. Thin film coatings include PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) or DLC (Diamond-like carbon)
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Coatings Feature coatings that create an extremely thin (microns thick) layer on the surface. The coating increases hardness and wear resistance while also reducing friction. Thin film coatings, whether applied chemically, by a PVD process or plasma spray, are often used on valves and lifters. Titanium nitride and Chromium nitride create a hard wearresistance layer that helps valves and lifters hold up better in demanding applications. Diamondlike carbon is another coating material that is often used in high end racing for added wearresistance and durability, but it's more expensive than most other processes.
Heat Reflective Coatings Thermal barrier top coatings for pistons can be used to improve durability and power. These may be spray and bake coatings, or applied by some type of high temperature plasma spray. Thermal barrier coatings reflect heat to keep more heat and pressure in the combustion chamber. Gains of 8 to 10 horsepower can often be seen on a dyno after pistons have been coated. The coating also reduces heat transfer into the piston, wrist pin and rings. Most of the coating suppliers we interviewed recommend using a thermal barrier coating on pistons if the engine will use some type of power adder such as nitrous oxide, a turbocharger or supercharger. Thermal barrier coatings can also be applied to the combustion chambers in the cylinder heads, and valve faces to reflect heat. Aluminum heads pull a lot of heat out of the combustion chamber, so slowing down the rate of heat transfer means more usable energy remains in the cylinders. It also means less heat transfer to the coolant (cooler running engine) and less heat transfer to the intake manifold (cooler air/fuel charge). Thermal barrier coatings on exhaust manifolds and headers increase exhaust velocity and scavenging efficiency while reducing engine compartment temperatures. The coatings also provide cosmetic protection that
inhibits rust and corrosion. One coating supplier said adhesion is a challenge on exhaust components because of the constant expansion and contraction of the manifolds or tubing. This requires careful preparation of the exterior surface of the manifolds or pipes so the base coating will stick. Their particular coating is applied in multiple layers using slightly different materials in the upper layers so the coating will last. Some bright ceramic metallic coatings for exhaust components are more for appearance and are less effective at reflecting heat. Sometimes the "ugliest" thermal barrier coatings actually provide the best heat retention and performance.
Valvetrain Coatings and Protection Valve spring fatigue and failure is often the result of high temperatures and friction, especially with double or triple-coil
valve springs. Coating the springs can reduce friction and help the springs run cooler and last longer. Thermal dispersant coatings are another option for valve springs to help them run cooler. The tips of pushrods can dig into the rocker arms at maximum valve lift, so coating the tips with an antifriction coating can reduce wear. Lifters and cam lobes that are experiencing wear problems can often benefit from thin film PVD or DLC coatings. Micro-polishing camshaft and crankshafts can also reduce friction by providing a smoother surface finish. If you are not taking advantage of all the benefits these various types of coatings offer, it's time to investigate coatings further. Talk to some coating applicators and manufacturers to find out more about their products and how they can help your engines last longer, run better and experience fewer problems. â–
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Business Feature
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WEB TOOLS Improving Business Through the Internet and Social Media Outlets For years, engine shops have used the Internet to try and increase business. But too often, a shop’s website wasn’t being used to it’s full potential. Normally, websites provided the viewer hours of operation, directions to your shop and maybe a few photos of the business. Today, engine professionals are using their website as a tool to increase profits by selling reman/rebuilt components from their shop online. Billing transactions for services like crankshaft grinding or honing can be completed via the Internet. And customer data such as credit card information, contact information and shipping addresses can be stored in the Internet’s cloud formats. And, a growing number of performance and engine shops use the Internet everyday for buying tooling, components and engine parts. However, just like any other tool in your shop that you use to improve your engine business, your computer must be properly “maintained.” This is especially important when it comes to your website and your Internet business operations. Revelations earlier this month that Russian hackers accessed nearly 1.2 billion user names and passwords are only the latest in a series of identity theft attacks that are causing US consumers to change shopping habits. Some online shoppers are scaling back Internet-based purchases, especially at stores known to have had a data breach. It may cause some engine builders worry for those who order a high volume of parts via the Internet. When it comes to the Internet, the following helpful tips can keep your business running like a well-tuned engine.
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Address Your Cybersecurity by Mark Claypool Password: “fluffy1234.” One of our clients asked us to use this for setting up his email, telling us it was the name of his wife’s cat. “Admin” was another client’s request for a username, and he wanted his password to be 1234. Nope! No way, no how! We vigorously refuse to put unsecure passwords in place. “But they’re hard to remember, I have so many of them,” said one business owner. “I just keep them all the same, it makes it easier to keep it all straight,” said another. And that makes it easier for thieves to make life a living nightmare. And if they aren’t thieves, they are, at the very least, vandals.
Real Threats Consider this a warning shot across your business bow. There are plenty of people out there gunning for weaknesses in website passwords, email passwords and databases with information of value – names, addresses, phone numbers, email and credit card information. How secure are you and your business? Threats to your cybersecurity are all too real. If you haven’t been impacted by identity theft, hacked emails and websites or data breaches, consider yourself lucky. To protect yourself – and your business – from cybersecurity threats, you need a plan.
Here are nine things you need to address: 1. Policies and training: Set up rules and policies to protect your business. Have systems in place, then train employees and set up consequences for non-compliance. 2. Passwords: Strong passwords need to be set up. Here’s a free source for the creation of a highly encrypted password: http://passwordsgenerator.net. Some policies to follow include: • Don’t use the same password across multiple accounts. • Passwords should be at least 15 to 20 characters long and include numbers, upper and lower case letters, and symbols. • Don’t use family names, initials, pets, birthdates, addresses, towns or full words in general, phone numbers or mathematical sequences as passwords. • Do not permit your browser or FTP client programs to save your passwords. Any password saved in this manner can easily be discovered with a single click using some programming script. • Do not access important, password-protected accounts from public computers or someone else’s computer. • Change your passwords regularly. Monthly is best, quarterly at the very least. • Keep passwords straight using phone apps or an online password management system. PC Magazine suggests the following: KeePass (free, download to your computer),
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Business Feature www.keepass.com; LastPass (free, cloud-based), www.lastpass.com; RoboForm Desktop 7 (for one PC), or RoboForm Everywhere 7 (multiple PCs) (from $29.95) www.roboform.com. Alternatively, save your passwords as plain text, then encrypt them with AES Crypt or AxCrypt. • When employees leave the company, change all passwords that person was familiar with. 3. Virus/malware protection: Your computers must have the latest virus and malware protection installed and operating. It must be updated regularly, then have a full scan run after each update. 4. Firewall: A firewall should be set up for your company’s Internet connection. Talk with an IT professional about what that entails. Firewalls protect your private network data from being breached by outsiders. 5. Mobile device protocol: Mobile devices used by your team can pose significant threats. They may contain confidential information and are frequently used to access company networks. Password protect these devices, and have security apps installed. Encrypt all important data. Devices connecting to public networks at coffee shops, libraries, schools, etc., are particularly vulnerable to attack. 6. Back up data: Nothing is sacred. Back up your data regularly. Email, documents, spreadsheets, databases, accounting files, HR files, etc., are irreplaceable and should be backed up regularly, preferably automatically. Services like Carbonite or Barracuda are great for this purpose. If you make your own backups, put them on two external drives and keep them in a safe deposit box. Alternate these drives with each backup. 7. Wi-Fi: Secure your company WiFi account with a highly encrypted password, which will help block outsiders from getting into your company network. If you offer a public access point for customers to use, make it separate from your business network. 8. Credit card processing: Work closely with whatever service you use to process credit cards and make sure you’re using the most trusted,
validated and anti-fraud system possible. Use an isolated computer for these transactions, not one used for going online. 9. Give limited access: Give access to employees only on a need-to-know basis, only for the processes they use. No person other than the owner should have access to all this information. We call this having the “keys to the castle.” Give these keys to a trusted attorney who’s in charge of the owner’s estate should something happen, with strict instructions that these be given out ASAP to a specific person in the event of the owner’s demise.
Not So Hard Sure, it’s hard to do all this, but it’s much harder to fix a data breach, undo the damage done by hackers and apologize to customers for their personal information being stolen. Set a goal to get this done before the end of the year. Mark Claypool has more than 30 years of experience in the fields of workforce development, apprenticeships, marketing and Web presence management. He is the CEO of Optima Automotive (www.optimaautomotive.com), which provides website design, SEO services and social media management services.
Social Gathering by Heather Blessington If you are like most engine shops, managing your social media channels is a random mix of posts updated only when time permits. Measuring performance on your channels gets pushed to the back burner since figuring out content is time consuming enough. This article will help you create a social media marketing plan that works for the long term. The information provided here includes proven strategies specifically for dealerships. All you have to do is hold up your part and commit to three things: resources, time and budget.
Social Media is Free By now, you know that although it’s “free” to sign up for social media
channels, managing these channels requires budget and qualified staff. On average, shops should be spending 10 to 20 hours per week on social media marketing. That time should include performance reporting. This time equates to either a part-time or fulltime internal position depending upon the size of your engine shop, objectives and goals.
I Want ROI, Like NOW No doubt about it, social media marketing requires patience. This arena of marketing is by no means turnkey, but I can assure you, I have never seen an engine shop fail if it commits to its efforts. You should be seeing foot traffic marching into your shop within three to six months — even sooner if you start offering social-media-specific coupons right out of the gate.
Track Conversions The biggest hurdle to driving foot traffic to your shop is you. I speak from experience. Each week, my highly motivated, extremely passionate team meets to whine about our clients who promised to track our well-executed Facebook promotions through to sales conversion — but then the shop doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. We cry, we scream, we get all the venting out of our system, and then we discuss solutions. To date, we have not discovered one, so if you have the magic answer, please tell me. You must require your entire staff to track social media driven promotions at checkout. Here’s where it gets tricky. Customers may come in with printed coupons, but they’re more likely to flash their mobile phone to your cashier with the Facebook offer displayed on it. If your cashier gazes back, dazed and confused, it’s a problem. Your cashier must track this sales conversion. The tracking can be easy as a checkmark on a piece of paper — just make sure they do it. Every single coupon/offer redemption must be tracked. Otherwise, what’s the point?
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Assigning the Right Resources
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Let’s start with what may be my biggest pet peeve of all time: shop owners who say something like,“My daughter is coming home from college for spring break, and she’s big on all this social stuff, so she’s going to handle it from here on out.” This is so foolish. You are running a business. Don’t be a cheapskate, and don’t underestimate the power of social media marketing. The first issue is that just because your son or daughter spends 18 hours a day on Facebook it doesn’t mean that they know how to market your business. Second, I don’t care how old you are, you need to learn about this stuff. Don’t pawn any marketing responsibility off on others and expect it to get done correctly. It’s time to get your hands dirty and learn it at a high level so you can assign resources appropriately. If I were a shop owner, I would have the most qualified internal resource manage my social media marketing. This person would generally be your marketing person, but not always. Perhaps your service manager or IT person possesses the right skills for the job. If I didn’t have an internal resource, I would hire one on a part-time hourly basis. Word of warning here, everyone is a social media specialist these days, so do your due diligence in reviewing past work samples, client references and resumes.
Outsourcing Social Media Management In both scenarios, I would outsource with a company specializing in the powersports industry to work as a mentor/trainer with the internal staff member. The social media market is changing and evolving so quickly that even my company has a hard time keeping up with it. For example, Facebook and Google+ enhance and update weekly. This information can make or break your social media efforts –– your marketing person may be moseying along with no sense of industry best practices in security, privacy or current feature set. Read: security breaches to your
customer data, lack of reach to target demographic, and content postings that sit and spin when they should be informing your social communities of your dealership happenings. All of these stories result in lost revenue for you.
Social Channel Relevancy Facebook is by far the most utilized social channel by engine shops, and with good reason: it has the highest number of subscribers in every single demographic. This means you should dedicate at least 50 percent of your social media marketing time to Facebook efforts, which includes Promoted Post Advertising campaigns. Google+ and Twitter are the other two channels that I consider musthaves. The thought of managing three channels is daunting; however, the use of Hootsuite makes this problem disappear. Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to post to multiple channels simultaneously, and it only costs $9.99 per month. Even better, Hootsuite allows your posts to be scheduled, so content can be planned ahead of time and posted when your fans are most active. YouTube is another powerful social media marketing tool. The ability to express company culture, personality and style via video is second to none. Furthermore, 30-second walk-around videos sell vehicles like there’s no tomorrow. Shops that dive into YouTube are the most successful I have seen. The hard part is figuring out who is going to put their face on camera and who is going to shoot the video (it’s simple to shoot from a smartphone using the YouTube app which will automatically upload the video). Finally, we have two other visualbased tools: Pinterest and Instagram. Instagram is owned by Facebook and it can be integrated into your account, so that is a plus for its usage. Pinterest is known for its “boards” format, which auto-magically sorts your images into an eye-pleasing display that begs to be viewed and repinned by any enthusiast with a passionate bone in his or her body. My advice here is to take one of these channels on, if and when you have mastered the management of the big three under the umbrella of
Business Feature Hootsuite, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
Performance Reporting Facebook insights are right there for the reading, so you must take the time to review the reports. The demographic and city reports tell you who your fans are and where they live, and you will likely be surprised to find that your in-store demographic is different than your online demographic — which is something you need to consider and accommodate for when planning your content and promotions. Next, the daily performance reporting on key metrics is essential. The key metrics include “Reach,” “Likes,” “Engagement,” “Talking about this” and “Virality” (hover over each metric on your report to learn what each statistic means for your business). Your website reporting tool (i.e. Google Analytics), will tell you the referral traffic from your social media channels.
SBI.com
Going Tubing by Heather Blessington The power of YouTube as a primary social channel should not be underestimated. Videos serve to boost your website’s organic search ranking, build your performance shop brand and sell more engines and services — which is enough reason to dive in.
Getting Started The best aspect of YouTube is you don’t need to invest thousands of dollars on sophisticated video equipment and professional editors to jumpstart your efforts. Got a smartphone? You’re ready to shoot. Webcam on your computer, or even better, a GoPro camera? Now, you’ve got no excuse! Here’s is a step-by-step guide to setting up a YouTube account: Sign-in to YouTube with your Gmail account from Google — if you don’t have one, YouTube will walk you
through the process (remember Google owns YouTube that’s why publishing content here helps your organic search rankings).
Go To All My Channels Here, you’ve got the option to create a YouTube channel for a Google+ page that you manage. Select this option, as you’ll want to associate your YouTube account with your shop’s Google+ page. If you don’t have a Google+ page established, a new one will be created when you click, “Create a new channel.” Fill out the details to create your new channel, and you’re ready to roll film … well, almost.
Planning Your Content Strategy While going “viral” may sound appealing, the chances that your shop’s new video will compete with adorable kittens and viral sensations like the Harlem Shake are slim-to-none. Instead, your goal should be to create videos that connect with your
With SBI’s website, you’ll find all the information you need on our high-quality, late-model valvetrain parts within just a couple of clicks. New to our website is the comprehensive SBI e-catalog frequently updated and complete with more than 2,000 engine applications, detailed specifications and photos of each of the more than 5,000 SBI valvetrain parts, and one of the most complete, up-to-date OEM/aftermarket-to-SBI part number interchange search functions available in the industry. Also new to the website is SBI Tech Library, which provides an extensive archive of valvetrain parts information in tech bulletins, articles and videos. On our Downloads page, you can find a .pdf version of the just-released SBI 30th Anniversary Catalog, a Master Part Number Interchange List, and useful technical information. Also note that there’s a Spanish version of SBI webpages. You’ll waste no time in finding exactly what you need on the SBI website. Online catalog: sbi-e-catalog.com Catalog download: http://tinyurl.com/l7gcu6c
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Here are just a few examples of shops and their YouTube channels to get your creative juices flowing:
Pro Car Associates www.youtube.com/user/WrightProCar Pro Car Associates was founded in 1969 by a pair of young enterprising engineers with a passion for drag racing, Chuck Wright and Jim Cavallero, who also owned Diamond Racing Engines (later to become Diamond Racing Pistons). Their focus was to make a strong impact upon the motorsports marketplace, which was undergoing explosive growth. They routinly post videos of the engines they dyno test.
Eric the Car Guy www.youtube.com/user/EricTheCarGuy EricTheCarGuy is a channel dedicated to the art of auto repair and helping the do-it-yourselfers rebuild and repair engines. New EricTheCarGuy videos posted every Friday.
niche customer base. As a rule of thumb, if you can blog about it, you can create a video about it.
Optimizing Your Videos for SEO Just like on Google, keywords drive the discovery of your YouTube videos. You can use YouTube’s Keyword Tool (https://www.youtube.com/keyword_tool) to generate a list of keywords to work into your videos. Here are the key places to use your keywords in each video: Title: Just like your blog posts, make sure the title of your video includes your keywords. Description: At the very least, you should write a onesentence description, but you don’t have to stop there. You can write a blog-post length description, working in your keyword phrase(s) multiple times. This section is an ideal place to plug in a secondary call to action which clicks through to a landing page on your website (insider tip: there is no character limit on this field, so include all the detail you would like). Tags: Make sure you use your keywords and related terms in the tags section. Script: YouTube takes the audio from your video and creates an automatic transcript, so working your keywords into your script will help your video’s SEO. Annotations: The ultimate goal of all of your videos should be to drive traffic to your website. Utilize annotations to place words on the screen with a call to action, such as, “For more information on all of our engine building capabilities, visit us at xyzengines.com.”
Be Consistent One video doesn’t cut it. Forget about coming up with the world’s most creative viral video. Instead, focus on creating a steady, consistent stream of videos that address your target customer’s biggest needs. Sit down with your entire team and create an executable schedule of video content to ensure your YouTube channel stays current. It’s also important to remember that YouTube is just one channel in your overall social media marketing strategy. When you’re coming up with video ideas, be sure to think about how your video fits into your shop’s overall social media and digital marketing strategy. If you remember anything from this article, remember this: the key to digital marketing success is to publish relevant content on a regular basis to establish authority. ■ Heather Blessington is a nationallyrenowned speaker on social media strategy and a digital marketing veteran with more than 20 years experience. As CMO at ARI Network Services, Blessington is dedicated to educating businesses on digital marketing best practices. Circle 60 for more information 60 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
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WHAT’S ON THE DYNO? 3.0L Delorean Engine Tune Over at Pro Car Associates, Inc. in Akron, OH, is this 3.0L Delorean engine. “We are currently working on a development project with DPI (Delorean Performance Industries). DPI will be able to provide twin turbocharged engines along with fuel injection retrofit packages for existing Delorean vehicles,” explained Christopher Wright of Pro Car. “We are using the Holley HP ECM and ignition and are currently in the middle of testing. So far we have tested with 7.5 lbs. of boost with no issue.” Wright said the goal is to work up to 15 lbs. of boost using the Holley boost controllers. “This particular engine is the first and is built from stock components. This package will increase the maximum HP and Torque by 230% from factory. We will also be working on an engine that drastically exceeds these numbers for those looking for ultimate performance,” he said. According to Wright, DPI in Tallmadge, OH, is one of only a few companies in the US that restores Delorean vehicles, and that the company plans to bring the new engine technology to the old platform. For more on DPI, visit www.deloreanindustries.com. Photo courtesy of Pro Car Associates, Inc. www.procarassociates.com If your shop want’s to be featured in an upcoming installment of “What’s on the Dyno?” — just send an email to esunkin@babcox.com with a hi-res photo of an engine on your dyno, along with details on what enhancements your shop made to the engine, the type of vehicle it will be used in, any dyno numbers you would like to share and your shop's name and location. Entries selected from a random drawing will be featured in an upcoming "What's on the Dyno?" section of the magazine, and the sender will be awarded a $50 gift card.
presented by:
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Building History
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Racing with the Ramchargers Neil Newman made special go-fast cams for his speedy classmates
BY JOHN GUNNELL
I
f you pick up a copy of Bill Weertman’s 2007 book Chrysler Engines 1922-1998 and turn to page 345, you’ll find mention of an SAE paper that Neil Newman authored in 1964 on converting the Mopar Slant Six from passenger car to pleasure boat use. At the time, Weertman, was head of the Chrysler Corp. Engine Development Lab when Newman worked there. What his book doesn’t mention is that Newman — before his tenure with Chrysler Marine Division — had also gone to school at the Chrysler Engineering Institute (CEI) with many members of the original legendary “Ramchargers” drag racing team.
named coupe now resides in the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI. Neil Newman wasn’t a member of the Ramchargers, but he was an engineering student at the Chrysler school when the racing team members were enrolled there. “Many of the older drag racers have
62 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
heard of the Ramchargers,” said former Ramcharger member Billy Shope in his Motorsports Village (www.motorsportsvillage.com) article entitled “The Ramchargers, How it all Began . . . “ According to Shope, “Without the Institute, there is little likelihood that the Ramchargers ever would have come into existence.”
CEI: A Focus on Engineering & Education
The High & The Mighty According to Petersen’s History of Drag Racing (published in 1981), “The original Ramchargers Car Club standard-bearer was Herman Mozer’s awkward, awfully quick ’49 Plymouth C/Altered.” This box-onbox Plymouth featured the first ‘high ram’ intake system (later copied by the big commercial manifold manufacturers). Herman Mozer was officially in charge of coordination for the Ramchargers team and his “High & Mighty” Plymouth became so famous that a replica of the aptly-
Newman had a little experience with early Chrysler Hemis like the one in this 1957 Chrysler 300C.
Neil Newman went to the Chrysler Institute with members of the famous Ramchargers drag racing team. Newman retired from Mercury Marine and settled in Central Wisconsin, where he recently bought himself a Lotus for sunny day drives.
CEI was an educational facility that Chrysler Corporation financed and ran for many years. From the start of the company in 1924, Chrysler Engineering flourished because Walter P. Chrysler — himself an engineer — supported it with buildings, equipment, staff and funds. The completion of the Engineering Building, at the former Maxwell plant in Highland Park, in 1928, symbolized his commitment. The four-story building cost $1 million at that time and provided 960,000 sq. ft. of space for labs, drafting, testing, showrooms and offices. Chrysler Corp. then established its own “college of engineering” in
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Building History 1931, when it launched CEI. The corporation employed hundreds of engineers and felt that it needed to train both college grads and those with prior work experience in the “Chrysler way.” During its first 10 years, Prior to Newman’s stint at Mercury the Institute held classes all Marine, owner Carl Kiekhaefer fielded over the Chrysler home a NASCAR team. His company had plant in Highland Park, MI, engine labs for working on mills like and at Highland Park High this one. School. A new Chrysler Institute Building opened on Oct. 1, 1942. It featured 20 classrooms, six drafting rooms, six engineering laboratories and an auditorium. CEI started as a graduate program that admitted students with a recent college degree in hand for a twoyear postgraduate education with “hands-on” practical experience. Chrysler paid them a starting engineer’s salary while they attended classes and completed different assignments in various departments within the corporation. They earned a Master of Automotive Engineering degree. Later, compact car races at Daytona in 1960. “No, it was a dual a night-school program was added as well. Each CEI graduate student was also a full-time Chrysler quad setup,” he insisted with a smile on his face. “And we got a tremendous amount of horsepower with it, but it employee. They spent two hours of each day in the didn’t idle well.” classroom and six hours on a student assignment. The student assignments were rotated between different departments. After a student earned his degree, he would be placed in a permanent assignment. “I went to school for two hours a day and worked in the engineering laboratory for six hours,” Newman recalled in an interview with Engine Builder. “I got to try six different assignments as I went through school and I liked designing engines the best.” According to Newman, “The Engine Design Group made the engine, the Engine Development Lab made it work and the design group got it back to figure out how to manufacture it. I wanted to work in the Engine Design Group, but because of office politics between the groups, I could not transfer into the Engine Design Group and I stayed in the Engine Development Lab.”
The “Leaning Tower of Power” Newman, now a resident of the village of Omro, WI., attended CEI from 1957-1959 as a student in the two-year graduate program and started work in the Chrysler Engine Development Laboratory in 1960. “I did mostly Slant Six stuff,” says Neil. “But I played with Hemis, too. They were still using first-generation Hemis from the mid 1950s in the lab and the test car we had was a Hemi-powered De Soto that we used for developing camshafts.” As part of his student assignment, in the early 1960s, Newman helped develop a ram manifold for the “Leaning Tower of Power” — the Slant Six. Newman remembers, “I worked on the performance development aspects of the Slant Six like intakes, camshafts and exhaust systems.” Newman swears that there was a Slant Six in the Engine Development Lab with a special intake carrying dual fourbarrel carburetors. Engine Builder asked if he might be thinking about the Hyper Pak — a kit of 14 dealer-installed high-performance parts that Chrysler created to use on Valiants that ran in the
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Building History
Hemi Highlights
Neil Newman’s last boss, Carl Kiekhaefer, stands between NASCAR drivers Tim Flock (L.) and Frank Mundy (R.).
During his time in the Engine Development Lab, Newman has recollection of Goodyear or Firestone using a Chrysler-engined racing car that ran on “alky” (alcohol fuel) to test tires. “Firestone was also building an Indy car with some form of Hemi engine,” Newman told us. “An Offy engine would only last 500 miles before it needed to be rebuilt, but the Hemi would last for many more test cycles.” Newman also worked on an exhaust system for the 1957 Chrysler 300 Letter car with the short-lived Bendix electronic fuel-injection system. “We would chase all over for a onehalf percent gain in performance back then and that much was considered a big improvement,” he explained. “One year, we managed to up the horsepower of the C300 by a small percentage, but customers complained that the engine didn’t perform as well. We discovered that with the exhaust, people had redone the mufflers and taken a baffle out, and the complaints we were hearing were actually a reaction to the
louder noise, rather than the car’s true performance, which was good.”
Fast Times at “Ramcharge High” According to Billy Shope, the Ramchargers racing team grew out of a lunchtime conversation that took place between classes at CEI. Enthusiasts like Wayne Erickson (a good friend of Neil Newman), Trant Jarman, Scott Harvey, Herman Mozer, Barnes Daniels and Shope would inevitably turn to racing when they began talking over their break. It was discovered then that each of them wanted to go drag racing, but didn’t have the money to do so. Then, someone suggested pooling their finances to buy and build a racing car. As might be expected from welltrained Chrysler engineering students, they formed committees to help get the job done. For example, Dick Burke and Dick Maxwell were appointed co-chairmen of suspension, traction and steering, while Skip McCully and Maurie Leising were cochairman of the engine. The goal was to build a Mopar that could outrun the big-block Chevrolets that were winning races at that time. The group had hoped to start with a 1930s Chrysler model, but such cars proved to exceed the amount they had to spend on such foolishness. Then, they came across a little 1949 Plymouth business coupe and purchased it. There were about 25 members of the Ramchargers originally and each of them kicked in a little over $30. They worked off the cost of the car’s 354-cid Hemi engine by doing a set number of warranty engine teardowns over at Dodge Truck Division. “While I wasn’t in the club, we all knew about it and it was an exciting time for everyone taking courses at CEI,” Neil Newman recalls. “Here I was, a young guy interested in engines and all of my classmates were part of the Ramchargers. I was designing exhaust manifolds at the time and my best friend Wayne Erickson was in the Ramchargers and had a drag car.
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This racing version of the Chrysler Hemi has two four-barrel carburetors and put out 355 hp.
had a dyno and all kinds of equipment,” Newman remembers. “Wayne looked at them and said, ‘My cam designer has 34 dynos!’ and we really did have that many in the lab.” (Chrysler Engineering actually had a complete Dynamometer Building constructed in 1939!) The thing the Ramchargers were most famous for was an unusuallooking intake manifold they built for The High & Mighty Plymouth. Chrysler Engineering was doing a lot of experimental work with ram tuning technology at the time, so the boys placed a plenum above the car’s engine and supported it with steel angle and somehow it worked. Their low-buck bomb set the best class speed record on its first outing at the National Hot Rod Association Nationals in 1959.
Erickson (who was killed in a drag racing accident weeks later) needed a camshaft for his car. “All Wayne wanted to do was run as fast as possible in the Nationals,” explained Newman. “He wasn’t at all interested in how the car would perform on the street — he wanted a cam designed only to go really fast. We worked with outside suppliers to custom make cams for lab testing, so I designed a wild cam for Wayne and had our cam company make it for the lab.” The Goldenrod With this special cam, Erickson’s Another person that Neil Newman Dodge dragster went like a rocket. was friendly with was Pete Dawson, “The Isky people came to him, asked him who did his cam and said they could make him up an Although Newman worked a bit on the even hotter one because they legendary Hemis, his real claim to fame was the work he did on Mopar’s less glamorous, but very reliable Slant Six.
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Building History
Ramcharger drag racing team’s logo. The members were Chrysler engineers who raced a Hemi powered 1950 Plymouth called The High & Mighty.”
who worked on the Summers Brothers’ “Goldenrod” World Land Speed Record car. Sponsored by Firestone and built by Bill and Bob Summers, of Ontario, CA., the torpedo-shaped streamliner set four fuel-injected Chrysler Hemis in a row to achieve a total of 2,400 hp. It is a beautiful machine, which the author saw close-up when he traveled to a German auto show in the 1980s and spent time with Bill
Speedville.com Speedville.com is the new address for performance. Whether you’re into drag racing, circle track, road racing or street performance, Speedville.com has you covered! Speedville features all of the quality technical content that Babcox Media can provide and that readers have come to expect from its top-notch trade publications. Be sure to stop by and sign up for the Pit Crew to earn miles towards gear in the Speedville Mall and a chance to win prizes!
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66 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
and Bob Summers. Lord Montagu, a British collector of WLSR cars, wanted to buy the Goldenrod then, but it now resides in the Henry Ford Museum. At Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, in the fall of 1965, Bob Summers piloted the Goldenrod to 409.695 mph, which to this day is the land speed record for un-blown cars. Dawson was later contacted to help restore the car before it went on display in Dearborn.
“Floating Power” “Floating Power” was a term that Chrysler had used to describe an improved engine-mounting system for its 1931 Plymouth PA model. The term also describes Neil Newman’s career in the ‘60s. Unhappy with some of the interdepartmental politics at Chrysler, Neil went to work for McCulloch, which had purchased the Scott-Atwater Outboard Boat Motor Co. in 1956. Newman worked at a Minnesota facility and helped develop a threecylinder aluminum 60-hp outboard that was sold under Scott, ScottMcCulloch and McCulloch branding. When McCulloch moved his department from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, Neil left to go back to
A cutaway view of the Slant Six engine. Newman was responsible for the “High Carb” and “Low Carb” versions of this motor.
Chrysler Marine in the ‘60s, when he wrote the SAE Paper cited in Bill Weertman’s book. Ironically, he then went to work for Carl Kiekhaefer’s outboard marine corporation Kiekhaefer Marine, in Fond du Lac, WI, (later to be named Mercury Marine). Kiekhaefer, ironically, had used NASCAR auto racing with 1955 and 1956 Chrysler 300 stock cars to promote his outboard motor business almost a decade earlier. Later, Newman moved to Mansfield, OH to work for Gorman-Rupp. Newman says that he worked “about three years” in each of these jobs and after he left Rupp, he moved back to Wisconsin to work for Kiekhaefer again. In all of these jobs, Neil Newman focused on boat engines, including a Low-Silhouette Space Saver 225-cid RG Slant Six marine engine that he played a major role in designing and developing. This engine featured a unique box-like casting that formed its oil sump. While at McCulloch, he won an award for industrial design work on a speedboat that competed against the Anheuser-Busch racing boat. ■
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Product Spotlights
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Product Spotlights
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Engine Pro High Performance Connecting Rods Engine Pro H-Beam Connecting Rods are forged from 4340 steel and produced on CNC machinery. They are finished in the U.S. to ensure precise big-end and pin-end bore sizes. Rods are magnafluxed, heat treated, stress relieved, shot peened and sonic tested to ensure they provide the strength required for high horsepower applications. Engine Pro connecting rods equipped with standard 8740 bolts are rated for up to 700 horsepower in small blocks, and 850 horsepower in big block applications. Visit, www.goenginepro.com.
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Have You Been To EngineBuilderMag.com? The redesigned Engine Builder website – www.enginebuildermag.com – provides weekly updated news, products and technical information along with the same in-depth editorial content as the magazine. Technical, product and equipment, market research, business management and financial information is all searchable by keywords making it easy for engine builders to find the information they need from current and past issues.
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Classified/Cores
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Call now to order or to receive a free 2014 catalog 1-800-434-5141 www.autobodysupplies.com
Publisher Doug Kaufman, ext. 262 dkaufman@babcox.com
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Managing Editor Greg Jones ext. 272 gjones@babcox.com Graphic Designer Nichole Anderson, ext. 232 nanderson@babcox.com
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Director of Distribution Rich Zisk, ext. 287 rzisk@babcox.co Circulation Manager Pat Robinson, ext. 276 probinson@babcox.com Sr. Circulation Specialist Ellen Mays, ext. 275 emays@babcox.com
Sales Representatives Bobbie Adams badams@babcox.com 330-670-1234, ext. 238 Roberto Almenar ralmenar@babcox.com 330-670-1234, ext. 233 David Benson dbenson@babcox.com 330-670-1234 ext. 210 Don Hemming dhemming@babcox.com 330-670-1234, ext. 286 Jamie Lewis jlewis@babcox.com 330-670-1234, ext. 266
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Babcox Media Inc. Bill Babcox, President Greg Cira, Vice President, CFO Jeff Stankard, Vice President Beth Scheetz, Controller In Memorium: Edward S. Babcox (1885-1970) Founder of Babcox Publications Inc. Tom B. Babcox (1919-1995) Chairman
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EngineBuilderMag.com 71
Engine Builder On the Road
72 on the Road 8/18/14 9:37 AM Page 72
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We gathered with Corvette owners and fans alike in late July at Corsa Performance in Berea, OH for the performance exhaust company’s 12th annual “Corvettes at Corsa” performance event.
Engine Builder, Tomorrow’s Technician and Speedville staff headed up to Dearborn, MI in June for the tradeshow and annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest, where the top high school auto tech students in the country convene as two-person teams from all 50 states in a race against the clock and each other to identify glitches and repair deliberately-installed “bugs” in identical FORD vehicles.
Speedville and Engine Builder were invited down to the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston, as part of a media technology tour. The Grand Prix provided the perfect backdrop to showcase what exactly goes into the making of its full synthetic motor oils. 72 August 2014 | EngineBuilder
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