The Engine Block - Cost Cutting Measures |
|
|
| |
Cost Cutting Measures
The following text explains not only how our engines are built but also
what cost cutting measures we use to make our engines affordable.
|
Small scale mass production techniques
First, we tear down and clean 6-8 engines at a time. Machine work is done
on another 6-8 engines. Another group of 6-8 engines are fitted and assembled.
One person handles tear down and clean up, one builds the HiFlo ST/Sport
Heads, two highly skilled machinists do the machine work and one engine
technician pulls the whole project together.
In this cycle there are many fine points that speed up the operation and
still maintain the highest quality.
|
Porting the HiFlo Head
We take porting very seriously. This is an area where you can pay out
a lot of dollars and get nothing. For example, polishing ports will net
you NO air flow gain but it will cost you, on an average, $50-$75 a cylinder
($200 -$300 for 4 cylinder and $300 - $450 for a 6 cylinder. We don't
waste time polishing parts but we do texture the surface of the port by
glass beading. We port quite differently. We have developed master cutters
that take the guess work out of porting. These master cutters were developed
from extensive flow bench testing. They have multiple shapes and angles.
Using these cutters helps us to produce very high repeatable results.
Port flow deviation is typically less than 1%. Some hand work is still
needed but it is reduced to a minimum.
After inspecting and cleaning, we machine Surface Turbulence grooves in
150 - 200 valves at a time.
|
Installing Pistons
Once the piston and cylinder are measured for fit, the pistons then placed
in a 100 mm (4 inches) long tapered cylinder (ring compressor). With the
piston loaded up in the tapered cylinder, it is then pushed down into
the engine block. The gradual taper on the cylinder allows the rings to
collapse fully before the piston enters the engine block. This eliminates
the possibility of ring damage occurring during installation of the piston.
|
Blueprinting the Oil Pump
We also save time by "blue printing" 25-30 oil pumps at a time.
|
Cleaning
All nuts, bolts and hardware are zinc gold iridite plated. All aluminum
parts are cleaned by glass beading. Engine blocks cleaned in a storm vacuum
cleaning machine. Every thing is painted or plated giving a fresh new
look to the engine.
|
Lowering Parts Costs
Parts buying - We believe in buying only the highest quality parts but
we do look at price. Large quantity buying helps. For example, we purchase
the forged Alusil pistons, rods, and valves in bulk - 100 at a time.
We were one of the first major businesses to discover and use the 6 cylinder
Spanish cast head made by AMC. This head is FIRST RATE and is a clone
of the late model thick casting. The quality is every bit equal to a BMW
factory head. The price difference is about $500.00 and we are proud to
say we have had no problems with these heads. If the quality is there
and there is a big price difference, we will pick the price. If you want
a factory head and you are willing to pay the fair market price difference,
we have no problems with this.
|
Recycling
To Americans, this has become less of a bad word in recent years. With
Europeans it is a big part of their lives. Look how big the BMW factory
rebuilt exchange program is. Well, we buy many core engines. This helps
to lower cost and keep quality high. In buying lots of core engines, we
can be more selective with what we keep. For example, we pitch about 1/3
of the 4 cylinder heads and over 1/2 of our crankshaft cores never get
to be strokers. We're picky when it comes to quality.
The net result of all this is a great deal of savings. We feel our engines
are priced about $1000 to $2500 lower than what the market could bear.
(See Dollar and HP Chart)
|
| Balancing Techniques
We can balance 100 pistons in the time it takes the average mechanic
to balance one set of pistons. We balance 50 pistons at a time by sorting
them out according to their weight. Pistons that don't match are put
aside for the next group. The same method is used in sizing and balancing
rods (see picture). By comparison, most shops pull 4 or 6 pistons from
a box and proceed to grind and whack at these pistons to make them all
equal in weight. All this grinding and constant re-weighing can cost
you money. We balance by matching where others grind. That's the difference.
|
Blue Printing
Our engines are built to the tight side of factory tolerances. For example,
our piston to cylinder wall clearance is held to .0020". This allows
for a second generation rebuild that will usually need just honing (BMW
factory engines are usually .0030"). We use micrometers and dial
bore gauges that measure down to the ten thousandths of an inch. All
measurements are done twice. First by the machinist and second by the
engine technician who fits the engine together.
Note: Precision fitting and measuring is one area where
we DO NOT apply cost cutting practices. This precision fitting combined
with the cost cutting procedures we've been talking about, ensures the
highest quality at an affordable price.
|
| |
|
|
|
Next
Up