by moore1 | Dec 5, 2018 | News |
By Chris Beardsley: Unlike port fuel injection systems, carburetors have a unique advantage while operating on boosted engines without an intercooler. In carbureted applications, the air charge from the supercharger is significantly warmer than ambient air. When warmer air is forced through a carburetor, the *vaporization process is enhanced as the cool fuel mixes with it. Ever try starting your carbureted engine in the dead of winter? Now compare that to a hot August afternoon. The warmer air of the supercharger blowing through the carburetor amplifies the vaporization process. The result of superior vaporization is a cooler, denser air charge under pressure. The warmer air mixing through the carburetor does something else just before it cools. The heat acting on the fuel causes the fuel particles to disperse—a chemical explosive process that sends fuel in every direction with violent force. When this occurs at the entrance to the plenum, each intake runner is filled with a more evenly balanced mixture of fuel and air that enters the cylinders. Naturally, cylinder-to-cylinder distribution affects horsepower. For these reasons, the ample performance of carburetors incorporated in boosted projects without an intercooler is evident. Even common pump fuels generate impressive power, and increasing ignition timing can further the power potential using these principles. “But intercooling is better,” I hear you say. “What if I add one of those?” While intercoolers have their place in boosted performance, for most carbureted applications adding an intercooler works against you. It looks fantastic and its associated plumbing enriches any engine compartment. But, by directing the air charge through an intercooler to feed the carburetor, we lose...
by moore1 | Dec 4, 2018 | News |
By Archie Bosman: The first air-flow specialist I watched at work was Mike Androwick Sr. A Pennsylvania native, he had plied his trade successfully in Pro Stock racing with Larry Morgan before moving to North Carolina in 2005. Finding efficient air flow in intake manifolds and cylinder heads and then skillfully uniting it with well-judged valve train technology is a mysterious art. Yet these are the achievements of the Androwicks: father and son, Mike Jr. Now three seasons with Gray Motorsports, they dominated NHRA Pro Stock in 2018, winning the US Nationals at Indy, the championship title with Tanner Gray and powering Drew Skillman to third in points. Remarkably, over the past two seasons, Gray Motorsports recorded 17 wins and 10 runner-up finishes. For the most part, Mike’s Racing Heads (MRH) has operated in two prominent arenas: NHRA Pro Stock and Circle Track. The big-block-powered Super DIRT series in the northeast remains a strong market for MRH, yielding 7 track champions in 2018. This year, however, with promoter Bret Deyo initiating the Short Track Super Series (STSS), MRH has introduced new cylinder heads and intake manifolds for Chevrolet small-blocks. The heads adopt valve angles of 10, 11, and 13 degrees, and the intakes are offered as two-piece billet aluminum assemblies and available in different versions for different heads. MRH has also enjoyed increasing success in Dirt Modified and Dirt Late Model categories. Currently situated just south of the I-85 in Concord, NC, they are moving this month to new facilities 7 miles away. Find them at: Mike’s Racing Heads 10 St. Charles Ave. NE Concord, NC 28025 Mikesracingheads.com...
by moore1 | Nov 30, 2018 | News |
By Freddie Heaney: On September 12, on his 67th birthday, race engine builder Bob Bartlett of V&B Engines of Chatham, Virginia, provided sufficient motive power for Joe Colasacco to win the Glover Trophy at the 2018 Goodwood Revival. Driving John Surtees’ 1964 F1 championship-winning Ferrari 1512, Colasacco drove the race of his life, defeating former Nissan works Touring Car driver Andy Middlehurst in Jim Clark’s 1963 F1 championship-winning Lotus 25. ‘We are proud to have contributed to this effort,’ wrote Bartlett, who not only built Joe’s winning engine but also supplied his cast magnesium wheels and other drivetrain parts. ‘Obviously, we were pleased to hear Middlehurst complain about his 20 HP deficit to our engine (although we don’t think it’s actually that much).’ Nonetheless, it was a crowning achievement. You can also take delight in the unique high-pitched howl of the Ferrari heard at times during race coverage. Watch the race at https://www.motorsport.com/ca/vintage/video/goodwood-revival-sunday/373338/ and fast-forward the video to 6:25:05 to see the prelude, or move along a further 12mins to enjoy the race. Two further points, first, pay attention to Belleville, Illinois racer James King driving the no. 22 Brabham BT7, the ex Dan Gurney car that won the French GP. Second, for those unfamiliar with the incomparable Goodwood Revival and its protocol, all participants and spectators are encouraged to dress in period; that is, Goodwood’s heyday from 1948 to the...
by moore1 | Oct 22, 2018 | News |
Jon Kaase’s career as an engineer and engine tuner has a depth few contemporaries have achieved. On Monday, October 15, he celebrated his sixty-sixth birthday, and a few days earlier, he won his ninth award at the Engine Masters Challenge in Cleveland, Ohio. He felt privileged to have a chance to compete again and grateful for the new-found enthusiasm for the contest. More recently, he introduced a new big-block Ford cylinder head, the SR-71, his first in 10 years. • Raised intake entry ports • 100% CNC-machined in-house on 5-axis Hurco • Compatible with Super Cobra Jet intake manifolds • Fits all conventional engine bays According to engine builder Jon Kaase, his company’s new SR-71 cylinder head will out-power any conventional big-block Ford head. Extensive dynamometer tests have demonstrated average gains of 50hp and similar peak gains over best existing cylinder heads. In addition, the usable engine speed range is increased by a minimum of 500rpm. Kaase assures that the SR-71 heads will fit the conventional engine bay, and when installed on a maximum-effort 598cid engine, will produce over 1100hp and rev to 8,000rpm. Despite placing the intake port entries half-inch higher than customary, all Super Cobra Jet intake manifolds fit the new heads. Clearly, higher intake ports are desirable, providing straighter, faster paths for the air-fuel mixture to reach the valves. Raising them while preserving compatibility with conventional intake manifolds is achieved by extending the port entry face toward the valley area—the head is wider. On the exhaust side, dimensions are stock Super Cobra Jet / Kaase P-51. The entire CNC-machining process is performed in-house on...
by moore1 | Oct 16, 2018 | News |
By Freddie Heaney: Click here to view images of the 2018 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Road Atlanta, Saturday 13 October 2018: In a hardly credible ten-hour endurance race, the no. 3 Corvette C7 co-driven by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Marcel Fassler became the 2018 GT Le Mans championship winner, despite finishing two laps behind the second-place no. 4 Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner, despite having not won a race this season, and despite almost succumbing to a crash while exiting the pits. Earlier, the car had been in contention for class victory, but with around two-and-a-half hours remaining, Garcia spun exiting pit road and struck the wall. For a moment it appeared their race was over. But implausibly the damage was repaired and the car returned to the track in ninth, three laps down, awakening a scenario where Ryan Briscoe’s no. 67 Ford GT could win the championship by finishing second or better. Brisco’s Ganassi Ford had been trailing the winning Porsche 911 RSR, co-driven by Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Fred Makowiecki, but then Briscoe, who had pitted with 48 minutes remaining, was overtaken by the no. 4 Corvette while leaving the pits. His Ford, for reasons unknown, was unable to match the Corvette’s pace and later fell behind the two BMW M8s, eventually finishing fifth. Such was the sequence of events that secured the championship for the no. 3 Corvette. Its impressive consistency throughout the 2018 season brought eight podium finishes from eleven starts. Finishing third acquired further distinction for pole sitter no. 24 BMW M8 GTE of Jesse Krohn, John...
by moore1 | Sep 9, 2018 | News |
By Martha Maglone: According to Chris Beardsley of TorqStorm, the Michigan supercharger firm produced and supplied more kits by July 2018 than it accomplished during the entire year of 2017. Formed in 2009, TorqStorm is a subsidiary of Accelerated Tooling founded by Chris Brooker and Scott Oshinski, both of whom served their apprenticeships in the tool and die profession. Now both companies have outgrown their current 10,000sq ft premises in the Grand Rapids area and on 17 September are moving to a larger 25,000sq ft building, about two miles from their current location. Plans for the new building will include the addition of 8 to 12 new machining centers and a dynamometer facility in due course. Tuner kits Access to young dynamic companies is an interesting place to be. Perpetually in flux, they are like living streams, shifting and changing with new ideas. In the interests of better outcomes, each decision at TorqStorm involves the collaboration of five individuals—each consideration receiving full measure of devotion. Given their latest focus on Tuner kits, Chris Beardsley reports they are designed for the Hemi (2003 to 2018), Camaro (2010 to ’15), GTO (2004 to ’06) and Silverado (1999 to 2013 and 2014 and later). They each sell for between $2,800 and $3,500. “Compared to the complete kits available for around $6,500 from rival manufacturers, our Tuner kits”, explains Beardsley, “allows the customer or installing dealer to select the remaining key components that best suit the project and goals and budget. Even if you purchase the highest quality parts, say, an intercooler ($800), fuel pump ($500), and injectors ($350),...
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