Pop quiz. You’ve just bought your first muscle car. You saved your pennies for years to buy the exact car you’ve dreamed about, stripes, scoops, and all. To the consternation of your wife, you cleared out a spot in the garage just for it while the … [Click here to read more...]
Factory Rear Axle Housing Performance Models
The time has come that your factory axle is in need of repair. You have decided that the 30-year-old housing is worn and it may need to be replaced or upgraded. Now it is time to start scouring friends’ garages and the local scrap yards to find your … [Click here to read more...]
How to Build Racing Engines: Exhaust Systems
All top engine builders recognize that the exhaust system exerts tremendous influence on engine performance, particularly with regard to breathing efficiency and torque curve positioning within the required RPM range. Thoughtful exhaust tuning can … [Click here to read more...]
How to Blueprint Engines: Oiling System Guide
Your engine must provide a strong and steady supply of oil to all critical components. In essence the engine must deliver the correct volume of oil under a certain pressure to reach all the critical components during operation. If this does not … [Click here to read more...]
Automotive Bodywork: Special Projects and Procedures
As in most other endeavors, in autobody metal work there are many special projects and procedures that are needed to move work along, and/or to complete it. Some of these are huge and daunting tasks like fabricating a complex assembly. Others are … [Click here to read more...]
Rear Axle Fundamentals: Building for Performance
The automotive drivetrain may be the least understood part of a vehicle. After reading this book, you will have a better appreciation of the complexity, and simplicity, of the components that make up the rear axles, differentials, and driveshafts. … [Click here to read more...]
How to Build Racing Engines: Planning and Getting Started
Purpose-built competition engines vary in content according to the particular requirements of their intended application. Some are built for very high RPM with a narrow powerband; others are designed for a lower, broader power range with greater … [Click here to read more...]
Abandoned Dragstrips: Chattanooga Hotspots
During the drag racing boom of the 1950s and 1960s, drag strips popped up all over the place. Big cities, suburban areas, and tiny towns had their own drag strips, so it was possible for racers to compete at a variety of tracks without traveling very … [Click here to read more...]
Selecting Aftermarket Differentials to Improve Performance
There are many different types of aftermarket and original equipment differentials and technologies to choose from nowadays. What are the differences and benefits of one technology over another? With so many choices, it can be difficult to decide … [Click here to read more...]
How to Build Racing Engines: Connecting Rods Guide
Stroke length aside, connecting rods are one of the basic tunable components in a competition engine. As rod length (center to center) varies, it affects piston motion such that it can be used as a primary tuning ingredient. By influencing piston … [Click here to read more...]