I met “Speedy” Bill Smith while on a magazine assignment for a former hot rodder magazine back in April of 1999. The magazine editor called early one Monday morning… “I know you only write technical articles for the magazine but we need somebody to go interview “Speedy” Bill Smith in Lincoln, Nebraska. You are the closest…see if you can pull this interview story off. He is your assignment and you have to call and make your own arrangements…good luck!”

I was terrified. Speedy Bill is a legacy and I figured the odds of getting into his office for an interview was going to be tough, especially for a no name automotive journalist…just another word hack…I could hear him now!

I called up Speedy’s office talked to his receptionist who asked me a dozen questions about who I was, who my editor was, and what exactly I wanted from Bill. I must have finally passed muster because the next thing I here is “Hello” in kind of a gruff voice. There was no doubt in my mind who was on the other end. It took less than 10 minutes to get on his schedule and after that he made it clear we were done and he hung up! Wow…what was I in for?

On interview day, I was there at his office 30 minutes early. It was a two and a half hour drive from my house to his office and I knew I could not afford to be late. At the appointed hour, he came walking down the hall buzzed me through the security doors and into his office.

I had made up a list of questions I wanted to ask him, so I started down my list. After about 15 minutes he looked me in the eye and asked…what do you really do for a living? That stopped me dead in my tracks! I paused…gathered my thoughts, and told him. I was a freelance automotive journalist and that I owned a company called Fifth Avenue Antique Auto Parts in Kansas.

I explained about my 6-volt alternators, cooling fans, electric fuel pumps, and the rest of the parts I make for antique vehicles including those entered in the Great Race. I explained that I wrote the technical articles for automotive magazines to explain how my “stuff” worked. After a pause he said… “I have heard of you and your company…”

He seemed generally interested and so the next 30 minutes, he interviewed me, about my background and how long I had been in business and who my customers were and my involvement in the Great Race.

I explained once again that I normally wrote technical articles for the automotive magazines and that I got assigned this job because I was closest to him! Then he looks at me square in the eye again and proceeds to tell me, “I knew you were not one of those ‘slickster’ California automotive journalist types. I knew right away you did not do this for a living.”

I got one of the best interviews with Speedy Bill that anyone has ever gotten. It went on for most of the day. He got out pictures of the early days, gave me a complete tour of the entire building and Museum of Speed and showed me prototypes of upcoming products and the plans for expansion of his Museum.

When I turned in my story to editor, he immediately called and demanded to know how I got an interview like that from Speedy Bill. “You have personal information and pictures in that story that he has never shared with anyone! I am more than impressed!” he said. When the story came out, it was in two parts with all of the early pictures and information nobody had ever captured before. I was more than proud of that story. When I received my copies, I drove up to Lincoln and hand delivered a copy to Speedy in person.

Typical Speedy, he began to read the article as soon as I handed it to him and said to “have a seat.” If things were not as he expected, it was clear to me I would be the first to know. He finished reading the article, looked up and said…”Good Article!” I was more than relieved!

From then on we became friends. I had proven myself to him and earned his respect. I had delivered just the story that I said I would and included the points he wanted. Something I later learned was very difficult to do. He later told me he seldom gave personal interviews because the magazine types “always screw it up and never get the facts right.” He said, “I thought I could trust you and I am a pretty good judge of character…”

“He later became a good customer of Fifth Avenue after six months of intense negotiations. As I look back now, I think he was trying to teach me some negotiating skills. I survived class, signed him up and I can now say I learned from one of the best. I have learned more about life and business from him than I could have ever imagined. He has also proven to be a good customer, but you’d better have your ducks in a row and not miss a delivery deadline. Luckily I never have but it hasn’t always been easy.

Now some dozen years later, we spoke on a weekly basis up until his death. I would call him or he would call me and I would go by the house to see him when I was delivering orders to the company.

Of all the friends he has made in the past 60 years, I am honored to be on his short list.

Many of you know Speedy Bill and Speedway Motors for the Street Rod and Racing catalogs that have graced your mailbox for the past 60 years.

Here is part of my original interview about his early days; I hope you find it interesting.

This is in his own words…

Bill Smith was born in Lincoln, NE. His parents lived in a quaint house located at 4427 “O” Street in Lincoln. “O” Street is still considered the longest straight street in the country. “O” street stretches 50 miles east to the Missouri River and westward 40 miles, till it meets up with a corncrib. Needless, to say, if it was happening in Lincoln, it happened on “O” Street.

Bill got his first real job at age 13 working for “Milo” Kaslaskie who ran the second hand repair store, two blocks down from his house.

“Milo would pay me 15 cents an hour in cash, or 25 cents an hour if I would take it out in trade. Trading usually proved to be a better deal.”

Bill’s father worked for the Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company as an engineer. He was a hard working, dedicated and dependable employee, always arriving a half an hour before work started, and always arriving home at the same time each day, a trait Bill is also known for. “My mother was a homemaker. She and my father made every effort to ensure that I grew up an honest, hard working young man. There were rules in those early days. My dad got home from work at 5:15 p.m. every day and my mother had supper on the table at 5:30 p.m. I was expected to be there and never late… no excuses and no exceptions.”

Bill bought his first car from Milo when he was 14-years-old, a “slightly used” 1917 Ford Model T Roadster pickup. “I had it all figured out, I was going to get rich with that pickup. In those days people burned their trash in the alley behind their homes. Eventually they would end up with a huge pile of ashes. I figured I could make some good money hauling those ashes to the city dump. My plans were to charge a dollar a load. Needless, to say, I did not get rich.”

Bill applied for, and received his social security card, when he was just 8 years old. Bill says, “I went down with an older friend of mine to sign up. He had to lift me up so I could see over the counter. When our cards arrived, we were one number apart.”

Graduating from cars to motorcycles, Bill bought an old 45-cubic inch Indian motorcycle when he was 17 years old. The passion for speed was in his blood. “That old Indian ran good, but was not near fast enough, so I traded it for an 80-cubic inch Indian motorcycle.

“That 80 cubic inch motorcycle was fast, it would easily run 100 mph in fourth gear. I would pull up next to a car on the highway in third gear… egg them on a little, shift into fourth, and leave them in the dust. Most cars in those days would seldom run over 85 mph.

“I raced motorcycle flat track for a few years, and was pretty good at it, in part because I only weighed 125 pounds dripping wet. I also did not take any unnecessary risks because I knew if I came home with a broken arm or broken leg, that I would also end up with a broken head via my mother. That fear also helped me to decide cars were safer than motorcycles. Later, on I figured out I was a better mechanic and car builder than I was a driver.

“I did race on the streets a little in those days, and while I could easily outrun the cops, my mother, was a different story. I was taught early on, never to lie, steal, or do anything dishonest. If my mother asked what I had been doing I had no choice but to tell her. My expression usually told the story.”

Bill also raced cars for money during those early years. “One of my early racecars was a Ford Model A Roadster A-V8, (Model A car with a Flathead V8 engine installed) which I towed to the races with a rope, often to races over 100 miles away. I always convinced a local 14 year-old neighborhood kid to “steer” the car.

“In Nebraska, you had to be 16 years of age to drive, I often wondered how old you had to be to just “steer” a car down the highway? We never got pulled over, so I never found out.”

His passion for building cars, building engines and racing was intense. Many times there was only enough money in his pocket to get to a race, and pay the entry fee. If he did not win any money, he would stay late and pick up Coke bottles from the infield and turn them in at two cents each, to make enough gas money for the trip home. To put this in perspective at two cents a bottle it took about 50 bottles to buy five gallons of gas, enough to get home.

The Beginning of Speedway Motors…

Bill started Speedway Motors in 1952 at the age of 23 after graduating from college, and getting married to his sweetheart Joyce. Speedway Motors “officially” began (with a $300 loan from Joyce) in a 20′ x 20′ cement block building (that once served as a soda pop stand) located at 2232 “O” Street in downtown Lincoln. (Today, that address is an empty lot).

“Times were difficult. Sometimes it would be two or three weeks between customers. I did a lot of porting and polishing of cylinder heads in those days… that was about all I had room for in that small shop.

“I also installed a lot of headers and dual exhaust systems in my dad’s garage at home. Fords were quite popular then and one set of headers and a pair of “Smithy” mufflers would fit most any of the Ford cars built from 1932 up through 1953.

“Aaron Fenton (who’s real name is Aaron Finkelestein by the way) also grew up here in Lincoln. Aaron left to attend college in California after graduating high school. Aaron’s brother Benny owned an auto store called “Ben’s Auto Parts,” just two blocks down from my speed shop. Aaron, as you know, got into making “Fenton Equipment” and he was selling to me. I was doing quite well because I could show the customer how to install the parts or would install them for a little extra.

“Benny watched what I was doing, and decided he wanted in on the action. He ordered a train carload of product from his brother in California and proceeded to sell it at 40 percent less than my cost. I nearly starved. People would buy the stuff from Benny, and then come ask me how to install it. Talk about tough competition that was it, I had no other income!

“I held out, and Benny’s sales eventually dropped off. Aaron called one day and said… Benny was sending his remaining inventory back and did I want to buy it? I said I would give 10 cents on the dollar. Aaron says, “You’re trying to kill me…” I said, “You have been trying to kill me for the last year and a half.

“I bought the inventory out and did ok after that,” Smith said. “It was Aaron Fenton and Vic Edelbrock that were the first to make a million dollars in the performance aftermarket business.”

By 1955, Speedway Motors had expanded to a 50 x 125 sq. foot shop and had nine employees. “We were doing engine swaps, averaging three-four a week. We could make anything we needed. We designed our own motor mounts, transmission mounts, shifter brackets, etc. We could put any engine in any car. I was also the first shop in the state of Nebraska to own a Stewart Warner engine balancing machine. By then I had also expanded the business into building complete racing motors. I built all types of racing engines, but especially Flatheads.”

The Origins of Mail Order

“In the 1960′s I started running ads in “Hot Rod” Magazine. The ads had no zip code or telephone number. I had to ship everything via Greyhound Bus, because there was no UPS service in Nebraska until the 1970s.

“I remember I once shipped a complete Pontiac Engine to Des Moines Iowa via the bus. When I arrived at the local bus depot they said “we” are not loading “that” on a bus! I said, OK, fine, I will do it myself, and I did.

“I loaded all of my freight onto the bus myself in those days… and did most of the bus company’s paperwork as well. The local bus company employees had little interest in my freight business. It is much different at Speedway Motors today. We process over 2,000 orders each day, and will completely fill three UPS semi-trucks daily. We still maintain a 99.6 percent fill rate, something I am quite proud of.”

Those Famous Trademark Hats

Like many people, I wondered what the story was behind Bill’s famous trademark hats. Bill explained… “When I built and campaigned USAC Championship cars in the early ‘70s, I felt there needed to be some rule changes so I campaigned to get a seat on the board of directors. As I campaigned, people could not remember my name or keep me straight from anyone else. Somebody told me I needed to get a trademark so I could be easily recognized.

“So I went to see “Manny the Hatter” in Austin, Texas. My first hat cost $75 in the early 1970s. Today, the same hat costs $450. I have been through 20 hats in 30 years. The hats have become my trademark. Not many people recognize me without my hat on.”

The Innovations

Speedway Motors started building fiberglass bodies for racecars way back in 1955, long before anybody else even thought of the idea. In the 1960s, Speedway Motors introduced their now-famous fiberglass T-Bucket kit. Speedway Motors shipped at least one T-Bucket kit every week for over 20 years. Speedway Motors was also the first to offer the 1934 Chevy Roadster Body in Fiberglass.

In recent years with the introduction of their 1934 Ford Club Cab Pickup, the innovations have continued. “I have always believed in the importance of offering a kit car program at a reasonable cost. This allows the entry-level customer a chance to build a car and be involved in the hobby without spending a fortune…”

I remember getting Speedway Catalogs in the mail during my high school years…seems everybody was on the mailing list. Those catalogs were like a Christmas wish book.

After I toured behind the scenes and saw what it takes to fill 2,000 orders a day (with just 125 employees) it is truly an eye opening experience. Speedway Motors has been in business since 1952 and has out lasted most all of its competition. When you see the big picture it becomes crystal clear why Speedway has not only survived, but also has remained at the top of its game.

As Speedy reminded me at the end of every conversation… “You have to keep the pedal mashed down and ‘“pushing against the back of the radiator if you want to stay ahead of the game…” My reply to him was … “If I can see your taillight go over the hill now and then, I know I am following the right path.” That always seems to make him laugh a little and he would say…”keep up the good work!” Then I knew we were done till next time.

I will miss him greatly, but I know in my heart that he still has the pedal “mashed down and touching the back of that radiator” even in the after life. Godspeed, Speedy.

The post Reflecting on ‘Speedy’ Bill Smith and His Industry Impact appeared first on Engine Builder Magazine.

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Flat tappet cams, with either solid or hydraulic lifters, are commonly used in many street and performance engines. It’s a simple design that works well, provided there’s adequate lubrication between the lifters and cam lobes to prevent wear that can wipe out a cam and/or lifters.

The problem is today’s motor oils contain much less ZDDP anti-wear additive than in years past. Most oils contain less than 800 parts per million (ppm) of ZDDP to comply with emission requirements, because ZDDP that finds its way into the exhaust can shorten the life of catalytic converters and O2 sensors.

Reducing ZDDP in motor oil does not create a wear problem for engines with roller cams or overhead cams because there is much less friction between the cam and lifters or valve followers than in a flat tappet engine. Oil companies say today’s low ZDDP motor oils also provide adequate protection in older engines with flat tappet cams – provided the engine has stock valve springs. But the lower ZDDP levels have often proven to be woefully inadequate in engines with flat tappet performance cams and stiffer valve springs.

The small contact patch between the cam lobes and lifters is the highest pressure point inside the engine. If there is insufficient oil between the cam lobes and lifters and/or the oil lacks sufficient levels of anti-wear additive, the cam lobes and/or lifters may suffer the consequences.

One way to address this issue is to use a ZDDP crankcase additive to add extra anti-wear protection to the oil, or to use a diesel oil, street performance oil or racing oil that contains 1500 ppm or more of ZDDP.

The risk of flat tappet cam and lifter failure can also be minimized by using lifters that are made of high quality materials. The metallurgy in some low cost imported lifters won’t hold up over time.

Equally important is the crown finish on the bottoms of the lifters. The bottom of a flat tappet lifter isn’t perfectly flat. It has a slight crown that is .0015 to .0025 inches higher in the center than around the edges. The crown helps the lifter rotate as it rides on the cam lobe (which has a slight taper to one side).

On high revving engines with extremely stiff valve springs, a slightly lower crown (.0007 to .0012 inches) may be recommended. The bottom of the lifter also needs to be relatively smooth (but not polished) because a small amount of texture helps the oil spread across the surface. Hand polishing the bottom of lifters can often ruin the proper contour of the crown.

EDM Lifters

Another way to assure good lubrication between a flat tappet lifter and cam lobe is to create a small hole in the bottom center of the lifter. This allows oil inside the lifter to dribble through the hole to maintain a thin film of oil between the moving parts.

The size of the oil typically ranges from .015 to .026 inches in diameter, and is created by using an electric discharge machine (EDM) to burn the hole through the lifter.

When done right, EDM lifters can provide an extra measure of protection in demanding applications. But if done incorrectly, they can cause problems down the road.

The right way to manufacture an EDM lifter is to burn the hole in the bottom of the lifter BEFORE the lifter is assembled and finished. The bottom of the lifter can then be ground before the lifter is cleaned, assembled and put in the box.

The quick and dirty way to make an EDM lifter (which is the WRONG way) is to take an assembled lifter out of the box, burn the hole through the bottom of the lifter, buff it up a bit and stick it back in the box without disassembling or cleaning it.

The debris from the EDM hole burning process remains inside the lifter, which means the debris can migrate out of the lifter when the lifter is installed in the engine. The debris may travel up the pushrods and damage the rocker arms, it can exit the lifter and damage the cam lobes or bearings, or it may even plug up the oil hole itself negating the function of the hole that was created to improve lubrication.

One lifter supplier showed us the considerable amount of debris that came out of a set of EDM lifters that were made the wrong way. Engine builders who are buying and installing these improperly made EDM lifters have no way of knowing the lifters contain debris inside.

So, if you are not buying EDM lifters from a supplier who is making them the right way, you’d better disassemble, inspect and clean every lifter before you install them.

Another alternative to EDM lifters is to use lifters that have had three evenly spaced flats machined vertically along the sides of the lifter body. The flats allow a small amount of oil to flow down the sides of the lifter for extra lubrication to the cam.

Finally, it goes without saying to always use a high pressure assembly lube on the cam lobes and lifters when building the engine. Assembly lube will stick to the parts much better than oil, and provide protection during the critical break-in time.

The post Preventing Flat Tappet Cam Failures appeared first on Engine Builder Magazine.

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The pistons are some of the hardest working components inside a diesel engine.

Diesel engines are high compression, high heat engines that demand a lot from their pistons. Compression ratios are typically in the 16:1 to 20:1 range, which improves thermal efficiency and fuel economy, but also creates more pressure.

Cylinder pressures in many production diesel engines may range from 2200 up to 2700 PSI or higher depending on the engine’s power rating, compared to 1450 PSI for a naturally aspirated gasoline engine or 2100 PSI for a turbocharged gas engine.

Diesel pistons also have to contend with more heat than their gasoline counterparts. Flame temperatures can range from 2600 degrees F to over 3600 degrees F in the piston’s combustion bowl, producing surface temperatures of up to 750 degrees F or higher in the rim area around the bowl.

At such temperatures, aluminum pistons can be dangerously close to their melting point, so oil cooling is essential to dissipate heat, cool the rings and control thermal expansion.

Keeping ‘em Cool…

Diesel pistons are cooled by spraying oil at the underside of the piston and directing some of the oil into hollow cavities or galleries in the top portion of the piston behind the upper ring land.

On some pistons, an oil cooling duct is created in the back of the top ring insert by welding on a steel plate. Oil cooling lowers the temperature of the top ring up to 100 degrees F or more for better sealing, less blowby and longer ­piston and ring life.

…And Give ’em Room

High operating temperatures also mean diesel pistons usually need more clearance to accommodate thermal expansion – especially when an engine is being modified to produce more power. On a stock Duramax, the factory recommends about .002 inch of piston-to-wall clearance.

For a street performance/drag ­application, you might want to allow .006 to .008 inch of piston clearance depending on the type of pistons used (cast or forged) and the amount of boost pressure.

For a high boost diesel engine being used in a pulling application, you might need as much as .012 to .013 inch of clearance.

Diesel Piston Material

Most production diesel pistons are still cast aluminum, though new materials are coming into use (more on this in a minute).

One would think diesel pistons would be forged aluminum to handle the higher loads and heat, and some aftermarket performance pistons for diesel engines are 2618 forged aluminum or even CNC-machined billet aluminum.

However, cast aluminum pistons have long been used for most production diesel engines because cast pistons can be easily molded with a steel upper ring land to extend the durability of the rings. Castings are also less expensive than forgings or other materials.

The pistons that are used in light truck diesel engines such as GM Duramax, Ford Powerstroke and Dodge Cummins tend to be longer and heavier than the pistons used in gasoline engines.

Bore sizes in these engines can range from 3.74 inches up to 4.21 inches depending on the application, but piston weights can be as much as 1000 to 1200 grams with a 300 to 400 gram wrist pin.

The extra weight doesn’t matter much because a stock diesel engine typically operates at relatively low RPM (under 4,500 RPM). But if you’re modifying one of these engines for pulling or drag racing, you’ll likely want a lighter forged piston that can handle higher engine speeds. You’ll also need different pistons if you’re building a stroker motor.

One piston supplier we interviewed for this article said the original equipment stock pistons in Cummins engines are “over built” for durability. The wrist pins are large and heavy so they will last a long time, which is great for a hard-working daily driver.

But for a diesel performance engine, you may not need so much beef. The pins can be lightened up by using pistons that have smaller and shorter wrist pins.

Durability should not be an issue with smaller, lighter wrist pins because a diesel engine used for pulling or drag racing only experiences maximum load for a relatively short period of time. It isn’t expected to go 200,000 miles or more like a production engine.

Lighter performance pistons can also make engine balancing easier and less expensive in certain applications.

With Duramax engines, the crankshaft should be internally balanced for performance use rather than externally balanced.

But this can require a lot of heavy metal in the counterweights. Using lighter pistons can minimize the amount of heavy metal that’s needed to achieve an internal balance.

One piston manufacturer said the trend towards lighter diesel performance pistons is only going to accelerate. The manufacturer expressed that the pistons they will be making a few years from now will be much different and lighter than the ones they are producing for performance diesel engines today.

Diesel Piston Coatings

Many aftermarket suppliers of forged pistons for diesel engines use various types of coatings and surface treatments on their pistons. Anodizing and similar treatments are typically used in the ring grooves and crown area for durability. Many consider anodizing a must if you’re building a high boost engine for the pistons and rings to survive.

Anti-friction coatings are also popular on the piston skirt to provide scuff protection.

These “dry film lubricants” may contain such ingredients as molybdenum disulfide, tungsten disulfide and/or PTFE (Teflon) in a thermosetting polymer binder (water or solvent based).

Dry film coatings are typically formulated to provide surface lubricity and protect against friction, galling and wear. A dry film coating provides an extra margin of safety if oil pressure is lost (at least for awhile), and helps prevent metal-to-metal contact under extreme pressure or following a dry start.

Dry film lubricant coatings on piston skirts typically add about .001″ to the piston diameter, so the question often comes up as to how this affects piston installation clearances.

One piston manufacturer said it is not necessary to compensate for the coating when figuring piston-to-bore clearances. “Just pretend the coating isn’t there,” is their advice. Use the piston size on the box to calculate clearances, not the actual diameter of the coated piston.

Another type of coating that may be used on diesel pistons to enhance performance and heat management is a ceramic-metallic coating on the top of the piston and in the bowl.

In theory, heat reflecting coatings improve thermal efficiency and help pistons run cooler.

But if the surface isn’t prepared properly before the coating is applied, it may flake loose under heat and load.

Piston Bowl Configurations

Some aftermarket performance pistons are reworked stock cast pistons. “De-lipping” the bowl area to open up the combustion chamber is a common modification.

A more open bowl allows longer injector duration for more power. The size, shape and angle of the center cone (if used) in the bottom of the bowl may also be modified to match the spray pattern of a particular set of injectors.

One thing you do have to keep in mind when replacing pistons in an unmodified diesel engine is to make sure the replacement pistons have the same bowl configuration as the original. This is important to maintain the same compression ratio and combustion characteristics that were designed into the engine so you don’t adversely affect fuel economy, performance or emissions.

For example, on Cummins diesels there are more than 25 different pistons for Cummins B-series engines which include variants for on-road, off-road, marine, turbocharged and non-turbocharged, different ring packs, etc.

To get the right replacement piston, you need to know the “CPL” (Critical Parts List) for the engine application. The CPL lists all of the major parts that are used in the engine, including the pistons, cam, injectors and turbo. You may also need the original equipment serial number on the piston, which may be etched or laser printed on the top of the piston. There may also be a raw casting number inside the piston, but this is not application specific because the same casting may be machined different ways for different engine applications.

Steel Pistons

Big over-the-road heavy-duty truck engines are expected to last a lot of miles, upwards of a million or more with proper maintenance and care.

Cast aluminum pistons hold up well enough in light to moderate use applications, but for high output engines, two-piece “articulated” pistons with steel crowns and aluminum skirts may be used for improved durability.

The wrist pin holds the two pieces together, and allows the piston to handle higher loads than would be possible with a one-piece cast piston.

One-piece steel pistons have also been around for a number of years and offer numerous advantages over cast aluminum, forged aluminum and two-piece aluminum/steel pistons in hard working diesel engines.

Steel pistons are more expensive to manufacture than cast or forged aluminum pistons, but steel is much stronger than aluminum and can handle higher loads and temperatures without failing.

Weight would seem to be a disadvantage, since steel is a heavier and denser metal than aluminum.

Yet steel pistons can be as light or even lighter than aluminum pistons, if mass is removed in areas where extra strength isn’t needed. Ring land wear is also not a problem with steel pistons because the entire piston is steel.

Another advantage with steel is that its coefficient of thermal expansion is similar to that of a cast iron engine block.

Aluminum expands at a much higher rate than steel as it heats up, which increases the risk of piston scuffing and wiping out a cylinder if the engine gets too hot.

Cylinder Sleeves And Liners

Light duty diesel engines are like most gasoline engines, in that they have cast iron blocks with either aluminum or cast iron heads.

If one or more cylinders are worn or damaged, they can often be salvaged and restored to their original bore diameter by boring the block and pressing in a dry sleeve.

According to the people who make sleeves, centrifugal spun-cast ductile iron sleeves should be your first choice for any type of performance application.

Ductile iron has more tensile strength than ordinary gray iron, as well as more “give” (elongation) which allows it to resist cracking under higher loads.

There are also different grades of ductile iron, some of which are significantly better than others. Sleeves and liners that are spun cast also provide a more uniform and consistent metallurgy, so the sleeves don’t have hard spots or inclusions that may cause problems later on.

Sleeves are usually semi-finished, and are not final finished until after the block has been bored and the sleeve has been pressed into position in the block. Wet liners, by comparison, are often finished to specifications and are ready to install.

Dry sleeves require a certain amount of press fit to hold the sleeve in place.

The recommended amount of interference will vary depending on the type of metal the sleeve is made from, the type of engine block and the application.

With similar metals (iron sleeve in an iron block), the standard press fit recommendation is usually .001 to .002 inch of interference.

With dissimilar metals (iron sleeve in an aluminum block), as much as .003 inch of interference may be recommended.

One tip that makes dry sleeve installation easier and also improves cylinder cooling is to lightly brush the cylinder bore after it has been bored to accept the sleeve. This will smooth the surface of the bore allowing the sleeve to slide into place more easily. A smoother surface will also allow better metal-to-metal contact between the sleeve and block for good heat transfer.

Steel sleeves are used in some puller motors and other diesel racing applications for their hardness and strength. But steel is harder on rings than ductile iron, so don’t expect the rings to last forever if you end up installing steel sleeves in a motor you are building. Plain cast iron rings often work best with steel sleeves.

The wet liners that are used in heavy-duty diesel engines are essentially drop-in cylinders that are sealed at the top and bottom with a flange and o-rings.

The amount of slip fit will vary depending on the application, so follow the OEM recommendations. Wet liners are thicker than repair sleeves or cast-in-place sleeves because they have no metal around them to provide added support. As with dry sleeves, ductile iron liners provide the extra strength needed for high output applications.

Wet liners can fail from fatigue cracking, or as a result of cavitation erosion.

Every time the cylinder fires, it expands and contracts slightly causing small bubbles to form in the coolant that is circulating around the outside of the liners. When the bubbles implode, they do so with great force and chip away at the outside of the liners.

Over time, cavitation can pit and erode away so much metal that the liner eventually perforates and allows coolant to leak into the cylinder. This can cause the engine to overheat, or it can even hydrolock the cylinder.

Cavitation erosion is often the result of coolant neglect, or using a coolant that does not contain “Supplemental Coolant Additives.” These additives include nitrite and/or molybdate that form a protective oxide film on the outside of the liners that helps them resist cavitation erosion.

Fully formulated heavy-duty engine coolants that meet ASTM D6210 or similar standards contain the proper additives to resist cavitation erosion.

Piston and Sleeve Finishing and Break-In Tips

When finishing diesel cylinder bores or sleeves, a two or three step process that results in a plateau finish is usually best to reduce ring break-in and seating time. The type of honing stones, feed and pressure used to finish the cylinders will vary depending on what kind of finish you want to achieve.

As a rule, you should avoid trying to remove too much metal too quickly, using too much feed pressure and excessive dwell time to minimize heat build up that can distort the bores.

Using torque plates is always recommended to improve bore geometry.

After the cylinders have been finished to specs, they must be scrubbed clean with hot soapy water and a brush to remove all traces of honing residue. Once the cylinders are clean, they can be lightly oiled with break-in oil.

Use a conventional oil or a break-in oil for the initial start-up and break-in process, not a synthetic oil. Prime or pressurize the oil system prior to starting the engine. Once it starts, rev it up to 2000 to 2500 RPM for 30 minutes while varying engine speed as the rings seat.

Once the break-in process has been completed, drain the oil, change the filter and refill the crankcase with whatever oil will be used from that point on (conventional 15W-40 or synthetic 15W-40 or 5W-40 typically).

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Chevy’s 348 and 409 ‘W’ motors are having no problem keeping their popularity going. In fact, judging by the numbers of high quality parts being made for these motors today, they may even be more popular than ever. The quick and dirty of W motors and their parts today is that you can sit at your computer, whip out your credit card and ‘build’ a 409 without having to buy one original part.

While that in itself is pretty mind blowing, you also have the option to build a 509 or even a 609-inch W motor. So, it makes perfect sense that with all those parts, there are a surprisingly high number of stroker combos available.

W Origins

Chevy’s W-series 348 and later the 409 became legends on the street, and in particular the 409 also became a legend on the track. In the early 1960s, these engines powered a variety of GM vehicles and the Z-11 Impalas at the drag strip. While these engines enjoyed a hay day in the early 1960s and pop culture status in the hot rod community, higher horsepower Mark IV Chevy big-block engines overshadowed these W-engines by the late 1960s. But recently, the 348s and 409s have enjoyed a high-performance renaissance and many speed manufacturers are making heads, blocks and virtually every part for these engines.

Half and Half

A quick history lesson shows us that Chevy used stroking to grow the 348 into the 409. One half of the move from 348 to 409 was an increase of .1875 inches in the cylinder bore. A stock 348 has a bore of 4.125 inches and a 409 has the bigger bore of 4.3125 inches. The other half was the stroke change from 348s to 409s that went from 3.25 to 3.50 inches for a net gain of a quarter inch. Together, the new bore and stroke gained those 61 cubic inches.

Of course, there was more to do such as redesign the block for both clearance and better water flow. But, the basics are still the same.

Chevy did it one more time when they created a handful of motors used exclusively for drag racing in late ‘62/early ‘63. Those motors would turn out to be the Holy Grail of W engines, the rare Z-11, 427 cubic inch motor. They’re also a good example of how stroker methodology works. To make the Z-11 427, Chevy actually used a standard 409 block with its stock bore of 4.3125 inches.

Because the W motor was pretty much ‘capped’ at that size and could not physically go much larger, any additional cubic inches would have to come from increasing the stroke. Chevy did just that and added .150 inches to the stock 409 stroke, for a 3.650 inch stroke.

Of course, a newly-designed set of iron heads and aluminum intake let those extra 18 inches breathe much better and become a legend in the Super Stock wars.

427 Version

Along the lines of Z11 specs, noted 409 guru, Lamar Walden, tells us a homemade version of the famous Z11 short block can be simply made by using that same 3.650 stroke crankshaft in a stock 409 block with a stock bore size. No extra crankshaft clearance work is needed on the block and all the bearing sizes are the same so it becomes a ‘drop in.’

The final results will yield a 427 cubic inch W motor with your choice of heads and intake.

Below the Block

Another aspect dealing with the increased crankshaft clearance required with building a W stroker engine goes beyond the block – or more accurately, below the block. The oil pans from 348 and 409 motors have an interchangeable bolt pattern, but are different.

While that may sound confusing, think of it this way. The oil pan of a 348 can’t always be used on a stroker motor as it is slightly narrower than those made for 409s. The answer is to use the wider 409 oil pan or, as Joe Jill from Superior Automotive says, “notch the 348 pan.”

With today’s generous amount of reproduction 348/409 parts available, a factory reproduction 409 oil pan can be easily found at places like Show-Cars.com. Racing oil pans for W motors can be found at Stef’s Performance Products.

Building Strength

Another related aspect to stroking any W motor is making it stronger. Most builders will agree that if having some machine work is in the cards for any W stroker, it is an excellent time for an additional machine operation. All W motors came with only two bolt mains.

Today, we know four bolt mains are desired in virtually all racing engines, and all of the new, aftermarket aluminum and iron blocks use them on the center three mains. Retrofitting a 348 or 409 block to use four bolt mains on those center three mains is not difficult and the block offers room for the upgrade.

There are a number of companies making retro fit caps and a choice of straight or splayed is available.

One such company is Pro Gram Engineering, which makes three such products. One is with the extra bolts being added in a straight pattern. Another uses a splayed pattern and the third offers a front cap with four straight bolts. These kits fit both the 348 and 409 blocks as both use the same diameter cranks.

Formula 409

If a builder wants a monster motor with lots of cubic inches, the best way would be to use one of the new aluminum 409 blocks by World Products or Bob Walla Racing.

Walla also offers iron blocks and we’ll get back to that shortly. With these new aluminum and iron blocks, much larger motors can be built without any of the original engine’s design limitations.

The early test motors built using the all aluminum World Merlin 409 easily made over 500 inches, settling in at a comfortable 509 cubic inches under the talented hands of Lamar Walden, who designed the blocks for World. If that isn’t enough cubic inches for a W motor fan, Bob Walla’s iron block is capable of housing 600 or 609 cubic inches.

These are essentially stroker engines as the stroke and bore offer seemingly unlimited combos.

From the money angle, a W stroker can be built two ways.

One uses a bigger budget for custom made parts, such as those aftermarket blocks using custom made crankshafts, rods and pistons.

The other and more economical way is to use off the shelf parts designed for W strokers using stock blocks. Those parts are steadily growing in numbers and availability.

Many times, stroker kits are available and include the core parts such as crank, rods and pistons. Other kits are more complete and add rings and bearings.

The benefit that is really growing is that many of these kits require little or no machining.

Popular Kits

Lamar Walden Automotive has a few stroker kits for 409s. One is a 450 cubic inch model and the other is a 482 cubic incher – both from 409 blocks.

They include forged pistons, steel crankshaft, H beam connecting rods, rings and bearings.

Show Cars, a specialist for Chevys of that era, sells a 409 four inch stroker kit that comes with an Eagle crankshaft, Ross forged pistons and pins, GM rods, Clevite bearings and a chrome moly piston ring set.

Since they offer a number of stroker kits, the sizes and components vary.

Another Show Cars kit has a 3-3/4 stroke and coupled with bore sixes that are 0.030, 0.040 and 0.060 over, there are varied combinations. 11:1 compression Keith Black pistons have overbore sizes of the slightly different 0.038, 0.048 and 0.068 in. 348s have not been left out as there are kits using the same 3-3/4 stroke and overbore sizes.

Scat Crankshafts is another one offering stroker kits. Its two kits start with 409 blocks and are available in 434 and 472 cubic inch versions using 4.155 and 4.340 bore sizes. Both H and I beam connecting rods are available. The kits include the crankshaft, rods, pistons, rings and bearings, and can be bought with different balancing packages.

For those making their own stroker, Eagle Rods and Crankshafts offers a crankshaft with a four inch stroke for 409s, as well as the rods to fit it. While not a full kit, W pistons can be had by a number of manufacturers.

Don’t forget that BBC crankshafts make the basis of a good W stroker and tapping into companies such as Calles can get you a state of the art model.

Combinations and Calculations

There are a surprisingly large number of stroker combinations using stock 348 or 409 blocks. Steve Magnante is an automotive journalist and has reported on a number of stroker builds. Here’s a few of them, broken down to just the facts for a quick reference.

The Edelbrock 421 Stroker came about when Edelbrock wanted to start building aluminum W motor heads. Edelbrock built this stroker as its test mule, long before any new aftermarket blocks were available.

Starting with a 1964 truck 409 block and crankshaft, the motor’s six quart oil pan, .060” overbore (final bore size of 4.375 inches) and the stock 3.50-inch stroke, the combo ended up as 421 cubic inches.

A four bolt main kit was used as well as 9.6:1 J&E pistons on Eagle forged H-beam rods, and the 6.135 inch long Big Block Chevy pieces that fit the 409 crank perfectly.

Also included were ARP 7/16, 12 point cap rod bolts to improve over the stock 3/8 bolts that Chevy orignally used. All this was designed to allow it to use 91 octane fuel and be a street engine.

The crankshaft snout on a W motor will match up to a Small Block Chevy harmonic balancer, so an ATI Super Damper was used.

The intake was an Edelbrock dual-quad aluminum with Edelbrock 500 CFM Thunder AVS carburetors. This combo created 466 horsepower and 461.9 torque.

That in itself is quite a motor and with just the .060” overbore, yet, retaining stock 409 heads. When Magnante reported on this engine, he said more could be built into that 409 truck block, “Step up to a 470-plus cube stroker kit, add a point of compression, swap on a set of 750-cfm carburetors and do a little porting and you’ll nudge 600 horsepower for sure.”

Edelbrock’s recipe yielded horsepower: 466.1 @ 5800 rpm.

Basic specs are:

Block409

Stroke3.500

Bore4.375

Cubic Inches421

HP (approx)466

Another W stroker Magnante reported on also uses a 409 block with a big, four inch stroke and even bigger pistons. In this case, a crankshaft from a Big Block Chevy is the starting point. The bore was .060 over and the results were 481 cubic inches.

Tech wise, the bore ended at 4.3725 inches. Superior Automotive did this build and they used a popular crank for W strokers, the Mark IV, 454 Big Block Chevy.

There is a trick here, as it needs to be a crank from between 1970 and 1990.

Later crankshafts, like 1991 and up, won’t fit into the 409 block. Using this will increase the stroke by ½ inch and, coupled with the bigger pistons and other performance work, will yield 532 horsepower and 542 ft./lbs. of torque.

There are a few machining operations that need to be done on the 454 crank before assembly. The biggest is turning down the mains .250 inch from 2.748 to 2.498 inches.

After machining the mains, the radius on the crank’s journal to the cheek will need to be stress relieved as the new shape will be 90 degrees. Precision balancing is also recommended as is turning down the crank snout.

The finished size should be 1.250-inches so an externally-balanced SBC 400 damper can be used.

Joe from Superior says that in the past, he had to do quite a bit of crankshaft work for his W strokers.

The Superior Automotive 481 Stroker sports the following specs:

Block409

Stroke4.00

Bore4.3725

Cubic Inches481

HP (approx) 532

Typically, they would need to be turned down, edges rounded and chamfered, counterweights knife edge shaped and snouts turned down.

It didn’t stop there, as there was heat-treating and hard coating to do. Joe says these days, finished stroker crankshafts are more readily available and even offer centralized counterweights so additional clearance is minimal or not even needed.

On this 409/481 build, the added throw of the bigger 454 counterweights and connecting rods are enough to impact the bottom of the cylinder bores.

Machining small notches creates clearance for the now-larger rotating assembly. The rest of the rotating assembly has some wiggle room, too. Superior says reconditioned stock 454 rods can be used, but they opted for new, forged steel, Eagle I-beam rods that are often less expensive.

These rods have the usual 454, 6.135 inch measurement and offer wider beams, wrist pin bushings and use bigger ARP 7/16 inch rod end cap bolts.

Another cool combo came from Superior Automotive, and it was a sleeper!

This stroker takes advantage of the fact that a lot more 348s were made than 409s. In fact, when the 409 came out, Chevy kept making the 348s. Superior says these little brothers can make a kick ass 434 inch stroker.

This combo used Edelbrock’s Performer RPM aluminum heads, an Eagle stroker crank with H-beam rods, Ross pistons, an Isky solid roller cam and a new single plane, four barrel intake manifold from Lamar Walden which developed 576.8 horsepower at 6200 RPM with 516.8 ft./lbs. at 5500 RPM.

According to Superior, the they started with the stock bore and opened it up from 4.125 by 0.030 to 4.155 inches. They checked the wall thickness after the bore and found it to be 0.175 average.

A second boring operation enlarged the crescent found in 348/409 blocks that acts as part of the combustion chambers and that size is now .060” over.

Into the block went an Eagle, 4340 forged steel crank. Even with its four inch stroke 0.750 greater than the stock 3.25 stroke of a 348, Eagle reduced the counterweight diameter of its crankshaft, making it a drop-in.

The Ross forged pistons are 11.7:1 versions and weigh less than the stock pieces and the newer rods are heavier and stronger than the originals. Sometimes with this build, that extra ¾ inch of stroke might contact some 348 blocks, so Superior used its Rottler CNC machine station to add some clearance.

With the use of Edelbrock Performer RPM heads, the valves are bigger than stock and will impact the block if the lift is too great. But that’s more about the aluminum heads than the block.

The Superior Automotive 434

Stroker measures out like this:

Block348

Stroke4.0

Bore4.155

Cubic Inches434

HP (approx)577

The heads are limited by Edelbrock to 0.550 maximum valve lift on 348 blocks. This insures no valve-to-block contact so checking with a spring and dial indicator is suggested.

An easy aspect of this build is that a stock 348/409 crank snout will fit a SBC harmonic balancer. It will need relocating of the timing mark to be accurate. The new Eagle stroker crankshaft corrects this with the correct keyway position.

These are but a few of the options for building a W Motor Stroker out of a stock block.

The aftermarket blocks offer even more combos to build bigger and badder W motors.

Editor’s Notes: The suppliers mentioned in this article are options and recommendations presented by the author for particular stroker builds.

Engine builders should use this information as a reference and that performance results from their own stroker builds will vary, depending on their selection of parts and products.

For a downloadable Stroker Engine Reference Guide of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler kits, visit: www.EngineBuilderMag.com.

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Holley has announced that the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) has selected Holley EFI to power the new ARCA Ilmor 396 engine recently introduced for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards 2015 stock car racing season. ARCA introduced the new engine on Friday, August 1, 2014 as an option for teams in an effort to address the challenges of rising costs in the series.

ARCA partnered with legendary IndyCar engine builder, Ilmor Engineering, to develop and assemble the engines. Ilmor and ARCA then selected Holley EFI ECUs and hardware to deliver the fuel on the engines. The ARCA Ilmor 396 is expected to deliver 700 horsepower and 500 ft. lbs. of torque, with durability and performance standards.

“We’ve partnered with ARCA to construct a durable, reliable engine capable of running 1500 miles between re-builds,” affirmed Paul Ray, President of Ilmor Engineering. “The teams will be able to use the same ARCA Ilmor 396 at short tracks or a superspeedway, a road course or the mile dirt tracks. We have begun to conduct extensive testing, and our plan calls for the first engines to be available for purchase by the teams by early December.”

“Holley carburetors have powered ARCA racers over two million miles in the last two decades alone, so it is a natural transition for Holley fuel injection to deliver the fuel on the ARCA Ilmor 396,” said ARCA President, Ron Drager.

“We’ve worked very hard to make Holley EFI products capable, robust, easy to use, and cost effective,” said Holley President, Tom Tomlinson. “We’re very pleased that ARCA has selected Holley EFI for their new fuel injected engine program. With NASCAR’s Cup series and GM’s COPO Camaro already using our EFI products, they’re in good company.”

Beginning in 2015, ARCA teams will have the option of using the new ARCA Ilmor 396 or continuing to use the open motor rules package currently in place.

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