At the time of writing, with two high-speed superspeedway events under their belts, oil formulators for NASCAR are at last breathing a sigh of relief. Since the fuel for this year has been revised to include 15% ethanol, subsequent post-race engine oil analysis has shown that there is no unexpected deterioration, and piston wear - although higher for the high-speed plate engine tracks - is no more than expected. But if we are honest, that was only of passing interest. With many events...
Engine oil is rather like that famous brand of lager that is said to refresh the parts other beers cannot reach, for in cooling the piston undercrown, valvetrain and bearings it is clearly performing a function in those areas inaccessible to the engine coolant. As in the case of the engine cooling system, this heat eventually has to be distributed into the passing air surrounding the vehicle. For many years, and where natural flow of air around the sump was insufficient, the most common...
Wayne Gaskamp, of Long Beach, California, builds drag boat engines for driver Mike DeClark's National Jet Boat Association (NJBA) boat, F Bomb, which set the records of 7.15 s Elapsed Time at 144.46 mph on the water at Bakersfield, California, in April 2011. The boat runs in two classes of this series, the seven-second class and the unblown fuel jet class. It's leading the latter in points after three events and is in second place in the former category. The engine powering the boat...
The first decade of the 21st century will probably be remembered for when the benefits of surface coating technology really took off in the wider automotive industry. Although it's something we have known in the performance engine world for a long time, the increased interest will no doubt spur companies into looking for even lower levels of friction and higher levels of durability, all in the name of improved carbon dioxide emissions. While the technological push may be for the more...
There are a great number of components in the race engine that need a hard, wear-resistant surface. Crankshafts, camshafts, cam followers, gears, sprockets, spindles and pump shafts are some example of components that are regularly treated in some way to increase the hardness of the surface. In some cases, there is a requirement that the part has a high level of strength throughout, and such components which are through-hardened. Camshafts, and cam followers are commonly produced in both...