Although Funny Car engines get torn down from top to bottom end between 1000-foot NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series passes, it’s easy to overlook pushrods “because they are that good,” according to 2008 series runner-up and 2009 Countdown to One participant Tim Wilkerson. He’s been using “nothing but Manton pushrods” in his engines for many years citing, “Terry’s got a good product and he’s quick to fix something if it’s...
The overhead cam Suzuki engine campaigned by 2007 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Matt Smith in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category “pretty much controls the valves,” according to engine builder Steve Tartaglia. “Because we don’t run pushrods,I think the biggest weak link we have is in the camshafts and cam chains. It’s not anything that significantly flexes; it just varies the valve timing more than we’d like.” The solution Tartaglia has found...
Thus far we have examined the application of titanium in the production of racing valves, and seen how the properties of this material may be tailored to the application by either specific heat treatments, or by combining materials with different mechanical properties within the same valve by the use of friction welding. We reflected on the fact that titanium, compared to steel and most of the other materials that we would traditionally use for valve manufacture, offers a lower mass valve...