Founded in 1983 and nestled in the small midwestern town of Boonville, Indiana, AFCO Racing Products designs and manufactures a full line of industry-renowned shocks, springs, and cooling components for the high performance and racing industry, with satisfied customers across the nation and around the world.

And while AFCO and Dynatech are both professional, nationally-recognized operations in every sense of the word, as you step inside their facility and converse with the individuals that make it all happen, you can’t help but sense the homegrown, almost local hardware store-like atmosphere. From the front office staff to those rebuilding shocks and welding headers, everyone is passionate about cars and about racing. Many are active or former grassroots area racers, and all have ties to the local racing community. Sure AFCO and Dynatech are national players, but they certainly haven’t forgotten where they came from.

The AFCO and Dynatech facilities are housed in two separate buildings, but share a common engineering and research and development department.

AFCO's shock assembly area

Shock Assembly Area

After arriving at the AFCO facility and engaging in the obligatory bench racing session with our tour guides, which included Drag Racing Product Manager Eric Saffell, it was time to pull up anchor and head out on our tour.

Our tour, which will wind through the AFCO facility and then a few short steps into the building that houses Dynatech, begins in the shock assembly area at AFCO, which contains several assembly and sub-assembly stages that are all utilized when a specific production run begins.

When the orders come in, the shocks are first assembled in an area that features a tray of shims, where engineers will retrieve the appropriate parts based on the compression stack and rebound stack requirements for the specific shock.

A fact pointed out to us while in assembly is that a large majority of the shocks that AFCO produces utilize deflective disk technology. Thus, racers can know they’re getting made-in-the-USA quality in the care of someone building it by hand and validating it. Deflective disk valving of course allows for complete tuning of the shock per the driving and handling needs, and is the latest in shock technology in the industry today.

The Dyno Room

Just a few steps from the assembly area you’ll find the impressive dyno room, where each and every shock is thoroughly tested for proper operation and specifications.

Utilizing a special dynamometer, AFCO translates all of the information during the process to a computer, where a graph is created, displaying the entire operation of the shock for members of the engineering team to review in real-time.

AFCO engineers keep studious notes on the testing information from the shock, which they can use for reference, should a racer call for information on their shock or send it back in for a rebuild at a later time. Along with testing each shock that’s manufactured, dyno testing is also a key element in the development of new shock designs and valve codes.

The Rebuild Station

As is more common with oval and dirt track cars, shocks will endure a lot of wear and tear through normal use, and over time, those shocks come due for a freshening-up, if you will. Along with numerous rebuild centers all across the country, AFCO technicians will disassemble and make any needed repairs to shocks at their facility, which can typically be turned around within one to two days.

The rebuilding station sees a variety of team's shocks that will be sent back throughout the season for dynoing and rebuilds.

Research and Development

After the dyno room, we make our way to the Research and Development area, where AFCO engineers develop new shocks based on the needs of their customers and the marketplace, aiming to create a unit that caters to the exact needs of both the professional and grassroots racer.

AFCO’s team of engineers will perform field tests at the track with several different shocks and collect data in real-time utilizing special data collection equipment, which can be played back and analyzed to make changes and improve the product.

In the field, AFCO's pro-type shocks can be easily identified with this special orange sticker on the shock body.

Radiator Production

AFCO Engineers hand-welding one of their many radiators

With units for everything from hot rods and muscle cars to dirt and oval track and drag racing, radiators represent an extensive part of AFCO’s business, and their radiator production area is a well-oiled machine of stations that churn out these popular units to the highest degree of quality.

AFCO’s aluminum coolant tanks – both of the single and double-pass variety – are designed and crafted in-house. Each radiator goes through a small group of stations where the tanks are fitted, spot-welded, finish-welded, and the distinctive blue AFCO logo painted on.

In addition to AFCO’s standard production run of radiators, they also produce custom radiators per a customers’ one-off specifications or in a small custom production run for a chassis builder to the tune of “a fair amount” per week. For that, a talented fabricator is assigned the role of mapping out the prototypes and crafting the radiators piece-by-piece from aluminum stock.

We've all been at the track and seen the blue-labeled AFCOm radiators, and this is where it happens.

Hop, Skip, And A Step To Dynatech

Just a few paces across the lot from the main AFCO facility is the Dynatech production facility, which is the next stop on our tour. And while fully expecting tube benders and welding stations just as you walk in the door, you’re met with one of AFCO’s other R&D departments; this one housing the company’s in-house supercharged 2011 Mustang GT  5.0L and 2011 Chevrolet Camaro test beds, along with a wicked ’69 Fastback Mustang with a 5.0L Coyote swap that Gateway Classic Mustang has brought over from Missouri to receive a custom set of headers.

Just inside the Dynatech building is the AFCO Research and Development area, where where exhaust, suspension, chassis, data acquisition, and other research and development work is carried out. AFCO presently has both a 2011 Mustang and Camaro that are used for R&D purposes.

It is this self-sustaining area where exhaust, suspension, chassis, data acquisition, and other research and development work is performed by AFCO’s engineering team.

The new Mustang and Camaro, both a large source of sales for the automotive aftermarket, are utilized on a weekly basis for testing of suspension and exhaust components. These cars are equipped with caster-camber plates, AFCO’s front struts, springs, Dynatech headers, and what’s known as a Stealth Quiet exhaust package.

While we were at AFCO, a slick '69 Mustang built by Gateway Classic Mustangs with a 5.0L Coyote swap under the hood was in the R&D area being fitted with a set of custom headers.

Dynatech’s Production Area

A line of completed headers hanging on a rack and ready for shipment provides a glimpse of what’s to come as we round the corner to the header and exhaust production area, where rows upon rows of racks with headers in various but organized stages of completion hang, ready for the next step in the manufacturing process.

As you step into the header productiona rea, you're met with rows of racks containing headers in various stages of the manufacturing process. A cool sight, indeed.

in beginning the process, the pipes that make up a set of headers are pre-cut to the appropriate length at a cutting station and then sent over to a group of bending machines, which operate to bend the tubes based on pre-programmed values for angles and length. Once shaped, the pipes are moved to this rather large work area, where several stations are situated around the perimeter of the room; each assigned to a specific model of production header programs.

At left is one of several welding stations that are assigned to specific production runs of headers. At right, you can see a comparison between an in-process header where tube excess has been left before being massaged down flush with the flange and welded on the cylinder head side.

At these stations, the header pipes, collector, and the flanges are welded together, with some excess left at the cylinder head end of the pipes. The pipes are spot-welded to the flange, and then ground down flush with the flange. They are then fully Tig-welded on the cylinder head side of the flange, which AFCO engineers have found to take away from the heat effected zone on the other side of the flange; thus reducing the possibility of cracks.

Polishing For Quality

Once finished, each header spends an estimated 30 to 45 minutes being meticulously cleaned and polished by hand – including removal of the unsightly weld ‘berries’ and weld smoke. The extra time and effort taken to perform such a process is but one of many steps taken by Dynatech to ensure a product of the absolute highest quality and worksmanship, and seeing this process makes one truly appreciate what goes into every part that rolls out the door.

With the makeover complete, each and every header that Dynatech produces is then checked for proper form and function at a station just outside of the production area. Here, a  technician bolts the header down to a work table set up for inspections, and armed with a checklist, works through the process of ensuring a perfect product. First, the flanges are checked with a feeler gauge to make for a perfect seal with the gasket, and then tolerances in various regions of the header design are checked to fit within 1/16-inch of the specifications set by the tight confines of many engine compartments. Finally, the entire assembly and all of the welds are run over by hand to check for satisfactory manufacturing and cleaning work.

Every header manufactured at Dynatech is checked for build quality. Everything from flange gap to fitment tolerances to the cleanliness of the finish is throughly chedked before being sent out the door.

Dynatech prides itself on producing headers of the highest quality on the market that fit right out of the box without beating and banging to install, and it’s in the design department and here at the quality checking station where that mission is made reality.

Back To The Beginning. Literally.

After having seen where the concepts are turned into physical product, we turn the pages back a few steps and conclude our tour by visiting AFCO and Dynatech’s extensive engineering offices, where a team of high performance-minded thinkers collaborate to continually conceptualize, design, draw, and test new parts and ideas.

New products designs go through an extensive process before becoming physical and pubicly available products, all beginning with 3D CAD concept designs by the AFCO engineering team.

But prior to any of this happening, however, the engineering and track support teams combine to research and observe the industry and speak with racers to determine a place in the market for a new product or a need for enhancements upon an existing design. From there, early conceptual drawings are made using all of the parameters found in their market research.

Engineers at AFCO utilize industry standard SolidWorks and Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3D CAD software suites to create three-dimensional designs and perform validation. Once the concepts have been created, engineers will go through a concept review with the sales team, and once a concept is decided upon, a design validation is performed to determine area where the product might fail in the field and any potential issues with the product before ever produced. Once those areas – if they exist – are discovered, the designs are tweaked to mitigate any risk before steps are taken to begin manufacturing.

With a design completed, a product then heads into the prototyping phase with 2D and 3D drawings on the computer, prototype the components on-screen, and then create a physical prototype. That part will go through extensive in-house testing  on the dyno and later, field testing on the race track. Although field testing will display any potential issues with the product, the engineering teams’ aim in every design is to handle problems before the prototype is ever machined.

And with that, our tour of AFCO and Dynatech has reached the finish line. To say that this facility and the operations that go on within its walls is impressive would be understatement. On our tour, we saw first hand what goes into the design of new products from the ground up, from the minute and highly technical details undertaken in the engineering department to the craftsmanship shown in the production area and the virtually unmatched attention to quality assurance should leave little doubt that any product purchased from AFCO and Dynatech is as solid a product as one can obtain. And they’re darn proud of it.

The little blue bar on the label of Coors Light was fading as slowly as the supreme pizza from Costco was cooling on the tool bench. I was poised precariously on the highest rung of a folding step stool trying to grab a wide shot of another cram-packed corner of the cavernous shop, all the while hot rodders of several generations mingled, swapping tales of the “old days,” one-upping each other’s stories of street racing, and generally bench racing.

Doug, a friend of mine, invited me to the underground weekly get-together at hot rod legend Art Chrisman’s custom ‘rod shop. The weekly meet is no well-kept secret to the locals, but might surprise those not in the know. Either cough up some cash for the pie or bring a six-pack of beer is the only cost of admission, and while the one or two pizzas go quickly, the ‘fridge is usually always well-stocked.

This old school racer is housing two - count 'em two - straight-eights, totaling sixteen cylinders mated through a custom bell housing into a modern gearbox.

Inside this metalshop, almost anything is possible. Bits of memorabilia hang on the walls from over 50 years of racing history.

This '57 Ford Thunderbird was one of the most impressive customs we've seen in ages. A true blue 427 Cammer FE Ford motor rests beneath the hood - replete with authentic SOHC tags. Look closely and you'll see no square inch has been left alone on this roadster.

It goes without saying, I was in humbling company. While icon of hot rodding was at home recuperating from being under the weather, Art’s son, Mike Chrisman was on hand, strolling around the polished automotive artwork and works-in-progress. Everywhere I ventured through Chrisman’s Auto Rod Specialties (spelling the cutesy acronym “C.A.R.S.”), a picked up snippets of conversations, “Once we got it to run 300mph…,” “Yeah, I had ’bout $50,ooo in the paint and bodywork alone…,” and “…that was the third time I’ve ever been in ‘cuffs.”

Art Chrisman, of course, requires very little introduction. The perennial hero of the hobby holds more “firsts” than anybody else. Besides a catalog of world records, Chrisman represents the core values of the hot rodding movement in its entirety; innovation, passion, know-how, and autonomy; and his shop exhibits those same tenets.

The hammers, English wheels, stretchers, shrinkers and sheers can take a flat piece of steel and turn it into a work of art. In fact, creativity and artisanship is found everywhere at C.A.R.S. including with wild 'tiki' themed hand-pinstripped and airbrushed refrigerator. And you're looking at a Tremec mated to a flathead Ford. You don't see those everyday.

History is not a forgotten thing here, but is alive and well.

Growing up in my father’s fabrication shop in Long Beach, California, I immediately recognized the Bridgeport in the back corner, the English Wheels and the pair of ERCO metal shrinkers and stretchers. Chrisman’s can be an island, a self-sustaining one-stop-shop where a frame is designed, fabricated and skinned with a custom body, completely unique to your desires.

Next, a one-of-none drivetrain can be mocked up, assembled, plumbed and dyno tested. The only things I wasn’t too sure about was paint and interior, but then again, I didn’t get to snoop around the entire complex…

The work poured into each of these cars is not restricted to just the sheetmetal, but even the engines themselves. Every surface is smoothed and polished, and receives the same level of attention during the painting process as the body of the car.

No car is off limits, be it a classic truck with a wickedly blown 392 HEMI or a classic Cadillac LaSalle with a built 454.

The legend and his son, Mike, founded Chrisman Auto Rod Specialties nearly a quarter-century ago, building and restoring hot rods, lakesters, and dragsters. Of course, C.A.R.S. famously restored Chrisman’s Hustler I to 1962 vintage specs back in the mid-’80s, and was recently part of the “Cacklefest” at the 2001 Winternationals.

Chrisman explained, “I originally restored it for the 20th Anniversary March Meet at Bakersfield. The track people there thought it would be good if the original winner could come back and make a pass. In a nutshell, that’s what we did.”

Not to be outdone, Mike built his own Hustler, dubbed Hustler III, and won a handful of  Jr. Fuel titles with a Chrisman-built engine.

Wedged between a '65 El Camino and a 40's Cadillac was this burgundy '32 highboy. The injected plant is more than meets the eye, with canted-valve, poly-spherical heads designed for road course racing.

Interested in going over 330 miles per hour? This Chevrolet Cobalt - again, you read right - is aiming for next year's Speedweek at Bonneville to do exactly that.

History will most likely remember Art Chrisman for a being one of the five charter members of the Bonneville 200mph Club after driving Chet Herbert’s streamliner to 235mph in 1952; his famous #25 dragster which, of course, was the first drag racer to exceed 140mph, going on to be the first winner at the Bakersfield US Fuel & Gas Championships in 1959, as well as the first car to make a pass at the 1955 Nationals in Great Bend, Kan., NHRA’s first national event.

But most of all, Chrisman’s legacy will always be tied to one slingshot dragster, the aforementioned Hustler I. Powered by a blown 392cui Chrysler Fire Power HEMI stroked to 454 cubes, Hustler I appeared on the cover of the January 1959 issue of Hot Rod Magazine, recorded the sport’s first 180mph run with a 181.81 at Riverside Raceway, and won the Best Engineered Car award at the 1958 Nationals.

Friends and car enthusiasts alike, from all ages, generations and preferences, are invited; old boys who'd been around since the beginning, or modern rat rodders covered in tattoos, it's all good.

Flatheads, Cammers and HEMIs. If you're a fan of unconventional powerplants, then you're in good company.

Today, the property where C.A.R.S. is shared with Squeak’s, the comprehensive metal shop which houses more classic tin-shaping tools than I had seen in years. At the entrance were a six-foot-high stack of ’32 Ford frames. Beside the tower of rails was a fiberglass Anglia body, resting face-down on its firewall, its contoured tail jutting into the air.

Center stage was a ’57 Thunderbird unlike I, or likely anybody else alive, had ever seen before. Low slung, reshaped, elongated, chopped, and meticulously massaged, the roadster looked menacing in its naked skin, a solitary brazen T-bird emblem on one fender reading the letters “SOHC.”A 427 Cammer – a particular specialty of Chrisman’s – lies beneath the snorkeled hood.

“Those are factory,” Doug proclaimed, over my shoulder. “Art found those a while ago, he swears they’re original pieces.”

Louvers, louvers, and more louvers. This '32 is guaranteed to be well ventilated.

Do-it-yourself has been Art Chrisman's philosophy and so far it's never lead him astray. A wall of yellowing pictures, some disheveled papers on a desk or some old fabrication equipment don't begin to tell the story of the man and his legacy.

The Thunderbird is well on its way to surpassing the national average for a 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home. Building something like this isn’t for the budget-minded guy, that’s for sure. The hours spent in smoothing every flat surface of the engine block and heads – yeah, you read that right – is enough to dwarf all the money I have into Killer Kong, Street Legal TV’s project ’69 Charger R/T.

Building a car at C.A.R.S. is a lot more than just getting Chrismans name on your ride. Observing the array of rods and engines, I realized that this place is a car guy’s dream factory. If you can think it up, its not only likely that Chrisman can make it happen, he’s probably done it before.

When we first strolled into the ATI Performance Products factory located on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland, the first thing we noticed was the wall of gold-plated plaques hanging behind the secretary’s desk. “What are those?” We asked.

Each of these plaques is a patent, owned by either JC Beattie Sr. or JC Beattie Jr.

“Patents,” the secretary responded. “Most of them belong to the owner, J.C. Beattie Sr.” This wall of plaques set the tone for the rest of our tour of the ATI production facilities.

In true American fashion, ATI is a family owned business, though we didn’t expect to find the entire Beattie family working here. Pets included.

Our guide for this tour would be J.C. Beattie Jr., who recently became a father himself. Inside the front office is Jr.’s mother, and his daughter Ava, bouncing happily in her baby carrier.

Sr.’s office is in the back (though not for much longer) right next to the massive machine shop that makes up ATI’s headquarters. Also working at the shop are JC’s girlfriend and a number of close family friends, who are as much family as they are employees.

First Stop: Transmission Cores

The first stop we make on our tour is in the receiving room, when transmission cores come in. “We’re always purchasing transmission cores,” JC Beattie Jr. tells us. “It is a big part of our business, with an emphasis on Powerglides.” ATI currently produces one of the strongest Powerglides on the market, the Superglide4, and JC estimates that anywhere from 30% to 50% of the transmissions they do in a year are of the Powerglide variety. So they’re always looking for a good core get to work on. From there, every part of the transmission is refreshed, replaced, or otherwise improved upon before leaving ATI’s shipping facility across the street.

The first stop on our tour was the receiving area, where transmission and torque converter cores arrive.

Just what kind of improvements or refreshing the transmissions get depends on what the customer wants. As mentioned, the Superglide4 is one of the strongest Powerglide on the market. Remember those patents we mentioned earlier? The Superglide4 features a patented input shaft system that significantly improves its strength, which is often considered the “weak link” in modern Powerglide performance transmission. But every ATI transmission gets new internals, either to OEM spec or upgraded for hardcore racing, from the valve body to the shift lever. It just all depends on what you need it for.

In the case of ATI’s top-notch transmission, the SuperGlide4, the upgraded internals are rated at 3,000 horsepower. And like all of ATI’s transmissions, it is thoroughly dyno-tested to that everything is functioning as intended. The transmission must also be leak tested, have all the pressures verified, as well as the flow rate of the pump before being boxed up and shipped off to the customer.

Torque Converter Turnaround

ATI needs more than just transmission cores though. “Another big part of our business are torque converters,” JC Beattie Jr. explains. “And the way we’ve set it up, we can rebuild a torque converter core and ship it back out to the customer in 24 hours or less.” How are they able to turn around a complicated part like a torque converter so quickly? For one, ATI employs a trained crew of rebuilders whose sole job is to take cores apart and rebuild them to customer specs, all of which is done in the same area. But anybody who knows torque converters knows that there are a lot of time and parts involved.

In this room, trained professionals disassemble and reassemble torque converters in as little as 24 hours.

“Pretty much the only thing we don’t have is a foundry,” JC Beattie Jr. says. But what they do have are stacks upon stacks of blanks and CNC machined torque converter parts, many of them made right here in ATI’s facility. ATI also builds and sells torque converter manufacturing equipment, which allows them to produce almost all of the parts they need to rebuild a torque converter to almost any spec.

This means while they may have some blanks shipped in, they do all of the machining and welding in-house, allowing them to ensure the quality right off of their own assembly lines. This also protects them from supply line issues, and allows ATI to maintain an extensive inventory of parts needed to rebuild just about anything having to do with the transmission and torque converter. ATI does more than rebuild torque converts and transmissions though; they make many of the machines needed to produce these components in the first place.

One of their most popular tools (that they sell to many other transmission specialists, including those overseas) is the converter welding system. First developed in 1979 by (who else) JC Beattie Sr., this system “Allows for a precise, controlled weld by clamping on to the torque converter and spinning it around,” says JC Beattie Jr. It is a simple-yet-brilliant design that allows ATI to deliver top quality products and precise welds with an amazing turnaround time.

The converter welding machine allows welders to quickly and accurately press and weld together torque converters in very little time.

As we watched from a few feet away, it took the welding technician less than a minute to weld a new torque converter back together. ATI has sold over a 100 of these machines around the world, adding even more depth to ATI’s diverse business model. Other tools they build and sell include a converter leak tester, a cut-open lathe (for opening up an old converter) and a pass-through converter washer. As you might imagine, ATI thoroughly tests all of its transmissions using their own machines before shipping them out to customers and has recently purchased a torque converter dyno for like duty.

Stockpiles of Transmission Parts

The pride JC Beattie Jr. takes in the family business is evident as he shows us the superb welding skills of his crew. Taking apart a half-completed torque converter, he goes over each weld and part, explaining how seriously they take the “Made in America” moniker and that sometimes, the old ways are still the best ways. We’ll see exactly what he means a little later in the tour.

The warehouse and storage containers hold just about everything ATI needs to build torque converters and harmonic dampers. "The only thing we don't have is a foundry," says JC Beattie Jr.

After checking out the torque converter rebuilding station, JC Beattie Jr. leads us through the extensive warehouse, which was in the middle of getting its light bulbs replaced. Not exactly conducive conditions to proper photography, though we did get a good look at a bunch of engines and transmission cores lying around, waiting for their turn at greatness. The back warehouse leads to the back yard, where shipping containers abut the highway, are protected by tall fences topped by barbed wire.

This is where ATI keeps a majority of the transmissions, torque converters, and other cores. A forklift idles in the yard with a longtime family friend sitting on top of it with some bad news; the lift, a used one recently purchased online may have some serious mechanical issues. JC Beattie Jr. looks unhappy, but as he explains, “Even with the cost of repairs, it’ll still save us a lot of money over buying a new one.” And it isn’t the oldest piece of machinery in ATI’s shop, as we’ll soon find out.

ATI uses an eclectic mix of classic and modern machines in their daily operations. Many of the machines in this picture are from around World War II.

Modern Machining and Old School Muscle

After we’re through in the back yard, it is on to the machine shop, the heart and soul of ATI’s business. This is where precise modern CNC machines mix with an eclectic collection of pre-World War II machining devices that still perform their original functions as well as ever. With high tech computerized devices rubbing shoulders with classic mechanical creations, there is a whole lot of work to go around the ATI shop.

“We sell about 12,000 harmonic balancers every year,” says JC Beattie Jr. “It’s a huge part of our business, and about 75% of the machines in our shop are dedicated to making different kinds of dampers.” There’s a reason why ATI harmonic Super Dampers are used in many extreme horsepower applications; they are tested to perform above and beyond the calls of duty, and it is a good thing too, because they have a lot of vibration to absorb.

Harmonic Balancer 101

Let’s take a brief detour just to explain the importance of harmonic dampers. Every time a cylinder fires, vibrations are transmitted via the piston to the connecting rod, and the crankshaft. The crankshaft “deflects,” or bends, and while it may be hard to imagine that huge lump of metal bending, it really does on a microscopic level.

At certain engine speeds, the torque and engine vibrations come into sync and cause resonance, which will stress and crack even the toughest crankshafts. While an engine can last a little while suffering these vibrations, in the long term you’re talking about a spectacular engine failure and huge repair bills if the vibrations are allowed to go on unchecked. Thus, all the effort and testing ATI puts into its harmonic dampers (or balancers, depending on what you want to call them.)

An "exploded" view of ATI's elastomer-style Super Damper.

Harmonic dampers are heavy because the mass of the unit resists the acceleration of vibration, and an energy absorbing element (usually rubber or fluid) negates the vibrations. This essentially eliminates resonance and significantly extends the life of a crankshaft. It isn’t hard to imagine why a good harmonic damper is important for extreme racing applications.

“A lot of people rely on our product,” says JC Beattie Jr. “And there are literally millions of dollars of engine parts at stake.” He isn’t kidding. “We provide 100% of the dampers to NASCAR Sprint Cup Cars,” says JC Beattie Jr. Those engines run a lot of very pricey parts that rely on ATI’s damper to keep them together, which why the whole ATI extended family of 50+ employees take their job seriously. But what is it about ATI dampers that make them so popular with the NASCAR crowd?

There are many different types of dampers, though through years of trial and testing ATI has found the most success with the rubber O-ring style elastometer dampers. This style of dampers feature hard rubber bands wrapped around a metal disc. While many OEM elastomer dampers have just one rubber O-ring, ATI’s Super Dampers use multiple rings, and a damper-within-a-damper style.

These dampers also have just four major components; an outer shell, inertia weight (with the elastomer bands), inner shell, and crank hub components. Depending on the application, the outer damper may be as big as seven-inches, and the inner damper just four-inches in diameter, with the inertia weight fitted in between them.

Many studies have shown that elastomer-style dampers have a greater resistance and absorption of vibration than either viscous (liquid) or friction-type dampers. Available in both steel and aluminum, ATI Super Dampers also have the added benefit of being easily rebuildable, something many other damper types can’t lay claim to.

These raw cuts of blank metal will be brand new harmonic dampers before long.

Building a Balancer

The process of building a harmonic balancer begins with a 40-foot long bar of raw metal stock that is cut and shaved right in ATI’s own facilities. The dampers and torque converters are actually built side-by-side, often using the very same machines. Each individual component of the dampers is CNC-machined to exact specifications, and while each damper may only have four parts, those parts must be precisely aligned and thoroughly tested before being sent to customers.

After machining each part, the O-rings are inserted on to the inertia weight by hand before everything is lined up and pressed together. Then the outer shell and interia weight are pressed together, then the inner damper, and finally the crank hub (that attaches to the crankshaft.) And viola! A brand new ATI Racing harmonic damper. But next comes arguably the most important step of all; testing.

The final step for building a damper is pressing the four different components together.

That is why ATI invested in a Damper Torsional Testing Machine, which allows ATI to set up an engine or chassis dyno and collect torsional vibration data from the engine. “This machine lets me tune the damper much like you’d tune a carb or engine,” says JC Beattie Jr. “I can take off the damper shell, change the durometer (hardness) of the rubber elastomeror even the entire damper size itself,” until it meets the proper specifications. In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of testing goes into the finished products before they head to the shipping department across the street.

Ship It Out

This is the last stop on our tour, and we came at a time when ATI is in the middle of remodeling the latest addition to the facility. While much of the space inside the warehouse is dedicated to storage (including a huge boxes laden with ATI’s own Super F transmission fluid), ATI is currently adding more office space to house their ever-expanding operation. JC Beattie Sr. will be getting a much bigger office here, and the hope is to streamline their operations even more, shortening the turnaround on rebuilds and getting parts out to their customers in the most expedient way possible.

We finished our tour in ATI's vast new warehouse, where row-upon-row of torque converters and harmonic dampers sit waiting for new owners.

That about does it for our tour of ATI’s facility, and we left Baltimore knowing a whole lot more about torque converters and harmonic dampers than we knew before. And while these may not be the most glorious parts of a performance car, their importance cannot be understated. Luckily the Beattie’s are hard at work, testing, tuning, building and rebuilding these oft-overlooked parts to the best of their ability, giving our engines and transmissions an extra dose of longevity.

We recently got an invitation to take a look inside Wilwood’s operation and gained a new appreciation for the engineering, manufacturing, and logistics challenges faced by one of the world’s leading suppliers of performance brakes.

Wilwood Engineering manufactures brake kits and components designed to withstand the rigors of drag racing, road racing and even the daily commute.

In the late ‘70s there was a growing demand for increased braking in stock car racing, an engineer named William Wood saw opportunity to create a high performance brake package for this expanding niche market. During this time most cars were using a nearly stock brake system, which was completely inadequate. After developing the new calipers, Wood brought them to a race at the Riverside Raceway in hopes of showing off his creation to a few of the crew chiefs at the event.

While showing the caliper to a crew chief, Wood was in for a surprise when this fellow called over “the King”, Richard Petty, to take a closer look at Wood’s product. Petty was impressed with the product and began using Wood’s calipers and soon after the rest of the field followed Petty’s lead. Wood used this opportunity to create Wilwood Engineering in 1977, a company dedicated to creating some of the finest brake components and kits on the market.

Wilwood's first big break (pun intended) came in the stock car market, and they continue to be a major supplier.

With customers worldwide, the company is always performing R&D on new vehicles in order to meet the ever-increasing demand. Once a vehicle is selected for development, Wilwood determines the intended use in order to cater the brake kit to the application. For example, drag racing applications utilize thin rotors and lightweight components that are capable of stopping the car from high speed, but would not stand up to rigors of the road course and multiple stops without a cooldown period between. Unlike drag racing, road course brake kits require larger, thicker rotors in order to maintain adequate braking throughout the event.

It takes a substantial investment in real estate and machinery to put together an operation like Wilwood...

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Brake system design is a balancing act between weight, stopping power, cost, and the physical space available for the brake package inside the wheel. Whether developing a standard fitment for a new vehicle application or a custom setup, all those factors come into play. Once the requirements have been determined, the engineering process begins with digitizing the spindle, wheel, and everything in the wheel well to create a 3D model to work from. This model allows Wilwood to mock up components and determine the proper positioning through the computer. The 3D modeling allows Wilwood to save time and money, while providing them with an excellent starting point as they progress to the next step, a design and review meeting involving sales and engineering. “Three or four different options are put together,” said Dustin Burr, a Sales and Tech Representative for Wilwood. According to Burr, the option that combines performance, ease of installation, and cost effectiveness is selected for the final design.

Out of an enormous inventory of existing components, Wilwood is able to custom-tailor brake systems to cover new applications.

The prototyping process involves taking “off the shelf” parts to create the new kit. With the vast number of existing parts, the need to recreate every component to develop a new kit is rare. According to Burr, “Wilwood may only need to create a bracket or brake hat,” for a new kit.  At this point the parts are installed on the vehicle to ensure proper alignment, sizing and fit. Once the proper parts are selected and any new parts are created, the kit is installed on the vehicle. The test fitting process provides an ideal opportunity for the installation instructions to be written; any difficult or out of the ordinary installation requirements are noted in the instructions along with solution to simplify the process.

Often, a new application will require a fitment-specific part to be created from scratch, like these Forged Billet Hat Mount Hubs.

The development process doesn’t end when the design is worked out and the prototype is approved, though – customer feedback and real-world testing play a big role in Wilwood’s product creation cycle. After the customer has time to evaluate their brakes in their desired environment, they report their findings back to Wilwood. According to Burr, “It is very rare for something to go wrong,” thanks to their experience in brake design, but should areas for improvement be discovered, they’re incorporated into a new round of prototypes. Following the response back from the customer and final approval, the kit is then released for sale to the general public.

Wilwood feels that keeping as much manufacturing in-house as possible at their 100,000 square foot facility leads to a better product - here, rotor blanks are CNC-machined.

Ship Globally, Act Locally

With the understanding of how a kit transforms from concept to on the sitting on the shelf, the day-to-day functions of manufacturing are equally important. The process of building the brake kit is fairly uniform regardless of the application. All parts, from calipers to rotors are machined in-house; Wilwood believes in doing as many processes as possible in-house to maintain quality control. Machining and many of the coating processes are done in this manner, because in past instances where work has been sent out it proved hard to maintain the same level of excellence.

Once the parts are machined, they are anodized for corrosion protection, and a powder coating process can then be applied to add color for visual appeal and an additional level of protection from the elements.

Prior to powder-coating, green stickers that are resistant to the heat of the curing oven are applied to the calipers to prevent the coating from entering the bores.

Red and black are the standard powder coat offerings for most kits; but thanks to in-house powder coating Wilwood is able to offer a variety of optional colors, including a hot pink hue. That particular color came along when Wilwood was selected to provide the pads for Shirely Muldowney’s project ‘40 Plymouth Sedan, dubbed the ”Grocery Getter.”

Wilwood powder coats their calipers in-house; red and black are the standard colors offered, but there are other optional colors available.

Disc Details

Wilwood’s rotors are not ignored when it comes to adding beneficial finishes. One unique feature offered by Wilwood is the E-Coat process on the SRP rotors. The E-Coat process is basically an electrified paint dipping process. Each rotor is goes through two cleaning solutions before entering the E-Coat tank. Once dipped into the E-Coat tank the liquid is electrified, thus circuit-bonding the paint to the rotor surface. This process gives the rotors a distinctive black finish.

Various cleaning solutions are used to prepare components prior to any coating process. The E-Coat process requires the use of two cleaning solutions before entering the coating tank.

A zinc plating process is the industry standard for protection from rust and corrosion, and Wilwood offers rotors with this type of finish as well. For instances where a greater level of resistance to the elements is desirable, E-Coat provides an interesting advantage. It turns out that zinc plating adheres best to machined surfaces, but not as well to as-cast areas like the the internal vanes of a rotor.  Internal vanes are subject to rust and corrosion when the rotors are exposed to water like they are on most street-driven vehicles. For customers interested in keeping rust at bay even in those unseen spots, the E-Coat process is ideal.

The E-Coat rotor finish not only adheres to the smooth surface of the disc, but also coats the internal vanes and cooling channels to protect them from rust.

The E-Coat process delivers an strongly adhered coating to the rotors because the electrified paint sticks to the smooth machined surfaces as well as the rough surfaces found on the inside of the rotors. This is a one-step process that is performed in-house by Wilwood at their manufacturing facility.

Adding the Finishing Touches

Once the coating processes are completed on the calipers and rotors, they are sent to various workstations for finished assembly and packaging. For example, the caliper bodies are sorted and then assembled and the necessary hardware is attached. After the calipers are completed they are sent off to the packaging area. At this point products are placed into bags (to prevent scuffing the finish) and finally boxed up along with the installation instructions.

Calipers are placed into bags prior to packaging to prevent scuffing the finish.

Once the products are individually boxed they are placed on a pallet and moved to a different location in the facility. These items are now considered ‘stock’ and ready for shipping and or sale. In the warehouse the crew receives a picking sheet for each order; this sheet details the specific parts and quantities for the order. After all of the items are pulled for the order, the items are placed on a pallet and prepared for shipping. With customers and distributors worldwide, a UPS tractor-trailer is used to pick up the pallets of performance parts; this should give readers an idea to the volume and demand for brake kits and components across the world. Europe and Australia are two of the larger international consumers of Wilwood’s parts, but there are distributors in countries across the globe.

Orders are pulled and placed on to pallets prior to shipping. Wilwood moves enough product to require UPS to send out a tractor-trailer to pickup orders.

Regardless of the application, if it needs to be stopped Wilwood has a solution thanks to tireless research, experience and taking the time to understand the needs of the consumer. Having the ability to create successful state-of-the-art brake kits and components for racecars, military vehicles, street-driven cars, ATV’s and even theme park attractions makes Wilwood an industry leader.

Picking proper pistons for an engine build can be the difference between winning and ultimate engine destruction.  Not only does a piston need to be strong enough to support all the horsepower an engine is trying to produce, but it must be precise on machining tolerances.  An off-the-shelf piston will get the job done in many cases, but being able to custom tailor a design to meet your specific needs is paramount to making the maximum amount of reliable horsepower.  Compression ratios, valve reliefs, gas ports, 3D profiling, ring size and location are some of the many options when it comes to building a custom set of pistons.  Ross Racing Pistons is one of the leading piston companies that has the ability to custom design you a set of pistons that will fit the exact specs you are trying to build.

We hooked up with Ross to build us a set of pistons for the 1,000+ hp 427ci small block Ford destined for our 1965 Mustang “Biting the Bullitt“.  Since the pistons were destined for a boosted application, we went with 9:1 compression slugs with horizontal gas ports. Also, we made the hour trip to their facility so we could pick up our newly-machined pistons and check out their facility.  Follow along as we take you through a photo tour of how Ross designs and manufactures their pistons.

Ross Racing Pistons History

Ross Racing Pistons began production of high-end forged aluminum racing pistons in 1979, with 2011 marking their 32nd year in business. Ross has remained a family owned and ran company the entire. Ken Roble and Moe Mills where Ross’  two founders, and after 29 years Moe Mills decided to retire with Joy Roble and Chris Madsen working full time at ROSS and oversee the day to day operations of the company. But the dedication to the company doesn’t stop with the owners — more than 25% of the Ross work force has been with the company for over ten years, and several Ross team leaders have been with Ross for over 20 years.  Though there are some processes Ross likes to take care of by hand, they utilize the newest and most accurate (Okuma, Mori Seiki, Takisawa, Fadal) CNC equipment available for manufacturing. Along with a very wide range of forgings, Ross maintains exacting tolerances on pistons for practically all engines.

Before a piston begins its design process an order form must be filled out. While you might not know everything on this form, filling it out the best you can will help speed the process up. Since Ross has worked with many piston and head manufactures, they will be able to fill in the blanks. To download the order form Click Here

Each piston first goes through a design phase. A team of CAD engineers work with customer orders to modify stock piston designs to meet a specific customer need, or they can also start with a fresh slate on any engines they aren't already familiar with.

All of Ross' machining processes are done on a variety of machines designed to do a specific task in the piston making process. The above photo is only about a third of the machining centers Ross possesses.

Ross has a whole store room filled with piston forging blanks that start as the ground work for each set of pistons. This piston has just finished the first operation; pin holes, oil return holes, forced pin oilers, and lock removal indents have been drilled, along with the oil dispersion groove, and pin lock grooves.

This is the second operation where the piston has been rough turned to within .010 of its finished diameter. The accumulator groove will be cut here if required. The ring lands have been turned down to their correct diameter and the ring grooves have been rough cut to within .002 of the finished width. The top of the piston has also been cut down to the correct dimension. Finally, the dish or dome will be cut in this process.

Next the pistons are moved to one of the milling centers where the side relief, dome/reverse dome, and valve reliefs are cut. Canted valve layouts are moved to a 5 axis machining center.

This photo shows how a standard four-valve circular interpolation valve relief is created.

Next the bottom of the pistons are contoured to remove weight. Another weight savings option is 3D profiling, where the bottom of the piston is mirror cut with the top of the piston's shape, giving the same thickness throughout the inside of the piston.

Like we said in the introduction, Ross believes some processes still need to be done by hand. One of those processes is the forced pin oiler holes, which are intersected manually

Pistons are hand detailed to remove any burrs or minor imperfections

During the final machining process the ring grooves are double plunged to prevent groove wave and insure a square groove and excellent finish. The skirt profile and cam are then cut.

The final manufacturing operation is fitting the pins to the pistons on one of the Sunnen automated hones.

The pistons are then engraved with the job card number (identification number) and cleaned. This serves as the piston's serial number for future ordering or trouble shooting.

Pistons are then weighed, measured with a laser and packed for shipping

The pistons are pulled from the production line at random and go through multiple inspection stations to ensure all tolerances are exact.

In a Couple Weeks You Can Have Your Own Personalized Pistons

While pistons have been used in automobiles for well over 100 years, their technology is still being refined and improved.  Pistons are a precise tool that take the brunt force of the combustion cycle, and have to be able to handle over 800 horsepower per piston in extreme circumstances.  Even in the case of our 1000 hp street engine, nothing is compromised in function or quality at Ross when it comes to making a custom set of racing pistons.

We recently got an invitation to take a look inside Wilwood’s operation and gained a new appreciation for the engineering, manufacturing, and logistics challenges faced by one of the world’s leading suppliers of performance brakes.

Wilwood Engineering manufactures brake kits and components designed to withstand the rigors of drag racing, road racing and even the daily commute.

In the late ‘70s there was a growing demand for increased braking in stock car racing, an engineer named William Wood saw opportunity to create a high performance brake package for this expanding niche market. During this time most cars were using a nearly stock brake system, which was completely inadequate. After developing the new calipers, Wood brought them to a race at the Riverside Raceway in hopes of showing off his creation to a few of the crew chiefs at the event.

While showing the caliper to a crew chief, Wood was in for a surprise when this fellow called over “the King”, Richard Petty, to take a closer look at Wood’s product. Petty was impressed with the product and began using Wood’s calipers and soon after the rest of the field followed Petty’s lead. Wood used this opportunity to create Wilwood Engineering in 1977, a company dedicated to creating some of the finest brake components and kits on the market.

Wilwood's first big break (pun intended) came in the stock car market, and they continue to be a major supplier.

With customers worldwide, the company is always performing R&D on new vehicles in order to meet the ever-increasing demand. Once a vehicle is selected for development, Wilwood determines the intended use in order to cater the brake kit to the application. For example, drag racing applications utilize thin rotors and lightweight components that are capable of stopping the car from high speed, but would not stand up to rigors of the road course and multiple stops without a cooldown period between. Unlike drag racing, road course brake kits require larger, thicker rotors in order to maintain adequate braking throughout the event.

It takes a substantial investment in real estate and machinery to put together an operation like Wilwood...

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Brake system design is a balancing act between weight, stopping power, cost, and the physical space available for the brake package inside the wheel. Whether developing a standard fitment for a new vehicle application or a custom setup, all those factors come into play. Once the requirements have been determined, the engineering process begins with digitizing the spindle, wheel, and everything in the wheel well to create a 3D model to work from. This model allows Wilwood to mock up components and determine the proper positioning through the computer. The 3D modeling allows Wilwood to save time and money, while providing them with an excellent starting point as they progress to the next step, a design and review meeting involving sales and engineering. “Three or four different options are put together,” said Dustin Burr, a Sales and Tech Representative for Wilwood. According to Burr, the option that combines performance, ease of installation, and cost effectiveness is selected for the final design.

Out of an enormous inventory of existing components, Wilwood is able to custom-tailor brake systems to cover new applications.

The prototyping process involves taking “off the shelf” parts to create the new kit. With the vast number of existing parts, the need to recreate every component to develop a new kit is rare. According to Burr, “Wilwood may only need to create a bracket or brake hat,” for a new kit.  At this point the parts are installed on the vehicle to ensure proper alignment, sizing and fit. Once the proper parts are selected and any new parts are created, the kit is installed on the vehicle. The test fitting process provides an ideal opportunity for the installation instructions to be written; any difficult or out of the ordinary installation requirements are noted in the instructions along with solution to simplify the process.

Often, a new application will require a fitment-specific part to be created from scratch, like these Forged Billet Hat Mount Hubs.

The development process doesn’t end when the design is worked out and the prototype is approved, though – customer feedback and real-world testing play a big role in Wilwood’s product creation cycle. After the customer has time to evaluate their brakes in their desired environment, they report their findings back to Wilwood. According to Burr, “It is very rare for something to go wrong,” thanks to their experience in brake design, but should areas for improvement be discovered, they’re incorporated into a new round of prototypes. Following the response back from the customer and final approval, the kit is then released for sale to the general public.

Wilwood feels that keeping as much manufacturing in-house as possible at their 100,000 square foot facility leads to a better product - here, rotor blanks are CNC-machined.

Ship Globally, Act Locally

With the understanding of how a kit transforms from concept to on the sitting on the shelf, the day-to-day functions of manufacturing are equally important. The process of building the brake kit is fairly uniform regardless of the application. All parts, from calipers to rotors are machined in-house; Wilwood believes in doing as many processes as possible in-house to maintain quality control. Machining and many of the coating processes are done in this manner, because in past instances where work has been sent out it proved hard to maintain the same level of excellence.

Once the parts are machined, they are anodized for corrosion protection, and a powder coating process can then be applied to add color for visual appeal and an additional level of protection from the elements.

Prior to powder-coating, green stickers that are resistant to the heat of the curing oven are applied to the calipers to prevent the coating from entering the bores.

Red and black are the standard powder coat offerings for most kits; but thanks to in-house powder coating Wilwood is able to offer a variety of optional colors, including a hot pink hue. That particular color came along when Wilwood was selected to provide the pads for Shirely Muldowney’s project ‘40 Plymouth Sedan, dubbed the ”Grocery Getter.”

Wilwood powder coats their calipers in-house; red and black are the standard colors offered, but there are other optional colors available.

Disc Details

Wilwood’s rotors are not ignored when it comes to adding beneficial finishes. One unique feature offered by Wilwood is the E-Coat process on the SRP rotors. The E-Coat process is basically an electrified paint dipping process. Each rotor is goes through two cleaning solutions before entering the E-Coat tank. Once dipped into the E-Coat tank the liquid is electrified, thus circuit-bonding the paint to the rotor surface. This process gives the rotors a distinctive black finish.

Various cleaning solutions are used to prepare components prior to any coating process. The E-Coat process requires the use of two cleaning solutions before entering the coating tank.

A zinc plating process is the industry standard for protection from rust and corrosion, and Wilwood offers rotors with this type of finish as well. For instances where a greater level of resistance to the elements is desirable, E-Coat provides an interesting advantage. It turns out that zinc plating adheres best to machined surfaces, but not as well to as-cast areas like the the internal vanes of a rotor.  Internal vanes are subject to rust and corrosion when the rotors are exposed to water like they are on most street-driven vehicles. For customers interested in keeping rust at bay even in those unseen spots, the E-Coat process is ideal.

The E-Coat rotor finish not only adheres to the smooth surface of the disc, but also coats the internal vanes and cooling channels to protect them from rust.

The E-Coat process delivers an strongly adhered coating to the rotors because the electrified paint sticks to the smooth machined surfaces as well as the rough surfaces found on the inside of the rotors. This is a one-step process that is performed in-house by Wilwood at their manufacturing facility.

Adding the Finishing Touches

Once the coating processes are completed on the calipers and rotors, they are sent to various workstations for finished assembly and packaging. For example, the caliper bodies are sorted and then assembled and the necessary hardware is attached. After the calipers are completed they are sent off to the packaging area. At this point products are placed into bags (to prevent scuffing the finish) and finally boxed up along with the installation instructions.

Calipers are placed into bags prior to packaging to prevent scuffing the finish.

Once the products are individually boxed they are placed on a pallet and moved to a different location in the facility. These items are now considered ‘stock’ and ready for shipping and or sale. In the warehouse the crew receives a picking sheet for each order; this sheet details the specific parts and quantities for the order. After all of the items are pulled for the order, the items are placed on a pallet and prepared for shipping. With customers and distributors worldwide, a UPS tractor-trailer is used to pick up the pallets of performance parts; this should give readers an idea to the volume and demand for brake kits and components across the world. Europe and Australia are two of the larger international consumers of Wilwood’s parts, but there are distributors in countries across the globe.

Orders are pulled and placed on to pallets prior to shipping. Wilwood moves enough product to require UPS to send out a tractor-trailer to pickup orders.

Regardless of the application, if it needs to be stopped Wilwood has a solution thanks to tireless research, experience and taking the time to understand the needs of the consumer. Having the ability to create successful state-of-the-art brake kits and components for racecars, military vehicles, street-driven cars, ATV’s and even theme park attractions makes Wilwood an industry leader.

The devil’s in the details, they say. And nowhere is that more true that with the addition of what could be considered the most innocuous performance-enhancing part out there, a K&N Filter. It’s hard to tell by just looking at your cold air kit or filter element, but there’s a whole lot of technology, research and development and execution infused in each and every unit.

The worn and tired adage that “your engine is big air pump” is never more applicable than here. K&N pours more time and effort in getting your engine the most oxygen it can process while keeping it clean and safe than all its detractors, mimics and doppelgangers.

It’s More Than Just a Familiar Name

Undoubtedly, K&N is a big – if not the biggest – name in the reusable cotton gauze air filter industry. Be it producing private-labeled filters for production cars, trucks, and motorcycles or offering their immediately recognizable easy-breathing kits for your ride over parts counters across the planet, K&N is as recognizable as Snap-On Tools and Mobil Oil.

Inside its massive Riverside, California complex, K&N produces 100-percent of its product in house with 550 people dedicated to its main production line working two shifts five days a week.

This aggressive work schedule allows for K&N to fulfill its massive workload. The multi-building facility is not only comprised of a central assembly, shipping, and office, but is also flanked by a special projects/prototype facility, a comprehensive engine dynometer and speed shop, research and development department with its own set of auto chassis and motorcycle dynos, an autoclave for carbon fiber molding, and two metal shops.

This family-owned business started over 40 years ago is a worldwide juggernaut with satellite offices in both the UK and the Netherlands. We took a tour of K&N’s monstrous complex with K&N’s Tim Martin and were impressed with what we saw.

Prototypes and Pleaters

Martin explained, “Before any filter is manufactured en masse, it goes through the wringer of testing and development.” These testing prototypes are manufactured in low-rate production looms dubbed “Pleaters.”

Manufactured completely in-house by the K&N machine shop, K&N’s pleater machines automatically weave either four or six-ply cotton filters, pressing them together and crimping the one of over 500 different pleat and ply style combinations.

“These machines are capable of ranging the pleat height from 3/8-inch to 1 1/2-inch,” Martin continued. Best of all, thanks to K&N’s wire meshing, no glue is ever used in bonding the multi-ply gauze filters. Since the pleaters are used in such low volume, they are also used to create custom and/or unique applications.

Inside of its limited-run building, K&N also manufactures its large truck and machinery filters. These can stand up to 4-feet in height and are designed specifically for heavy machinery like one would find at a construction yard. As each filter’s performance varies in part to its intended application, K&N combines its use of materials and database of testing results to engineer a filter that will best fit the engine’s requirements for optimal performance.

In The Big House

Inside of K&N’s central building is the heart of the company’s production, manufacturing, and shipping as well as its management, marketing, and business offices and its fully-staffed call center which fields over 100,000 calls a year.

Adjacent to a machine shop filled with rows of a dozen CNC machines autonomously dolling out custom CAD-engineered billet pieces for one-off applications and bits and pieces for more of its many machines resides K&N’s filter assembly network of conveyors, pneumatic air lines and plumbing pumping the two part chemical compound to each of the assembly stations.

Part of the logic in not gluing the multi-ply cotton gauze together – apart from ensuring the best ventilation – is using K&N’s injection molding process to bond all the layers together. Each of the numerous filter assembly stations employ a heated table base where the cotton filter is fixed before a two-part polyurethane compound is injection molded into the jig.

Since K&N has upwards to 1,500 different sizes and designs, many of the 15 “carousel” assembly stations have been either solely dedicated to assembly K&N’s more “higher demand” filters or have been engineered to allow for multiple configurations. “The two-part polyurethane typically cures within minutes of being applied,” Martin showed us. For filters with larger bases or a secondary cap, they are oven-cured for 15-to-20 minutes.

Once cured, each filter is then relocated to the oiling station. The filter is automatically sprayed with the iconic red-hued filter oil, then sealed, packaged and labeled. The system is so efficient that upwards to 30 air intake kits can be assembled at a time.

Once complete, each unit is sent to the giant “Pick Module.” A three-story building within the central K&N complex, the Pick Module is a massive automated storage and sorting network that looks like the baggage conveyor system at a major airport.

Developed and constructed by K&N Filters, the edifice regularly operates at a comfortable 75-to-80-percent capacity, manned by seven different kinds of operators. As an order comes in, the product (stored in one of over a thousand big blue bins), which has been assigned a number and stored on an assigned rack, is pulled from its place, confirmed, and forwarded – via a belt-driven conveyor system – to the shipping floor of the Pick Module.

There, it is marked, crated and shipped via one of the dozen shipping docks at the back of the building. Almost a massive mechanical digestive system, the Pick Module is a flurry of activity at nearly all times.

Extracurricular Activities

There’s a lot more than just air filters coming out of K&N’s compound. In the shadow of the massive central building sit a sequence of smaller, specialized shops which house possibly some of the coolest best-held secrets of K&N Filters. Apart from housing a selection of race cars from a variety of different modes of competition, the K&N Race Shop also has a fully-functional engine dyno.

Used primarily as a source of top tier high performance air flow testing on a selection of different powerplants, Martin showed us around the engine dynometer room, which is unique in that it employs a ISO 1511 machine which meticulously regulates the incoming air’s temperature, humidity, and particulate count, providing the K&N engineers a gauge on their filter’s restriction versus filtration. Striking that balance, K&N uses these tactics to measure particulate levels to the nth degree with their “calibrated, engineered dirt.”

Next door is K&N’s carbon fiber molding building. Center to this is a giant autoclave. Used for optimal molding, the vacuum process removes any air bubbles from the curing process, leaving flawlessly smooth carbon fiber surfaces. While K&N doesn’t market a lot of its carbon fiber components, many are found on professional racers’ cars, like Pro Stock hood scoops, air scoops, and end plates.

“While the major part of K&N’s success stems from its air filtration product line, K&N also supplies OE manufacturers and aftermarket companies with a great deal of private-labeled parts including mandrel-bent exhaust systems and cold air intakes, as well as offering its own in-house powder coating services,” Martin continued.

Inside K&N’s metal shop and machine shop buildings, fabricators crank out over 15,000 different parts a week as CNC and mandrel benders noisily twist and reshape aluminum tubing for complete or cat-back exhaust systems.

A few hundred feet away, a trio of K&N’s chassis dynos sit on the other side of a swinging door to the trial test and product development garage. Here, engineers get their hands on new or unique cars and design – by hand – how a cold air kit would best fit the engine bay. Here, rough discolored kits are pieced together like Erector sets before a refined prototype tube is fabricated. In fact, most of all of K&N’s cold air kits start in this very room.

On The Way Out

While K&N didn’t want to reveal all of its secrets, they were amazingly forthcoming with peeling back the curtain and letting us see how possibly the most underrated performance part on our cars are made. The forty-year-old company that traces its humble roots back to off-road desert racing is now one of the world’s most prestigious aftermarket entities, even sending off a single shipping container to Europe every week. But it’s not just the quantity that makes K&N’s name synonymous with added performance, but its willingness to put that very name on each product’s lifetime guarantee, and that level of commitment is rare these days.

Uncontained internal combustion engines are loud, especially V8’s. It is a sound many of us have come to know and love, though we can’t imagine living with open headers on a daily basis. That is why automakers have been adding sound dampening devices, called mufflers, to the exhaust pipes to lessen that raucous sound. It makes the driving experience more peaceful for the average joe.

But early hot rodders didn’t care about peace. They just wanted power. So they hacked off their mufflers for a more natural and bombastic sound. Alas, causing such a ruckus was a good way to attract the fuzz, leading to tickets for disturbing the peace and thus siphoning money away from more modifications. Today though, there are a plethora of aftermarket exhaust and muffler companies just a phone call away.

One of the first mufflers made for the hot rod market was Cherry Bomb, a common upgrade done many muscle cars. Founded back in 1968 at the height of muscle cars, it was a simple product with a catchy name and a red paint job that would bring a new sound to the street. Their two-foot long fiberglass-packed mufflers became the hot ticket for every muscle car owner and drag strip junkie and it was the must-have part during the peak of the muscle car wars. We had a chance to tour their 600,000 square foot facility in Loudon, Tennessee, where they still make a modern version the original Cherry Bomb glasspack, alongside several other new products from the legendary muffler maker.

This bright red muffler forms the cornerstone of Cherry Bomb

We spoke with Matt Graves, a product specialist for Cherry Bomb who has been with the company for 15 years. He told us that one of Cherry Bomb’s core strengths is its built-in-America appeal.  “One of the things we pride ourselves in is not outsourcing overseas and making our products right here in the United States. We make everything here in Loudon, Tennesee. We’ve been making them here since 1968.” In fact, Cherry Bomb recently added 100 jobs to their massive facility, helping stimulate that economic growth we hear so much about.

While the exhaust pipe itself is an uncomplicated device, there isn’t some magical field where exhaust pipes of different lengths, widths, and bends grow up from the ground. Cherry Bomb builds their tubing 100% from start to finish. About the only thing they don’t do is mine for the metal themselves.

The process of building an exhaust begins with bending the metal with a mandrel machine

The process of building an exhaust begins with thin, flat steel that is slowly bent and massaged into the tubular shape we are all familiar with, before being welded together. Then, depending on the application, the tubes are either crinkle-bent or mandrel bent. Naturally, if you’re looking for performance, you’ll want the straight, mandrel bent pipes, as those wrinkles tend to hurt air flow. The bending itself is done by a specialized machine that is almost hypnotic to watch. Mandrel bending results in more horsepower and a smoother look, too.

Improvements have been made to the original Cherry Bomb glasspack over the years. These mufflers were prone to rust back in the day, as any old hot rodder can attest to. But now they are made from aluminized steel, which helps prevent corrosion and rust. The classic red color is back too, but powdercoated rather than painted on. The technology regarding flow, power, and efficiency has changed too, and Cherry Bomb has all kinds of high-tech testers to help them get the most out of their exhaust systems. What good is all that equipment without some knowledgeable folks to operate it though?

Paul uses instruments like the flow bench to test its mufflers and exhausts

Paul Stevens, a Product Design Specialist for Cherry Bomb, has been in the exhaust aftermarket for over 31 years. He works in the Research and Development department, where he uses equipment like a super gauge to design and test new exhaust systems. “The super gauge machine we have here is used to measure all of our tubing and wire form and it is a very accurate machine. It is one of our key tools for designing exhaust systems under the car and then getting information to manufacturing.” Another tool Paul uses on a regular basis is the flow bench. “The flow bench measures the volume of air in cubic feet per minute,” Paul tells us. “We test mufflers, pipes and catalytic converters on this machinery.” The flow bench tells them that Cherry Bomb’s classic glasspack muffler flows about 510 cubic feet per minute of air, which is about 100 cfm shy of a straight pipe. That is some impressive air flow.

All of this research and development has helped Cherry Bomb expand its exhaust offerings beyond simple glasspacks, to products for the more discerning gearhead. Their exhaust offerings range from the Cherry Bomb Pro, Elite, Turbo, and the popular Cherry Bomb Extreme. The latest muffler they offer is the Cherry Bomb Vortex, which features special dividers and baffles which provide that Cherry Bomb sound, and a flow rate that nearly as efficient as straight 3-inch pipes, but without the deafening sound of an unmuffled engine.

A rendering of what the finished "Disturbing The Peace" Camaro will look like

One of the perks of working at Cherry Bomb is that they get to play around with some pretty cool project cars. Recently, they have been hard at work on a very special project the Cherry Bomb “Disturbing The Peace” Camaro. The name is derived from the citations police officers used to hand out to hot rodders with loud cars. The project consists of a 1968 Camaro, a very recognizable car that came out the same year Cherry Bomb was founded.

Of course, just because it is a classic car, doesn’t mean it has to have a classic drive train. Rather than an old carbureted V8, the power plant will be a modern LSx engine from GM decked out in high quality parts. For example, an 8-71 BDS supercharger tops the already-impressive LSx engine, and should help the Camaro make gobs of horsepower and torque. Backing the engine is a six speed Magnum Tremec transmission upgraded by American Powertrain, which is hooked up to a Moser 9-inch axle with 3.73 gears.

As you might expect, the Disturbing The Peace Camaro has a crazy exhaust setup

The Disturbing The Peace Camaro has come quite a long way since we first previewed it back in April. The engine has come together and now sits in the body, which is painted a lovely shade of orange and black. As you might expect, this Camaro has one crazy exhaust system, integrating side pipes, electronic cut outs, and some of Cherry Bomb’s own mufflers. It is one wicked ride, and a fitting tribute to a company that has become synonymous with awesome sounding hot rods and muscle cars. We thank Cherry Bomb for inviting us into their facility, and giving us a better idea of the hard work that goes into designing and building a killer exhaust system.

COMP Cams, one of the leading camshaft manufacturers in the automotive aftermarket, recently took us for a tour of their production facility. There, we were given an in-depth look at every step of the process that goes into the finished product that resides in your high performance engine; from the drawing board to the design phase and the creation of the physical camshaft, and even the process of shipping it to your doorstep. And we’re here to bring it to you!

Who Are COMP Cams?

For over 32 years, COMP Cams has been a leading provider of aftermarket camshafts and valve train components for the high performance automotive industry. COMP and its COMP Performance Group (CPG) brands are driven by technology, employing the largest and most highly trained engineers in the industry, using the most sophisticated manufacturing and test equipment in the world. Comp manufactures valve train products for a myriad of applications; from motorcycles, to automotive, stationary power plants, diesel, medical; essentially anything that’s a stick with metal lobes on it.

We spoke with a group of talented engineers at COMP to gain an insider view at what goes into the making of a camshaft. Among them were VP of Engineering & Business Development Brian Reese, Mechanical Engineering Group Leader Corey Runia, R&D Technician Daniel Freeman, and Valve Train Engineering Associate Brad Brown.

One of the many OKUMA CNC mill/lathe machines used to carve and grind camshafts.

COMP encompasses four production facilities in Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, and Michigan. Within these are both full production facilities for large runs of products, as well as “short-run” facilities for the more custom and time-sensitive orders for race teams and such with a volume of less than 20. The short-run’s utilize ten Akuma CNC machines, three Landis CNC’s, and an estimated 25 manual machines for production of the camshafts. Likewise, the production facilities house fifteen CNC’s. Comp Camps employs upwards of 250 employees, and in all, it only takes roughly ten employees to handle the creation of a from-scratch camshaft design and five for an off-the-shelf piece to see it through from the design phase to the finished product.

Step One to a Camshaft: Design

The engineers at COMP Cams utilize many renowned software packages for various elements of the design process, as well as the company owns proprietary software.

For the creation of a new camshaft design, the process begins with a measurement and the collection of data involving the stock component, followed by strategic planning and engineering strategies in regards to the type of materials to produce the cam from, the design of the core, and the lobes. COMP employs the use of numerous different computer software packages for the design of their camshafts. These include AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Solidworks, Pro/ENGINEER, and some proprietary in-house software among several other software packages for design, modeling, and analysis. One package of interest that the engineering team utilizes is Recurdyne.

“Recurdyne is a pretty neat deal,” explained Mechanical Engineering Group Leader Corey Runia. “We can actually take a CAD model of a part and we can put it in a simulation and actually test and run it live for dynamic analysis, but it takes a big computer and a lot of time.”

Despite the engineering precision that goes into the design of a camshaft from a design standpoint, the skilled team at COMP have got it down a science (literally).

“If it’s an iteration of a Pro Stock cam, it could be drawn in a day, no problem,” added Brian Reese. “If its, say, a new engine application, while something for a newer engine application ca be drawn anywhere from less than a full day to two days depending upon the complexity of the cam core and design.”

Step Two to a Camshaft: Production

Key to a quality camshaft is precision.

Once the computer design is complete, it is then passed along to the manufacturing department, who job is to formulate the game plan for production of the camshaft. This includes the material stock used for its creation.

“We make cams out of practically anything, [any] steel or iron that’s out there,” continued Reese. “There are more or less two categories. There are castings and there’s billet or steel. A vast majority of our cams are made out of 5160, but we have a very good number of cams that are made out of 8620, tool steel, M4 9310, and then the cast flavors.”

COMP maintains an inventory in the tens of millions worth of camshafts.

All of those different materials also add up to a mind-boggling figure of on-hand inventory at COMP. Reese explained, “We have about eight figures worth of raw material inventory in cams. That’s in the tens of millions. Strategically, this company has invested in inventory so that when people order, we can deliver. Without a doubt, we have more inventory than any other camshaft company in the aftermarket. Period. It’s not even close.”

The production phase begins with the print of the camshaft design being plugged into a proprietary program that machines out the tool paths needed to create the camshaft core.

Camshafts are initially carved from a steel bar into an oversized, rough shape that are later ground and polished.

A camshaft begins life as a simple round bar of the selected material. Like any modern facility, everything is computer controlled through the use of seven-axis mills and lathes all combined into one unit and can operate and carve two different parts at the same time. Essentially, it’s an all-in-one unit that can both carve and later grind the cores. The cores are initially carved into what is known as an UGL – or “unground lobe” – camshaft, which in layman’s terms is a basic camshaft core with oversized lobes that haven’t yet been ground into a specific and finished profile.

COMP carves their cores with enough extra material on the lobes that four-to-five different finished designs could be made from it. After the core itself is created, it is then heat-treated and straightened and all of the oversized places are ground down, beginning with the journal areas and face cuts. It is then placed back into the CNC grinder where the lobes are ground into the desired profile as programmed into the machine.

A grinder forms the camshaft core into a finished product with the desired profile.

“When we’ve got a design and a curve that we’ve come up with that we want to use on a certain cam, we actually utilize another of our in-house proprietary systems. When we go to the grinder with it, we actually have a couple different files output that we use, and we basically take the file and create another file that feeds into the grinder and feeds the actual motion of the grinder,” noted R&D Technician Daniel Freeman. “And just to tell you how sensitive that is – we can make changes out to the fifth or sixth decimal place feeding into the grinder and you can see the difference.”

Once ground, the cams go through an extensive quality control process like any manufacturing facility. COMP utilizes CMM’s (Coordinate Measure Machine), hardness testers, and surface gauges that are all electronic and highly accurate measurement tools. “The testing tools are sensitive enough that the temperature of the camshaft will change the measurement. And we measure the cam vertical rather than on its side, because the machines can actually measure the bend in the cam from the gravity,” Reese explained.

The valleys and lobes of the camshaft are polished by hand.

In just a scant 30 minutes, a steel bar can be formed into a complete, roughed-out camshaft. In the production facilities, the larger volume camshafts such as those found in catalogs can be completed within a week. And the volume numbers are quite staggering: COMP can produce, on the low end, 30,000 camshafts in one month at their short-run facility. In all, a camshaft goes through about 20 hands from the design phase the shipping.

Step Three to a Camshaft: Location, Location, Location

Camshafts are separated in bins in the shipping department prior to packaging.

Once complete, the cams are moved to the shipping department where there is a flow that all of the cams go through using COMP’s in-house tracking methods to be packaged along with paperwork and any included items. Cams slated for inventory will then go on the shelf, while those having been ordered will be shipped out. And that’s where another of COMP Cams’ key attributes comes into play.

“We can have FedEx pick up a camshaft and have it out on a plane within 45 minutes to the customer,“ noted Freeman.

So, there you have it. It’s a high-tech, fast paced process that focuses on time, quality, and efficiency. And if while piecing your high performance engine together in your shop, you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I wonder how they made that camshaft?” Now you know.

Few companies know oiling systems as well as Moroso. Founded in 1968 by a successful drag racer by the name of Dick Moroso, the company started as many do, by accident. Noticing Dick’s dominance on the track, other racers came to Dick wanting to buy his custom built parts. When Dick retired from racing, he started selling parts, mostly for Chevy engines, but has since expanded to include just about every major automobile manufacturer, from Ford to Subaru and beyond. Moroso started out just making oil pans, and their deep-sump oil pan designs were among some of the innovative parts that got their name out across the national stage.

But Moroso makes more than just oil pans, and with over 3,000 products spread out across a 300 page catalog, Moroso is one of the most diverse aftermarket parts manufacturers around. They are a company of gearheads and speedfreaks, and many of them have worked at Moroso for a decade or longer, and they even volunteer their own cars to use as testbeds. I was given a chance to tour their manufacturing and distribution center in Guilford, Connecticut. Thor Schroeder, the National Sales and Marketing Manager, took me through the extensive warehouse Moroso calls home.

Research and Development
“Most car manufacturers design the oil pan around the rest of the engine,” Thor says as we stand in the R&D department. “But oil is the lifeblood of an engine. It is the single most important ingredient in a successful race car and can affect everything from engine longevity to horsepower.” Every desk in the development department is cluttered with paperwork and engine parts and every computer screen has a CAD design program on it. “Sometimes it just starts with an idea on a piece of paper before it even makes it to the computer screen,” says Thor. “But we’re always looking to improve and develop our parts further, to stay ahead of the market and respond to the customers.”

To those ends, Moroso is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to designing new products and improving current ones. One example is their computerized distributors, which 95% of NASCAR teams currently use under the hoods of their cars. But because of heat issues under aforementioned hoods, Moroso had to figure out a way to deliver the equivalent performance without the high-tech computer chip wizardry. NASCAR engine builders are a picky bunch, and they want everything and more, but that just pushes Moroso to further enhance and fine-tune their products.

Test, Test, Test
But making a quality car component is about more than just design. The products need to be tested, early and often. That is why Moroso has its own engine dyno…along with eight or nine different engines just sitting around, waiting for a new component to be tested. While I was there they had an LQ9 engine on the dyno, testing an oil pan and electric waterpump among other bits. “We’ve gone through three or four of these,” Thor says, referring to the engine dyno. “They get used a lot.” One of the ways Moroso tests their products is with a see-through oil pan, so they can learned exactly how the oil reacts to different designs.

After listening to the sweet symphony of the LQ9, Thor led me to the warehouse where all the parts get stamped, welded, built, and shipped. This place just kept going and going and going. Moroso has many cutting edge CNC machines on site to handle much of the precise cutting work, but when it comes to welding, it is all done by hand.

There were at least a dozen different welding stations and even more engine blocks to insure proper fitment. Each worker had a specialty, whether it was welding steel or aluminum, though all were equally capable of building any of the various oil pans and other parts on hand. Moroso also works with customers to build custom one-off pieces, though these sometimes end up being produced en masse as other customers seek them out as well. “We’ll work with a customer to find out what fitments and specifications they need,” says Thor. “We get different feedback from different racers, and this helps us actively improve our product line.”

Moroso In Motion
The extensive testing Moroso puts their parts through can be epitomized with the two cars in the back garage tucked behind all the CNC machines. Right now the garage holds a 2008 Mustang and a 2009 Dodge Challenger. These two cars serve as testing beds for many of Moroso’s products. While the Challenger is currently stripped down, the Mustang is all but finished (is any project car ever really finished though?) The list of parts equipped to what Moroso calls the “GTM” Mustang is too extensive to go into detail, but some of the parts include control arms, an exhaust kit, 8-point roll bar, and valve covers. A RoushCharger supercharger system has also been added to beef up the power output. Thor also hinted that a 2010 Camaro should be coming into the garage soon as well.

With so many parts under one roof, you can almost assemble a whole car from Moroso’s parts bin. Well, not quite. But you can find just about anything you might need, and even if you don’t, just ask. They might be able to make it for you anyway. That’s how Moroso got started, and it is how they will keep on going forward.

One car builder’s sticker we continue to see on many of the record breaking Comp and Super Stock cars is B&B Race Cars. A few months ago, we started to do some research on the company and to our surprise we found out that they were located in our old stomping grounds of Middle Tennessee. Over the Christmas holiday we made the short trip west on Highway 412 to visit their shop in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Darren and Anne Breaud own B&B and is located southwest of Nashville in a 15,000 square foot building complete with an in-house paint shop.

B&B got its start in 1999 after Darren, a pipe fitter and welder by trade, decided to open his own chassis shop in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2,500 square foot shop was a busy place building Heads-Up cars for the growing Outlaw classes that raced in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. After building several cars for racers in the Southeast and earning a reputation for on-time delivery at a reasonable price, engine builder and Sportsman racers Alan and Todd Patterson commissioned B&B to build a 2005 Cavalier for NHRA Competition Eliminator.

In competition, the Patterson’s did well with the new Cavalier and gave it great reviews. Oklahoman and Patterson engine customer Robert Freeman was next in line for a B&B built car. Later that year Darren went to the US Nationals in Indianapolis and took 8-race car orders at the event. Since the success with the two original cars, B&B has built over 20 Cavaliers, Cobalts and Pontiac G5s. The cars small yet aerodynamic shape make it the perfect drag car and when combined with a killer engine the combination is consistent and fast. Five of the B&B built cars currently hold Competition Eliminator or Super Stock NHRA national records. Record holders include; Adam Hickey C/SMA, Lee Sharp D/SMA and SS/CM, Arnie Martel I/SMA and James Caro SS/BM. Recently, Justin Jenkins won NHRA’s Division 5 Super Stock title driving a B&B built Cobalt.

Photo Credit: Team Jegs John Coughlin and Team Jegs campaign a B&B built Super Stock Cobalt in the NHRA.

Cars that are built for Competition Eliminator or Super Stock “Modified” class are pretty complex builds. They typically start from a stripped down front wheel drive street car and undergo a rear wheel drive transformation that includes; an extensive chrome-moly roll cage, drag race tubular front k-member, front strut suspension and a four link rear suspension anchoring huge drag slicks. The factory frame rails are kept intact but room must be created for a small block or big block V8 and race transmission where an inline 4 cylinder once resided. In building these cars, Darren has created several welding jigs and build manuals to help speed-up the process.

With the car building business taking off in 2005, B&B was looking for a larger shop somewhere closer to the center of the Southeast. After an intense search for real estate, Anne located a shuttered denim factory in Middle Tennessee for a great price. After striking a deal with the building owner, Darren and Anne packed up the family and equipment and relocated to the shop in Hohenwald with plenty of room for expanding the business.

Anthony Bongiovanni has a Super Stock Cobra Jet in the works to match his Stock Eliminator CJ.

When we visited the shop, two Drag Pack Challengers and a Cobra Jet Mustang build was underway. Die-hard Mopar racer Jeff Teuton has a Drag Pack Challenger in the shop for completion. The ground-up Super Stock Cobra Jet build is for New Jersey racer Anthony Bongiovanni. The Ford racer plans are to race the car in Division 1 and at select National events in 2010. B&B also built at matching Stock Eliminator Cobra Jet that Bongiovanni’s daughter will drive. Directly across from the Cobra Jet was one of the Drag Pack Challengers that was a Christmas surprise from Allen Johnson to his dad Roy Johnson. The in-house B&B paint shop painted both cars with a show quality paint job with design direction and lettering help from Scott Brown Graphics.

When we visited the shop the B&B crew were finishing up Roy Johnson’s Drag Pack Challenger

While the NHRA Sportsman builds have been keeping B&B busy, Heads-Up cars are still a big part of their business. The “house car” that Darren raced in 2008-2009 is an ORSCA Limited Street Pontiac GTO. The car features a 25.2 certified chassis and a big cube small block Chevy running on 3 stages of Nitrous. When time permitted, Darren raced the car at ORSCA events and other Heads-up races in the area. Darren has also competed in several NHRA National and divisional events driving several of the Comp cars he built.

Photo Credit: B&B Race Cars Darren Breaud at the wheel of the B&B Shop Car, a ORSCA Limited Street GTO

With all the late model projects in the shop it was nice to see Paul Soliz’s ORSCA Limited Street Fox Body Mustang on jack stands for some chassis updates. The turbocharged terror runs a lot of heads-up races in the Southeast and was at B&B to get the chassis tuned to help the small 10.5-inch tire keep up with the big power.

Photo Credit: B&B Race Cars Henrik Serrano from Norway gets fitted for his new B&B built Cynergy bodied 68 Camaro.

For the ultimate in Heads-up racing, the B&B Race Cars surface plate was set-up for a future Cynergy Composites Pro Modified Camaro. Last year B&B built a 1968 Cynergy Camaro for Henrik Serrano of Norway. Serrano and crew came over to the states to learn car set-up before shipping back to Norway. Jimmy Cowan also commissioned B&B to build a new Top Sportsman/ADRL car using the new 1970 Camaro Cynergy body. Darren told us that he enjoyed the challenge of building a full tube chassis car and that both Cynergy Camaro bodies were a work-of-art when they arrived. The fit and finish helped complete the cars in record time.

Don Baskin’s 2010 Camaro NMCA Pro Stock Camaro in its early stages, which has since been completed.

For late model Camaro fans, B&B is building one of the first 2010 Camaro’s for NMCA Mean Street Champion Don Baskin. Don plans to race the car in NMCA’s Pro Stock class and this should be one of the first 2010 Camaros in the NMCA next year. Power will come from a Bischoff Racing small block and all eyes will be on this car to see how it performs.

After spending a few hours touring the B&B Race Cars shop with the Breauds we saw that they have their plate full of interesting car builds. From Stock Eliminator to tube chassis Pro Modified Camaros, the team can do it all. The in-house paint shop also helps on the turnaround time for a car build. If our ever in the market for a complete car or chassis update on your current ride, B&B is a one stop shop that does quality work at a fair price.

While some of Detroit’s auto manufacturers may be struggling with how to define the word performance, the independent shops in the area are still cranking out some cool cars. Fortunately for those enthusiasts looking to build their dream car, there are hundreds of shops still in the Detroit area that can tap the resources of GM, Ford and Chrysler and build a monster of a race car or street car. One shop that’s been on our radar for the past few months is Stenod Performance.

Stenod Performance can modify anything on four wheels, from classic muscle cars, corner-carving street cars or 6-second race cars. There ability to build such a wide variety of vehicles makes them rather unique in the Detroit area. Joe Borschke is the owner of the Troy Michigan based performance shop and we recently stopped by to see what they were working on during the winter off-season.

Tom Kempf’s white Formula Firebird

With the current popularity of power adders, Stenod has learned the ins and outs of custom turbo kits and tuning. From small to large turbos and single or twin turbo set-ups, Stenod can customize a turbo kit to meet a performance enthusiast’s quest for more horsepower. Anyone that knows turbocharging knows that engine tuning is key to performance and longevity. Stenod also has an in-house chassis dyno to tune any new modification or prove out a new combination.

Front and center in the Stenod shop is a line of fourth generation F-bodies that by race season will be ready for some serious action down the quarter mile. Tom Kempf’s white Formula Firebird is being prepared by Joe and crew to challenge some of the heavy hitters in the popular Outlaw Drag Radial class. Sub-seven second drag radial racers like Paul Major and Dave Hance have set the performance standards high but that’s what pushes a racer like Tom to build a better weapon. The project is a ground-up build with plans to debut the car in the spring of 2010. Milan Dragway and Norwalk are considered Toms’ home tracks but the team plans to travel to several of the big drag radial events next year and battle the best from the North and South.

Tom has been racing F-bodies for years, starting with nitrous and moving to a turbo combination with the help of Joe who also serves as crew-chief for the car on race weekends. The turbo set-up worked well on his Red Rocket Camaro and he won the GM LSX shootout in 2007 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Earlier this year, Kempf sold his proven Camaro to a heads-up racer in Australia to help fund his current drag radial project with Stenod. The Pontiac will feature the typical Drag Radial set-up with stock frame rails and “stock” suspension points. Stenod has done its homework on this build to make sure the driveline angle and front and rear suspension geometry is optimized to put down the horsepower at the small Mickey Thompson DOT radial tire. Also included is a complete 25.2 cage for rigidity and safety considering the Formula should run over 200 mph. Weight was also addressed in the new car with carbon fiber wheel tubs and other lightweight parts that will allow the team to move weight in the car to fit the track conditions.

Power will come from a tall deck GM Performance Parts 467 cubic inch LSX engine built by Billy Briggs Performance. Billy Briggs Performance is a Southeast Michigan based engine builder and has been responsible for building some of the fastest LS engines in the country. Briggs made a name for himself at Wheel-to-Wheel Performance and started his own shop in 2008. The engine will have the best parts from Diamond Pistons, Callies and Jesel to follow the build check out Billy Briggs Performance website. Additional power will come from a single 114mm Precision Turbo unit forcing air into an LSXR aluminum intake. Eight Moran Racing injectors powered by a Kinsler Fuel pump will be distributing the fuel to the cylinders. Putting all that power to the Ford 9-inch rearend is a Carl Rossler built Turbo Glide.

The engine is expected to make over 2,000 horsepower and the car should crack the six second zone in the right conditions

For those that are looking for a more streetable combination, Stenod has an LS powered Pontiac Solstice in the works for 2010. Joe plans on making this a conversion package offered by Stenod and any Solstice owner could select a mild to wild V8 package. Conversion Pricing is still being finalized but Stenod is looking at a starting price for the base conversion, a stock LS2 and a six-speed transmission, for around $30,000-35,000. The monster Silver Solstice we saw starts at $70,000 and includes the LS7, HRE wheels, Brembo brakes, CTS-V rear end and more.

We had the opportunity to see the first monster edition Solstice powered by a Corvette Z06 LS7. Stenod built the car for a Canadian customer and has been fine-tuning the car before it’s delivered in the spring. The LS7 engine and dry sump installation and packaging looked OEM quality, a build philosophy that Joe strives for. To keep up with the new powerplant, Stenod sourced a Cadillac CTS-V transmission and rear end to endure the additional torque. The Stenod Solstice also has six-piston Brembo front brakes and an adjustable K&W coil over suspension. The car was finished off with HRE 3 piece wheels and Nitto Invo 275/30/19 ultra high performance tires. Body modifications include a Ferrari F430’esque fascia and vented front fender manufactured by Norms Fiberglass components.

Joe was kind enough to move the Solstice to the center of the garage for some photos and when he started up the 625 horsepower V8 it roared to life and will defiantly turn some heads when it hits the streets. That trademark V8 engine sound in a small car brought back memories of some of the big block Shelby Cobras we have encountered in the past.

Already impressed by the Solstice build, Joe told us that Stenod had a number of 2010 Camaro SS owners already lining up for turbo or supercharger upgrades. With the shops vast experience with LS engines and forced induction they have some cool projects in the works for the fifth generation car. A blue 2010 was in the shop ready for a Pro Charger centrifugal supercharger and tuning. As with the fourth generation cars we anticipate Stenod to have some fast new Camaros hitting the strip and street.

Fast forward 18 years and Mike Moran has come a long way from his original one-car dirt floor garage. Today, he builds some of the most exotic turbocharged race engines in the world and is known as a top EFI and turbo tuning expert. In addition to his mechanical expertise, Moran raced behind the wheel of a 2500+ horsepower car, a 1999 Pro Modified Monte Carlo that was the first turbocharged Pro Mod to qualify at a NHRA National event, and the first to run in the 5 second zone with a 5.973 at 250.41 MPH. Dragzine.com recently paid a visit to Moran’s Taylor, Michigan shop to see what he was up to.

Though Moran is known today for his EFI expertise, it wasn’t always that way. “My good friend [BigStuff3 creator] John Meaney was the one that really got me into fuel injection,” said Moran. “We first ran it on the Pinto and I never worked on a carburetor again for my combination.” After pushing the limits of the Pinto, Moran began working on a 1994 Camaro that would set the standard for Pro Street cars for years. The Jerry Haas-built Camaro was nicknamed ‘Casper’ after its ghost-white paint and started out with 632ci big-block that ran 7.90s on motor alone. To remain competitive with the Pro Street field, Moran added nitrous in 1996 and consistently made runs in the low 7-second zone. Moran continued to refine his fuel injection and nitrous combination, and by the summer of 1996 he dipped into the 6’s. Behind the wheel of that Camaro, Moran was the first Pro Street driver to exceed 200 mph, with a 6.96 ET at 201 mph during an exhibition pass at the 1996 NHRA U.S. Nationals.

Moran still has the "Casper" Camaro in storage, with the front ends still at risk of an errant free throw in the rafters at his shop.

In 1999 Moran made the switch to turbochargers for competitive and cost control reasons. Turbocharged engines were proving to require less maintenance than nitrous and the performance potential was largely untapped. Moran consulted with his buddy John Meany, who was campaigning a turbocharged Dodge Avenger in NHRA’s Comp Eliminator division at the time. The two settled on a rather exotic engine build to push the limits of turbo technology at the time.

Mike Moran still owns his Buick Grand National, the car that originally honed his turbo tuning skills before Casper made the switch from nitrous.

Moran debuted a quad-turbocharged 442ci big-block in the Casper Camaro and went testing prior to the start of the NMCA season. The engine topped 2,200 horsepower on the dyno and Moran struggled to get all the power to the track at the first event. It only took one race for NMCA officials to ban the four turbo set-up in competition. Having the combination immediately banned was aggravating for Moran, and he wound up selling the engine and retiring the car in order to concentrate on building a full Pro Mod machine.

During our visit the Buick V6 was out of the car for a exhaust upgrade. Lead fabricator Whitey is at work with the welder.

In 2003, Moran debuted a 1999 Monte Carlo-bodied IHRA Pro Stock chassis built by Larson Race Cars, and in October of that same year he set an unofficial door car world record at 233.08 MPH. After a year of tuning on the new car, Moran again made history at Virginia Motorsports Park with a 239 MPH pass during an exhibition run. The run helped reinforce Moran’s claim to the title of world’s fastest mile-per-hour doorslammer. Unfortunately, the NMCA stepped in once again and outlawed the big block twin-turbo combination.

After selling his proven ’99 Monte Carlo late last year, Moran made plans to build a new car and engine for 2010. Currently, he is still talking to Ford and GM about potential programs. The engine will again be a twin turbocharged big block but Moran plans on taking the block and cylinder head development in-house. “I have a partner here in the area with complete CNC capabilities, so this engine will be done for me and a few of my customers,” said Moran. Moran is working with Weston Machine and Dan Jesel on the new block design and hopes to start building the motor and car in a few months.

Moran's unique PowerTip5 injectors have an adjustable flow rate and can be ordered with max output ranging from 150 to 600 pounds per hour.

In addition to building racing engines, Moran Motorsports has developed a line of high performance fuel injectors, which Moran says are the first developed specifically for race applications. The adjustable PowerTip5 injectors were designed by Moran to meet the appetite of his big block twin turbo engine. Moran has been running his own fuel injector design for over 10 years and in 2008 he started selling the rebuildable units to other racers. The injectors come in 150 to 600 pounds-per-hour flow ratings and are used by heads-up heavy hitters like Tim Lynch, Coby Rabon, Spiro Pappas and Dan Millen.

Moran has built a one-of-one "fuel injector dynomometer" to push the edge in fuel injection design and technology.

When we stopped by for a visit, Moran was fine-tuning his cutting edge Fuel Injector Dyno. While it might resemble an oversized flow bench, Moran has built it to push the edge in fuel injection design and technology. The dyno features an engine control unit that allows Moran’s customers to send him run logs that can be reproduced on the injector dyno. Fuel pressure on the dyno is not a problem as it features a Waterman racing fuel pump with plenty of power and flow capacity.

Rod Saboury's show quality 1963 Corvette was in the shop for some off-season updates.

One car that was in the Moran shop for some updates was Rod Saboury’s street-driven 1963 Corvette. Like Moran, Rod was one of the original Fastest Street Car participants and has been working with Moran Motorsports for years on this twin turbo combination. Moran told us that Saboury’s Corvette is at home cruising the street as it is on the track. The car reminded us of Moran’s other street/strip hitter, Larry Larson’s 2009 Drag Week-winning Nova.

This black Outlaw style Ford Mustang features a Moran Racing Engines SBF running twins.

Sitting next to the show-quality Corvette was an evil looking blacked out 2004 Mustang with a twin turbocharged small block Ford. Moran built the engine and was working on beefing up the transmission the day we stopped by.

This C5 Z06 Corvette is the future home of a turbocharged MRE LS7 engine.

Moran also works on some serious street cars for customers that want anything from a mild to wild engine build. The bright red Corvette ZR1 in the shop during our visit had a LS7-based engine topped with one of the trickest EFI manifolds we’ve ever seen, being built for cruising around the Detroit area. With a customer base ranging from the baddest-of-the-bad in doorslammer racing to some amazing daily drivers, Moran’s shop is always filled with interesting cars in all stages of completion. Top that off with the innovations pioneered in EFI hardware and tuning plus an ongoing successful race program and you can see that Mike Moran has been a busy guy. If history is any indication, that’s not going to change any time soon.

The rest as they say is history. His little shop in Midway, CA soon grew to a 48,000 square-foot operation in Prescott, AZ. Now almost 20 years later, Centerforce is still on the cutting edge of clutch design. They back that statement up with the fact that they have 9 separate U.S. patents for their products which translates to over 1,700 different clutch and pressure plate applications for automotive applications. Many of those are for popular late model American cars such as the Chevy Camaro, Ford Mustang, and Dodge Challenger.