Tech-Index

Bearing Clearance and Oil Viscosity Explained

K1 - Blog The relationship between bearing clearance and oil viscosity is a delicate balance. Read on for more information ...

Making A 1,500-Plus Horsepower Honda B18 Engine Live

By MICAH WRIGHT DECEMBER 15, 2023 This is the story of opportune meetings, overcoming odds, and unrelenting levels of girl power. It ...

Turbo Failure And How The Correct Oil And Good Maintenance Can Help

By RANDY BOLIG JULY 21, 2023 It is no secret that dirty oil can really do serious damage to your engine. Left ...

Go With the Flow: Moroso Explains How Temps Tamper With Oil Movement

By MICAH WRIGHT JUNE 13, 2023 Everyone worries about oil pressure and engine temps, because that’s what most engine read-outs register. May those readings ...

Forged vs Billet: Callies Explains Crankshaft Choices

By TODD SILVEY APRIL 24, 2023 When we began our conversation with Brook Piper at Callies Performance Products, our conversation humorously compared crankshafts ...

Identifying Unknown Pistons And Rods On The Fly

By GREG ACOSTA APRIL 28, 2023 When it comes to this hobby, not everyone has a spare pile of cash for parts ...

The Advantages Of Running Thinner Piston Rings

By TODD SILVEY MAY 05, 2023 The quest for more engine efficiency has auto manufacturers adopting thinner rings for greater efficiency when ...

Seal The Deal: Total Seal’s Gas-Ported Piston Rings Seal Everything

By SCOTT PARKHURST APRIL 20, 2023 Research has proven how critical piston rings are to internal combustion engines. The rings are the ...

Why You Need A Fuel Pump Voltage Booster

By BRIAN WAGNER MARCH 21, 2023 You can buy a car off the showroom floor from General Motors, Ford, and Dodge that ...

Top Ring Gap Theories Explained By Wiseco Pistons

By TODD SILVEY JANUARY 30, 2023 The ring gap topic is critical to engine performance and longevity. Nickolaus DiBlasi, global ...

Turbo Failure. Here’s A few Tips To Prevent One

By GARY MASCHNER JANUARY 01, 2023 Idoubt many people have given much thought as to how and when the turbocharger was born ...

Oil On The Spark Plug Threads

What I Learned Today With Jeff Smith — Over the years, we’ve seen many street engines with a significant amount ...

Do You Know Which Antifreeze Is Best For Your Engine?

By TODD SILVEY NOVEMBER 01, 2022 When was the last time you thought about the cooling system in your classic car, diesel ...

Fuelab Offers Microscopic Fuel Filtration With Big Flow Capabilities

By TODD SILVEY AUGUST 17, 2022 Fuel filters for high-performance or all-out racing have a greater duty than many consider. We’ve seen ...

Discussing Piston Rings And Cylinder Honing

By ANDY BOLIG AUGUST 19, 2022 When considering parts for an upcoming engine build, I’m reminded of a conversation I overheard many ...

ARP Fasteners Explains Metallurgy Basics For Performance Enthusiasts

By TODD SILVEY JULY 01, 2022 The Automotive Racing Products (ARP) staff are pretty darn “geeky” when it comes to the science of working  ...

Race Gas Concentrate Aims To Match Race Fuel Performance From A Can

By BRENDAN BAKER JUNE 30, 2022 In the late ’90s, Dan Muldowney was racing at a track where he bought 110-octane fuel ...

How An Aftermarket Harmonic Balancer Helps At High RPM Levels

By BRIAN WAGNER JUNE 06, 2022 Torsional vibration, more commonly referred to as engine harmonics, is a force that must be dealt ...

Deciding Which Electric Fan Your Ride Really Needs

By RANDY BOLIG APRIL 19, 2022 Now that winter is making a departure, it’s time to place our classic rides back to ...

How To Preserve Your Stored Race Fuel All Year Long

By TODD SILVEY MARCH 29, 2022 Over the years, some magical “pixies” have been developed or improved upon within a gallon of ...

Combat Ethanol-Based Fuel Issues

By RANDY BOLIG MARCH 09, 2022 One of the more serious concerns that enthusiasts have when asking questions about their classics is ...

Why You Should Run Nitrous On A Boosted Engine

Boost-N-Juice By BRIAN HAVINS JANUARY 21, 2021 For years nitrous, supercharger, and turbo companies have pushed enthusiasts to use one or the ...

Nitrous Oxide 101

By BOB MCDONALD AUGUST 26, 2021 Why is it that when people hear the term “Nitrous”, they automatically assume that there is ...

Piston Coatings: When You Should And Shouldn’t Use Them

By BOB MCDONALD DECEMBER 06, 2021 Piston coatings have become so common with OEM and aftermarket manufacturers that it seems as though ...

ARP Bolt Talk: What Is Torque Spec And Why Fastener Torque Matters

By BOBBY KIMBROUGH NOVEMBER 05, 2021 For years ARP has explained bolts as being like little springs. Sounds a little weird, but for a ...

The Dilemma Of Ethanol Fuels

By JAMES ELKINS OCTOBER 31, 2021 E85 is a wonder drug for people looking to optimize the performance of their vehicle without ...

Connecting Rod Shapes…And Some New Designs

By BILL HOLLAND SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 Editors Note: The following editorial was supplied by Race Winning Brands and its family of connecting ...

Talking Stainless Steel Valves – Material Is Everything

By TODD SILVEY JUNE 16, 2021 Arguably the most significant factor in a high-performance or all-out racing engine is its ability to ...

What All Those Bolt Alloys And Numbers Mean

By JEFF SMITH MAY 18, 2021 The world of high-performance engines is heating up. Average horsepower and engine RPM are on the ...

Understanding How Brushless Fuel Pumps Work

By BRIAN WAGNER MAY 06, 2021 The fuel system of a racecar is the gatekeeper to how much power it can make ...

Coated Pistons: Measuring Advice From JE Pistons

Coated Pistons: Measuring Advice From JE Pistons By TODD SILVEY APRIL 16, 2021 Coating technology for engine internals is becoming more commonplace ...

Explaining How Piston Rings Can Affect Engine Temperature

By GREG ACOSTA APRIL 01, 2021 When it comes to diving into dyno testing headfirst, one of the first people ...

Hidden Horsepower: Revealing The Secrets Of The Oil Control Rings

By JEFF SMITH MARCH 18, 2021 “Run a dingle-ball hone through it, throw in a new set of rings — and you’re ...

Checking Engine Bearing Clearances Without Breaking The Bank

By TODD SILVEY MARCH 14, 2021 When building or performing maintenance on the engine in your hot rod, checking your engine’s bearing ...

What CFM Ratings Mean To You With SPAL Cooling Fans

By BOBBY KIMBROUGH MARCH 10, 2021 When shopping for new automotive components, it never fails that we are bombarded with tricky sounding ...

Boost-N-Juice: Why You Should Run Nitrous On A Boosted Engine

By BRIAN HAVINS JANUARY 21, 2021 For years nitrous, supercharger, and turbo companies have pushed enthusiasts to use one or the other ...

What Is Windage In An Engine And How Do We Fight It?

By GREG ACOSTA JANUARY 05, 2021 When planning an engine build, one term that often pops up when discussing the bottom half ...

Why You Need A Stretch Gauge For Engine Assembly

By BRIAN WAGNER SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 Assembling the bottom end of an engine requires plenty of precision, and if you neglect any ...

Supplemental Oil Pressure Can Save Your Engine

By GREG ACOSTA JULY 28, 2020 There is no denying, oil is the lifeblood of every engine. Whether it’s a tiny little ...

What’s So Wrong With Nitrous?

Nitrous Oxide is a POWERFUL Oxidizer Nitrous, or Nitrous Oxide is a power adder that provides incredible "Bang for the ...

How to Compare Weight Savings to Horsepower Gains

How to Compare Weight Savings to Horsepower Gains Have you ever wondered what 10 or 20 extra horsepower might "feel" ...

Keep Your Engine Alive: The Importance of Oil Temperature

One of the things you will find if you have a oil pressure or temperature gauge is that regardless of ...

Low Temp Thermostats: What’s the Advantage?

This week we're talking about low temperature thermostats, another item that nearly every tuning house sells and yet fail to really ...

Beating the Heat: Advantage of a High Pressure Radiator Cap

Spoon, Mugen, TRD, and about two dozen other 'big name' companies all sell these "High Pressure" radiator caps. However, if ...

I-Beam and H-Beam Connecting Rods Explained

By BRIAN WAGNER MAY 11, 2020 Connecting rods are probably one of the easiest parts to understand in an engine — they ...

The Basics of Protective Driver’s Gear

By Chris Berg March 03, 2020 In high-performance driving, safety should be at the center of every decision made and ...

Lucas Oil Safeguard Ethanol Fuel Conditioner

Lucas Oil Releases Safeguard Ethanol Fuel Conditioner By Chris McWilliams February 03, 2020 New from Lucas Oil – their Safeguard ...

Bore Vs. Stroke — Which One Is Worth More Power?

By Greg Acosta January 10, 2020 One of the basic tenants of hot-rodding is finding ways to add more power ...

The Art And Science Of Cylinder Honing

By Jeff Smith January 14, 2020 The whole idea behind building an engine is to capture as much air and ...

Five Things You Need To Know About Aluminum Connecting Rods

By Brian Wagner December 11, 2019 When you’re building an engine for a project there are limitless possibilities of parts ...

10 Myths Of Cylinder Head Porting

­ By Dave Localio Tech November 12, 2018 About the Author: Dave Localio is a long-time friend of ours and ...

Stroker Science: Piston Speed, Rod Angle, and Increased Displacement Explained.

August 20, 2018 / by Mike Magda Share An intense look at crankshaft stroke and its affect on mean piston ...

How To Tell If Your Pistons Are Still Good

October 16, 2018 / by Jeff Smith Gamblers are a different breed. There’s a point where they seem to know ...

Gasket Science: Can You Reuse An MLS Head Gasket?

By Brian Wagner July 09, 2019 There are numerous fables in the high-performance world on what you can or can’t ...

Misunderstood Causes of Detonation in High Performance Applications

By Jennifer Szabo June 20, 2019 In the engine tuning world, detonation is defined as one of the following: combustion ...

How A Gas-Ported Top Piston Ring Can Help Engine Performance

By Brian Wagner June 13, 2019 Looking for ways to generate horsepower during an engine build goes beyond displacement and ...

Quench: Unlocking Performance Squished Between the Piston and Head

By Eric Labore June 06, 2019 When you are building an engine, and you are trying to get the most ...

Wideband Realities: The Truth About Oxygen Sensors’ Limitations

By Jeff Smith June 11, 2019 This is not a story on trashing oxygen (O2) sensors even though the title ...

Do You Really Know What A Blow-Off Valve Does?

By Greg Acosta  When it comes to forced induction, even the most peripheral turbocharger enthusiast is familiar with the component ...

The 5 Do’s And Don’ts Of Wiring A Racecar

By Josh Kirsh February 03, 2015 <img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-914832" src="https://www.speednik.com/files/2015/01/wiring-story-lead-art-640x249.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="249" />Wiring in any form is more ...

Clearing Up Myths About E85 And Ethanol: 16 Things You Need To Know

By Jeff Smith March 16, 2018 Over the years we’ve seen all sorts of misinformation floating around the web on ...

The Differences Between Air-To-Air And Air-To-Water Intercoolers

By Greg Acosta September 21, 2018 It’s the age old debate of which is better, air or water? Both are ...

Header Wrap: What You Should Know About Wrapping Pipes

By Michael Harding March 06, 2019 Late-night pitchman Ron Popeil coined the phrase “set it, and forget it” when he was ...

Answers On The Second Ring: The Science Of The Second Piston Ring

By Paul Huizenga March 12, 2019 Since the invention of the metal piston ring at the start of the industrial ...

Five Pro Tips For Effective Brake Bleeding For Reliable Track Use

By Rob Krider March 15, 2019 One of the first and certain most necessary upgrades to any car, truck, or ...

Exhaust Gas Temps, Turbos, Turbo Shields and Making Power

Posted: February 19, 2019 | Categories: Tech | Author: Patrick Hill ABOVE: An unshielded turbo means you’re leaving a lot ...

Boost vs. Compression: Benefits of High Boost Levels and High Compression Ratios

Education Boost vs. Compression: Benefits of High Boost Levels and High Compression Ratios DSPORT ISSUE# 125 0 Comments One-thousand horsepower, ...

Fwd: The Secret Life of Bearings: A Test Of Bearing And Oil Wear Rates

By Jeff Smith February 14, 2019 It can be a very tortuous existence for engine bearings. Think about it. Bearings ...

MLS Head Gaskets – Engine Sealing Do’s And Dont’s

By Casey Putsch February 11, 2019 Any business owner or life-long gearhead that personally does the majority of their own ...

SPAL Electric Fans: Keeping Things Cool With Different Blade Types

By Paul Johnson December 30, 2018 A wisely chosen electric fan supplies vital airflow to ensure top performance and maintain ...

Dispelling Engine Break-In Myths With High Performance Academy

By Greg Acosta August 17, 2018 Anyone who has been around high-performance engines knows the term “break-in”. In fact, it’s ...

How to Estimate Your Engine’s Required Fuel Flow

Posted by Jeff Behuniak on Sep 1, 2017 12:49:51 PM We are occasionally asked, what fuel flow do I need ...

Racing Helmets – Brain Bucket: What You Need To Know

By Rob Krider July 13, 2018 When you hold the keys to an automobile, you also hold the keys to ...

Supporting Your Cylinders – Open, Semi-Closed, Or Closed Deck?

By Kyle Kitchen July 14, 2016 You’ve more than likely heard the terms open deck, semi-closed deck (semi-open), and closed ...

Blueprint Series: Measuring and Setting Bearing Clearances

By Jeff Smith July 13, 2018 If we had to choose one operation that epitomizes the process of engine blueprinting ...

Harmonic Damper: A Key Source for Lost Horsepower

Harmonic Damper: A Key Source for Lost Horsepower By Joe Palmer August 17, 2017 We are all guilty of installing ...

How To Choose The Right Turbo

By Jeff Smith June 26, 2018 You don’t need us to tell you that turbochargers are hot. The word on ...

Friction Science: Choosing The Right Clutch

By Randy Bolig October 30, 2015 Let’s create a scenario that could cause any car enthusiast to break out in ...

Performance Engine Break-In the Right Way

High oil consumption, excessive smoke through the exhaust, high blow-by, lower than expected power output and increased oil contamination are ...

Bearing Clearances

Larry Carley,author Is it better to build an engine with tighter bearing clearances and run it on low viscosity synthetic ...

Oil Filter Shootout With Results

golgo13 Thread Starter iTrader: () Join Date: May 2007 Location: @ a track near you Posts: 3,599 Thanks: 15 Thanked ...

The Big Fuel Test: E85 Versus All—The Winner is Crowned!

By Bob Morreale April 03, 2018 This article is the fifth and last of our Big Fuel Test series (Article ...

Engine Builders Are Moving To Thinner Rings—And Here’s Why

By Jeff Smith April 09, 2018 The classic Hollywood line is you can’t be too rich or too thin. While ...

Piston-To-Wall Clearance: Myths, Mysteries, and Misconceptions Explained

by John Baechtel Piston-to-wall clearance is a crucial measurement for any engine, and different applications can require wildly different specs ...

The importance of having the proper safety gear

Like many other sports, there is safety equipment that is necessary for protection of the participants in racing. Look at ...

High Performance Engine Bearings

Larry Carley,AUTHOR Good main bore alignment and geometry is just as important as the type of bearings used and oil ...

Debunking Aluminum Rod Myths

By Andrew Wolf For as long as connecting rod manufacturers the world over have been using blends of aluminum to ...

Why Bosch LSU wide-band sensors fail so often in aftermarket performance applications

Why Bosch LSU wide-band air/fuel ratio (or Lambda) sensors fail so often in aftermarket performance applications Bosch is the world’s ...

What is E85?

What is E85? E85 is a fuel that is starting to be sold more and more at stations across the ...

Head Bolts vs. Head Studs

When evaluating the various benefits of studs and bolts, it is helpful to keep a number of considerations in mind ...

Fuel System Filtration

Fuel System Filtration by Paul Yaw @ Injector Dynamics Just like an oil filter protects your engine from harmful particles ...

Horsepower vs. Torque: The age old debate

THE BASICS So to start with I naturally consulted Google. Most of the top hits for “torque vs. horsepower” are excellent ...

1:1 Boost Referenced Fuel Pressure Regulators – Why are they important?

In earlier articles we discussed how bypass style, and blocking style fuel pressure regulators work. This is a great article ...

Everything you need know about about Fuel Pressure Regulators

Accurate and consistent fuel pressure is critical for maximum and consistent high performance. Therefore accurate adjustment of fuel pressure is ...