Tech Center

NASCAR drivers work under extreme conditions – making split-second decisions while traveling at speeds nearing 200 mph and precariously looking to move ahead when the next car is mere feet away. The safety, integrity and performance of the car are crucial to the driver and his team. These factors were also front and center with NASCAR when in January 2006 it announced the launch of a universal car design tagged the “Car of Tomorrow” (COT) for its Sprint Cup Series.

Sparked in large part by Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal, final-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR set out to create a universal design that would improve safety features, provide for more cost-effective maintenance and level the playing field between fiercely competitive teams. The COT design standardizes a number of components, ranging from sections of the frame to crumple zones, across all manufacturers and race teams.
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Lincoln Electric’s popular POWER MIG^® wire welder line, a long-time favorite of professional small shop welders, now includes the POWER MIG 180 Dual model. With single phase 60 Hz dual 120- and 208/230-volt input power capability, this same machine can be used to weld at home, in the shop or out on the job site. Handling both MIG (GMAW) and flux-cored gas-shielded (FCAW-G) or self-shielded (FCAW-S) processes, the POWER MIG 180 Dual is designed for sheet metal welding, light-frame autobody work and farm and small shop applications.

The 68 lb. (31 kg) machine features dual input power capability, allowing users to select 120-volt input power for home and generator-driven environments or 208/230-volt input power for shop applications on thicker materials.
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Recent changes in oil and engine technology are likely the cause of premature camshaft failure; here’s how you can protect your engine!

Premature flat tappet camshaft failure has been on the rise recently and not just with one brand or type of camshaft. In almost every case, the hardness or taper of the cam lobe is suspected, yet most of the time that is not the problem. This growing trend is due to factors that are completely unrelated to camshaft manufacture or quality control. Changes in today’s oil products and “advancements” in internal engine configurations have contributed to a harsher environment for the camshaft and a potential for failure during break-in. But there are several things you can do to curtail this discouraging trend.

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Torque converters are the component that made the modern automatic transmission possible, transferring power from the engine to the rest of the drivetrain without the use of a clutch. Even though we’ve all used them, few of us understand what’s actually going on inside or how they’re built. To answer those questions, we talked to TCI®, one of the country’s most popular manufacturers of performance converters, and they were gracious enough to walk us through how converters are made, and how they do their job.

Before we spoke with the professionals, we did some research of our own. We discovered that although boat-loads of research and design have been dumped into the torque converter since its creation, it originally began as an option in luxury daily drivers in the late 1940s.
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With so many choices of welding machines on the market today, how does a novice welding operator choose what he or she needs? There are a couple of key questions that can guide you through the process and narrow down your selection to make the choice a little easier.

Ask yourself the following:

1. Which arc welding process best suits my needs?
Beginners will usually turn to either a wire feed or stick welding process, but which is the best one for your particular application? Wire feed welding (also referred to as wire welding) offers a number of benefits. First, it provides higher productivity efficiencies over stick since the wire is fed in a continuous process and you don't have to constantly change stick electrode rods as you are welding. Second, wire welding has a lower skill level requirement and can be picked up more readily. With stick, you have to coordinate your hand movements for feeding the electrode rod into the weld puddle, while with wire you just press the trigger and weld. Although there may be some applications where stick might be a better selection, most beginners should look toward wire welding when making their first welding machine purchase.

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Time-Tested Classic AC-225 Stick Welder Turns 50 Years Old. The extremely popular AC-225 stick welder from Lincoln Electric celebrates a half century in production. This familiar ‘tombstone’ shaped AC stick welder, affectionately known as a ‘buzzbox’ or ‘crackerbox’ throughout the welding industry and farm, small shop and DIY marketplace, was first produced on May 12, 1961, at Lincoln Electric’s factory in Cleveland, OH.

The compact rectifier-based welder produces an extremely smooth AC arc for welding on a variety of materials, including carbon, low alloy and stainless steels as well as cast iron. The 40-225 amp range allows the operator to handle up to 3/16 in. (4.8 mm) carbon steel electrodes and up to 5/32 in. (4.0 mm) electrode diameters for other materials.

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Driving a classic car out on the road is stressful enough these days without having to live with the fear that at any moment some idiot is going to smack into the back of your pride and joy. Thankfully, some cars will stop automatically, but the rest of the tailgaters who multitask while they drive are still a serious threat. Trust us, there are few things worse than watching in your rearview as some jackhole locks up his brakes, while you grip the steering wheel and go to maximum pucker point as they ram into your car.

What are you supposed to do to prevent this horrible situation? One way to get their attention is to convert our incandescent bulbs to brighter, faster and more efficient LEDs. Let's face it: Just about every new car sold today has bright LED tail lights and the '50s brake light technology just doesn't hold a candle to them.
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Our beloved classic pickups have a lot of neat attributes but a rattling tailgate and those ugly, noisy tailgate chains sure ain't one of 'em. So what do ya you do: live with it, or find a way around that classic design? One great option is to get your hands on a rotary-style latch and link kit from Mar-K and convert your tailgate into a smooth operating, secure chainless version. Mar-K's kit comes with everything you need including step-by-step installation instructions.

These kits work on '53-72 Ford short Flaresides. They also have kits designed for use on '76-87 short Flaresides and '53-87 long Flaresides as well. Unlike many other latches on the market, these are rotary-style latches like the newer-model pickups use to open and close the tailgate. So, if you're tired of rattling tailgates and the paint chips associated with those old swinging chains, take a look at just what the Mar-K kit consists of and what kind of chore the installation is.
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For nearly 100 years, a carburetor has been at the heart of almost all internal combustion engines. Only in the last 20 years or so have car makers used electronic fuel injection exclusively on gasoline engines. There have been examples of mechanical fuel injection for automotive applications in the past, and of course diesel engines use fuel injection. However, the classic Ford cars we love were all carburetor-equipped, from the 170-cubic inch six-cylinder with a one-barrel Autolite carb to an R-code 427 with eight barrels of Holley induction in the form of dual-quads.
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