Nothing kills a man’s ego and pride quite like the sound of a starter struggling to turn over his expensive new high-compression, big-cube engine in the cruise night parking lot. Worse yet is a round lost at the dragstrip when the motor just won’t fire. Hot starts and modified engines put added stress on the starter, and stock units just aren’t up to the task. Fortunately, TCI is there to help with starters able to keep up with any muscle car enthusiast’s high horsepower demands.

TCI Automotive started building torque converters in 1968 in Memphis,Tennessee with two goals in mind: performance and reliability. In the mid ‘70s, TCI expanded their business and began building complete racing transmissions. The company expanded once again in the ‘80s and ‘90s to add flex plates and starters to their product line. The latest advances in their starter technology are permanent magnet motors that are lighter and more compact than standard field coil models, making them perfect for performance and racing applications.

TCI Permanent Magnet Starters

TCI has many different starter types available for various applications. For tow rig and street applications, their high-torque starters are remanufactured OEM units with four full field windings that provide 20% more torque than stock, and high temperature solenoids designed to resist heat soak from exhaust headers. TCI’s racing starter line is composed of all-new (not rebuilt) units, with the standard version’s field coil motor developing 1.9 horsepower, and the “extreme” starter cranking out 3.0 horsepower, making it capable of spinning engines running 11.5 to 1 compression or even higher. The Permanent Magnet Racing Starter we’ll be showing you today uses a more compact electric motor that, thanks to its permanent magnet design, develops more torque per amp than a conventional field coil motor. In particular, we’ll examine one specific application for GM engines – the LS series.

GM LS Engines

Both Gen III and Gen IV GM LS engines have become popular starting blocks for engine builds, with many big power upgrades available for street/strip applications. In our case, we installed the TCI LS Series starter in our ‘71 Nova that we equipped with an LS3. The aftermarket oil pan and headers that we installed put clearance at a premium, and combined with the desire for a starter that could handle anything we threw at it, we felt that the TCI Permanent Magnet Racing Starter was definitely called for.

TCI's Permanent Magnet Racing Starter offers big torque in a small package.

TCI’s LS Starter: A Closer Look

A quality starter begins with quality components. “TCI’s starter is based on a Hitachi starter with different components added,” says Scott Miller of TCI Automotive. A 6 to 1 gear reduction drive multiplies the high-speed motor’s torque, and a 12-position mount lets you “clock” the solenoid to provide the maximum clearance. TCI says their starter can work on engines with a compression of 12:1, while stock-style starters begin to check out once you exceed 9:1. “You can use this starter with a higher compression set up; it just puts more load on it which will decrease the life of the starter,” Miller explains.

TCI's billet starter mount offers 12 different mounting positions to allow the solenoid to go where the headers and oil pan aren't.

The big advantages of the permanent magnet design are reduced weight and low amperage draw. The LS starter tips the scales at only 7.5 pounds, approximately 50% lighter than stock. “You can hold it in one hand and get the bolts started with other hand,” Miller pointed out. The difference in weight means the starter is a lot easier to install, and it helps take weight off the nose of the car.

Because permanent magnet starters have no field coils, they draw a little bit less power than an equivalent conventional starter. Per Miller, “The difference is about 2 or 3 amps.” Every little bit available to the ignition helps, especially when running a total-loss electrical system.

TCI perfects their products by putting them through rigorous tests to make sure you get the quality you expect. “Before being shipped out, every starter is put on the dyno to get precise functionality tested,” explained Miller. “We also make sure the solenoid is not drawing too many amps and that the pinion gear is spinning correctly.”

Starter Ingenuity

Starters are generally pretty straightforward parts to install, and the TCI Permanent Magnet Racing Starter’s adjustable mount doesn’t appreciably complicate the process. Simply unscrew three hex head bolts and you can then easily remove the mounting plate and turn it clockwise or counterclockwise to get the desired position. Miller says, “People were installing different oil pans and headers, and the stock starter would get in the way. So, we came up with this design so you can put the solenoid in any position to clear the headers and oil pans.” Once you find the position that works for your application, the LS Series starter is mounted just like the stock one.

Three hex head bolts are removed to allow the solenoid to be repositioned relative to the starter mount.

There are two bolts that go through the mounting plate and into the block. With the starter mounted to the block there should be a clearance of .100” +/- .040” between the pinion and the ring gear. If there is a clearance anywhere outside of those numbers, the starter needs to be removed and the mounting plate and block need to be checked for nicks or burrs.

After checking the pinion-to-ring gear clearance, the backlash needs to be checked. This is done by pulling the pinion gear out into the ring gear and checking the clearance. There should be a 0.35” to .060” clearance. Miller stated, “It’s a bolt-in deal. There is no shimming or anything like that needed.”

Unlike the typical "white box" auto parts store special, the TCI starter goes in with no shimming necessary to get the proper pinion-to-ring clearance.

TCI Tip: When hooking up the wires to the starter, you have to be careful not to over-torque the nut on the upper stud. A battery connection to the main terminal, a second positive wire to the ignition switch, and a ground connection are all it takes.

A Reliable Performance Starter

The TCI Permanent Magnet Starter turns over the high performance LS3 engine in our Nova with ease time after time. With applications for both LS-style and traditional mouse motors, there’s no excuse for owning a small block Chevy of any vintage that goes “RRRRRrrrrrRRRRRrrrrr” instead of “Vroom!” High compression, hot starts, and tight quarters are no obstacle to reliable starts thanks to TCI.

The sides are always divided when it comes to the discussion of racing tires. Some say racers need to get that “competitive advantage” by bending the rules just a little. Others simply believe that messing with the tires in any way that is not clearly allowed by the rule book is cheating and that cheaters should never win. Who’s right? As always, it depends completely on your point of view about “spirit and intent”.

Tires have been a hot topic for a long time, and it doesn’t look like the debates are going away any time soon. The subject has even found its way into courtrooms and laboratories. Rule makers, promoters, and those in charge feel the need to mandate certain matters when it comes to tires. It’s common to find exact tire compounds specifically spelled out in the rule book. In fact, the tire rules tend to be written with crystal clear parameters on tire compounds, while other portions of the book are much more general and vague such as certain safety gear simply being mentioned as “highly recommended”.

Of course, having detailed tire rules doesn’t stop some from tampering with the tire such as overlaying the correct compound number on an incorrect tire in hopes that the inspection is not as thorough as threatened in the drivers’ meeting. This little trick has happened in the past, therefore penalties are often specifically spelled out for tampering of any kind.

Gino (left) mounts a tire for a Modified team crew member.

Taking Chances

Since racers never seem to be content with the status quo, they sometimes feel that an equal playing field is not always in their best interest. They feel that something has to be done in order to help them break away from the pack. Drivers will seek the best way to gain an advantage, and cost seldom enters into the equation. The consequences of getting caught seem to be of little concern, since there are plenty of racers who are willing to take their chances.

In most cases, it's okay to grind a tire, provided you're only grinding on the tread. Grinding off numbers is not a good idea.

There have been some high profile Late Model races that have been “tainted” by drivers who were declared to be afoul of the rules with respect to “treating” tires. For illustration, let’s look at the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series, which seems to be among the leaders in policing this infraction. Last August, a tire was taken from a competitor at an event at Tazewell Speedway in Tennessee. The tire was tested at an unidentified laboratory (left unidentified to protect integrity), and it was determined to be “chemically altered” to “enhance the performance of the tire”. The finding led to the disqualification of that racer along with penalties.

Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series punished drivers at the North/South 100 and Topless 100 for tire rule violations. In addition, the series announced that tires from the winning car at the North/South 100 in Florence, Kentucky, would be taken from the winner as well as select other drivers and tested. The winner’s purse would not be paid until the test results came back. Days after the race, Jimmy Mars received his $50,000 for winning the race on legal tires. Six other drivers were tested with just one, from the B main, out of line. It drove home the point that while not everyone is doing it, there is a risk for those who are.

Probably the most highly profiled case occurred at the Dirt Track at Lowe’s in November. The top six qualifiers had their tires inspected by officials of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Citing “reasonable suspicion” based on odor, the left rear tire from Scott Bloomquist’s car was whisked to a forensic lab where it failed the test. Bloomquist lost his purse money (more than $11,000), faces a fine equal to that amount, and cannot attempt to qualify for a World of Outlaws event until after May 10, 2010, which is essentially a six-month suspension.

The World of Outlaws cited rule 15.11, section G, which read in 2009: “Chemical alterations, vulcanizing, tire softening, defacing and/or altering the face of the tire lettering and/or tire stamping will not be permitted. Tires may be inspected at any time. Any violation with any tire presented for competition may result in immediate disqualification from the event and/or other penalties including but not limited to loss of money, fine, loss of points and/or suspension.” Basically, they threw the book at Bloomquist, but that’s the spirit and intent of rules.

The Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series clearly spells out its fines and penalties, and the sanctions handed down against the 2009 offenders is consistent with their intent to discourage tampering. Their rule states “no softeners or conditioners”. A failed durometer test causes a loss of starting position or disqualification for the night on a first offense. There’s a $1,500 fine, loss of 300 series points, no race winnings, and a fine to offset the cost of testing. A second offense is steep with the driver getting a $5,000 fine and the crew chief nailed for $2,500 plus point penalties. You don’t even want to know how severe a third offense can be!

Bloomquist got the book thrown at him. (Photo by Fast Lane Photos)

Soaking Tires

Soaking a tire can be considered a traction control device due to the nature of the tire’s characteristics. A race tire is best when it’s new, therefore the objective is to put it into competition within a short time from when it was molded. Once you get the tires, experts advise keeping them in a cool dark place since heat and UV light can begin or expedite the aging process. Certain chemicals, when added to the tire, have a way of helping the tire maintain the elastic characteristics that help it grip the track. Essentially, a tire performs at its best when the footprint or surface area is greatest with the surface itself. More of the tire is getting onto the track, which is really helpful on dirt surfaces that are uneven and constantly changing. A soaked tire, with its heightened elasticity, is able to withstand the challenges and maintain a better grip, especially on rougher tracks.

While there are drivers who have used soaked tires for qualifying, the biggest advantage comes with the longer distance races. A slight advantage in lap times is multiplied by repeat trips around the rack. A savvy driver can make subtle changes to set-up and increase the performance potential. When soaked, the tires stay cooler and last longer. There is a misconception that the product used in soaking will make the tires “stickier”. There are two mains reason why that isn’t really the case. The first is that a stickier tire would immediately draw suspicion. The second is that adhesion is not the goal in soaking a tire. It takes an effort to remove something that sticks, and a tire that is adhering to the surface wastes time and energy in propelling the car.

Tire treatments are openly marketed because they are not considered illegal everywhere, so you may want to check your rules for the series or track where you plan to race. The promoters who don’t outlaw it are generally the ones who don’t have the resources or manpower to enforce the rule.  Products like Pro Blend and Track Claw can be found at a number of reputable racing retailers. Track Claw is billed as a tire strengthener and not a softener, which is why some rule makers have changed the wording to read “chemically altered” rather than “softened”.

Nothing in the rules says you can't beat a tire!

Tire Chemical Hazards

I asked Steve Black of Speed Pros if his shop carried tire chemicals. “No way,” he said emphatically. “It’s cheating,” he added, echoing the concerns of many. “It’s not safe, either.” The safety aspect has been another issue at the heart of the matter. These products, in most cases, contain very toxic chemicals. They contain hydrocarbons as the active ingredients. Some examples are benzene and toluene, a couple of chemicals that have been linked to causing cancer in humans. The tire prep manufacturers and retailers do acknowledge the potential hazards, however, most provide explicit instructions and safety guidelines. For example, one company recommends applying the product in a well-ventilated room. Steps like using gloves when applying the product and procedures for cleansing if there is skin contact are commonly found in the instruction sheet.

The health risk is one that cannot be ignored. East Bay Raceway Park in Florida clearly cites the danger in the rule book. Any track with environmental concerns, such as one that is careful with waste oil depositing or tire disposal, is not going to want this stuff anywhere near their place. In addition to the health risk situation, there’s also a little bit of danger involved regarding the integrity of the treated tire. The tire manufacturers are understandably cautious. One company, who doesn’t participate in dirt racing but is active in other aspects of the sport, has a very detailed warning on its website: “Never apply any type of chemical or tire dressing to the tires. TREAD SOFTENING OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF CHEMICAL APPLIED TO THE TIRES CAN AFFECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE TIRE. Failure to follow this advice may result in catastrophic failure of the tire and could lead to serious injuries or death.”

Detecting Tire Tampering

Officials are having to be pro-active in their means to detect any alteration. The use of a “tire sniffer” is a popular enforcement tool. The manufacturers of tire prep products have become aware of this, and one company uses the “wintergreen scent” of their product as a selling point. Another company boasts, “Our preps simply do not have a strong offensive smell; all are very mild natural smells. This keeps the competition from ‘sniff testing’ your tires. They won’t know what you’re using unless you’re nice enough to tell them.” And, who would tell anyone? Can you trust anyone who’s in competition with you, especially when you’re doing something that’s against the rules?

When tire sniffers come up with an odor that indicates the presence of a chemical that shouldn’t be on a tire, series officials will take action. At a recent NeSmith Chevrolet Late Model Series race, the tool found 13 drivers in a field of 60 before qualifying. Those drivers were forced to change tires and run at the rear of the heat race, making transfer to the A main a bit more difficult. Despite the high number of offending drivers, there wasn’t a mad rush to the tire shed. This indicated that there were “legal” tires already in the trailer, they just weren’t being used.

Working on dirt tires can be exhausting!

Enforcement continues to be a big part of why these chemicals are still around. Some say there wouldn’t be a problem if everyone was allowed to use them, but that discounts factors like the health risk and environmental dangers. Some promoters are afraid to put the rules in place because they can’t enforce them. The current scenario requires suspicious tires to be sent to a laboratory for spectrum analysis in order to determine the chemical composition of an object. Tires are created with a specific formula with a compound of elements that interact in a way to create the product with certain desired characteristics. A batch of tires are mixed and molded with these chemicals. The presence of a chemical not found in the formula will trigger that someone has altered it.

While the exact cost is unknown, it can’t be cheap to utilize these services. We have heard estimates of $200 to $300 for each test. The $1,500 fine assessed on guilty parties by the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series is set aside for the tire testing program. A guilty party will pay for the costs of the test, but who pays when the tire is found to be unaltered? That’s where the fine money comes into play. Series have seemingly vowed not to let the cost become an issue, and there seems to be an increased effort to step up enforcement. High profile events like the World 100 have made no bones about not tolerating the practice.

How Bad Is The Problem?

The reality is that the situation is probably more widespread than anyone will ever know. A driver may only alter tires for certain tracks or certain situations, always hoping to stay a step ahead of the enforcers. The competitive advantage is always the driving factor. There’s a saying that is often heard, “It’s only cheating if you get caught.” The bulk of those who are using chemicals (they know who they are, but they’re not telling anyone) are putting themselves at risk. Race purse, point money, sponsorship opportunities, and reputation can be tarnished. A crew member could get cancer because of exposure. It would seem the negatives outweigh the positives, but apparently not enough to keep it from happening.

As long as there is competition, there will always be a desire to win. Sometimes that desire comes at any cost. It’s up to the individual to determine if that cost is worth it.

No matter what type of racing you do, tires play a big role in the overall handling of the car. Tires act as part of the suspension and absorb many of the irregularities that your typical dirt track has to offer. They are the only means to transfer the power from the engine to the track and are relied on to keep the car traveling in the direction it is pointed. In addition, they offer the easiest way to tune the handling of the car via pressure and circumference changes.

I run the Street Stock class at both Perris Auto Speedway and Victorville Auto Raceway. The tire rules for both tracks restrict us to 8-inch or narrower DOT approved passenger car tires mounted on 8” wide wheels. “Soaking” (softening) or grooving the tires is not allowed. In my opinion, these simple but restrictive rules are what help make the Street Stock class as cost-conscious and competitive as it is. The tires used in this class are relatively inexpensive (compared to racing tires), last a long time, and have limited traction.

I had been using the Kelly Charger tire since I started racing at Perris Speedway a few years ago, and it had served me well. At the beginning of the 2009 season, I received the sad news that the tire I’d been using religiously, the Charger, had been discontinued by Kelly. The time had come for me to pick a new tire. I asked around to find out what everyone else was using, and I got a lot of different answers. Everyone had an opinion, but most were very subjective.

Terry Warp, owner of Rubidoux Tire (where I buy my “race” tires), suggested an alternate tire; one that I had never heard of. It was called the Mastercraft Avenger. Terry had raced at Perris in the past and had won a main event or two in his day, so I figured I’d give his suggestion a try. I used the tire last year and was happy with it, however I decided that this off season I would attempt to find a more objective way to determine which tire I would use for the 2010 season. I needed to arm myself with information in order to do that.

The Tire Sidewall

I figured I would start with the markings on the tire’s sidewall. I already knew what most of the nomenclature meant from buying street tires for my daily driver. What I didn’t know was whether or not this information could help me pick a good tire for the dirt. There is a lot of writing on the sidewall and a lot of fine print as well. Let’s go through all of these markings, starting with the obvious ones.

Kelly: The manufacturer of the tire.
Charger: The model of the tire.

The nomenclature above contains the tire’s size as well as speed and load rating.

P245/60R15 101S P: Identifies the tire type. The P (if shown) stands for PMetric and identifies the tire as a passenger tire. An LT identifies the tire as a light truck tire. As the picture above illustrates, the P is not always shown.

P245/60R15 101S 245: Identifies the section width of the tire in millimeters (25.4 mm = 1 inch.). This is the measurement of the tire from sidewall to sidewall. The actual dimension varies depending on the width of the rim the tire is mounted on. This is not a measurement of tread width. The tread width will always be smaller than the section width but can also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

P245/60R15 101S R: Indicates the construction used within the tire’s casing. R stands for radial construction. B means belted bias and D stands for diagonal bias construction.

P245/60R15 101S 15: The last dimension listed in the tire size is the diameter of the wheel measured in inches.

P245/60R15 101S 101: The Load Index indicates how much weight the tire can support when properly inflated. Load Index numbers range from 70 – 110 for passenger tires with each numeric value corresponding to a certain carrying capacity. A higher Load Index indicates a higher load capacity. A Load Index of 101 equates to a load capacity of 1819 lb. This number is not shown on all tires, but the load rating (in kg and lb) is printed on the sidewall of the tire in small print near the bead.

P245/60R15 101S S: The Speed Rating is represented by letters ranging from A to Z. Each letter corresponds to a maximum speed a tire can sustain (e.g. S is equivalent to a max speed of 112 mph for one hour). Previously, the speed rating was shown in between the Aspect Ratio and tire construction (e.g. 245/60SR15) but is now supposed to be shown only after the load index. The manufacturer is not required to show the speed rating on the tire.

The Z speed rating indicates the tire is capable at speeds in excess of 149 mph, but it does not indicate by how much. W and Y ratings were added to better describe the limits of a tire.

The “M+S” or “M/S” indicates that the tire meets the RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association) specifications for use in “severe snow conditions”. It says that the tire has some mud and snow capability, and most radial tires have this marking. It does not mean that the tire is a snow tire.

The DOT serial number can be easy to overlook but the date code contained in these markings can be quite useful.

The DOT Serial Number

DOT PJOP 3NLR 2005 DOT: This symbol certifies the tire manufacturer’s compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) tire safety standards. DOT approval is required for all tires used on the street.

DOT PJOP 3NLR 2005 : The next two blocks of letter/numbers specify the Manufacturer’s Plant Identification Code, the Tire Size Code, and the Tire Type Code.

DOT PJOP 3NLR 2005 2005: The last block of digits is the date code. It signifies the week and year the manufacturer made the tire. The last two digits signify the year of manufacture (05 indicates 2005). The first two digits signify the week of manufacture (20 means the 20th week of the year). Based on the Date Code (2005), the tire above was manufactured in the 4th week of May in 2005.

The Treadwear, Traction, and Temperature Grades can be located in various places on a tire. Kelly located them right above their name.

Tread Wear, Traction, and Temperature
The DOT National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) Standards were originally designed to provide consumers with useful information about a tire’s tread wear, wet traction, and temperature handling capabilities. The testing is performed by the tire manufacturer or an independent testing company (hired by the manufacturer), and the manufacturer assigns the grades that will be advertised on the side of the tire based on the test results.

Treadwear Grades
UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use. The tire being tested is run on a vehicle alongside other vehicles running other “test” tires and standardized “course monitoring tires”. The convoy runs 400 mile test loops for 7,200 miles. The wear of the test tire and the course monitoring tire are measured periodically as well as at the end of the test. The tire manufacturer then assigns a Treadwear Grade to the test tire based on the observed wear compared to that of the course monitoring tire. A grade of 100 would indicate that the test tire tread would last as long as the course monitoring tire, a grade of 400 would indicate the tread would last four times as long, and a grade of 600 would indicate six times as long.

The Treadwear Grade is a somewhat subjective number. The tire manufacturer must extrapolate the theoretical tread life of both their test tire and the course monitoring tire from the 7,200 miles of data (a street tire’s life can be three to ten times longer than the test). This data can be processed using different methods which may result in varying grades. In addition, the course monitoring tire is updated periodically and detailed information about the tire itself is not readily available (at least I couldn’t find any information on it) on UTQG’s website. Since the Treadwear Grades are assigned by the manufacturers using differing methods, comparing Treadwear Grades within a manufacturer may give you a good indication of which tire has longer tread life. However, attempting to compare grades between different manufacturers is likely to be much less useful.

Traction Grades
UTQG Traction Grades are based on a tire’s straight line coefficient of friction as the tire skids across specified wet test surfaces. The Traction Grade is determined by installing test tires on an axle of a skid trailer. The skid trailer is pulled behind a truck at a constant 40 mph over wet asphalt and concrete. Its brakes are then locked, and the axle sensors measure the tire’s coefficient of friction (braking g forces) as it slides.

The Traction Grade indicates the kinetic (sliding) coefficient of friction for a tire on wet surfaces.

Temperature (Resistance) Grades
The UTQG Temperature Grade indicates the extent to which heat is generated/dissipated by a tire. If the tire is unable to dissipate heat effectively or if the tire is damaged because of heat buildup, its ability to run at high speeds is reduced. This grade is established by measuring a loaded tire’s ability to operate at high speeds without failure by running a test tire against a large diameter high-speed laboratory test wheel.

Every tire sold in the United States must be capable of earning a “C” rating which indicates the ability to withstand 85 mph speeds.

Other Markings

Load Rating - The load rating of the tire is printed near its bead. The load rating corresponds exactly with the load rating that is sometimes displayed near the tire size (which, I assume is why it is optional).

Pressure Rating - The pressure rating is shown just below or next to the load rating. It is a maximum pressure rating, not a recommended pressure rating (don’t laugh; I have seen it done). Most of the tires I’ve looked at had a max pressure rating of 44 psig, but it varies by tire manufacturer and model. I have a tire that has a pressure rating of 35 psig, which is something to consider if you are trying to stretch a tire by airing it up.

Tire Construction - The tire construction is also shown in small print on the side of the tire. For the tires I am considering, it typically reads something like: Tread – 2 ply polyester + 2 ply steel, Sidewall – 2 ply polyester. All the tires I looked at had the same construction with one exception. That particular tire had 2 additional plies of nylon under the tread.

Of course there is the CYA warning on the side of the tire threatening severe damage and bodily injury if the tire is under-inflated, over-inflated, or mounted on the wrong size wheel.

How is All This Information Helpful?

Like I said, there is a lot of information on the sidewall of a tire. Some of the information is actually quite useful, some not so much. Let’s start with the tire size marking. Track rules require a passenger tire, so I need to look for a “P” and avoid an “LT”. Also, using the tire size markings I can approximate the circumference and tread width of a tire.

Using these formulas will give you good estimates of circumference and tread width in inches. Just plug in the numbers directly from the side of the tire. Actual dimensions will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from tire to tire.

A DOT approved tire is required by both tracks. The DOT symbol should appear on every tire that you buy at a tire store, but it doesn’t hurt to confirm it.

The Manufacturer’s Plant Identification Code, Tire Size Code, and Tire Type Code are probably important to the manufacturer for tracking purposes, but I don’t have much use for them.

On the other hand, the Date Code can be very useful. Tires don’t last forever. Rubber can degrade over time when exposed to heat and sunlight. I have several tires that will celebrate their fifth birthday early in 2010. They have been relegated to spares but do periodically see some track time. In addition to baldness (it’s hell getting old), I know to pay close attention to other visible signs of aging, like cracking on the side wall and around the tread blocks. Even if there is still tread left the time may come to put these tires out to pasture. The Date Code can be especially helpful when buying used tires. When stored properly, a tire (and rubber in general) has a very long shelf life. Used tires have not been stored properly. They have been sitting on hot pavement and baking in the sun for thousands of miles. If a tire is too old I may decide not to buy it even if the tread looks okay.

I think the Treadwear Grade might be useful. Here is my theory (and it is JUST a theory): If I am lucky, a typical track tire may get driven 500 or 600 miles over the course of several seasons if the tire is not damaged first. Therefore, I am not overly concerned about tread life. What I am concerned about is the grip of the tire on the track. A tire with a high Treadwear Grade indicates that the tread should wear slowly and therefore last longer. According to my theory (and again, it is JUST a theory), a tire with a long lasting tread would require harder (higher durometer) rubber. Conversely, a tire with a low Treadwear Grade could be constructed of softer tackier rubber (or perhaps just cheaper lower quality rubber). To me, a lower Treadwear Grade indicates that I may get more grip from the tire.

The Traction Grade seems more straight forward. No theories required here. A better rating is given for better traction on wet pavement. Now I know I’m not racing on asphalt or cement, but a higher coefficient of friction is a good thing no matter what surface I am racing on. All the tires I’ve looked at had a Traction Grade of “A”. I doubt that I could find a tire in a size I need with an “AA” rating for a reasonable price, but I will keep my eyes open.

With a maximum speed of around 85 mph at Perris Auto Speedway, the Temperature Grade and Speed Rating don’t factor in when deciding which tire to buy for the track. Photo courtesy of Vane Ledgerwood.

The Temperature Grade is a rating that I probably don’t need to consider when picking my racing tire. Even a “C” rated tire can withstand speeds of 85 mph. I don’t get much past 85 mph at the end of straight on Perris’ 1/2 mile dirt oval, and I am lucky to hit 75 mph at Victorville (which is advertised as a 3/8 mile dirt oval). A majority of the tires I have looked at have a Temperature Grade of “B”.

The Speed Rating doesn’t seem to be very helpful either. As I indicated earlier, I am rarely doing 85 mph. An “S” rated tire (a very meager rating) can handle 112 mph. I don’t really need a speed rated tire.

The same goes for the Load Rating. The lowest Load Rating I have noticed is 1764 lb (most are higher). That is more than half the total weight of my car. Even with some load transfer during cornering I am not approaching this limit, and it means that any tire that I might consider is more than capable of handling the loads it will see on the track. I guess it’s nice to have piece of mind though.

The outside tires are working pretty hard entering turn three at Victorville Auto Raceway. Photo courtesy of Vane Ledgerwood.

The Bottom Line

So what is the bottom line? After comparing sidewall information from several tires, Terry at Rubidoux Tire seems to have steered me in the right direction. It seems that the Mastercraft Avenger that he suggested last year is an upgrade over my trusty Kelly Charger. It is no more expensive than the Kelly, and the tread pattern looks a little more aggressive. The Treadwear Grade is lower (400 vs 500), and both the Load and Speed Rating are higher. For now, the Mastercraft Avenger will continue to be my tire of choice, but the search goes on. There may be a better tire out there for my car, and if there is I will find it!

My name is Curtis Dietzsch and for the past four years, I have been racing at Perris Auto Speedway in the Street Stock class. I am here to talk to you today about Race Day Preparation. It’s the difference between winning on the dirt, and being on the trailer with broken parts and broken dreams. This is my first official tech article for OneDirt

Some Background
Perris is a banked ½ mile clay oval in Southern California that hosts a wide variety of racing from Sprint Cars to sport compacts. My seasons at Perris have been relatively good ones. I finished 4th & 3rd in points my first two years and have been fortunate enough to win the season championships in both 2007 & 2008.

I have been racing on and off for quite a while now. It all started way back in 1993, when I saw a broken down Street Stock on a converted boat trailer for sale at Ventura Raceway. I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I knew I wanted to race. The first several years were rough. There were just enough bright spots to keep my passion strong (like a long, straight drive in golf) but there were many more disappointments. The car broke a lot and I was at best marginally competitive when it didn’t.

I attribute much of my recent success to the maintenance program I describe below. I was asked to write this article, in the hopes that you could see some of things that I’ve done and emulate them into your own program, if you find them beneficial.

This is where it all happens… The Dietzsch Racing Shop (my garage).

Regular maintenance… why do it?
Some of what I describe may sound a bit anal and may seem unnecessary, but I truly believe it saves me money, allows me to have more fun and be more competitive at the track. 

If I find a bad u-joint in my garage, it costs $20 and takes 30 minutes to change. If I break a u-joint on the track, it will cost me a drive shaft plus the u-joint and will most likely ruin the tail housing on the transmission. If I find a bad ball joint in my garage, it costs $30 and another 30 minutes. If I break it on the track it could mean a nasty trip to the wall.   In both of these examples, instead of finishing the race (hopefully in the top 5) and being able to drive the car on the trailer, I DNF’ed and had to be put on the hook. Not doing this stuff can cost me money, ruin a night of racing and make extra work for me. I know this from first hand experience.

I refer to this as “The Crash”. It is a result of poor maintenance and bad driving (on my part).

Race Day Prep: The Day After the Last Race

Preparation for the next race, typically starts the Sunday after the last race. I try to start right away for two reasons. 

First, I am not a mechanic or a fabricator. I can do the work needed, but I do it slowly. I need as much time as possible to get the stuff that I need to do done. 

Second, if I do find an issue with the car, I have time to order parts or go to the junk yard to get what I need. If I assume everything is okay, because nothing went wrong last race and wait until the day of the race to do maintenance, I am out of luck.

1) Make a List
The first step is to make a list of the things I want to do/check on the car before the next race. New things are added to the list as issues are found and crossed off the list as they are completed. If something on the previous race list was not completed, it is added to this list. This list can grow quite long if I am recovering from a tough week of racing, or it can be a list that is completed in an afternoon if everything checks out okay.   I save the list for each race so that I have a record of what was done and when. The lists are hand written and they aren’t fancy (as you can see) but they do come in handy.

Here are my “Lists”. They aren’t pretty but they are an invaluable history of what I’ve done to the car over the years.

2) Clean the Car 
The first thing on my list is to rinse off the car and clean the radiator. The goal here is to remove as much dirt as possible. In my opinion, cleaning the under carriage and suspension of the car is more important than cleaning the body. This keeps the dirt from falling in my eyes as I roll around under the car. I try to knock as much dry dirt off of the car in the garage before I move it to the driveway for its bath. Whatever dirt I can get off in the garage is mud I don’t have to clean out of the gutter later.

Dirt in the radiator can reduce air flow through the radiator and cause the engine to over heat. It is important to keep it clean.

I clean out the radiator by spraying water into the radiator from the engine compartment side. You know it is clean when the water coming through the radiator isn’t brown.

3) Check the Alignment 
The next thing on the list is to check the alignment. I do this in between every race, and think this is imperative. I check toe and camber. I don’t have the tools to check caster. If the alignment is different after the race than it was before, I know that something is bent, loose or worn out. If only the toe has changed then I look at the steering linkage for the problem. If both toe and camber are out, then I start looking at ball joints, bent a-arms or loose adjustment bolts on the side that the camber changed.

Measuring the camber on the front wheels is a very simple task. I don’t have a magnetic caster/camber bubble gauge that mounts to the rotor. Instead, I bought an angle finder with a magnetic base for about $10, stuck it to a 15” piece of ½” square tubing and saved myself some money. With the front tire pointing straight ahead, place the tubing against the side of the wheel and read the angle on the angle finder.

The down and dirty camber gauge.

I assume the camber/caster gauges are more accurate, but this method seems to give me repeatable results with a resolution of about ½ a degree. One disadvantage is that the measurement will be skewed if the wheel is bent. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. The toe out measurement is also quick and easy. The idea is that you want to find out how parallel the front tires are to each other. To do this you need a toe gauge. Some places sell them, but they are not hard to make. I made the one I use and it works fine for my car, although if I had to do it again I would make it adjustable so wider cars could be measured easily. Slide the gauge under the car. Place one end of the gauge against the fattest part of the tire. 

Place one end of the toe gauge against the tire as shown.

Then on the other side of the car measure the distance from the gauge to the tire. Repeat this on the front of the tire. The difference in the measurements is your toe. If the front measurement is smaller than the back, the tires are toe out. I set mine to 1/16 -1/8 toe out. After making adjustments, I roll the car a few feet backward then forward so the tires/linkage move to their natural position before taking the measurements again.

Take a measurement at the back of the tire and then again at the front of the tire. The difference in the two measurements is the amount of toe (in inches).

To determine if there is excessive play in the ball joints, I first jack up one corner of the car by putting the jack under one of the spring perches. Lift the tire 3-4 inches off the ground, which takes the weight of the car off of the ball joint. Take a long bar (I use a shovel) and place one end under the wheel. Lift the other end of the bar up and down (lifting the tire). While you are doing this watch the lower ball joint. If there is play in the ball joint the distance between the spindle and A-arm will increase as you apply force to the bar.

With the jack under the spring perch, and the wheel off the ground --- lift on the handle to check for vertical play in the lower ball joint.

With the wheel still off the ground, grab the tire and move it back and forth. Be firm. While you are doing this, observe the other front wheel. If the steering linkage is in good condition, it should mimic the tire you are moving. If there is play somewhere in the linkage, you should be able to see it and feel it. However, you may not be able to tell which component is worn. Also observe the steering wheel, it too should move in conjunction with the tire you are moving. 

If there is lag between the tire and the steering wheel movement, there is either play in the steering box, or there is a worn tie rod somewhere. Next grab the tire at the top and bottom. Attempt to rock the top of the tire in and out (again, do not be gentle). You should be able to feel if there is play in the ball joints or if there is excessive play in the wheel bearings.

Rocking the tire back and forth is a good way to find steering linkage and ball joint problems. Rocking the tire in and out is a good way to check for play in the wheel bearings and ball joints.

I next put the car on jack stands. I lie underneath the car and push as hard as I can on the front of each tire, then the back, alternating back and forth. Pushing on the front of the tires puts the tie rods in tension. Pushing on the back of the tire puts them in compression. This is the best way I have come across to find bad tie rods. Finally, I check for play in the idler arm. I grab the center link with both hands and push and pull on it (don’t be afraid to put some muscle in to it). The idler will flex only a little if it is still good. You will feel the play and see much more movement if it is time to replace it.

Pushing hard on the tires with pinpoint worn tie rods. Trying to bench press the center link is how I inspect the idler arm.

5) Nut & Bolt the Car
The next thing I do is to “nut and bolt” the car. This simply means that I check to see that the fasteners on the car are tight. There aren’t too many nuts and bolts left on these cars, so this is a simple task that usually takes less than 15 minutes but can prevent many problems. My exhaust flanges seem to be loose after every race. The same goes for the driver’s side engine mount, even with a lock nut. 

While I am under the car, I check the leaf spring u-bolts and shackles. I also check the cross member, and the bolts that hold the front clip onto the body. It is amazing how much the chassis can flex with one of these missing. With the exception of the exhaust bolts and engine mount, the fasteners are rarely loose, but every once in a while I do catch one.

Making sure all the fasteners are tight is free. There is no excuse not to do it.

6) Visual Inspection
While I am under the car making sure the bolts are tight, I also do a visual inspection. I look for oil leaks, wear and damage. I have found loose hose clamps, broken suspension mount welds, leaking shocks, chaffed radiator hoses, cracked lowering blocks, burned wires and cracked welds on the cage. Anything I find goes on the list, and gets checked off when it is fixed.

This year, I am racing at both Perris Auto Speedway and Victorville Auto Raceway. This requires a little extra preparation because the two tracks are different sizes and are at different elevations. Going from one track to the other requires a gear change. This gives me the opportunity to inspect more parts. I take a quick look at the ring and pinion gear in the third member. I inspect the bearings on the axles, and the bearing races in the axle tubes to make sure they look okay. I also pull the end caps off the u-joint to make sure that none of the pins are broken in the needle bearings.

It is easy to see a broken pin in the u-joint cup. I have also seen pins that don’t look broken but are shorter than the rest. I can only assume it wasn’t like that when it was new and that the rest of the pin has been ground down and is floating around in the grease.

The elevation change of Victorville is approximate 1000 ft higher than Perris, so it does require a jet change. I jump down 2 jet sizes when I prepare for Victorville. I have discovered that not doing this can make the engine sputter all the way down the straight away. Not good for lap times.

I prefer to change the jets in my relatively clean garage rather than in the pits with all the dust flying around.

I also have to get the “mud off” ready. I use water soluble cutting oil. I mix one cup of oil with a gallon of water in my sprayer. One container (1 gal) of the oil costs about $35 and will last me more than a season. I have never used real Mud Off, WD40, or baby oil so I don’t know how it compares but this seems to work pretty well.

I use a cup of Mobil Water Soluble Cutting Oil in a gallon of water to keep the mud from sticking to the car.

8) Pounding Out Dents
At some point, I try to pound out any new dents. Each of my body panels are held on with just a few bolts. It makes it easy to take off the panels and straighten them with a couple of hits from the sledge hammer (its good therapy). I am happy to say that the last two race were “new dent” free.

9) Additional Tasks 
There are also a few tasks I do less frequently.

Compression Test
I check the compression on my engine about every three races or when I suspect I may have a problem. I write the results on the checklist so that I have the history of the pumping compression on the engine. If the compression goes down evenly, over time, across the 8 cylinders I assume the engine is starting to get tired but everything is still okay. If the compression goes down dramatically in one or two cylinders I know I have a problem. Either a blown head gasket or something else (recently it was broken piston rings). While the plugs are out it is a good time to inspect them as well. Reading the plugs and checking the compression can give you an early warning of looming engine problems.

Check Timing
I also check the timing about every three races just to confirm nothing has changed. I check it at idle, and at higher rpm above 3,000 rpm, after all the advance has come in. I have never seen the distributor itself move, but I have discovered problems with the advance weights and springs. I’ve learned to spend the extra few dollars to get a quality set.

Change Fluids
I used to change the engine oil every two races. Then I calculated how often I was changing the oil in terms of miles. Perris is the biggest track I drive on, and it is a ½ mile. In a night of racing we get about 30 laps where we are on the throttle (4 during hot laps, 6 in the heat and 20 in the main). That is a grand total of 15 miles. We may run another 30 to 40 lap while packing the track and under yellow, but those are at relatively low rpm, around 2500 rpms. So in a night we may drive the car 35 miles. It seems a little excessive to change the oil every 70 miles. I now change the oil every 4 races (every 140 miles) and change the filter every other race (a suggestion from a fellow racer). My brain still thinks it is crazy to change the oil this often, but I don’t have the guts to stretch it any farther.

10) Gettin’ Ready on Race Day 
On race day, once the car is ready, I refer to another checklist. A portion of this list contains everything I want to bring to the track including: spare parts (suspension parts, drive shaft, axles, distributors, tires, oil, etc), tools (compressor, generator, battery charger, jack, jack stands, wagon, tool box, etc) and driver equipment (helmet, suit, gloves, shoes, neck brace). The rest of the checklist contains things that I need to do before I go to the track. Things like making sure the hood and trunk pins are in place, making sure the trailer lights work, making sure the car is tied down properly and confirming the race date.

I must check this list every time before I leave for the track. Not doing so almost always means I forget to do or bring something.

At one time or another I have forgotten many of these things on the list, including my tool box and jack. I have forgotten to put the trunk pins in, hook up the trailer lights, and even to confirm the race date (that was 220 mile mistake) so this checklist is necessary for me!

Relax and Race.
Because I have done all the maintenance at home, in the comfort of my cement floored garage, once I get to the track I can relax and have fun. There are only a few things left to do before I hit the track. I unload the car, go through tech and pick a pill. I check the tire pressures, torque the lug nuts, make sure I have enough tear offs, and get in my suit.

Now… I’m ready to go throw some dirt! Hopefully my preparation program can help you with yours! There are many ways to skin a cat, and every racer and champion has their own way of doing things!

Coatings do great things – anything from keeping heat out, engine items lubricated, and parts looking good. Tech Line Coatings has released a line of professional and do-it-yourself coatings that allow you to cost-effectively coat parts with little to no prior knowledge. “We have a coating for any engine part,” says Tech Line’s owner Leonard Warren. But outside the engine, there are parts like brake calipers and rear end gears that can also benefit from coatings. 

There are a bunch of long words that make up the ingredients of these coatings, and one of the most important parts is picking the right coating for the job. Even knowing what metal the part is made out of is crucial to the longevity of the coating. Tech Line came by the powerTV garage to coat some parts for a few of our project cars and also educated us on how they work.

Watch Tech Line Coatings being applied on this video:

History of Tech Line
After a split in 1990 that divided the company into individual application and manufacturing concerns, Tech Line has been focused on providing coating materials to both pro and DIY users. Since 1995, shipping and sales have been handled from their Texas location, and in 2000 Tech Line opened their Corporate Offices and R & D facility in California. Today Tech Line supplies a large majority of the automotive performance coating market. Tech Line has agents in Europe, Australia, Africa and India to serve the worldwide market

Based on its expertise and reputation, Tech Line works with several major chemical companies to develop new products as well as new applications for existing products. While many coatings do not have automotive applications, any that do are incorporated into the automotive high performance line to the benefit of Tech Line’s first and favorite market. 

In an effort to help as much of the market as possible, in the high performance industry, Tech Line makes a wide variety of its products available at retail. This allows the greatest number of people to benefit from the performance advantages and protective benefits of the coatings. New products are added to the line each year as technological advances are made.

Performance Coatings 
It’s pretty obvious that we tailor to gearheads here, so it would only be fitting to start with the coatings that increase performance. Since Tech Line offers products for all sorts of internal and external applications, we rounded up a wide selection of parts to test:

• JE dome piston
• Engine bearings
• Dart single plane intake manifold
• Hooker headers

The first coating we started on was the oil-retaining coating called the DFL-1 Powerkote

Dry Film Lubricant

Coated engine bearing

DF1-1 is a high-pressure, water based dry film lubricant with no hazardous fumes. Engine bearings have to be tough while also being soft enough to allow small particles to embed in the bearing surface instead of scratching the metal journal. 

Dry film lubricants contain special pigments that reduce friction and wear by preventing surface-to-surface contact between mating parts. The naturally slick coating also has properties to retain oil on the bearing surface. Best of all, the coating does not alter the clearance of any part with its thin film (.0003″-.0005″). Warren remarked, “We have seen engines survive races for thirty minutes that had coated bearings with a failed oiling system.”

One of the most common causes of engine destruction is oil starvation to the cam and main bearings. With cranks and rods rotating at thousands of revolutions a minute, it doesn’t take much to spin a bearing if there is an oil starvation problem. A spun bearing can lead to a number of problems, most commonly seen as rod knock, or if you are really lucky, a rod out the side of your block! 

Dry film lubricant on the piston skirt.

The other part that we coated with DF1-1 was the skirt of our JE piston. The skirts of a piston have a similar interaction with the cylinder walls – though the piston rings do the sealing, a thin layer of oil is all that separates the skirt from the wall of the cylinder. This is another crucial place where oil failure can create problems. An additional concept to keep in mind is that if you are reducing friction with these coatings, that reflects in a gain of power.

Applying the lubricant is simple. Completely clean the bearing and skirts with acetone to remove any dirt or oils from your hand. Mask off the ring lands with painter’s tape. The coating is then mixed and applied evenly on the surfaces with an airbrush or detail gun. After the pieces air dry, they are ready for baking, though it isn’t time just yet as we will also be applying a high temperature reflective coating to the piston top.

We lightly sandblasted the intake manifold to make sure it was completely clean, and give the surface some “tooth” for the coating to adhere to.

To prepare for the coatings, the intake manifold, headers, piston tops and skirts were all lightly sandblasted to create a minimal amount of texture that the coatings need to adhere to.

“Most of our coatings do multiple things”, Warren commented. As an example, the thermal barrier coating that we are going to put on the intake manifold also has an oil-shedding property to keep oil from collecting on the valley side of the manifold.

Metallic Ceramic Thermal Barrier Coatings

The black thermal barrier coating goes on with an airbrush or detail gun.

CBC1 is Tech Line’s do-it-yourself thermal barrier that is also a water-based dry film lubricant with no hazardous fumes. Thermal barrier coatings generally consist of four layers. They are the metal substrate, metallic bond coat, thermally grown oxide, and ceramic topcoat. The metal substrate and metallic bond coat are metal layers and the thermally grown oxide and topcoat are ceramic layers. The bond coat creates a bond between the ceramic coat and substrate. The ceramic top coat is very low in conductivity while remaining stable at operating temperature.

There are some parts of an engine where you want to keep heat in and then there are some you want to keep heat out. For the piston top and Dart single plane intake manifold, we want the heat to stay away. Keeping the heat off your piston top and inside your combustion chamber will allow the piston to handle more power and promote a better burn. Detonation is a curse word in racing and by keeping the pistons cooler, less heat will be transferred to the incoming air/fuel mixture which will lead to a reduction of pre-ignition. 

Additionally, the coatings can also allow heat at the surface to move evenly over the piston top, reducing hot spots. For those of you running a 13:1-plus compression ratio or any sort of power adder, Tech Line recommends using their CBX thermal barrier that creates a hard surface specifically designed for engines that run on the ragged edge. “Some racing organizations don’t allow visible coatings, and after the thermal barrier is baked on the piston top can be polished to resemble the original color of the piston,” says Warren.

Completed piston with dry film lubricant skirt and thermal barrier top.

The Dart intake manifold has all the exterior areas including the coolant crossover coated, but not inside the manifold. The header design brings the primary tubes closer to the intake manifold then a conventional long tubes, and the engine bay for our application is a tight fight as well. Having so much heat around the intake would make the casting absorb the heat easier if we did not use the thermal reflective coating, so now we can keep our intake charge cooler. The coating was used in the coolant crossover to keep the heat from transferring through the intake manifold and into the intake tract. Since the thermal barrier also has oil-shedding properties, the valley side of the intake will resist oil that is splashed up from the cam and lifters.

The inside of the manifold had dry film lubricant applied to create a slight textured surface in order to create boundary layer turbulence and prevent fuel drop-out. This creates a slight “tumbling” effect on the surface of the intake manifold to help promote proper air fuel atomization prior to entering the combustion chamber. 

The completed intake with thermal barrier coating on the exterior, dry film inside, and black “Brillance” coating on the water neck and distributor hold down.

Keeping heat in with Cermakrome
In exhaust components we want to do the exact opposite of what the thermal barriers do; we want to keep the heat in. Cermakrome is a metallic ceramic coating that provides corrosion and heat insulation for exhaust components. Tech Line has tested the coating at 1300-degree base temperature and 1600-degree exhaust temperature as well as a 6500-hour salt spray test for corrosion. 

Cermakrome starting to dry.

We needed to re-coat our Hooker headers since we had to perform some modifications to them that destroyed the factory-applied coating in a few areas. After the headers were sandblasted, we were ready to apply the Cermakrome coating. Applying the coating is done in the same fashion as the oil shedding coating – a simple detail gun or airbrush works great. Once all the thermal-coated parts had dried, we needed to bake them for 300 degrees for one hour, except the Cermakrome that needs 500 degrees. 

The headers could then be polished after baking to give them the traditional chrome look. The piston and bearings were small enough to put into a toaster oven, while the headers and intake required a conventional-size oven. “Since the coatings are water based, chemicals can damage the coatings until they are baked,” said Warren.

The Appearance Coatings – Brilliance

While performance coatings do their job behind the scenese, there is always the need to make parts look good too. Tech Line’s Brilliance formula is one of their “do it at home” kits that is designed to be sprayed on shiny surfaces due to its semi-transparent nature – the higher the gloss, the more the reflective it will be. 

We demonstrated their red and black coatings on some engine parts as well as a wheel. We started with the red and applied them to a wheel and a pair of valve cover breathers. After that, we moved to the black that was applied to a water neck, a distributor hold down, Dart valve covers, and a Holley Powershot air cleaner. The results were stunning; as you add more layers, the shade of the color changes right in front of you. The red breathers look anodized while the black pieces show an awesome black chrome finish. These are not all the colors Tech Line offers as they cover virtually every color there is.

Application of the Brilliance coating is simple. First, start by cleaning the part with acetone. Next you will apply a layer of clear that acts as an adhesion coat that will need to sit for a few minutes before applying your first coat of color. The kit requires a little mixing to get your desired shade. There is a little wait time between coats, but once you are happy with the shade, a simple finish coat of clear is all you need and the parts will air dry. One functional aspect of the Brilliance coatings is that they are very easy to clean.

OneDirt Projects Enhanced with Tech Line Coatings
In a day’s work we updated parts for our project vehicles in both function and appearance. Some of the coatings we talked about today (like the thermal barriers) are for shop use only, but Tech Line is constantly developing coatings that are simple to apply and even have an air-dry thermal coating in testing for home use. Just remember the next time you build an engine, virtually every part can benefit from coatings, so give them a little TLC!

We talked with Karl McMichael, one of the old men at OMG, to get the sage one’s seasoned advice on checking the small details that mean a big deal in racing. Karl gave us his top ten list of things to look at, mentally and physically, to improve your chances in the heat of battle. These tips are time tested and track proven by OMG racer James Cline. Finally we will profile Cline’s racing background as proof that you should keep a close eye on the fine details if you want good results on the track.

1. Check the Attitude
According to Karl, the single greatest influence on how well you do is attitude. “Attitude has a direct impact on whether you qualify, win, lose, or go home with your tail tucked”. 

Mental preparedness has to be number one in your book. If you believe that you will not win a race, the chances are very probable that you won’t. Take a lesson from the boy scouts and be prepared. Karl Added, “Nothing can take the place of being ready mentally when things change, someone cuts you off or a part breaks”. Being prepared and having a CAN DO attitude will get you on the right track at winning on the dirt track.

If you look like THIS right before you go hot lapping…. you have a problem:

2. Check the Chassis

Once you’ve found the right chassis that fits you and your style, check it often. The old men at OMG “continuously check your chassis for signs of fatigue, wear, unseen damage, and anything that is not like it should be. Hairline cracks in key areas such as welds and bends can give way on the crucial lap and ruin your race”. 

Karl also gave us some advice on shopping for a new chassis; “be patient, look around, ask questions, and see which chassis are winning races. Then, get in one and see if it fits and feels good to you. To be a winner, you have to become an extension of your chassis, and it has to become and extension of you”. While we are not into the zen of racing a la caddyshack (see the ball, be the ball), becoming one with the chassis makes sense to us.

3. Tired of Tires?
Ahhh, the never-ending discussion on tires. Groove depth, aggressive tread and when to change tires dominate the pit area and forum chatter. The old men gave it to us plain and simple. “Tire tech is a part of racing so get used to it”. Here’s the OMG story on tires: The track changes its’ personality as the race progresses. Initially, you will probably have a wet, tacky track that has just been prepped for the race. 

For this, you need larger grooves in your tires to shed water and wet debris (mud). As the track gets used and there are cars screaming around it for a while, the dirt gets packed in and starts getting slick. This requires a little more bite from your tires and some deeper edges to grip the track. Like the chassis, tires are something you learn, and experiment with. You will know if your tires aren’t biting! When you do select rubber, give it time, learn the tires, experiment with tread design, cut some grooves and edges, and get a feel for what’s right for your style of driving. 

4. Get familiar with Dirt
The old men know dirt, and in a couple of them remember when dirt was made. In this case, Karl tells us to get familiar with the tracks that you will race on. “Dirt in Iowa WILL NOT respond like dirt in Alabama! Ease into your adjustments and make small changes as the track changes. If the crew puts water to a tight track, it will be slicker, so be prepared with your equipment to handle the changes”. Much like old men are all different, not all dirt is the same. 

5. Use your Lifelines!
The old men tell us that teamwork is often overlooked. Another area that OMG focuses on is building a good cohesive team. Karl says, “Teamwork is very important to your race. Don’t be a loner. Consult with your team continuously. They may see something you are doing that you don’t see. Your crew is your lifeline to success and safety. If you have some team members who have been around a while and seen it all, listen to what they are telling you. They are usually right.” Especially if they are old men.

6. Don’t let routine become Routine
Nothing takes the place of a well maintained car, especially one that rides around in dirt all the time. Your car should be meticulously checked after every race. There could be loose nuts and bolts, hair line cracks, springs or shocks going bad or broken, and a number of things that would affect your success, and more importantly, your safety. The old men tell us not to be routine and complacent in this task. Karl’s advice is, “Demand it of yourself to take the time and, like and airline pilot, check your machine BEFORE you start the engine AND after you shut it down”. The old men told us that they keep a maintenance log on each engine and chassis. They also told us to keep the car and parts clean. It’s easier to spot trouble areas if the car is clean.

7. Write it down and you’ll be right
Karl tells us that the men at the old man’s garage write everything down before they have a senior moment and forget it. According the old men, keeping a journal is the best way to go. “Take the time to write down the results of every race. Include the track conditions, weather conditions, how your car handled, what changes you made and why, and who you were racing against. 

Maybe throw a program in the journal, or some piece of memorabilia that will remind you in years to come about that race. You can refer back to your journal before you race on that track again”. This information can be quite useful, as any old man can tell you, history repeats itself. Past track conditions can give you a good indication on what you can expect next time at that track.

8. Making Adjustments
Karl tells us “Don’t get carried away with big adjustments. This might mean for you and your car to have a stiff right rear and front spring set up as well as a higher “J” bar. You may want to make sure your weight is low in the car with more on the left side with less rear steering and bite. As the track loosens, you may want to soften the springs, drop the “J” bar a little and move the weight back to the right A LITTLE!! “ 

9. Consistency
Once you are “there”, don’t tinker around with what you know is working for you. It takes time, hours behind the wheel, and experience, but once you get to where you can FEEL your car respond like you want it to, stick to your set up. Don’t start tweaking! One little change that is un-necessary can throw everything you have been working on out the window. It’s hard not to keep trying and trying something new, especially with all you hear and see in the industry, but a consistent driver who can punch it at the end of the race will win.

10. Partner yourself with a Pro
Get a mentor. Find someone you admire who has been around the track a few times, and learn from them. You will find that the older, more experienced drivers, and the legends like James Cline, are great to work with, offer helpful advice, and want to see the sport grow. If you are new, listen, be humble, take advice, and learn form those who know.

While these ten items may seem unimportant compared to engines or set ups, think of how disappointed you will be in the middle a race and you have to pull out because of something you overlooked. From personal experience, we can tell you that it only has to happen one time to learn that lesson.

Follow our Guide, you’ll find success like OMG driver, James Cline:
Using the practices outlined above, OMG and their drivers have enjoyed great success. Karl McMichael considers James Cline to be a legend in dirt late model racing and one of the premier drivers in the OMG stable. Many of the tips listed in this article are based on his personal experiences. We can take a look at his accomplishments and understand the value of the top ten tips that OMG has provided.

Also, special thanks to the guys at OMG for all of their help. Remember OMG for all of your Dirt Track needs. These guys can hook you up!

James Cline’s Accomplishments:

1980 Tommy Noblin Memorial Champion
1981 Rebel Dirt Track Champion
1988 NASCAR Sunbelt Regional Champion
1988 Talladega Short Track Champion
1988 Diet Coke 50
1988 Rebel Dirt Track Champion
1990 Southern All Star Champion
2000 James King Memorial Champion – Columbus, MS
2004 Talladega Short Track’s Annual Triple 20’s Feature winning 2 out of 3 events
2004 Birmingham International Raceways Southern All Star Summer Tour Winner
2008 Keith Hayes Tribute Winner

aDP Racers Rivets

All too often, fasteners are overlooked. They are not covered in the media the way that engine or suspension components are, and they rarely receive as much attention as your common rubber or cork gasket. According to Carroll Smith, Team Manager of Carroll Shelby’s Ford GT40 Le Mans project, “There are only two basic structural groups: threaded fasteners and rivets.” Smith understood the value of good fasteners in building winning race cars. In addition to his very popular books Tune to Win, Drive to Win, Prepare to Win and Engineer to Win, he authored what is perhaps the greatest book ever written on race car fasteners, Carroll Smith’s Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook. Rivets played an enormous role in the success that Carroll Smith had on the track, and he devoted chapters to the selection and use of rivets.

Blind rivets were introduced into the marketplace in the mid-1930’s and over time they have become the unsung heroes of fasteners. Different metals have been used in their construction, but the design has stayed remarkably the same for almost 70 years. We have become so accustomed to seeing the same thing done the same way for so long, that when something new comes along it is often slow to gain widespread acceptance. We’re going to take a good hard look at blind rivets and examine how one company has used modern engineering to advance their technology. 

aDP Rivet is changing the way race car builders choose rivets when constructing their race cars.

How Much Value does a Rivet Really Have?
Winning races and Championships does not happen by accident. If you value winning, and winning a lot, then rivets become quite important. “The season’s race championship can rely on just one fastener doing its job,” wrote Smith. “If that fastener shears or loosens, the whole race can be lost – not to mention valuable machinery and perhaps even lives.”

Rivets that failed on our project car within three races. Common failure areas like popped rivet heads and elongated holes with the rivet tails pulling through are shown here.

If you think that it’s a stretch to say that rivets can cost a life, let’s consider where rivets are used. With racing’s emphasis on safety, manufacturers of safety devices have been working steadily to improve the quality of their products and the components used in the assembly of these devices. 

HANS and Hutchens Devices use helmet hooks anchored to the helmets by rivets, enabling the devices to work properly. Randy LaJoie’s company, The Joie of Seating, has been very selective in choosing the materials used in manufacturing their high-end racing seats. As a testament to the high quality products that aDP manufactures, they have been selected as the official rivet supplier for The Joie of Seating. Discussing the choice, LaJoie explained that aDP manufactures, “a safer rivet, that works better than the rest.” 

So, to answer the question of how much value a rivet really has, we can say this: If you like winning races and Championships and if you want to live to be an old racer, rivets are extremely valuable.

Blind Rivets pulling through the car's skin.

Anatomy of a Rivet
An open end blind rivet consists of two basic parts: the rivet body and the setting mandrel (often called “the nail”). The rivet body is essentially a hollow tube shank with a head on the top, providing the seat or seal to the material being joined. The shape of the mandrel directly affects the way the rivet is pulled, as well as its gripping power. 

We’ve all seen what happens when a fabricator chooses a rivet that is way too long for the application. This results in the tail of the rivet looking like a poorly stuffed sausage – and that just covers the aesthetics. Needless to say, the gripping strength around the fastener is not evenly distributed when the rivet is too long, resulting in poorly joined metal. 

Types of Rivets
The blind rivets most commonly used in race car fabrication can be separated into two categories: open end and closed end rivets. The primary difference between the two is that the closed end blind rivet is closed on the tail end of the rivet and has a larger expansion area to prevent leakage of liquids or vapors. Otherwise, both types of rivets have the same advantages.

Open end blind rivets. A multi-groove rivet on the top and a regular blind rivet is on the bottom.

Open End Rivets
Strong, low cost
Variety of metals and sizes
Ideal for most applications
Several options in head styles (Domed, Large, Flanged, Countersunk)

Closed End Blind Rivet.

Closed End Rivets
Full Mandrel retention
Strength
Prevents leaks of liquid and vapors
Expansive capability for strong joints

Open End Rivets and Specialty Rivets
Open end blind rivets are the type most commonly used in race car fabrication, but they are not all the same. Our favorite rivet from aDP incorporates a couple of features that are “extras” in other brands, but are standard in aDP’s Ultimate Rivet line. When you look at the working end of the aDP Ultimate Rivet, you can see that the nail is shaped like a diamond. There are product lines in other rivet brands that feature this engineering (commonly referred to as “Easy-Entry” rivets), and feature all of the same characteristics as open end rivets, but they incorporate a cone shape on the nail for faster installation. aDP has incorporated this as a routine feature in their Ultimate Rivet line. aDP’s rivets also include a broad shoulder on the other side of the cone that helps the rivet “set” into the holes of the material. This expansion ensures that the rivet will have a stronger grip, thereby making a stronger joint between the two pieces being riveted together. 

Tri-Fold Blind Rivet.

Another element that comes standard on all aDP Ultimate Rivets is the “Multi-Grip” feature. The grooves in the tubular body of the rivet serve to optimize the clamp-up force of the rivet as it is being pulled by the rivet gun. The expansive properties of the Ultimate Rivet accommodate oversized or irregular holes in the metal. The Ultimate Rivet’s ability to easily fill oversized or elongated holes with more strength than regular rivets makes it a one-man show. The aDP Ultimate Rivet literally does the job of three other specialty rivets, and does it better in each specific area than specialty rivets that have been designed for a certain singular task. A race car builder can reduce his rivet inventory by 75% simply by using aDP’s Ultimate Rivets for every rivet application. 

Tri-fold rivet on the left and aDP's Ultimate Rivet on the right. Clearly, the Ultimate Rivet has a contact area over 360 degrees, where the tri-fold rivet only makes contact in three places.

Comparing Specialty Rivets to aDP’s Ultimate Rivet
We wanted to test the ability of aDP’s Ultimate Rivets against rivets that were “purpose-built,” so we collected some of the most popular brands of specialty rivets as well as a couple of regular blind rivets, for our somewhat less-than-scientific testing. There are set ISO standards in testing blind rivets, however access to that equipment is limited and very expensive. So, we chose to put the rivets through a more real-world testing procedure. We intended to use them as we would in normal situations and evaluate them based on their own merit. 

Installing a popular brand blind rivet in an oversized hole.

We drilled two holes in a piece of flat aluminum. Using two rivets, one aDP Ultimate Rivet and a rivet from a popular manufacturer, we drilled two 0.250″ holes in the flat plate. The tube body of the rivets both measured 0.188 on our digital caliper, so we were measuring apples to apples. Using a battery-operated rivet tool, we installed the popular brand rivet into the oversized hole first. After the mandrel snapped, the rivet fell out of the oversized hole (as expected). Honestly, we had expected both rivets to fail this test. A realistic oversized hole would have been 3/8 of an inch, not 1/4 of an inch. To our amazement, the aDP Ultimate Rivet expanded and gripped the aluminum plate. We attempted to check the gripping power by grabbing the tail of the rivet with channel locks and turning the rivet radially in the hole. No dice. The rivet did what it was supposed to do in a significantly oversized hole.

The popular brand blind rivet fails to work in an oversized hole with a back-up washer. The aDP Ultimate rivet held firm.

Test #2: Measuring the aDP Ultimate Rivet against the Tri-fold Rivet
We left the aDP Ultimate Rivet in the oversized hole and installed a Tri-fold Rivet into the other oversized hole. The Tri-Fold rivet works like a drywall anchor screw – the body of the rivet compresses and forces three legs out, providing the gripping area on the tail-end side of the rivet. This seemed to work, as the other manufacturer’s rivet stayed in place, but it was evident that the rivet body did not expand to fill the hole. There was noticeable space around the body of the rivet and the edge of the hole. It was also clearly visible that the only gripping power from this rivet consisted of the three areas where the “legs” of the rivet splayed out enough to contact the sheet of aluminum. Once again we used a pair of channel locks to check the clamping power of the rivet in the oversized hole. The Tri-Fold rivet did not meet our expectations for what a good, tight joint should be. 


We did a little research into the Tri-Fold or “Exploding” type of rivets and found that they can be useful in the applications that they were originally designed for. Tri-Fold rivets were designed to be used in softer materials because they will not crack the piece that you are working on. That’s perfect for plastics or carbon fiber but in our opinion, it doesn’t work well for structural body panels. It should come as no surprise that a rivet designed for use in softer materials would not have as much expansive properties as a rivet designed for gripping metal.

The Tri-Fold rivet was able to grip in an oversize hole, but was only clamping in three spots. The aDP Ultimate Rivet gripped completely.

Test #3: General Appearance
With sponsorship money for racing getting tighter, racers have become even more conscientious about making their cars look as good as they possibly can. Even dirt track racers at the grassroots level have taken the appearance of their cars to the next level. Because rivets are such a noticeable part of a race car’s body, selecting the proper rivet is crucial – not only for function, but also for appearance. In researching rivets for this article, we called National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Barry Wright of Barry Wright Race Cars and asked him which rivets he uses. Wright told us that he uses aDP Ultimate Rivets because, “they clamp hard and the paint stays on the painted rivets. They are priced right, and they look better on the back side. To me, they just have a neater, cleaner look on the back side.”

We checked out what Wright told us, and took a closer look at the tail of the installed rivets. The conventional blind rivets had tails that looked uneven and curved in all different directions. The Tri-Fold rivets had three legs that stuck out, exposing sharp edges that looked like they would do some damage to bare skin if you were trying to remove panels quickly or even clean them. aDP’s Ultimate Rivets were pulled into a compact tail, almost resembling a ball. Wright was correct – aDP rivets have a neat, clean appearance, even on the back side of the joint. 

The head side of the rivets look similar, but the back side tells a different story.

Test #4: Cost
Performance is a great thing, but most of us can’t afford to pay Ferrari prices for Ferrari performance. We’re looking for the best value we can get. The absolute last thing that anyone wants to do is pay for a name brand product when it isn’t the best product on the market. We did some checking around, and our unofficial price comparison showed that aDP’s rivets cost less than the Tri-Fold rivets, and cost slightly more than conventional rivets that are manufactured overseas. aDP’s products are manufactured entirely in the USA, so you can also rest assured when you buy their products that you are putting money directly into the pockets of American workers. 

Economically, aDP’s rivets make more sense. Cost vs. performance is a no brainer. aDP’s Ultimate Rivet offers the best buy for race car fabrication.

Results
Our unscientific research was telling in its own right, but we wanted to back it up with some real measurable data. Using our own measuring technique, we compared a top selling brand’s Tri-Fold (exploding) rivet against the Long Ultimate Rivet, Extra Long Ultimate Rivet and the Extra, Extra Long Ultimate Rivets from aDP. Here are the results:

Tri-Fold Rivet: Sheared at an average 421 lbs of pressure.
aDP Long Ultimate Rivet: Sheared at an average 948 lbs of pressure.
aDP Extra Long Ultimate Rivet: Sheared at an average 948 lbs of pressure.
aDP Extra, Extra Long Ultimate Rivet: Sheared at an average 1322 lbs of pressure. 

Open end blind rivets are all designed to do the same job, but they don't all do it equally as well.

Conclusion
Testing indicated that aDP’s Ultimate Rivets provided more than double the clamping power of the popular Tri-Fold rivet and cost less. Based on testing and professional evaluation from Hall of Fame chassis builder Barry Wright and Craftsman Gold Wrench Award Winner Gary Oliver, as well as professional endorsement from Randy LaJoie, we have to give two thumb’s up to aDP Rivet for changing the way that rivets are made. Armed with the knowledge of what rivets can do, we expect nothing less than aDP Ultimate rivet quality now.

For more information about blind rivet comparisons, click here.

For more information about other products offered by aDP, click here.

I want to start off on a personal note by saying how excited I am that as of today, my summer physiology class is finally over! It was sixteen weeks of physio smashed into six killer weeks of class. I officially have all my classes done for my associate’s degree and am well on my way to my bachelor’s. Halfway there! It’s one of those milestones and I wanted to share that moment with everyone.

My Day at the Race Track
I have decided to talk about my day at the racetrack in this blog. Previously, I talked about how we get the car ready for a race, so now I am going to talk about what actually goes on at the racetrack and during a race. 

I guess I should start by saying that I absolutely love being at racetracks. I obviously prefer dirt tracks, but it could be anything from a dirt bike race to an NHRA race. If I’m there, I am a happy camper. Just being at a racetrack makes me really, really happy, especially if I am racing. This is probably one of the reasons I have been racing for the last nine years of my life. When I go to sleep on a Friday night, I can’t wait to get up the next morning because I know that Saturday usually means racing. 

When Saturday morning rolls around I usually wake up a little cranky, which is normal, but then I remember I am racing and my whole persona changes. I try to eat a good breakfast because I know that once I get to the track I won’t each much. Luckily the main track I run at is only about fifteen minutes from my house, so we are not in too big of a hurry to get everything ready. The car is usually already loaded up, but we have to do the simple things like load the tires or get ice and stuff like that. 

When I am on Seventh Street and we are turning to go to the entrance of the track, my stomach starts feeling kind of funny. It’s not really a nervous feeling, but more of an anxious feeling. Then my heart starts beating really fast. This happens to me every single time I go to a racetrack to race. 

Heidi will race anything from Carts to Dragsters. Here she's taking the Molecule cart out for a run.

The More, The Merrier
We usually pit next to Cadillac Cody Williams and his gang. Once we unload my car, I always glance around to see how many other sprint cars are there – the more, the better. Like everyone else there, we usually sit around in the scorching heat from the high desert sun for what seems like forever. I go to the driver’s meeting and listen to the same speech that is given every single time, but you’ve gotta love it. 

Something that you might not know about me is that I am a very analytical person. During the driver’s meeting I usually just stand there and look at every person from one end of the circle to the other and analyze him or her. That probably sounds really weird, but I just do it for some unknown reason. Now some people will probably be all freaked out at the next race wondering if I am staring at them. Haha. 

The more sprint cars that show up, the more Heidi likes it.

Throwing Mud
After the driver’s meeting, I get changed and ready for mud packing. I always love to wheel pack. I think it’s so much fun to just throw dirt around everywhere. But I don’t like it when someone cuts in front of me and slams their gas pedal down and throws twenty pound of mud in my face. But hey, it happens. 

I do hot laps next. I have always really held back in hot laps since I am afraid to ruin my car for racing. I recently decided not to do that anymore. I try to get a feel for my car during this session to see if any adjustments need to be made. As soon as I get back in the pits and out of my car, I always talk to my crew chief Don about how the car felt. We make any necessary adjustments like tire pressures, shocks, turns in or out of the car, putting fuel in, stagger, and things like that. My main job is to get my helmet ready and just make clear what I want out of the car or any changes that I want done. 

Talking it over with the crew.

Hurry up and Wait
So now I have the heat race. I get so bored when I am sitting in line, waiting to get pushed off. It’s funny how we have to hurry up and get to staging and then we sit there for what feels like forever. 

Right before I go out I tug one last time on my seatbelts, put the car in gear, and get ready to be pushed. As some of you have probably noticed, it usually takes about two or three times to get my car started at the beginning. This is really annoying, but by the heat race it usually starts up pretty quickly. 

A lot of things are going through my mind while going around on the yellow. I will use my last heat race as an example. I started on the pole, so I could basically do whatever I wanted and didn’t have to worry about lining up in the right position, but I was always looking at the track. I tried to find where the cushion was, if there was one at all, where the dry spots were, where the moisture was, and where the holes were. While I am actually racing, this can get hard for me. That’s why sometimes after a race people will ask, “Heidi, why didn’t you go here or there?,” and usually all I say is, “Well, I didn’t know.” 

I know that finding a good and fast line during a race while the track is changing will come with more experience. The better drivers know exactly where to go to make them get around the track as fast as possible. 

There is always the lap before the green that seems to take forever. I got to set the pace in my last heat and took off coming around turn four. That was one of the better heats I have had in a while. We are finally discovering some problems that have been occurring in my fuel system. But during that heat, I was trying to drive like someone was right behind me getting ready to pass me. When the white flag dropped, I don’t think I breathed again until I passed the checkered flag. When I get in from the heat race, once again I talk about how the car felt. 

Meeting the fans.

The Main Event
We keep an eye on the track until the main event. When the main event comes around and I line up, I always get that same feeling that I talked about when I arrive at the track. I think that is called adrenaline… Anyways, being on a racetrack with twenty other sprint cars is an amazing feeling. There is really nothing else like it. I can feel the horsepower around me and adrenaline rushing through my veins. 

When the green flag drops, there is sheer chaos around me. Mud is flying in my face and I drive into turn one with cars only inches away from me. In the last main event my car went straight for the wall coming out of turn two, I think it was. I overcorrected and almost took myself out, along with a few other cars. It cost me a few positions. But things usually start calming down after the first few laps. 

I hate getting passed. When someone passes me I get really mad. I start getting tired before long, but the working out I have been doing is helping a lot. Sometimes we have reds and yellows and it is a nice little break for me, it lets me rest and really think about what places on the track were good or bad for my car. 

Learning physical fitness routines at the Lyn St. James Academy.

Back to the Pits
I go back to my pits once the main event is over. I either have a happy bunch waiting for me or a not so happy bunch. Hopefully it is not the latter. We talk about the mistakes I made and what adjustments I could have made on the track to be faster. They also tell me the good things I did. 

This is when I am super hyped up. I can either be talking about a mile a minute or I can be crying. I don’t really consider myself a baby, but if I am mad at myself, I will cry. Either way, it’s all good and we just relax the rest of the night. 

During the last race I talked to three young girls who were all about eleven years old, and they want to race sprint cars. That made me happy. I was their age when I started racing. I told them all the same thing: racing takes a lot of dedication, but if you love it enough, it’s all worth it. As a female racer I know I get a lot of attention, but racing can get tough. 

Let me start by saying this, going through school none of my friends ever cared about my races. I had one friend named Leah that went, but I think she might have gone for the guys. Maybe not, I don’t know, but she did support me. As a female, I will never have the muscle mass a male has. I also have to learn how to deal with my emotions. And let me tell you, they can get out of control. These are just a few of the things that can make it tough, but gosh it is so worth it. 

Heidi and Hannah Blalock.

Girl Power
I want to add that I am really proud of Hannah Blalock! She is doing a great job in her speedway sprint. Guys, there are a lot more young ladies coming in racing. 

Now, for young kids – male and female – there are a few things I want to pass on that I have learned through the Lyn St. James Academy and just from my own personal racing experience. 

First – Stay in shape. There’s nothing worse than being passed because your arms are tired. 

Second – Be professional. Yeah, so maybe I wear Daisy Dukes at the racetrack, but for the most part I am professional, especially for sponsors. 

Third – You cannot alter your perception of a race according to results. A lot of things can go wrong, and when (not if) they do, you’d better be ready to move on – even if it seems like a whole season goes badly. 

Heidi with racing legend Lyn St. James.

One last word of advice that I have experienced first hand – have a backup plan! If you don’t end up using it, oh well, nothing lost. If you were to ask me when I was thirteen what I was going to be doing in the next ten years, I would have told you that I was going to be racing in NASCAR and completely believed it. I am really glad I was like that, but I am also glad that when the time came, I had a backup plan. I am personally going to school to be a nurse, but a backup plan doesn’t even have to be school. 

The only reason I mention this is because I had a very knowledgeable and well-known racer tell me that I needed to quit school and just race. Well that would have been a great idea….if I had money to race all the time. If I had listened to that person, I would be a pretty bored girl right now. I think there is a fine line you need to recognize between having ambition and setting realistic goals. Some people might completely disagree with me and say if you want it badly enough you’ll get it, but whatever. I guess the harder you try, the better your chances are of making it in the world of racing. And I think this is where I will end this blog. 

Driving a Late Model at Medera.

Wait! One more thing! I want to give a special thank you to a special couple, Doug and Hershey Childs. Doug has been like a second dad to me. He can always make me laugh and knows how to cheer me up. By the way, he makes amazing stickers (he is going to kill me for saying that…he is so swamped already!). Hopefully he can start making it to more races. Well, that’s a wrap for now!

The good old days.

Technology is changing everyday, and I’m not always comfortable with the velocity of that change. I’m not even sure if things change for the better. Take writing for example. I’m in front of a little bitty screen on a Mac Book laptop. This thing is no bigger than a paper notebook. And quiet – I can’t hear the keys being punched! 

While I am by no means a hundred a word per minute typist, I can cook along pretty good for a guy that once used a early 60’s Royal Manual Typewriter. I liked the noise that my Royal made when I punched down on the keys. And when it got to the end of the carriage and let you know with a distinctive “ding” of the bell that was internal in the machine. I’d reach up and smack the carriage lever hard enough to send the carriage all the way back to the left side of the typewriter and move the paper one line down so I could start the next sentence.

Royal typewriter. The real man's way of putting words on paper.

Those machines printed directly to paper and you could see it while it was happening. No waiting for a printer to decide if it was going to print your file that you sent to it electronically or if your file was just going to end up in what our younger generation calls a “queue”. That is, unless the “queue” is full, and your file just floats along in cyberspace somewhere (The pencil-necked turbo geek computer guys can’t tell me where it goes, it’s just gone).

So I believe we can agree that some things were pretty comfortable in the olden days. 

What brings me to complain about “change” today is…….Valve seat grinding. I’ve been to several machine shops in the area, and I can tell you with 100% certainty, there is no grinding anymore in valve seat grinding. Today’s machinists are using a mill that tilts all kinds of ways and directions. On the head of this mill is a compact little cutting tool that cuts three valve angles at the same time. Notice I said “cuts” and not “grinds”. 

This appears to be the Industry standard in valve seat machining these days.

A modern valve seat cutting machine.

Let me share with you how we did it in the old days, and how I still do it in my garage at home with my antiquated old tools that may someday find their way into the onedirt.com museum. The Art of Valve Seat Grinding (the manly way).

An old man's set of cylinder head tools.

My valve grinding tools includes a couple drivers that aren’t made anymore, a very old but gently used Sioux valve seat grinder driver, and a slightly used Blue point valve seat grinder driver – all used by a little old man on Sundays. Neither of which I would part with. Along with the drivers, I have a collection of grinding stones in all kinds of colors and sizes. The color of the stone means everything when you’re getting ready to grind. Pick the wrong stone and really bad things happen. Other necessary tools in my valve seat tool box is an assortment of pilots for guiding the grinding stones in the seats, stone holders for mounting and holding the grinding stones and most importantly, a stone dressing tool.

A huge assortment of grinding stones is necessary.

All of the work that I do is on SBC heads, and only certain ones. The “smog” heads just aren’t worth my time as they aren’t very good horsepower heads without a lot of work. For the selected Chevy heads that I use, a set of three stones are needed. The first stone is dressed out to a 45 degree angle and is the primary valve seat. The second grind is done with a stone that is dressed out at a 60 degree angle and is performed to narrow the seat from the bottom. The final grind is made with a 30 degree stone to narrow the seat from the top.

Getting the seat to the proper width is important, and this is where the finesse of a valve seat grinder comes in handy. Air flow and heat transfer can be controlled by manipulating seat width. Through trial and error (many errors and ruined heads) I have found what works for me. That is where the art is in valve seat grinding.

Dressing a stone for use.

To do the grinding cuts, the first step is to dress the stone. You can never do this often enough. Dressing the stone keeps the correct angle on the surface and provides a consistent valve seat surface. Once I have the stone dressed properly, a guide is inserted into the valve guide and the stone and holder is placed over the guide. The driver can be inserted into the holder and with great care, the grinding cut is performed.

The guide is inserted into the valve guide.

The stone and holder are placed on the guide.

Once the first cut is made, the second stone is dressed and the same procedure is followed making the second grinding cut. Finally, the third stone is dressed and used to make the third and final cut. 

Grinding the valve seat with the driver.

Obviously there is a lot more to the process than what I have outlined here, but you get the point; Valve grinding offers a great deal of control in contouring your valve seats. It’s an art form and most certainly, the manly way to cut valve seats.

Grinding is the manly way to cut valve seats.

One last word. There is a common line of thinking now that says you don’t have to lap the valves when the seats are cut by one of these newfangled machines. Nonsense. Lapping your valves ensures a good seal from the very first rotation of the engine.

Sometimes the old school way suits me just fine. Yeah, I know. It takes longer to do these tasks the old way. 

I’ll just have to settle for taking longer to get to perfection than not getting there at all.

Torres Machining and Performance Shop in Temecula, California.

We’ve got lots of projects going on in the garage, and there always seems to be a need for a good machine shop. Our SportMod race car and the MaddMaxx Street Stock Dirt track racer will be needing some serious engine overhaul work real soon. The season starts in about a month, and we need to get in gear and get these cars done. And soon!

We have a couple machine shops that we have been using locally, and we’ve seen a couple new ones that have moved into the area. Each one seems to be a little different. So the question begs to be asked: What do you look for in a good machine shop? We’ll try to shed a little light on what we think makes a good machine shop, so that next time you are hunting for the right place to get your block bored, you’ll have a better idea on how to choose the shop. Today we are checking out a shop that opened less than a month ago, right around the corner to our garage. Joe Torres of Torres Performance & Machining in Murrieta, CA, was kind enough to talk to us about machine shops and what to look for.

Clean and Professional looking
A shop that is clean will have machinery that is clean also. Clean tools do their jobs better. A cutter that is filled with metal filings is not going to cut as well as a clean one. A degreasing tank that is filled with old rancid cleaning fluid is not going to clean your parts as well. It’s just that simple. Ask to look around. Look at the tools to see if they are broken and chipped. Check the floors and see if they have small screws and washers laying around. Is there a cup of coffee on the shelf above the engine rebuilding stand? Remember that dirt is an engine’s worst enemy. A dirty shop is a big warning sign.

Clean equipment and floors. Well maintained equipment works better than misused equipment

Scheduling and Communication
Spend some time talking with the shop operator. It will become apparent very quickly if the operator is just pushing parts through or is really applying professional machining techniques in every job. Ask how long the job will take and what is involved. If the operator is not willing to discuss the process with you, that is a clear indication that the shop does not have very good communications. Would you be able to rely on them to contact you when the job doesn’t go as planned? The goal here is to find a machine shop that is fast without sacrificing quality. This is another area where an early warning sign can prevent a lot of headache.

Talk to the operator. Get a feel for his experience and knowledge

 Knowledge
Check the credentials of the machine shop operator. Ask if he is certified or been through training. Talk about your parts and the task to be completed. You’ll know if you’re getting the smoke and mirrors trick or if the guy knows what he is talking about. This could be another red flag warning; If it feels wrong, don’t do it. Go with your gut instinct and find another shop.

The "Clean Room" where engines are reassembled. There should be a separate area for engine disassembly.

Equipment 
Check the machining equipment. Equipment that was made in the 1940’s was great for the cars before World War II but not for today’s automobiles. The tolerances of today’s engines are closer than they were, and the equipment used to machine these parts needs to be current. Look at the equipment to see if it is properly maintained. Machines with worn belts, frayed electrical lines, rusted or otherwise abused, are not going to do the job as good as a well maintained machine, no matter what the skill level of the operator. Worn Equipment is a BIG RED FLAG.

The "Dirty Area" where engine disassembly and grinding takes place.

Reputation
Ask around. Find out where people that you know take their parts to be machined. Look online for any shop in the area that have reviews written about them. Check the better business bureau for any complaints. Machine shops live off of their reputations, and happy customers claim a good machine shop as their own. If the shop has built a level of trust and respect with people that you know, chances are you will be pleased with their work.

The working area where parts are cleaned.

Affordable
Check the pricing for the work and do some comparison shopping. Inexpensive is ok, cheap is not. Much like many things in life, you get what you pay for. The better machine shops will not be the cheapest in town. Be prepared to pay for good service, and if you have followed the guidelines above, you should not get taken. 

Once you have found a good machine shop, be a good customer. Pay on time, tell other people about their services, and treat the operator as a respected friend. Good machine shop operators are worth the trouble finding them, and worth your time to keep them.

The shop ride was in bad need of some new tires.

Energy Suspension came through again and hooked us up with the perfect shop dawg gift. New high performance tires for our shop vehicle. We’ve been watching the project cars get upgraded with all these high performance tires from Mickey Thompson, Nitto and Cooper. Now the shop dawgs have some meats for our ride.

We have been talking about having creeper races next time the boss is gone, so “souping up” the creepers has been something that has crossed our minds lately. Out of nowhere, Energy Suspension sent over a set of High performance creeper wheels and the hot roddin’ of the creepers began. Our creepers are the professional grade Cornwell tools creepers, so they are no slouch to begin with. The Ferrari of creepers in our opinion. 

Removing the very functional but stock tires.

Like any professional grade tool, the Cornwell creeper is purpose built and durable, but Like everything else in the powerTV garage on wheels, we just had the burning desire to tweek it up a notch. Removing the old wheels was a little more difficult than we originally thought. Cornwelluses a rivet to retain the wheels and act as an axle at the same time. This rivet has the tensile strength about the hardness of the back of Superman’s head. 

The infamous Superman rivet.

With the head drilled off of the rivet, it’s simply a matter of pulling the rivet out and the wheel comes off cleanly. Keep in mind that a creeper has six wheels, so you have to deal with the Superman rivet six times. Installation of the High Performance Energy Suspension wheels is a snap. The wheels are retained by two machine screws, one on each side of the wheel.

Installing our High Performance Creeper tires from Energy Suspension

Once we got all six tires replaced, we made time for the obligatory “beauty” shots of our newest upgrade. 

Beauty shots of our upgrade.

Once the photography session was over, we put our upgraded creeper to the test. We picked up .5 second at the 6 foot line and a full second in the 12 foot track (until we hit the garage door and experienced sudden stoppage). The next test session included a road course that was marked with jackstands. We experienced a significant improvement in handling, which is a big deal when you are trying to navigate a course while laying on your back and propelling yourself with your legs pushing the floor like a spider. Every tester checked the improved ride quality box on their test forms.

More beauty shots of our "souped up" creeper

The final round of testing was a functional test involving rolling across the floor with obstacles like electrical cords and welding rods. We found the Energy Suspension high performance tire to be 50% more capable at surmounting these obstacles than stock tires (+/-10% testing error rate). After we complied the data from the powerTV testers, the final results indicate that the upgraded creeper was better in straight line, road course and off road surfaces than a stock garage creeper. It didn’t hurt that we started out with a quality Cornwell creeper and upgraded the tires to the high performance HyperFlex tires from Energy Suspension.