ISSUE 014 race engine TECHNOLOGY MAY 2006
EVERNHAM DODGE • PENSKE-JASPER • LE MANS • ANTI-LAG • VALVES • WISECO • HASSELGREN FORD • PRO STOCK • YAMAHA THROTTLE • BURNS STAINLESS • KART CHEAT
issue
MAY 2006
USA $15, UK £10, EUROPE e15
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Race Engine Technology issue 014 : MAY 2006
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EXPO : FOCUS VALVES JOHN JUDD JUNIOR THE COMMUNICATIONS HUB OF THE RACING POWERTRAIN WORLD
“We played with some Titanium-aluminide valves many years ago, we are not doing anything with it currently”
to be supplanted by Ti 200, which has very high strength and was specifically developed for racing applications. Trip Manley of Manley Performance based in Lakewood, New Jersey
GASOLINE’S LAST STAND? Judd and co face Audi Le Mans diesel
DODGE NASCAR INSIGHT Inside Evernham and Penske
NHRA PRO STOCK IN 2006 All the engine players
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Valves.indd 38-39 4/10/10 23:33:32
Poppet advances
At the last PRI Show Anne Proffit canvassed the opinions of key American manufacturers on the state of racing poppet valve technology
R
acing valves have been on a diet over the past two decades, helped along by the appearance of titanium material that has become less expensive and easier to use than stainless steel. Steel hasn’t given up the ghost,
however; it is still used in particular by engine builders who want to ease supercharged exhaust heat buildup using “super alloys” that contain as much as 30 percent nickel content. Even so, there is still a weight penalty over titanium, making titanium today’s material of choice for valve constructors within the American racing industry. Heat treatments for exhaust valves in Ti 843 and Ti 1100 that came to market in the waning days of the prior century give these products the ability to last longer and work harder at higher temperatures. The older Ti 6246 material widely used in intake valves is ready
• ProFiLe:
evernHAM cuP DoDge An in-depth analysis of the newest NASCAR pushrod V8 featuring the company that has spearheaded its development
• insigHt: A1 tecHnoLogies How the vital fasteners that connect the Evernham Dodge V8’s heads and main bearing caps to its block are made
• Preview: Le MAns 2006 New technology from the key component suppliers to the powertrain specialists contesting the 24 Hour classic
• insiDe storY:
Burns stAinLess The Californian exhaust manufacturer discusses its approach to design and fabrication
allows that his company uses “a host of alloys and heat-treat processes between our intake and exhaust valves with the common alloy of 21- 4N stainless steel. We also utilize high nickel based super alloys such as Nimonic and Inconel.” Added processes and special alloys the company might apply are confidential. In addition to using Ti 6242, Manley Performance has another titanium that it has named “HT”, which, it states, offers superior mechanical properties and a higher hardness than Ti 6242. While the company “played with some Titanium-aluminide valves many years ago, we are not doing anything with it currently,” preferring to use other avenues to gain hardness and reduce weight. Manley Performance is revisiting the production of hollow stainless
valves after not using that approach for a number of years. It has a hollow steel and hollow titanium program “that we are developing right now.” Manley stays away from sodium filled parts but uses a moly coating for the valve stem. “We have investigated other options such as DLC,” reports Manley. The company’s new Gen 2 stainless steel valve program combines the lightweight advantages of hollow valve technology with Manley’s flexible “blank” program. That allows customers to get “custom” hollow valves made to their specification with, according to Trip Manley, “a short turnaround time.” This technology is applicable worldwide for any valve that has a 11/32” or 5/16” stem size. Based in Holt, Michigan, Stealth Engineering’s performance parts manufacturing facility produces only titanium valves, utilizing Ti 110, Ti
6242.Si and Ti 6246 materials. The choice of material is based on the application, according to Bob Ucman, performance division manager.
Ucman reports that his company offers
hollow stem sizes down to 6mm. The way it manufactures them the cavity is formed in a vacuum so Stealth Engineering does not use sodium in its products. The company’s hollowing process is proprietary. Ucman will admit “the valve has a radiused channel on the tip end of different optional diameters. This can be done to tipped
or non-tipped valves.” Stealth forges its valve heads for added strength and thermal welds the stems to the head to create a rough blank for production. “There are five blanks that make all of our valves,” Ucman said. He reports that Stealth Engineering coats stems with a plasma-applied nickel/ chrome/moly-based covering. It can also apply chromium nitride and titanium aluminum nitride by physical vapor deposition. While Stealth Engineering has experimented with titanium aluminide in the past: “It is very difficult to work with and, in a nut shell does not work for the application of titanium valves. The material is not ductile enough to work in a valve,” is Ucman’s opinion. The next step from Stealth Engineering is Micro PVD. “This is a new process that eliminates the need for undercutting of
the valve stem and the plasma spray stem coatings. The valve surfaces are super finished to remove stress risers and create a high gloss surface finish,” Ucman explained. “These valves have a PVD coating that protects the surfaces at temperatures up to 1650 Fahrenheit.” Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s Ferrea Racing Components understands that material choice is critical to valve performance. “The extreme variation of temperature experienced by a valve between the combustion chamber (in excess of 1600 degrees Fahrenheit) and the intake manifold area (down to minus 25) can cause thermal fatigue,” noted Daniel “DJ” Urrutia, Jr., mechanical engineer. By using materials that resist such drastic thermal-loading
variations, Ferrea boasts that its valves have extended life. The alloys in question are blends made specifically for a particular racing application and details are subject to confidentiality. Ferrea’s makes many intake
valves from steel and stainless steel alloys. The latter, used primarily in its racing applications contains chromium, nickel and tungsten, giving high tensile strength, high rigidity and good thermal resistance. On the valve stem surface the company uses a hard chrome coating ranging four to
TRIP MANLEY of Manley Performance Products, Inc, Lakewood New Jersey. Manley’s valve products are for street, stock, severe and extreme duty engines and the company reports that it has products for every type of racing. Its catalog has an emphasis on stainless steel productions but Manley is involved in development of all types of valve.
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014 contents • insiDe storY:
PensKe-JAsPer engines We visit another ‘shop that prepares Dodge engines for NASCAR Cup racing to compare its approach to development
• insiDe storY: wiseco We discover why the Cleveland-area piston maker’s advanced forging technology is exploited by Formula One teams
• ProFiLe: HAsseLgren ForD How the Californian engine builder made a fully electronic version of the Small Block Ford V8
• Focus: vALves Trends in valve technology
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