Warren, MI: Trend Performance has introduced what they believe to be the world’s first self-lubricating 5/16in hard-tip competition pushrods. While their lower ends, those that engage the lifter seats, remain unaltered their upper ends now feature self-lubricating tool steel tips hardened to 60Rc. Both upper and lower 5/16in diameter ball ends are formed with a 210-degree radius at the end of a 1-5/8in taper to provide proper operating clearance around the rockers as well as in the lifters and lifter bores.

Trend’s hard-tip announcement of their latest ball-ball pushrods follows last year’s introduction of their BZ pushrods. By engineering a phosphor-bronze insert in its upper cup, the BZ brought an end to similar galling troubles in ball-cup-style pushrods.

Four valuable tips to improve valve train performance
1. Pushrods set between lifters and rockers with contact surfaces rougher than 1RA expose the pushrod to potential ruinous abrasion. Always inquire about the surface finishes of the parts that operate in conjunction with your pushrods.
2. Pushrod balls bound in tight cups will eventually fail. Always ensure they have sufficient operating clearance.
3. High narrow-seat loadings generated by setting a pushrod in a V-cup compared with the more desirable radius cup further impairs the pushrod’s longevity.
4. Note: Increased rocker ratios and higher engine revs generate greater stress on pushrods. These factors also increase surface speeds on the ball.

At the Lion's Drag Strip near Long Beach, California circa 1966, engine builder 35-year-old Ed Pink is pictured behind driver Tom "Mongoose" McEwen in Don "The Beachcomber" Johnson's dragster. To Ed's left, stand race car owner Jerry Bivens and engineer Douglas Fischer. Young Tom McEwen Jr. completes the picture (pipe smoker unknown).

Ed Pink says:
“We spend more time measuring and checking than we do putting the engine together. With pushrods, checking ball-and-seat dimensions is good working practice. It ensures the clearances are correct and everything fits right. Often we apply some machinist’s bluing on the ball of the pushrod and check its fit to the rocker arm cup. For years, I have used Trend pushrods and piston pins. I know of none that work better.”

For further information contact:
Trend Performance
23444 Schoenherr
Warren, MI 48089
Telephone (586) 447-0400
Email Steve Rhodey: SRhodey@TrendPerform.com
www.trendperform.com

Fort Lauderdale FL: John Rollins (35), a fuel injection and nitrous specialist with almost twenty years experience in the performance industry, joined Wilson Manifolds and Nitrous Pro Flow in April. Having exposure in both sales and in building race and street-strip vehicles, John has tuned and campaigned winning cars from X275 classes to Fun Ford weekend events.

Rollins, a Fort Lauderdale native said, “Wilson Manifolds has such a great brand and a strong reputation among engine builders and race teams. I’m delighted to be here and to bring my knowledge and the customer service skills I’ve acquired. Being a contributing player in the Wilson Team is important to me.”

When you ask Keith Wilson what makes an outstanding fuel injection or nitrous oxide technician, he’ll tell you: “Often there isn’t much to choose between technicians in manual dexterity. What distinguishes a good one is that he knows more than the others.”

Best wishes to John Rollins in his new career at Wilson Manifolds and Nitrous Pro Flow.

Wilson Manifolds
4700 NE 11th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
Telephone (954) 771-6216
Fax (954) 771-3413
www.wilsonmanifolds.com

Diamond has moved their shipping and receiving activities to a new facility. Quickening growth patterns, particularly over the past four years, has left the Michigan firm’s manufacturing division at Diamond Drive, Clinton Township bursting at the seams.

Then they discovered a vacant 22,000sq-ft building within walking distance of the piston plant. By mid-March they had their shipping and receiving operations entirely transferred and their new facility fully functioning. “The relevance of these changes surprised me,” declared company head, Bob Fox, “efficiencies were noticeable by the end of the first month.”

Obviously, the changes have provided increased space for additional new manufacturing and inspection equipment. But above all, it has accommodated an important expansion of the firm’s billet piston division.

Billet pistons-v-forgings: where’s the advantage?
Short interview with piston designer John Kempf:

Q: How do engine builders and racers perceive the difference?
A: “Professional race teams are constantly reviewing dozens of different piston dimensions: domes profiles, crown thicknesses, rib angles, rib and buttress thicknesses, load paths, center of gravity, the ovality and the balance of the piston, and so on. Since these specs differ widely from team to team, billets give us an almost infinite ability to make rapid changes. In the professional arena, billets offer the greater potential.

Q: What separates a leading piston from the rest?
A: “Regardless of whether pistons are formed from forgings or billets, the two key qualities that often separate a top piston maker from its rivals are freedom from cracking and the ability to maintain specific power output. It’s useless if the pistons start the weekend delivering 1480hp and end it with 1430hp. When power outputs diminish, the piston is usually implicated in some way — often induced by lack of structural integrity.”

A further key advantage for Diamond is their ability to produce just one piston when needed. Whether as a billet or a forging, offering single replacement pistons has been a huge convenience to the racer.

Race engine builder Glenn Clements of Clements Automotive in Spartanburg, SC says, “Independence has played a decisive role in the making of Diamond, or for that matter Trend Performance. Those companies belong just to Bob; he built them and they are refreshingly free of meetings and conferences — his conference room is the most unpretentious space you’ve ever seen. No board meetings, no shareholders’ approvals, just instant decisions. And pioneering his one-piston program is a typical example of the way things work at Diamond.”

Youth to the fore:
Yesterday, Sunday April 29, twenty-year old Vincent Nobile won the sixth round of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in Houston, Texas, defeating twenty-nine year old Dave Connolly by 0.0111 seconds (approximately 3 feet). Both engines, built by J&J Racing of Greeneville, Tennessee and Cagnazzi Racing of Mooresville, NC respectively, are powered by Diamond billet pistons.

The use of nitrous oxide as a chemical supercharger has been extremely popular since the 1980s, and each year technological advances make it easier and safer to use. Veteran author Bob McClurg reviews the latest and greatest advancements in today’s engineering and the readily available equipment that allows us to apply liquid power to any engine. His vast experience brings irrefutable authority to the 144 pages of this fascinating book.

McClurg, the Belfast-born American motoring journalist and Editor, first came to prominence in the 1960s, demonstrating his memorable prowess in drag racing photography — his late night fiery images remain indelibly in the memory. A premier enthusiast-book author, “Hilo Bob” who lives in Hawaii, is highly rated by his previous works. These include Diggers, Funnies, Gassers, and Altereds; How to build Supercharged and Turbocharged Small-Block Fords; Fire, Nitro, Rubber, and Smoke; and Yenko: The Man.

The book may be ordered by calling CarTech at 1-800-551-4754 or by visiting www.cartechbooks.com. A $6.95 shipping and handling fee is added to each order.

Bowling Green KY: Earlier this week, on Monday, shipping resumed of the Road Demon 625 carburetors. Next week Road Demon 725 models will be re-launched.

Originally introduced twelve years ago, Road Demons are easily distinguished by their tubular inlet kit, vacuum pod with quick-change spring, and smooth choke tower with electric choke mechanism. Developed for use with camshaft durations of up to 220 degrees @ 0.050in., the Road Demons are popular, entry-level general performance carburetors calibrated for Street Rods and mildly modified street machines.

In April, production of the all-new 625cfm Street Demon begins. The Street Demon, which is engineered for hot rods with stock to mildly modified engines, accommodates either square- or spread-bore pattern intake manifolds. It is the first of its kind from Demon. Probably the two most compelling features of this carburetor are its triple-stack boosters, residing within its 1-3/8in primary throttle bores, and its highly unusual Goggle valve, a secondary throttling device that supplies over twice the air flow of the primaries. The first story to emerge on the Street Demon is an interview with its designer Larry Tipton. This is scheduled to appear in the April issue of MoparMax and should be visible at www.MoparMax.com on Tuesday April 3rd or shortly thereafter.

Finally, Demon 98 main bodies are currently being machined at the factory. Also, work on fuel pump service parts is progressing well. Formerly manufactured and marketed under BG Fuel Systems, the fuel pump service parts will be resurrected and sold under the Demon brand.

For further information contact:
Demon Carburetion
Telephone (270) 438-2039
E-mail Scott Witmer at:
ScottWitmer@DemonCarbs.com  
www.DemonCarbs.com