As hard-chrome plating has fallen out of favor, hydraulic-cylinder manufacturers have developed alternative coatings and platings. Here is how they affect seal performance and life. • Hard-chrome ...

When Westech Automotive's Norm Brandes inspected J.B. Bracken's 1935 Ford Rat Rod truck (July 2017 print edition), it couldn't do a burnout and ran poorly at idle and under cruise—despite an ...

A piston is anything but a slug. It's asked to withstand the cylinder pressures generated by 200,000,000 power strokes (in its 100,000-mile lifetime), slide in bores with a minimal amount of ...

The internal combustion engine has been around for a long time. Just when it seems like every part that could be optimized or improved upon has been already, something new comes out. This latest ...

According to leading industry sources listed in ManufacturingTalk.com, friction welding has become widely accepted as a competitive and effective process and a valid, proven alternative to complex ...

When you consider the crazy monkey motion of reciprocating internal combustion engines it is remarkable they work as well as they do. You have eight pistons and connecting rods doing a “do-si-do” ...

Ferrari submitted a patent for a super interesting engine anatomy comprised of pill-shaped pistons and two connecting rods joined into one. First, let’s observe a traditional piston and cylinder. The ...

Since Michigan has a stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus, I've been partaking in what I am now officially dubbing Wrenchfest 2020—an all-out repair assault on my various broken cars. Last ...

Ferrari has filed a patent for an engine with oval-shaped pistons. The design shortens powertrain length without losing capacity. Honda unsuccessfully tried oval pistons in its racing motorcycles. If ...