AR Fabrication Engine development programs have evolved from many years of experience with electronic fuel injected 4, 6, 8 and 10 cylinder racing engines. This knowledge and experience has helped us develop several high quality and reliable high performance engine packages that are street drivable. Over the years we have spent the time to dyno test these packages, which helps take the guesswork out of creating the best combination for your application. Even today, AR Fabrication continues research and development on new and exciting engine packages like the Dodge SRT-8, SRT-10 and VW VR6 engines and more to come. If you do not find what you are looking for in our online store that does not mean we do not have a package for you!
When you decide on an engine package that suits your needs we still develop a one-on-one relationship by listening to your wants and goals which further helps us create the proper engine package for your application. Each engine package may look the same on paper but each is custom tailored to the specific power and usage the engine will be subjected to. This ensures that you get what you are paying for, the first time and that you understand the limitations of your custom built engine.
What sets AR Fabrication apart is our attention to details in our cleaning procedures, equipment and assembly procedures. There are a lot of shops out there with engine packages available that do not even have their own machine shop in-house. We started out that way and learned very quickly that relying on 3rd parties to machine the parts properly and to your specification is a lost cause. Over the years we have developed a standard operating procedure for every one of our disassembly procedure, machining cycles, cleaning processes and assembly procedures. An explanation of each is below:
Disassembly procedure:
Your parts are checked in and visually inspected and a work order is started. If the disassembly process is to take place immediately each part is identified and cataloged, visually inspected and degreased. We do not use air tools to disassemble your parts unless absolutely necessary. Your parts then get a spot in our production line for machining.
Machining cycles:
Boring and Sleeving is done on our 3 axis CNC machine so that each cylinder is perpendicular to the crankshaft centerline. This is Standard for all cylinder boring applications. We do not use a “boring bar” that sets up on the deck surface that most machine shops use.
Crankshaft balancing is done on our T&S PRO BAL to within .2g for inline engines and within 4g for V6/V8/V10 engines.
Crankshafts are also magna-fluxed and inspected to run TRU.
Bore honing is done with our Rottler HP6A Diamond honing center that finishes our cylinders to a specific RA finish. This machines tolerance for taper and out of roundness is to be within .0002”
The surfacing is done with the T&S high speed CBN/PCD machine. This machine has been modified in-house to reproduce the best possible finish we could find! This machine is also fixtured with a BHJ Block TRUing fixture so we can square the decks of V8 & V10 engines. We also have a Paralleling fixture for Opposed engines like the Subaru Boxer and Porsche engines so we can ensure that each deck surface of those blocks are parallel to each other as well.
Valve jobs, seats and guides are done on our T&S 2000XL valve seat & guide machining center. We have tooled this machine up using a high grade selection of Carbide pilots and cutters. Some of our valve jobs utilize custom angled or radiused cutters. We also use the finest made carbide reams to finish size our guides along with a diamond honing finishing tool.
When it comes to resurface the valve faces we use a Kwik-way valve re-facer with our high performance chuck that keeps our TIR within .0002”. We can also grind the tips of the valves
All smaller diameter bores are honed using the traditional Sunnen rod hone machine. This allows us to re-size or just size the big end and small ends of rods for proper clearance fit or just as a reconditioning device. We can use the this machine along with our Sunnen cap grinder to fit your factory rods with a set of ARP rod bolts for spec built racing engines.
We also have a CWT LH-100 Align hone machine. This allows us to correct the main bore for block twist or to correct for inconsistency in size when a set of high strength fasteners are used to hold the main caps or block halves together.
Cleaning Processes:
All parts are initially degreased in our non-caustic hot tank.
All Iron blocks are baked and shot blasted clean.
All parts are hand washed using a traditional parts washing tank.
All parts are Soda blasted clean. WE DO NOT USE GLASS BEADS OR ANY OTHER HARSH ABRASIVE! Beware of facilities still using these methods of cleaning. We have been bitten by this in the past by other engine machine shops including a well known turbo building facility.
All parts are Ultra-Sonically cleaned.
All parts go through a final hand wash using product that leaves the parts dry of petroleum products and are visually inspected using back lighted magnification to ensure the parts are clean. They are then bagged and put in the engine assembly room.
Assembly Process:
This is where the rings, rods and bearings get deburred and sized.
Once all parts are cleaned our engine assembler meticulously measures all the components once more and logs his measurements to ensure the accuracy of the build according to the build specification.
Each part is hand assembled using the finest tooling.
We use Joe Gibbs assemble lube on every component.
We utilize all of the factory torque specs or the torque specs specified by the part manufacturer.
We also use the factory sealant usage locations as well to ensure a leak-free engine.
All rod bolts are torque’d to stretch. During the initial setup of the rods we use a specific lube and re-torque the fastener several times to polish the mating surfaces between the rod and bolt under-head. This allows the fastener to polish any anomalies under the head or on the threads.
All bearing clearances are measured and assembled to test fit.
All torque’d fasteners are marked to ensure they have been tightened.
Once final assembly is done the assembly is inspected by of the 3 other machinist to ensure our quality.
Engine Programs