Forums and what is an automotive machine shop?

Well, I see companies put a forum on their website, http://www.enginebuildermag.com/ is the one I was just looking at, since I am in the automotive industry through my automotive machine shop. What is an automotive machine shop you ask?

I'm not good at programming websites, so our shop website basically gives the types of work we do and as I study how to do a better website, I will be doing that...I like a nice looking website, but I don't know how to make one yet. Always something new to learn how to do!

My machine shop: The Machine Shop showing some of the types of work we can do for you or your mechanic.

Most have heard of mechanics, some of you reading this may even be mechanics. Mechanics are the people you take your car or pickup (or truck too) to, to have it worked on if it isn't running/operating the way it should be. Maybe it is something simple like needing new tires or brakes (although brakes aren't "simple", they are one of the most important parts of our vehicle), so we head down to the tire store to get new tires put on by the mechanics there or to our favorite repair shop to have them install new brake parts so our car/pickup stops like it used to stop when it was new.

While they have it taken apart, they (if they don't own the equipment, which costs thousands of dollars for each different machine) take the parts that need machining down to their favorite local machine shop. In this case, if they (or you) were doing (rebuilding) the brakes, the drums and rotors probably need re-machined so they are true and parallel so when you apply the brakes the brake pedal doesn't pulse (go up and down rapidly) and cause the who car/pickup/vehicle to shake when stopping. That means the drums or rotors are warped. If they are warped too much, then they need to be replaced. There are specifications telling how much can be machined from them to bring them back into factory specifications. The machine shop will have books listing those numbers. So, when you take them into the machine shop and lay them on the counter, probably the first thing the machinist will do is measure the part to see if it is thick enough to be machined to bring it back into specs. If the part isn't, then you will have to get others from the wrecking yard (which will then have to be machined) or news from the machine shop or an auto parts store.
Many times, our customers have the new ones they buy machined by us before installing them on their vehicle. They have found out from previous experience that there is a certain percentage of the parts will become warped from having been stored incorrectly. It is a lot of work to install parts (new or otherwise) and go for a test drive and find out the vehicle shakes worse than when the customer brought it in.

Maybe there was a rumbling noise you were hearing which was being caused by a wheel bearing going bad. In that case, you would remove the axle and take it to the machine shop where they would install a new bearing on it, if it were still serviceable. Sometimes the bearing inner race will spin on the axle, ruining it. Then time for the wrecking yard or dealer again to get another, good and or new one. The new one from the dealer probably will not have anything on it, no bearings, no studs or anything and the machine shop will have to put all the new pieces together that you buy for it. Bearings, 99% of the time, are not reusable and have to be replaced.

What if you overheat your engine and blow a head gasket? What is involved in making sure the head is reusable and machinable? Our machine shop can use pressure checking, used for checking aluminum heads, blocks and other pieces, the parts are submerged under a water mixture and air applied to the part, then we look for bubbles which shows we have a crack or pinhole that needs repaired, magnetic particle inspection (manafluxing ferrous metals like cast iron and steel) and dye penetrant as another way of checking for cracks.

The first thing done is to measure the head and make sure it is usable (thick enough) and making sure it isn't warped too much. This is really critical for overhead cam heads. If it is good so far, then into the washer (like a big dish washer) with it to get it cleaned up so we can pressure check it or magnaflux it, looking for cracks or other problems.

Ken

To be continued...