The Winning Formula for High-Performance Engine Blocks and Heads
In the world of manufacturing high-performance racing products, the difference between winning and losing often comes down to the meticulous science behind the manufacturing process. At Dart Machinery, we pride ourselves on our relentless commitment to quality, employing cutting-edge technology and seasoned expertise to create components that push the boundaries of performance. Our manufacturing facility operates around the clock, leveraging state-of-the-art CNC machines, to ensure every product meets the demands and expectations of a championship level component. Join us as we delve into the race winning science that drives our innovative products, from advanced casting processes to precision machining and beyond.
Casting & Metallurgy
Because it’s important to build on a solid foundation, Dart Machinery takes the casting process very seriously. Castings made with mediocre materials will never be able to support the heat and power that a casting made from premium alloys will. And castings poured without the utmost attention to detail can suffer crippling structural flaws that lower the bar for the performance of the end product in ways that no amount of machining can alleviate.
Every single Dart casting is 100% made in the United States from start to finish. Many of our aluminum castings employ aerospace quality alloy, the best in the industry for the high temperature, high pressure demands of performance engine operation. Our iron castings use a selection of premium alloys, carefully chosen to meet the needs of each of our product lines. These iron alloys offer excellent tensile strengths and Brinell hardness ratings from 200 to 250 or more, well above that of a “bargain” casting. This translates to blocks and heads that have longer life spans and can be built to more demanding specifications.
Top grade alloys are just one piece of the puzzle. Dart Machinery also works closely with our American foundries to ensure that the casting process has been perfected to an art. Everything from the pouring process, to the temperature the molten metal reaches before pouring, to the heat treatment procedure can have a dramatic impact on the final quality of the casting. Even small oversights can lead to components that suffer from porosity, often completely invisible to the naked eye, which can weaken the integrity of the entire block or head. Dart metallurgists confer with experts at our partner foundries on a regular basis to ensure that every step of the casting process is carefully observed and controlled.
Casting design also factors heavily into the quality of the final product. Dart Machinery’s Engineering and R&D departments are heavily involved in casting design from the earliest stages. This allows us to control more than just the final shape of the part and quality of the alloy — it also allows us to increase the final density of the metal in the specific areas that need it most.
Manufacturing Quality
Dart Machinery machining and qualifying is designed to maintain the highest level of quality throughout the manufacturing process. Our product facility runs 24 hours, 6 days a week. These top of the line machines are the same ones used by major automotive manufactures as well as some in the aerospace industry with each Dart Machinery component getting thoroughly inspected to ensure that they are free of porosity and other defects along the manufacturing process.
At Dart, we believe that the formula to producing the best performing, most reliable components around, is hard work, seasoned experience and the best equipment money can buy. Our wide array of CNC equipment allows us to manufacture components with the highest level of finish in the industry, and can even be finished to your custom specifications on request. We also offer a full range of custom machining options for blocks and heads, cast or billet, available by special order.
Getting the best results requires the right tools for the job, so we employ an array of highly specialized machinery to optimize every process. Our Sunnen SV-20 CNC hone allows us to maintain extraordinary bore size accuracy and to carefully control the peaks and valleys of the bores, achieving the perfect home in a fraction of the time it would take with other machines.
Dart Machinery uses advanced Zeiss coordinate measuring machine to ensure the utmost accuracy in each part produced. The Zeiss is capable of measuring hundreds of points along virtually any surface of a part. The CMM employs dynamic navigation software that compensates for the deflection that occurs as the passive scanning probe pushes against the surface of a component while in motion. This powerful machine gives us the ability to maintain exact tolerances and monitor our machining tools to prevent inaccuracies due to tool wear.
Research & Development
When testing and designing components for an internal combustion engine, every piece of data that’s missing might
be a breakthrough that gets left on the table. That is why it is important to us that our research equipment is
capable of capturing the bigger picture.
It is often said that an engine is an air pump, but in fact an engine also moves a considerable volume of fuel through its induction system and cylinders. After all, it is the fuel that contains the energy that drives the car. Burning more fuel produces more power, provided that combustion efficiency is maintained. Unfortunately, a bench that only measures dry airflow can’t simulate this crucial characteristic of a running engine. Dart’s custom-built wet flow bench was created for exactly this reason.
Dart Machinery’s wet flow bench uses a testing liquid with the same specific gravity as gasoline, which has been laced with a fluorescent dye, allowing researchers to observe the behavior of the fuel as it flows through the head. In this manner, our head designers can see what designs encourage proper fuel atomization and avoid designs that cause fuel to congeal into solid streams or become overly turbulent.
Along with high-tech digital design and testing on a traditional flow bench, in the dyno cell and on the race track, Dart’s research and development process makes use of our state of the art equipment to get the most complete data possible to produce maximum engine strength and performance.