Services

Balancing NEW

Why Does an Engine Need to be Balanced? Balancing of both rotating and reciprocating components adds longevity, power, and smoothness to the engine.

The Legend Series Hines Engine Balancing Machine features many new enhancements to improve the precision and efficiency of your engine and crankshaft balancing operations. The Legend Series balancers utilize a rugged hard-bearing suspension that gives high sensitivity and permanent calibration. Part set ups are menu driven, allowing us to quickly change between single-plane and two-plane balance operations. With the addition of the drill, on-machine corrections are fast, accurate and easy. The balancer will calculate amount, angle and multiple-hole corrections. The Legend Series provides the latest in technology available today for engine balancing in the racing industry.

At the heart of a Hines balancing machine is a computer that features a dedicated microprocessor and state-of-the-art software to analyze unbalance data. This provides for high accuracy, sensitivity, and repeatability.

Crank Shaft Grinding

With our BERCO Crank Shaft Grinder here at Harris Engines we can grind Crank Shafts up to 1.8M in length

Conrod Resizing

Conrod resizing and Gudgeon Pin boring is done on our Scledum Ruaro 600.

Machining Seats

Why the SERDI Technology is the best in the market?
The Serdi multi angle valve seat machine uses the most advanced technology for the machining of valve seats.
Multi angle fixed cutters allow us to customize the best possible valve seat for durability and flow characteristics for each cylinder head.

This unique method uses a solid carbide straight shank pilot. When inserted into the valve guide, it simulates the real valve stem during the centering process. This guarantees the valve seat is finished within the closest tolerance for a perfect valve to seat match.
We can use this technology on petrol and diesel engines, high performance racing engines, motorcycle engines or any engine with a valve seat.

It's no secret that the typical multi angle valve job will add Horsepower when performed correctly. We have a huge range of valve seat cutters to choose from, to optimize your valve job.

Valve Guide Sizing

Valve guide sizing is a crucial part of the head reconditioning.
An incorrect sized guide can cause the valve to seize if too tight, or cause premature valve seat wear and oil consumption if too loose. We use diamond hones that are preset to the exact size for each valve stem size.
Diamond hones give a perfect valve guide bore finish that is parallel.
We can also cut the final valve seat with diamond stones to give the ultimate seat in accuracy and finish.

Line Boring

With most heads on modern motors now being overhead camshafts, it is not a simple case of just knocking out the old cam bearings and fitting new ones in the block when they are damaged or worn.
When an overhead cam journal is damaged, either from a seized cam due to lack of oil, or scored from contaminated oil caused by other engine parts failing, they need repairing as they are part of the head not a replaceable item. We can repair these and reline bore back to manufacturers specifications using our Berco line boring machine.

Pressure Testing

At Harris Engines we pressure test heads to 120 lb, considering most radiator caps are 10 to 15 lb this will certainly show up any problems in the head. The heads are checked cold and then heated up to approximately 100 deg c and rechecked, some very small cracks or holes will seal when the head gets hot and expands and reopen when the head is cold.

Hardness Testing

Overheating of an aluminium head will cause it to loose hardness. A severely overheated head will be soft on the exhaust side of the head face where most of the heat is generated. When a head face becomes softer on one side than the other, an uneven clamping results, causing failure of the head gasket.

All of the aluminium heads that come through our workshop are hardness tested on arrival and checked again after all work is completed to ensure that they do no fall below the recommended hardness levels.

Surface Finish

What sort of surface finish should I have on my cylinder head?
There are different surface finishes for cast iron and aluminium cylinder heads. Here at Harris Engines we use the latest CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride) cutting tips for cast iron heads, and PCD (polycrystalline Diamond) tips for the aluminium heads. An incorrect finish can and will cause failure of the cylinder head gasket.

We use specialized equipment (as illustrated) to guarantee that all of our surface finishes meet the gasket manufacturers specifications.

Aluminium Welding

Aluminium welding is one of our specialties whether it be for corrosion
on the head face, a hole in the port or a crack repair-we can fix it.
Heads that we crack repair are placed in a timer controlled oven for 24 hrs
for stress relieving , this is to ensure that the repair will not crack again.

Cylinder Head Assembly

Cylinder head assembly is made easy with the equipment like the Trego,
Overhead cam multi valve heads can be very time consuming
to assemble. Why should you have to pay someone for hours
of their frustration when we can do it quickly and easily.

Polishing

The kline valve stem polisher is a must when reconditioning heads to ensure that the valve stem is free of any burs. The valve stems can be damaged
during the striping and cleaning process, if this occurs it will cause severe valve stem wear or a seized valve.

Ultrasonic Cleaning

Ultrasonic Cleaning involves using high-frequency sound waves to remove contaminants from parts that have been immersed in a special cleaning solution.

Effective cleaning of components is an integral part of reconditioning cylinders heads or other engine parts. Ultrasonic cleaning offers a quicker more effective and less damaging alternative to traditional sand blasting. The residue from bead blasting is also eliminated and therefore the potential for damage of the cylinder head once reassembled is totally eliminated.

Cylinder heads have many blind passages and oil galleys that make them difficult to reach for cleaning by hand, Ultrasonic cleaning can reach those hidden areas that would not usually be accessible.

Cylinder Reboring & Honing

Here at Harris Engines we rely on our Sunnen our CV-616 which enables us to change and adjust the Crosshatch Angle and Surface Finish for each individual application. With today's high horsepower demands, the correct cylinder finish is absolutely paramount for instant concentric ring seal. With that in mind our cylinders are finished within a super tight tolerance of 0.00025" or 0.000635mm.
We also keep Torque Plates for all popular race and performance street engines. Torque plates simulate the cylinder head tension, which pull the bores/block into correct operating position. When you are paying so much for a set of forged pistons why settle for an average rebore?

Torque Plate Honing

Torque plate honing involves installing a 1-2" steel plate on the block in place of the cylinder head to simulate the cylinder wall distortion of the block when the heads are installed. By honing the block while similar stresses are applied, you ensure the bore will be round when the heads are installed. It provides for a better ring seal and prevents piston scuffing.
Is it totally necessary? No, however, it is a must in our mind on any good performance buildup.

Block Surfacing

Harris Engines has just purchased from the USA , BHJ’s Blok-Tru engine block Blueprinting Fixture
which is used to correct improperly machined deck surfaces commonly caused by factory machine tolerances, production line inaccuracies and blocks previously machined.
This precision-machined fixture has a true 45-degree angle machined at each side of its own centerline. The Blok-Tru Index Plate, when installed on the cam-crank centerline of the block, is
then referenced to roll over and correctly index the block into position for the resurfacing operation.
Top engine builders across the USA rely on the Blok-Tru to provide the level of accuracy necessary for today’s performance requirements.

Common issues improved after using the Blok-Tru include:
Twisted Blocks: On a twisted block, it is necessary to choose a point on the deck surface to use as a reference point for set-up. As a result, you may be compounding the out-of-square condition.
Uneven Deck Clearance: Deck clearance often varies between the top and bottom edges of the piston due to the deck surface not being at 90 degrees to the bore. On race engines where deck clearances are held on the verge of piston to head contact, any discrepancy in deck angle means lost compression.
Poor Intake Manifold Fit: This condition is usually blamed on the intake manifold. However, if the included angle of the deck surfaces is not 90 degrees or if the top of the block has the incorrect angle, the manifold may not be at fault.

Block Deck-Height Measurements: The Blok-Tru is marked with the height from the crankshaft centerline to index surface. A simple measurement from the block deck surface to the index surface of the Blok-Tru plate, added to the Plate’s marked dimension gives you the deck height.

Block Truee Image

Block True Image

Harley Davidson

At Harris Engines we can fully recondition your Harley heads, using the latest Serdi seat cutting technology we can remachine the valve seats to a multi angle seat which offers the best performance from your head. We can also match port the valve seat inserts to the ports, replace worn valve guides, repair damaged threads and remachine the head face with PCD tooling for a perfect head finish.

All aluminium Harley barrels must be honed with a torque plate to stimulate the distortion that occurs when the cylinder is tensioned on the engine. Here at Harris Engines we have a full range of Harley torque plates to suit all models from Evo to the 124 cubic inch S&S barrels. Combine this with our Sunnen CV616 honing machine we can offer the ultimate in cylinder boring and honing.

Click the picture for a video

Motorcycles

We also cater for all types of motorcycle machining inc rebores with our sunnen hone, complete head rebuilding, crankshaft rebuilding, two and four stroke, broken bolt removal.

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