Quality finish for racing cylinder head
Quality finish for racing cylinder head
Keywords: USF Abrasive Developments, Blasting, Engines
The Cylinder Head Shop, a small specialist company based in Wimbledon, is a leader in the performance tuning of racing motorcycle cylinder heads. The company prides itself on achieving the high standards of precision engineering that are vital to maintain optimum engine performance in today's highly competitive international bike racing arena. The company works for a number of leading racing teams and privateers, and has more recently extended its sphere of operation into Formula 1 motor racing.
"We only do cylinder head work – repair, remanufacture, research and development and race tuning", says the company's founder Len Paterson (Plate 2), who has over 30 years' experience in UK motorcycles (and was one of the original "Chelsea Bridge Rockers"). "We are not distracted by the many demands of complete engine building, and the high standards of close tolerance work that we have pioneered are unmatched by the majority of performance tuners and are rarely found outside the realms of Formula 1 or the aerospace industry".
Plate 2 Len Paterson (left) and colleague Alex Collier of The Cylinder Head Shop, inspecting cylinder heads finished in the "Vaqua® Kompact" machine
Among The Cylinder Head Shop's current projects is development work on the engine fitted to the Kawasaki 2000 ZX12R, described as the fastest production bike in the world – "We are trying to make it go even faster", says engineer, Alex Collier. At the other end of the scale, the company undertakes lead-free conversion of classic bikes.
The Cylinder Head Shop utilises state-of-the-art machining technology,including the very latest "Serdi s.5.0" PC-driven cylinder head and valve seat machining centre, believed to be the only machine of its kind in the UK.
The company also regards the final surface finish of its work as highly important, and a "Vaqua Kompact" machine from USF Abrasive Developments forms an integral part of its service. This is employed mainly to produce a high quality cosmetic finish following machining work, in conjunction with ultrasonic cleaning, and is also used to degrease and pre-clean parts prior to initial inspection. The machine has been specially designed for use in areas with limited space and fits neatly into the company's compact workshop, housed in a former stable block.
"Although primarily cosmetic, from the customer's viewpoint a quality final finish on a cylinder head reflects the quality of the overall job",says Len Paterson. We regard this as very important in the overall scheme of things.
"Vaqua Kompact" is a high performance wet blast machine, specially developed for workshop, medium scale production and laboratory applications and designed for low maintenance. The machine has a 700mm x 700mm work envelope and incorporates a 500mm rubber-topped turntable to facilitate the orientation of parts inside the processing enclosure. It can be used with a wide range of wet blast media – abrasives, glass beads or plastic materials.
The Kompact can be operated from a standing or seated position, with control of the pump and compressed air supply operated by a single foot pedal. The processing enclosure is made in grp and swings up for easy loading and unloading. Waste separation and removal are integral. Optional equipment indudes a closed-loop recirculation unit to ensure control of effluent discharge, a settling tank to prevent media being carried to drainage, and an immersion heater for applications where media has to be maintained at an optimum working temperature.
Details available from: USF Abrasive Developments. Tel: +44 (0)1753 526511;Fax: +44 (0)1753 538093; E-mail: usfad@usfinternational.comWeb site: www.surfacepreparation.com
