[Tom Vaught]

Confused, I did not think that The Indy Cartel had ANY engine building capability.

Tom Vaught

[2manyponchos]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Confused, I did not think that The Indy Cartel had ANY engine building capability.

Tom Vaught

Tom, as Rob mentioned I am a mechanical engineer for Cummins and I have primarily done cooling system development work for new products with a little bit of lube system development in the last 2 years. During my time at the Big C, have worked on everything from the launch of the 2003 HPCR 5.9 to the 15 liter Class 8 product. The current project I am on was seeking a small secure facility with 2 or 3 capable people that could campaign/upfit existing assembled engines as the product evolved. Things like crank swaps/liner changes etc. Joe had previously completed some prototype machining, tooling fixtures, and service tools for us and we began talks about taking some engine builds to him. After a site view with the technical program leader, build coordinator, program director, and a few engineers, we decided Joe's shop would meet our needs. Definitely not his mainstream business, but he provided the space and capable folks along with himself to get the job done. We provided the parts, components, engines, calibrated torque wrenches, and any specialty tools needed to assemble the product. The first batch of business involved crank swaps/liner campaigns and so on with around 20 "Alpha" level prototype engines. His shop also completed what I would call all the "blueprint" measurements for bearing clearances, liner protrusion, gear lash, etc. We obviously had to furnish calibrated gauges out of our lab, but they completed the work and documentation. Not to get into another pissing contest, but the work completed by Cartel was far superior to what we were getting within our own walls from a turnaround and quality standpoint. Difference of a small company with a lot of pride in ownership vs a union shop and I'll leave it at that. Just what I observed. If it came from Cartel, I didn't have to worry about extra cap screws under the valve cover bouncing around in the valve train. Anyway, having been impressed with the rebuild work that was done, we contracted Joe for our Pre-Beta build which was around 15 engines. Parts were shipped directly to his facility and his crew assembled the engines from ground up and once again took all critical measurements. It worked for us and met our business needs and goals at the time. We have moved the Beta build to the assembly line to prove out all the production processes and procedures, so the work with Cartel has mostly returned back to fabricating and fixturing since the first of the year. Like I said, just stating what I witnessed.

Sorry for the sidetrack.