Fabricator's Fantasy
We recently had the opportunity to attend the Westec Metalworking and Manufacturing exposition at the Los Angeles Convention Center in March. The Westec expo is a trade show put on by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) featuring the latest in equipment and technology for those that turn metal stock into functional parts and pieces, and the level of sophistication available today is astounding. Still photos don't do justice to some of the equipment we observed-huge "cabinet"-based apparatuses that can perform multiple milling, drilling, and even threading processes without human intervention, short of loading the part and initiating the program. Just imagine what you could build if you had access to this stuff ... along with the knowledge to make it work. If this sort of thing interests you, check out www.sme.org.
There were many automated machine tools being demonstrated at the show. This is just one of the steps performed by this machine, which is capable of automatically switching drilling/cutting bits and then performing the actual operation. Although stuff like this is becoming commonplace in the manufacturing world, to motorheads like us, the possibilities seem boundless. Need a bellhousing adapter? Mill it up. A new set of pistons? Start carving.
A large portion of the show was dedicated to the computer hardware and software used to control the machines, design parts, and create prototyping models. One vendor explained that his company could accurately design a complex piece like a cylinder head on screen while also generating flow figures, and then transfer the design to a three-dimensional model (also done by computer), and then use that model to create molds for the actual parts. Technology like this partially explains the boom in aftermarket heads and intakes in recent years.
In and Out List
In: Old cars that look like they're beat to hell, but run great
Out: Old cars that look great, but run like they're beat to hell
In: Wheelstanding your 5.0 Mustang
Out: Coming down from a wheelstand in your 5.0 Mustang and seeing the front struts burst through the hood
In: Old-timey-looking dashboards with classic supplementary instrumentation
Out: Welding a late-model dash into an earlier-model car
In: Five-spoke wheels
In: Six-spoke wheels
In: Seven-spoke wheels
Out: Four-spoke wheels
Out: Three-spoke wheels
Out: Two-spoke wheels
In: Taste O' Trivia
In: Muscle Car of the Month
Out: Quote of the Month
Out: Winner of the Month
In: Estee Lauder supermodel Carolyn Murphy
In: Estee Lauder supermodel Liya Kebede
In: Estee Lauder supermodel Elizabeth
Out: Writing items like this just so we can run photos of Carolyn Murphy, Liya Kebede, and Elizabeth Hurley
In: Mercury Meteor
Out: Mercury Turnpike Cruiser
In: Four-wheel-steering pickups
In: Four-wheel-steering SUVs
Out: Four-wheel steering because your rearend is tweaked
In: M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank
Out: Toyota pickups with .50-caliber machine guns mounted in the bed
Chrysler's Fastest Sedan
All that mid-'90s "cab-forward" styling has been banished from Chrysler-and it's about time. The new theme is "classic proportions," and the Chrysler 300C concept car shown at the New York Auto Show indicates that "classic" means "shouldn't have changed in the first place." And the 300C is only a slightly disguised version of the next Chrysler 300 that goes into production next year.