Customer Reviews

How to Build & Modify Cylinder Heads, Camshafts and Valvetrains (Powerpro Series)

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I have found a lot of great information in this book. It is very good if you are a novice and you want to get an average level of knowledge regarding building and improving cylinder heads, camshafts and valvetrains. On the other hand, the book won't be of much help to the amateur mechanic wanting to improve his car. It lacks a finer lever of detail. I have tried some of the performance tricks suggested in this book, on the cylinder head of a small European car (R12, 1397ccm): I did some valve unmasking and worked on the intake ports. Although it seems there's some performance increase, the result is not breathtaking. Still, following the suggestions in the book I succeeded to rebuilt an engine in such a way than, if it hasn't gained as much power as I expected, it definitely has gained reliability.

A little background on myself I am a double ASE Master Technician both Automobile and Medium/Heavy Truck with 2 Associates Degrees in Automotive and Diesel Technology. After thoroughly reading this book I felt that #1 it was worth far more than I paid for it for the information given; #2 the technical level begins by assuming the reader has little if any in depth understanding of the important inter-relationship of heads, cams and valve trains then takes the beginner to quite advance theory and understanding of very technical concepts needed to make real horsepower in internal combustion engines. If a person could understand all the ideas in this book they would know more than most automotive technicians about this subject. I felt the author's ability to convey some very complex ideas in an understandable way was the his strongpoint. For a complete understanding of how to make big horsepower one would have to know much more about ignition systems, engine blueprinting, induction and exhaust systems and materials selection. This is only one part of the total picture...but a very important part for sure! Hope this helps!