Manufacturing of Blocks
At First Mate Marine, our methods are anything
but routine. First,
we bore every cylinder to within .004 of the finished size. Next,
we use a diamond hone to ensure bore geometry is held within 300
millionths of an inch. Every block is then subjected
to a surface finish test to measure the roughness and plateau finish
of the cylinder wall. (With today's lightweight motor
oils and low-tension oil rings, this is critical for achieving
the proper ring seal.)
Blocks are checked and align honed through
the main bearing saddles to align and size to the proper factory
specification. This
is critical to maintain uniform oil clearances and good oil pressure.
After all machine work is done to the block,
it is cleaned completely grit free. We scrub each
cylinder with soap and water and clean all oil galleys with
high pressure wash.
Assembly
First Mate Marine completely assembles the engine in a clean and
controlled environment under the supervision of a trained Quality
Control department. Constant supervision, testing
and cross-department auditing assures every First Mate Marine
Engine gets the same attention to careful assembly that results
in consistent superior quality.
Parts which are not cleaned, inspected and
reclaimed, are replaced with new. Because some parts,
like rockers and pushrods are subject to considerable wear, some
manufacturers don't even ship them with their finished engine.
Manufacturing of Rods
• Chemically cleaned
• 100% rebuilt
• Checked for bend and twist
Manufacturing of Heads
Valve seats are cut on the latest state of
the art equipment, forming all three angles at once. This
insures the correct seat width and concentricity for good valve
seal and heat transfer.
Once the head is machined, it is ready to be
assembled to factory tolerance by using all new high temperature
valve stem seals, valve springs, and hardened valve locks. Each
valve/spring combination is individually tested to provide the
correct spring pressure and vacuum tested to endure a tight valve
seal.
Manufacturing of Crank/Cam
Shafts
Crankshafts are reground to factory tolerance for size, and oil
holes completely chamfered. The crankshaft is then
micro-polished to exceed the original finish, ensuring proper
bearing lubrication. A final wash is done to ensure
that every crank is clean.
Cam lobes are reground to the same specifications
as the original cam. Cams are Parker Lubrited.
Camshaft
• All camshafts are
replaced with new or remanufactured camshafts
Crankshaft
• Bake cleaned
then shot blasted
• Checked for bend
• Ground to size
• Oil holes chamfered
• Journals polished
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