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Proprietary
If you were to walk into any top race team’s shop in the country and ask them particulars about their engine development program, you would be politely asked to excuse yourself from the
premises. All forms of racing and competition rely on the experience and expertise of those involved and are thereby closely guarded secrets. Secrets of the trade are just that- secrets.
This is especially true with the latest technical innovations which are the foundation of our products. So we will not entertain questions about manufacturing processes or materials for this
very reason.
Customer List
Just as our trade secrets are valuable to us, many of our customers value their privacy as well, for obvious reasons. While some racers have allowed the use of their name and image in our
advertising, many have asked not to be revealed. So, if discretion is of a top concern of yours, you can rest assured that we hold this in the highest regard as well and will not disclose any
information about you without your permission.
More horsepower
There are many companies out there claiming to increase horsepower from their products. But this is a slippery slope indeed. Each component of a race engine undergoes various forms of stress
from loading, twisting, rubbing, and many others too complex for this discussion. Just one example is a main journal bearing. Why coat a bearing that rides on a thin film of oil during
operation? Bearings are coated to reduce wear and improve oil retention. Will this increase horsepower? Maybe. Will it increase bearing life and protect your engine from bearing failure? Yes.
What about coated rocker arms? Answer this question, how much horsepower increase do you get when you install a set of the same ratio roller rockers where stamped steel were used? Correct- NONE. However,
the potential for more horsepower exists since more RPMs are now available. The roller rockers and coated stamped steel rockers serve many purposes, none of which is increased horsepower.
Less friction reduces wear on valve stems and guides. When you reduce friction, the danger of catastrophic engine failure is reduced; this is good for reducing costs. However used in
combination (see applications below) with other friction reduction methods, and changes to other parts, horsepower can be increased with the installation of coated rocker arms. There are however
many parts that by simply replacing with a coated part will reduce friction (and heat) and free up the trapped horsepower. Piston pins, pistons, gears, cam and lifter (together) any many more. This
will certainly depend on your particular application. Remember our old friend “Grumpy” Jenkins said, “we don’t race dynos, we race cars.”
Durability-Wear
Thin film or dry film coatings are applied many different ways and this has a direct impact on the way it integrates itself into the part. Remember, 21TEK uses a metallurgical process to apply our
“coating” which means they are not actually a coating at all. The material is applied via a proprietary process (see above) . Tronite will not flake, chip, peel, or otherwise rub off. Our
material will withstand in excess of 250,000 psi. The thickness of these materials can lead to some questions after a part has been run and it undergoes inspection. We inspect our parts with a microscope
for quality assurance and for developmental research. The material is a mere .5 to 1 micron or about .00004”. After the part has been run in and has “burnished” itself into the part, the top layer
may resemble the base material. This happens because the pressure applied causes the molecules to line up. As this occurs light is reflected differently and becomes more metallic looking. When Tronite is first
applied, you can see it but you still can’t feel it at a parting line even with a fingernail. If the light was not reflecting off of the Tronite on the top layer you would not even know it was
there. This is common to most thin film process. Unless your part has a flaw in the base material and has failed, then your investment is still doing its job.
Applications
What is the first part you should treat with Tronite? Each combination of parts assembled will perform in a particular way, even the same parts! In some forms of racing 3 identical cams are tried on the
dyno to “see” which grind performs better. Our experience and expertise is what sets us apart from the competition. We consider your application on an individual basis and work within your budget
to gain the most advantage from your investment in the parts you send to us. Are you looking for reliability? Horsepower? RPM increase? Quicker launch? Off corner acceleration? Straightaway speed? Let us
custom tailor your “coatings” package to best fit your application and we’ll see you in the winners circle.
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