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This experience, our
racing heritage, and our highly experienced staff of machinists and
racing engine builders offered a unique set of blended talent to solve
inherent block weakness design in the currently available engines where
bore sizes were intended to be increased. Many production cast iron and
aluminum blocks suffer from a design weakness of cylinder stability by
nature of poor support at the upper deck area. The manufacturing
process of "cast in sleeves" provides for economy of scale in low
horsepower engines, but does not accommodate high horsepower, high
boost, or larger bore sizes. Darton has engineered a superior patented
(patent #6,799,541) solution by using a unique designed cylinder sleeve
which when siamesed and nested, creates a solid deck of sleeve flanges
held in tension, reinforcing the upper deck area and provides for
individual replacement with what we call Modular Integrated Deck (MID).
In addition, Darton designs' manage and enhance
water flow from block to head to promote stability of cooling and all
sleeves are of the "Wet" design. The enhanced water flow in and around
the flange area is possible because of ported water flow control
engineering we call "Swirl Coolant Technology™". This process begins
with specific engineering models of respective cylinder head and
combustion chamber designs and then we promote increased flow of water
in those areas of the upper sleeve area subjected to the most heat.
Heat is also dissipated through the use of " Register Fins"™. There is
a different engineering model for each engine and cylinder design.
While heat is generally considered to translate into energy, high
resident heat in the combustion chamber can lead to detonation, the
single highest cause of engine failure in the high horsepower regimes.
High
RPM normally translates into efficient scavenging of airflow but during
misfires or incomplete flame propagation, high cylinder pressures and
temperatures are created. Our MID™ design compensates for this high
resident heat soak condition. In the normal dry sleeve installation the
cooling medium, water, must transfer heat absorption through block
material and sleeves, which may be dissimilar metals. When dry sleeves
are pressed in with interference fit, the materials interface is not
perfect which further exacerbates heat transfer. This thermal
conductivity is inefficient and as more heat is generated, the
combustion process is compromised.
Even in wet sleeve
designs of the past, water is never efficiently processed or flowed
between the block and head to provide for maximum heat dissipation in
the combustion chamber. Inherent in open or closed deck engine blocks
of cast iron or aluminum is a certain amount of water stagnation. This
is like pouring water through a funnel, there is really no flow or
velocity until the water exits the spigot. In the case of blocks and
heads, the casting ports are designed for ease of casting not efficient
flow. Now with Darton's "MID", Swirl Coolant technology the cooling
medium is ported and directed to significantly improve heat transfer
where it is needed most, in the upper cylinder wall/flange area.
Now
that Darton has solved the design issue of cylinder weakness another
issue with wet sleeves is the sleeves exterior surface. In a standard
wet sleeve design sleeves are punished by turbulent coolant often
causing corrosion or rust. Darton now supplies the MID sleeves with a
phosphate coating. Phosphate coating is the treatment with a solution
whereby the surface of the metal is covered with an integral,
protective layer of insoluble crystalline. This microcrystalline
structure on the MID sleeve makes it optimal for corrosion and rust
resistance.
Additionally this adds another
protective barrier for the o-rings in the lower register of the sleeve
extending their lifespan even longer. This coating resists abrasion
from the hot turbulent water flow that is created in the water jacket
area of the block. This aids the elimination of hot spots in the
compression area allowing you to make more power. This coating makes
the MID sleeves impervious to problems most commonly found in all wet
sleeved blocks. Adding the phosphate coating to the MID sleeve is just
another way Darton is constantly evolving sleeve design and the way the
industry perceives the way you can sleeve a block.
The
Darton MID™ Sleeve Kit is available for many series of 4, 6, and 8
cylinder import and domestic engines and provides for maximum bore
sizes and boost potential. The benefits of our MIDseries kits are:
- Cast iron performance in an aluminum block
- Improved block integral strength
- Improved cooling
- Kits can be installed by your local machine shop
- "Wet sleeve" replace-ability
- Full installation manual available on website
- Increased horsepower output potential
- High boost and horsepower potential
- Superior oil and compression control
- Superior cylinder sealing and ring wear
- Street or strip application
- Bulletproof Darton ductile iron,
- 130,000-psi tensile strength
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