Photos by Andrew Chen
Once a year, Edelbrock opens the doors of its Torrance, California manufacturing facility to give the public a behind-the-scenes look at how some of the industry’s most popular performance parts are made.
The Southern California headquarters is home to 96 CNC machines that turn out a variety of components like carburetors, cylinder heads and intake manifolds. These components start out in the engineering department as computer-aided designs (CAD) and are prototyped with a complete, 3D printed part in plastic. The engineers can take a 3D printed part, for example an intake manifold, and bolt it straight onto an actual engine for immediate testing. They employ these types of techniques to allow for lower production costs and a faster product delivery to the customer.
Once a component is finished, it’s taken to the dyno area, where performance numbers are obtained in a real-world environment with the help of a 383 stroker engine; proof that their published performance gains aren’t just theoretical calculations.
Just around the corner from the dyno room is the R&D shop, where a fleet of vehicles are in various stages of installation and testing. Owner Vic Edelbrock’s personal Corvette Z06 also stopped in for a supercharger tune.
Edelbrock’s E-Force supercharger for the C7 Corvette hit retailers earlier this year, but testing still continues as they fine tune the software parameters. Owners of E-Force superchargers can download updated software settings from the internet, taking advantage of any new performance gains.
If you missed this year’s shop tour and accompanying car show, don’t worry, Edelbrock will back at it again next year!
Learn more about Edelbrock on their official website at www.Edelbrock.com
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