For over 45 years Air Flow Research has been defining technological leadership in cylinder head manufacturing and flow dynamics. This complete commitment to performance has enabled Air Flow Research's cylinder heads to find themselves on the fastest race cars and the most powerful street machines in the country. As every engine builder will attest to, the secret to increasing horsepower and performance lies in the cylinder head. Air Flow Research's cylinder heads outflow and out horsepower everything in their league.
While Air Flow Research has a great history of success in racing, it has been their ability to bring sophisticated porting technology to their wide assortment of cylinder heads that makes them truly special. Air Flow Research pioneered the tooling and machinery necessary for true 5-axis CNC port machining, which allows total flow consistency from head to head once the optimal port design has been established. No other manufacturer incorporates this complete machining technology into their heads.
Research and Development
Cylinder head technology starts with research. That includes hundreds of hours designing and hand porting intake and exhaust ports to experiment and compare flow and horsepower characteristics. Air Flow Research has tested thousands of cylinder heads over the years, for every application from top fuel dragsters to Saturday night street rods. Understanding the application and performance requirements is where AFR starts its design criteria.
Dyno and Flow Testing
To accurately evaluate port designs, AFR spends thousands of hours on engine dynos and flow rates are all compared to determine the optimal port design for specific applications. Testing does not stop in the lab; real life testing is also required. AFR has spent more than their share of time at drag strips and circle tracks to carefully measure performance results.
Specialized Manufacturing/Automation
Air Flow Research uses the latest in metrology technology to bring you the finest cylinderheads available today. During the manufacturing process, cylinder head castings are mounted in the machining centers and then searched for and located using optical work coordinate probing systems. This insures the most accurate location possible to begin the machining process. This eliminates the “stacked tolerance/human error” from the equation when loading and unloading cylinder heads at each work station.
Quality Control
AFR uses state of the art metrology such as Browne & Sharp’s Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). First and last articles are checked on all new set ups and breakdowns to ensure quality. We also use air gages to hold tight tolerances on all boring and honing operations, measuring down to tenths. Additionally, we practice in process lean principles throughout the facility to create a culture of each employee being responsible for the quality and visual appearance of his/her work, not just passing their work to the next department with little or no accountability. As well, we inspect all components we receive from vendors to complete the quality control loop. Lastly, there is complete documentation with SPA reports on all inspection processes.
