Is an AAC engine more likely to wear than an ABC engine?
Eight years ago I would have probably said yes. That is the conventional wisdom. In fact, I read not long ago in a racing forum a comment by a prominent racer stating just that. The opposite is true. That is why I make my premium engines with AAC liners. Do you remember how nice it was to just change out a piston ring every so often? Well, using an AAC engines is very much the same. We get engines that look like they have been through the Great War, and when torn down and measured, we find the AAC liner is like new. In most cases, all we have to do is fit you a new piston and you are right back to “good as new”. It saves you about 1/2 the cost of rebuilding. The secret of AAC lies in the increased heat stability of the aluminum vs. the brass. With chrome on the liner you do not get wear in either case. What you get is warping of the top part of the brass liner due to heat and stress. The brass, when overheated, tends to “bell mouth” and loose its taper. The aluminum does not do that. A
