(Photos by Nutting/Fitzgerald) – This was a visit that was long overdue, Trick Flow’s Manager Mike Downs almost choked me out at SEMA when I told him that I had driven virtually right past Trick Flow’s headquarters multiple times during the summer to and from ECTA land speed races. Mike’s a super nice guy but he’s bigger than me and when he mentioned with a smile that I “better” stop by the next time I was in the area, that was not an order I was about to defy. Cut to a week or two ago when Nutting, Fitzgerald, and I were on our mission of doing cool stuff for a few days straight. We were on Route 80 heading into eastern Ohio and I picked up the phone, called Mike and he gave us the particulars on where the Trick Flow works was located. We found a far larger building than we were expecting and grabbed our gear to head inside and see exactly what the heck was happening at this nondescript facility in Tallmadge, Ohio. The three of us left with goofy smiles on our faces from the experience of seeing things made by skilled craftsmen right in front of us, seeing the most extensive collection of operating multi-axis mills we have ever seen in one place, seeing dyno cells, QC area, clean assembly rooms, and cylinder heads of all shapes and sizes, in all stages of development, and intake manifolds as well. We’re going to start this story with a pretty simple statement. When you are buying a Trick Flow product, you are getting something that is cast, machined, assembled, and shipped from right here in the United States of America. That’s boss and believe it or not, just the tip of the iceberg.
We’re going to tell you about Trick Flow and what they do at their facility through great photos from Dave Nutting and Craig Fitzgerald. Those two guys were running around like fat kids in a donut factory while I talked to Mike about the various operations, pieces, and people we were meeting.
It is good to start right here with the one thing that this company is most proud of. From conception to casting and finishing, every cylinder head is made from scratch in the USA. Casting takes place at a couple locations around the country but all the finish work is done in Ohio.
For years, Trick Flow was known primarily for their Ford products but the company has parts and pieces for GM engines as well. As proof both project Buford T Justice and our recently built 1,000hp “Cool G” LS engine are topped with Trick Flow heads.
To give you an idea of the scope of the facility here is a literal peek around the corner into the machining area, or at least part of it. Those Fadal machines are five axis CNC mills and all of them are working on something from cylinder heads to rear end covers. We’ll get into more detail as we go along, but it is a mechanical ballet to watch these beasts work.
While we’re not going to take you through every intricate step of how a cylinder head is made we are going to show you some of the coolest steps, like this one. What you are seeing here is the beginnings of a head that someone may have on their car by now! The rough castings are loaded into this machine and some of the surfacing work is done. Different heads have different surfacing requirements but these are heads that are finished to the point that they have a billet look to them.
Believe it or not those rough castings look like this once they emerge from this first operation. Note that the combustion chambers are just roughed out.
Once the casting has been cleaned up and made pretty, it heads to one of the CNC mills for the real fun to begin and that is where the magic really happens because the ports, combustion chambers, and fine detail work is done. The dexterity that these machines have is pretty incredible. We can imagine how excited guys were when 2 and 3 axis machines became the norm but these five axis units are mind-blowers.
One of the most interesting things that Downs told us about was with regard to the time that a head spends in a mill. Some of them are in and out in a matter of an hour but there are others with far more work required. For example, one machine can produce two…yes TWO of Trick Flow’s billy bad ass A460 heads in the course of an eight hour shift. If you have ever wondered why these things can be pricey, remember that. Two heads PER SHIFT.
Organization and work flow are hugely important in any manufacturing facility and the Trick Flow crew has their protocols and procedures down pat. Downs is an engineer so finding ways to improve efficiencies and maximizing quality are what really spins his crank.
When the head cart is full the freshly machined pieces head to another area where they are cleaned thoroughly and prepped for assembly and a valve job. Once again, Downs talked to us about thoroughness and making sure the end user was getting the best product available for their investment.
Cool photo interlude.
In the assembly area there are two (sometimes more) guys working full time doing valve jobs and assembling heads. The room is impeccably clean and the guys have been doing their jobs for years. They have it down pretty well. We’re guessing these are some of the hardest working Serdi machines in the country!
We’re being repetitive but the fact is that we were extremely impressed with the level of detail and organization we saw throughout the operation. The other thing that ruled was that the place is filled with gearheads and car guys (including Downs who is a drag racer).
These are stunt valves.
Watching the heads come together was cool because when you see a guy do it who does thing job for a living it makes you realize how painfully slow you are at it! All the heads are assembled with the precision you’d get at any good machine shop. Spring heights are checked and the work is done properly…by guys who are actually into cars!
You are looking at one dyed in the wool, 100% bonafide Mopar guy right here and he’s one of the dudes building your heads at Trick Flow.
Downs lit up like a kid showing us his cool toy when we got to this CNC mill. Newer than the other machines, this one worked like the other mills but on amphetamines. This thing was pumping cooling like it had the fuel pump like a nitro fed dragster on it. It even looks like a part of the space station.
So now that we have seen some heads, what else is going on at Trick Flow world HQ? Believe it or not, this pallet led to one of the neatest parts of our visit. These are obviously Ford intake manifolds. Some are sawed in half for QC inspection and because the crew is working on improving the design. So how does that work?
Trick Flow has their own pattern and die makers and they do all at work along with design in Ohio. Here’s an improved upper Ford intake to solve some of the issues they saw with the other pieces. How bitchin’ is this? As you can tell, this was machined out of aluminum.
Here are a few more photos of the intake manifold that the pattern and die makers were working on.
As you can see, this thing isn’t light. We’ll just say that the fellow lifting this piece wasn’t someone you’d want to get into an arm wrestling match with. Beefy stuff!
Here’s the other side where we can see some of the runners poking out. These guys that work on casting stuff have to see the world 180-degrees out from everyone else because in normal circumstances where we see stuff, they see air and where we see voids they see stuff. We just confused ourselves.
Another shot of the business side of this intake manifold. I looks like something from Terminator.
Here’s the sand casting that actually represents what the runners of an intake would look like. The compressed sand is very strong and these have been shipped around to the foundry and back. Remember, the sand is actually airspace and the space around the sand would be filled with aluminum.
This material is used in the casting process and there are lots of red shavings in some of the mills to prove that they use lots of it! Like the sand above, this stuff is cool and it makes our feeble brains cramp to figure out how it all actually works.
Within the walls of Trick Flow is another separate business called Total Engine Airflow. This is a place where detailed competition style valve jobs and custom work is done and not just on Trick Flow products. You can ship your heads, whatever they are into Total Engine Airflow and get them worked up and tweaked to perfection. This operation is in a completely different room with its own dedicated guys. Pretty neat!
Here’s the rack of “patients” waiting to be worked on at Total Engine Airflow. They are busy as hell.
These babies were coming out of a mill next to one we were staring at which was working on a cylinder head. Purty!
These intakes were getting ready to be boxed up and rolled out to customers. Maybe one is on your motor!
Mules! Yes, these are dyno mule engines. There are a pair of dyno cells at Trick Flow as well as flow benches and other testing equipment. When we were there the crew was running an LS7 and there was a Ford engine sitting quietly on the other pump awaiting its turn to be thrashed.
You’ll be shocked to know that LS heads are the most popular segment for Trick Flow currently so there are a couple LS mules in different states of repair.
Cams, intakes, parts, and pieces, this place is like Dr. Demento’s lab for making horsepower and we loved every second of it and have to give Mike Downs a sincere thanks for his hospitality and time for showing us every nook of the joint.
As sure as we are sitting here typing this, we can tell you that Trick Flow heads are made in the USA from start to finish. They are made with pride by guys who are into cars. The manager of the place is a drag racer who when he isn’t running his own car is trying to figure out how to get his kid’s junior dragster to run the number. It was a very impressive and informative visit to their facility and we’re extremely proud to have them involved with us here at BangShift. Check out their products at TrickFlow.com
Love my TF heads on my Car.
I really needed you to smuggle some A460’s out for me!!!!
I was honestly shocked when Mike told us that it takes a full shift of time on the mill to complete a pair of those babies. Never had considered that end of things. Wild stuff.
No kidding! Great photo tour!
Thanks for the tour. I purchased Trick Flow heads two weeks ago. I am impressed that they’re made in the U.S. of A. And by fellow gear heads and drag strip racers. How good is that?