One of the most diverse companies displaying at PRI 2012 was BangShift sponsor, AFCO Racing. The company continues to maintain a product line that services the street machine and pro touring world, the drag racing world, the stock car racing world, the dirt racing world, and late model high performance cars like Camaros and Mustangs. When we stopped in to get the skinny on what was new and exciting at the company we were blown away by everything that they’re working on.

One of the first things we talked about is the company’s new catalog. With the amount of products they manufacture and the number of markets that they service, AFCO took special care to break the book into defined categories for each particular consumer group. If you are a drag racer you don’t need to spend time checking out the circle track parts and vice-versa. Now when you open the book you have a clear direction and can find what you need very quickly. We’ve been pouring over the catalog since we got it and we have some interesting ideas to apply to Buford T Justice. Stay tuned!

AFCO Racing spent a lot of time developing their line of brakes for circle track competitors and that work was put to good use as they’ve really gained a lot of positive reviews among the circle track crowd and they can hardly build them fast enough. As you’ll see in the photos below, AFCO didn’t just set out to make the same stuff as everyone else. Take the rotors for example. As you can see in the cutaway below, they use a unique pillar style of center support in the rotor that makes them virtually impervious to the distortion that the normal fin style supports can cause. That’s thinking outside the box!

Note the pillar style center of the rotor as opposed to the fin style. This keeps the surfaces of the rotor true and aids in heat dissipation as well.

In the realm of cooling systems, AFCO has developed a new coating along with Dupont that can be applied to their radiators and has shown itself to be worth a consistent 10-degree drop in coolant temps in virtually every place it has been used. The coating isn’t just some flat black spray paint. There are guys who have put thousands of laps on dirt cars with this stuff on the radiator and it has held true and resisted chipping, flaking, and peeling far beyond anyone’s imagination. This coating is available on radiators for drag racing, street cars, circle track, or hot rods. Basically any radiator that AFCO makes can have the Dupont coating applied and you’ll see the benefit in lower coolant temps.

This trick black coating that AFCO developed with Dupont has proven to be a great addition to their option line up for radiators. It'll knock 10 degrees right off the top!

Also in radiators, AFCO has welded aluminum radiators for late model Mustangs and Camaros (along with TONS of other classic car and street machines!). When we asked why guys would want to swap the radiator out of a late model high performance car, the answer made a ton of sense. As more and more of these cars are being upgraded with turbos and superchargers, more and more hot rodders are finding the limits of factory engines by lifting cylinder heads and things of that nature. Well, when you lift a head and pressurize the cooling system with the boost that should have been in the cylinder, the factory radiators with their plastic tanks can split open like baked potatoes. If this happens at high speed on the street or strip, you’ll be sliding in your own slop with no hope of recovery. These fully welded aluminum radiators won’t suffer that fate. Plus they look ULTRA bad ass! The company now offers a bolt in replacement ZL1 Camaro heat exchanger for any boosting a fifth Gen Camaro and looking for the benefits of intercooling. It comes equipped with Spal fans and is again made from aluminum.

Here's a late model Camaro AFCO radiator. Note the construction, integrated trans cooler, and the fact that it is a vertical flow as opposed to crossflow design.

This Camaro heat exchanger with the twin Spal fans will do a killer job of taking that hot boosted intake charge and cooling it down.

The unit is also available with the trick black coating for increased efficiency.

Back to the brakes for a minute, AFCO now has their own line of high performance brake fluid and there are two options there for shoppers. There’s a heavy duty street formula designed for cars that may see occasional track action and want to use a fluid with a higher boiling point than other fluids not designed for the harsh conditions of the track and there is a full boogie race formula for competitors really thrashing on their stuff like asphalt and dirt circle track competitors. Additionally, the company has a bitchin’ new aluminum brake caliper with twin bleeder screws so it can be used on the right or left of a vehicle. No more panic in the pits when a caliper bites the dust and you can’t find one that’s for the correct side of your vehicle (remember kids, bleeder screws UP!). These pieces can be mounted and used on the right or left. Put a spare in the trailer, just in case!

Here's the new brake fluid line from AFCO. The HT fluid is designed for street and occasional competition vehicles where as the HTX fluid is designed for the harsh conditions of racing.

This twin bleeder caliper is an awesome idea.

AFCO Racing continues to be an industry leader in the shock world as well. In the drag racing realm, well known small tire racers like Stevie Jackson and Kevin Fiscus run AFCO shocks and have repeatedly set world records, won races, and been the most consistently fast guys in their respective classes. The company is always working and tweaking their designs for deliver the best performance for street cars and racers alike. From monotube shocks that will make your hot rod, muscle car,  or street machine ride better to coil overs that will take its performance to a whole different level, to multi-point adjustable cannister shocks that allow racers to tune multi-thousand horsepower engines attached to tiny tires  to 220mph+ runs, AFCO has what you need in the shock department. Check them out at AFCORACING.COM – request a catalog and tell ’em BANGSHIFT sent ya!