History
Tom Zickefoose (a.k.a.) Ziggy is a Honda and GM trained automotive technician that has always had a penchant for high performance motors and speed. At the dealership he was the go to guy for tough drivability problems. In 1993 he started racing quarter midgets at the Oaklane track with his son Blaine. It wasn't long before he was tinkering the venerable Deco engine trying to squeeze out a little more power. Each season had its ups and downs, 8 feature wins and 12 blown up engines!
Each win and failure brought new information on what worked and what did not. A useful engine has to be both powerful and reliable. By the second season the hard work and persistence started to pay off. Blaine started to win more races and the engines held together. Other race teams started to notice and ask Ziggy for help with their engines. More experience and checkered flags...
In 1994 Ziggy's Motorworks was born. In the beginning it was just Tom working after his day job on a few engines. Word of fast and reliable Deco engines started to spread and so did the workload at Ziggy's. Soon it was decision time. Try and work two jobs at one time, or apply all his energy to building the best engines he could. To find out what improves engine performance, you need good tools. To build the best engines you need good tools. To investigate potential performance tweaks, you need good tools. For these reasons Ziggy has and uses the following:
Over the years Ziggy's has developed a supplier network to provide specialized components and raw materials. There are 2-4 employees that work at Ziggy's assembling and testing the engines depending on the time of the racing season.
- 3-axis CNC mill
- Lathe
- Furnace
- Welder
- Flow bench
- Dynamometer
- Computers for CAD/CAM
In 1995 the QMA started the Honda GX120 based racing class as a way to keep racing affordable and less technically challenging. Performance enhancements are not allowed in this class. However, these are production engines and all parts have tolerance limits on their dimensions. This leads to two potential problems;
There was need for a trustworthy engine supply with the proper modifications and serviced to a high standard. Thus he began supplying engines inspected, tested, documented, and ready to race and pass tech inspection.
- The production part may fall out of the QMA limit and may be found illegal during the post-race technical inspection,
- The production tolerances can stack up to cause an engine to be a poor performer.
Today Ziggy's Motorworks is the premier supplier of quarter midget race engines. Research and development is a way of life for faster and more reliable engines. You can't win if you don't finish.
Ziggy's engines are found all over the country winning club races and winning at all three Grand National races. Tom is fully involved in the sport and attends local races on a weekly basis. He is usually seen in the pits during the Deco races supporting his customers with tuning and troubleshooting. He is also seen helping out at the flag stand during the Honda races to keep the show moving. Tom travels to all three Grands and major races around the country during the season .
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