Take a virtual tour of Ziggy's Contact Ziggy's Ziggy's winners circle Ziggy's tips for going fast
Honda race engines Deco race engines Ziggy's advanced gear charts Back to Ziggy's home


Honda Gear Charts Have Been Revised

The new Tier III timing for 2008 requires different timing for best performance. Ziggy's new Honda gear chart has the optimum ratios.

New Honda Gear Chart

Get your hot Tier 3 GX160s now!

When Ziggy tested the latest batch of GX160s they were found to be some of the best ever. Ziggy's Motorworks has tested hundreds of GX160s over the years and they know a good thing when they see it. Ziggy went back to the distributor and bought them all!

If you are thinking about moving up, or you want a spare engine, now is the time. Call now to put a deposit on some of Honda's finest work.

Ziggy's Motorworks has the new QMA offset key in stock

The new QMA offset flywheel key is in stock at Ziggy's and avaliable for immediate shipment or installation for $18. Ziggy's will be happy to install the new key as part of your service for the 2008 season. Please call now to schedule your service.

Installing the new key yourself is fairly easy. Be sure to install the key the right way as shown in the QMA instructions with the QMA letters reading left to right when looking at the crankshaft from the back of the car.

Is there an advantage to running the QMA offset key vs. the Tier 3 flywheel in 2008?

No. Both the offset key and the new Tier 3 flywheel retard the ignition 5 degrees. Timing is timing and the engine will perform the same. The offset key is being produced by the QMA to compensate for a temporary shortage of Honda manufactured Tier 3 flywheels. The offset key will cost $18. The Tier 3 flywheel will cost about $85, when they are available. As of December 2007 the Tier 3 flywheels are on national back order and are trickling out to the field. As the current rules are written, the offset key will only be legal for the 2008 season, so you will have to purchase the flywheel eventually.

CARB Tier 3 GX120 and GX160 Engines


California Air Resource Board (CARB) Tier 3 Honda engines showed up unannounced from Honda starting in approximately January 2007. I have personally evaluated both the GX120 and the GX160 engines and the list of differences is short and of little consequence except for the timing issue (on the GX120 engines only). The pistons and rings are different in both, the shroud has a small baffle in the GX160, and the timing is different on the GX120.

The QMA decided to table the issue at the 2007 meeting due to the report from Honda that there were thousands of tier 2 engines available and supply would be plentiful enough to relieve any perceived pressure to move on the matter. As it turns out, the 120 supply (tier 2) has been a serious problem for some if not most of the distributors nationwide and I can personally attest that I have not been able to buy any from my distributor since May, 2007. The national board was made aware of this and it was decided to explore the ERCP venue, but only after the Grands season ended, for obvious reasons.

Since then, many people have volunteered their time to address this matter in the most equitable way possible, imposing the least financial impact on the membership, while still maintaining parity among the competitors and also making it possible for the average user to update his/her engine with common tools and limited expertise. These are collectively a difficult group of requirements to meet, but the ERCP that was approved on September 27th is the best of all possible compromises.

The tier 3 GX120 engine runs at approximately 18 degrees BTDC whereas all previous engines run at approximately 23 degrees BTDC. It doesn't sound like much, but those 5 degrees cost approximately 1/2 Hp at racing RPM's and about 2/10 at peak HP. This disparity obviously had to be dealt with to maintain a even competitive field. This brings us back to the approved procedure, install a QMA approved step key in older engines to bring them to parity with the current (new) tier 3 engines, and order flywheels for the engines you decide to update by April 1, 2009. Also run new or existing 160's at your discretion.

The Official QMA ERCP is at: http://www.quartermidgets.org/Article_View_Page.asp?ID=764

Ziggy's Motorworks will announce the availability of the QMA legal flywheel keys on this website when they are in hand. Once we have them we will be able to install the new key, or flywheel on your Honda GX120 during its normal servicing.

Are all oils the same?


Ziggy has allways been looking for an oil that would allow more power out of the engine, and for years all oils have tested about the same. Until now... New research on Ziggy's dyno now shows there is indeed an oil that produces more power.

The Alisyn Pro Series oil has proven to produce 0.05 to 0.10 more horsepower in a QMA Honda under simulated racing conditions. This is real horsepower that you can use on the track. Check out the dyno chart for the real results. Contact Ziggy about getting Alisyn Oil for your Honda.

Ziggy makes a World Formula Engine

Ziggy has always had the winning formula in quarter midget engines. Now he will be producing the Briggs World Formula engine for QMA racing. Ziggy already has years of experience with Briggs racing engines. He is now bringing this experience to the new World Formula engine. Ziggy's Motorworks has stocked up to support the new class.

fast, reliable & legal World Formula engines that you have come to expect. Click here to learn more.

Call (215) 234-8798 to reserve your spot in the production schedule.

Driver Testimonials

Hear what the drivers and handlers are saying about their experience with Ziggy's motors. Check them out, East Coast, West Coast, Indoors, Outdoors, Honda, Deco, from Jr. Novice to Heavy AA... Ziggy's drivers win.

2005 Testimonials

Important Shipping Tips

Please complete the shipping form and include it with all shipments to us. This will make sure we do the work you want, we can contact you with questions and are able to properly return the finished engine to you.

Be sure to drain all fluids! Shippers will not forward engines or packages leaking fluids. Any box leaking fluid stops where it is in the shippers system. This will at minimum delay the shipment and requires us to physically go to the hub and pick up the engine. You will be charged for this inconvenience. (In some cases the shippers dispose of the leaking package.)

Stock Restrictors

The QMA has released a new .645" restrictor for the Tillotson carb that we feel is unsatisfactory for the stock engine. It produces .2 to .4 HP less than the Deco carb and we specifically requested a .660" restrictor and supplied supporting test data. This issue has no effect on Ziggy's customers you as I refuse to use inferior equipment on my engines. We recommend that teams running the Super Stock class not use that setup and contact their local officials to correct this problem as the Deco carbs are very unstable in supply.

Polished Honda Crankshafts

At the Region 2 Asphalt States Race a technical incident occurred involving A-Main/Bubba Honda engines. A large number of engines were disqualified because of crank and/or sungear polishing. This modification is and always has been patently illegal and Ziggy's Motorworks has never performed this work on our engines.

PLEASE BE ADVISED: that we have worked on several A-Main/Bubba engines and do not keep records regarding engine origination and have not inspected those engines for this infraction. Therefore, we can only rely on each customer's knowledge of their engine's history regarding this matter. We strongly recommend that all former A-Main/Bubba owners contact us immediately for further instructions. Ziggy's Motorworks accepts no responsibility for former A-Main/Bubba engine legality in this area.

Make your Stocker a Shocker
Turn your Mod into a Hot Rod

It has been a cold and snowy winter in Pennsylvania and Ziggy's R&D department has been busy in the dyno room. The result of this hard work are some tweaks that result in a significant horse power increase for Ziggy's Stock and Mod motors. This is truly big news. This update is a necessity if you want to run in the front in 2005. All our existing engines can be updated, but the most cost effective way to do this is in conjunction with freshening. Of course, any new Ziggy's motor will always be the latest and greatest. Call or write for details.

Ziggy's Advanced Gear Charts

Ziggy has revised his advanced gear charts to help you dial your car in faster and get the most out of your Ziggy's motor. Additional gears have been added to the existing charts and new chart has been created for the World Formula class. There are engine specific charts for Honda, World Formula and each Deco engine. Check out Ziggy's advanced gear charts.

Ziggy's New High Performance Steel Gears

The large ratios and high horsepower of the Deco engines make them tough on the traditional engine gears. The steel drive chain can shred the aluminum in just a few races. At best the gear profile will be damaged leading to high friction and lost performance. Ziggy has developed lightened steel gears that will stand up to the strain of racing. Call for details.

Honda Questions Answered

Do you sell different "stages" of Honda engines?

We do not sell any "graded" or substandard engines.Our products do not leave our shop unless they are of winning quality. Our commitment to our customers goes beyond the money. We only offer the best in engine performance as our dyno testing indicates. We can't ask our drivers to do their best if we don't first do ours by giving them a quality engine. If the engine is not capable of winning, it won't wear a Ziggy sticker.


Can I pay more to get a better engine?

We are very concerned by the current trend of punitive pricing in the Honda classes. The rules are structured so that there is no room to enhance performance and stay legal. QMA's engine class structure offers a venue for folks to exercise any engine building skills desired. They're called the Deco classes. If desired, thousands can be spent there. Simply stated, there's a firm limit to what can be modified in a Honda engine. Exhaustive testing has proven that there is a ceiling in engine perfomance. All of our engines arrive with full dyno reports. Therefore, it would be impossible to upcharge for performance we cannot document.

Check out the rest of Ziggy's Tips & FAQs
Copyright © 2003-2005, Ziggy's Motorworks, All Rights Reserved.