2011 LS Engine Parts Buyers Guide
This directory is composed of companies who told us they supply various parts for the LS?engine. You’ll want to check with them for their latest offerings. This isn’t an exhaustive list – only companies who responded to our survey (or our advertisers) were included. For more company contact information, visit our exclusive online resource,
Cam Drives and Timing Components
Cam timing plays a huge role in an engine’s power curve. Advancing cam timing shifts the power curve more toward the lower rpm range, while retarding it moves the power curve higher up the rpm scale. If an engine is being built for a particular application (stock, street/strip, drag race, circle track, you-name-it), how the
Understanding Today
Metallurgy is one of the oldest sciences in the world – it’s a history that can be traced back to the beginnings of civilization. It’s hard to believe that in the thousands of years since the discovery of gold and silver there have only been 84 new metals discovered. In fact, when the automobile was
Selecting The Right High Performance Rocker Arms
The rocker arms in a pushrod engine serve two purposes. The rockers serve as fulcrums to redirect the upward motion of the lifters and pushrods into downward motion to open the valves. The lift ratio of the rockers also serves to multiply the amount of valve lift generated by the cam lobes. Stock rocker arms
Connecting Rods and Bearings
Selecting connecting rods and rod bearings for an engine is a lot more complicated when you are modifying the engine from stock specifications. OEMs spend a lot of time and money developing the components that go into a stock engine, and cost is usually a factor in what components are used. Rod bearings also play
Selecting Valve Seats for Gas and Diesel Engines
Hard working diesel engines, performance engines, and engines that run on dry fuels such as propane or natural gas produce a lot of heat in the combustion chamber and often require valve seats that are harder and more heat-resistant. Stellite, chromium, cobalt, tungsten and nickel alloy valve seats are commonly used for such high heat
Valve Seat Selection and Machining
When rebuilding a cylinder head for a stock automotive application, a performance engine, or a heavy-duty diesel, what kind of replacement seats should you use if the original valve seats need to be replaced? Should you install new seats that are the same as the original seats, or should you use a different type of
Valve Seats & Machining Guide
Engine cooling doesn’t only happen at at the radiator. The valves (particularly the exhaust valves) take a lot of heat from the combustion chamber and the valve seats have the responsibility of helping to cool them off. The seats draw heat away from the valves and conduct it into the cylinder head, providing most of
Connecting Rods: So Many Choices
Choosing a set of connecting rods for a performance engine is not as simple as it sounds. The rods you ultimately choose to use in an engine will depend on a number of factors, each of which can be critical to the life of the motor and the success of your customer. Your decision will
The Inside Angle on Valve Seats: What you need to know to go with the flow
No one knows airflow better than the legendary Joe Mondello, who rose to fame back in the 1960s for his race-winning cylinder head work. “Back in those days, we didn’t have flow benches to test our work. Our test bench was the drag strip. If a modification worked and made the car run faster, that’s
Valve Seat Technology For Stock and Performance Applications
Valve seats are a critical engine component because they are the foundation of the valvetrain. The seats provide a surface for the valves to seal against when they close so there’s no loss of compression or pressure from the combustion chamber. The seats also help cool the valves by conducting heat away from valves into
Back to Basics: Reconditioning Connecting Rods
When you’re looking at connecting rods and considering returning them to service, there are many things you must consider. They are one of the most critical pieces of the engine puzzle and under great strain when in operation, so you must pay attention to the details during the rebuilding process. There are many times when
Performance Connecting Rods
The connecting rods are a vital link between the pistons and crankshaft. They connect the reciprocal motion of the pistons to the rotational motion of the crank. The weight of the rods is important because it affects the reciprocating forces inside the engine. Lighter is usually better because less weight means faster throttle response and
Performance Drag Racing Heads
A quarter-mile strip of asphalt is not a great distance. But drag racing isn’t about distance. It’s about time. The car that reaches the finish line first wins the race. But the car that wins isn’t always the fastest car or the quickest car. It’s usually the car that runs with the most consistent elapsed
Rebuilding the International 6.9/7.3L Powerstroke Engine
One solution to that problem is the diesel engine with more torque, horse power and better fuel economy. This applies not only to heavy duty applications but small displacement turbocharged inter-cooled diesels as well. The diesel engine will play just as important part of the future of the automotive industry as the Hybrid. If you
Balancing Equipment: a weighty matter
Everybody knows what balance is, right? You maintain your own balance by centering your body mass over your feet. If you lean too far forward or backward, or too far to the left or right, you’ll lose your balance and fall unless you grab hold of something or reposition your feet. Moving your center of
Cutting Edge Tooling – Superabrasives in the Shop
The need for faster production speeds and higher quality surface finishes has made superabrasives almost mandatory for most resurfacing, honing and grinding operations. What makes these materials so indispensable for engine building today? Their superior hardness is a major factor because it provides outstanding tool life that far exceeds conventional abrasives. A set of metal
Rebuilding the Ford 3.0L
This engine came out of the Cleveland Engine Plant #2 (CEP2), originally opened in 1955 to manufacture the 361 cid truck engine. By 1985, this facility was down to 400 employees and on the verge of closing. Then in 1988, plant renovation was begun (with the 3.0L Duratec engine family on the drawing board) at
All About The Alloys – Valve Seat Selection For High Performance Applications
We can’t make any sweeping generalizations about what kind of seats work best in a performance engine application because “performance” covers a lot of territory, everything from hot street engines with stainless steel valves to top fuel drag racing and NASCAR engines with titanium valves. Seat requirements vary depending on the application, what kind of
The Angle On Valve Seats
Valve seats seem to be a fairly simple engine component but they play a critical role in sealing compression and cooling the valves. When a seat becomes worn, it may leak compression and allow the valve to run hotter than normal. The same thing can happen if the seat is out-of-round or has lost its