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Shop Solutions – March 2019

PARTICLE TRAY Looking for a way to make cleanup easier – or even unnecessary? In my hone, I keep a large cookie tray under the block I am processing. This creates a settling pond for most of the material that is removed during the honing process. Without the cookie tray, most of the heavy material

Shop Solutions February 2019

Instead of having my blocks all over the floor and having to use a two-wheeler all the time to move them around, I use small square moving dollies. Every block goes onto a dolley and effort goes way down.

Engine Pro January Shop Solutions

CAM BEARING ISSUES LIKELY TIED TO BURRS We’ve found that almost all issues related to camshafts being too tight in the bearings are caused by burrs in the cam tunnel, which were caused by the original bearing installation at the factory. This is especially true with split cam bearings found in an LS or late

Engine Pro December Shop Solutions

PASS THE ROAST SLEEVES We do quite a few re-bore and power hone jobs on small, single-cylinder engines in our shop. Usually, going to the next available oversize is all that is needed. However, when cylinders are badly damaged or have already been re-bored to the limit, we install an aftermarket sleeve to save the

Engine Pro November Shop Solutions

RTV REMOVAL TOOL If you have ever had to clean RTV off of a gasketless oil pan, timing cover or other parts, you know how hard and time consuming this task can be. We have found that running a round ball end Allen wrench, where the ball fits the groove in those parts, does the

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – October 2018

PAPER CLAMP PIN CLIP Some piston pin clips can be a bear to install. If not supported right, the first one will push in too far or can be hard to seat. My solution uses office supplies to solve a shop problem. I lube and install the piston pin and then use the arm or

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – September 2018

DON’T SKIP THE DETAILS Sometimes it is just the little details that add up – and cleaning is key! Taking the time to use a little ATF to wipe your new piston rings down before assembly can help keep dirt and debris out of your new engine. Multiply this by the number of parts that

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – August 2018

LIFTER BORE CHAMFERING TOOL I purchased a 1˝ chamfering cone and welded a 6˝ extension to it. This is for chamfering the top and bottom of lifter bores in blocks. This saves time and leaves a better finish than doing them with a stone and grinder. Kevin Elam Liberty Machine Liberty, MO A QUICK TIP

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – July 2018

VALVE GRINDING TIP If you use a Sioux valve grinder or any valve grinder that centers on the chamfer of the end of the stem of the valve, it is very important that the chamfer is concentric with the valve. I have found the stem chamfer on some new valves are not concentric as I

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – June 2018

MAGNETIC CLEANER I attach a large speaker magnet in my valve grinder oil tank. This draws any metal particulate matter to this area and keeps the oil clean. Gary Sloat Auto Supply of Stuart Stuart, FL REAR END SETUP MADE EASIER After I read the article about the 12-bolt rear ends in an earlier issue of

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – May 2018

PISTON CLAMP Eliminating the movement of parts when installing or removing Spirolox-type retaining rings in piston and rod assemblies will make the job easier and save time and cursing. Instead of clamping a connecting rod in a vise and then trying to steady the piston, we make a simple device to stabilize the entire piston

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – April 2018

A BIT OF KNOWLEDGE Three tips to make your drill bits last longer. 1. Choose the right bit. A black oxide-coated bit helps reduce friction and increase chip flow, but shouldn’t be used on nonferrous materials. TiN is a titanium nitride with a gold color that can run faster than uncoated bits and increase tool

Readers Share Top Shop Solutions – Video

Everyone has a technique or a tip or a trick that makes the job easier, the shop run better and the day more fun. Along with our friends from Engine Pro, we’re going to share some of the Shop Solutions our readers have shared with us – share yours and you might win $100.

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – March 2018

I use an 1/8-inch allen wrench to insert and extract the pilot while doing valve jobs on cylinder heads. I would frequently misplace this little tool between seats, so I started using a rubber band to keep it attached to the palm of my hand.

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – February 2018

ROD TO CAM CLEARANCE GAUGE Using a plastic banding strap as a feeler gauge works great to check for clearance. The straps are generally .035˝-.045˝ thick, so you might want to double them up to check for the minimal .050˝-.060˝ clearance recommended. These work great as they easily bend to any curvature you need. If

Engine Pro Shop Solutions – January 2018

I needed to mount this Desoto Hemi from a nostalgia dragster on my align bore machine. It did not line up with any mounting holes on my end plates, so I had to drill new holes – here’s the procedure to make sure it’s done right.

Shop Solutions – March 2017

If you are shot blasting an engine block but want to protect the crankshaft housing bore surfaces, you can install some used upper main bearing shells in place, then secure them to the block with a threaded rod or machine screws with a nut up in the cam housing tunnel area.

Shop Solutions – April 2017

Exhaust manifolds can be resurfaced using a surface grinder with the typical universal cylinder head fixture. First start by tapping threads in the thru holes.

Shop Solutions – December 2017

It can be much easier to install and remove spark plugs, when space is tight due to header configuration by notching out one section of a spark plug socket. This will allow for a better angle, and you can still use the hex head rather than a ratchet drive.

Shop Solutions – November 2017

Priming an engine with a half-inch drill and getting oil to all rockers without this mod takes 36 minutes. After the mod it takes less than a minute. Here’s what I do on Dart Big M blocks.