When you are installing a repair sleeve in a engine block, it’s important to drive it in nice and straight with even pressure on the top of the sleeve. I made a sleeve driver tool out of an old car axle. I pressed out the studs and shortened…
Dave Matton D and D auto machine Bloomington, MN
Removing and installing an older Ford oil filter adapter without damaging it is easy when you make this tool. Find a nut that fits on the threads and cut a slot with a cutoff wheel. Next apply valve grinding compound to the threads, install the nut, clamp…
Dave Matton D and D Auto Machine Bloomington, MN
I use a piece of PVC pipe inside the cam bore when I need to machine a block with cam bearings already installed. The pipe is large enough for the hold down bar in our boring and honing equipment to pass through and the PVC protects the…
Bruce Lizotte Lake Park Auto Machine Palm Beach, Florida
I always like to test fit the camshaft before assembling an engine I have machined. We have all seen camshafts that do not fit well in the cam bearings. Most of us have had to make a “cutter camshaft” by cutting sharp slots in the cam…
Dave Matton D and D Auto Machine, Bloomington, MN
Removing dry cylinder liners by pressing them out can require a lot of setup time. Using your boring bar, offset the centering with a .030 feeler gauge on one finger. Line up the offset so you can view your cut. Set the bit by letting it slide…
Darrin Anderson Sterling Bearing Inc N Kansas City, MO
We live in a time where aluminum blocks with cast-in sleeves are common. We build several dozen Gen III and Gen IV GM LS type motors per year. We finish our cylinders .001” tighter on the aluminum block engines to compensate for the additional growth when the block…
Tim Schwanke Schwanke Engines LLC Springfield, MN
Boring Bar Stands don’t have any place for holding your dial bore gauge. I bought a magnetic spay gun holder from a paint and body shop supply store. I stuck it on my stand as you can see in the picture and now that gauge is…
Steve Potz Steve’s Engine Shop Cocoa, FL
Sometimes the front of Oldsmobile blocks get worn and chewed up by the camshaft flange. This is often caused by additional load from a high pressure or high volume oil pump which makes the distributor work harder and pulls the cam back towards the block. I machine…
Randy Quam Competition Engines Eagan, MN
Main Cap Tech One of the main problems with blocks that need to be align-bored is the lack of squish between the main cap and the block. What I am referring to is the interference fit between the cap and main register that holds the cap in alignment, and is…
Stacy Redmond Grawmondbecks Competition Engines Mason City, IA
We have noticed through the years that many previously bored blocks come into our shop that have not had the web at the bottom of the cylinders relieved even with the bottom of the cylinders. Depending upon the bore’s oversize this can be a potential problem point…
Timm Jurincie TUF-ENUF Auto & Marine Performance Avondale, AZ