We made our own reluctor wheel installation tool for LS engines, and it works like a charm. We used junk materials from around the shop, including an old valve stem, and have about 2 hours of labor into making it. A chunk of 1/2" plate steel…
Rich Jones Davie, FL
When I need to narrow a set of rod bearings, I have bucks that I’ve turned to the size of the crank pin. Then, I wrap a single layer of masking tape around them to protect the bearing. I hold the bearing to the spud with a couple…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
Many times, the flange diameter of the rod nuts will contact the radius around the nut seat on some rods. Some jobs may not warrant the expense of spot facing the nut seat on the connecting rods. In that case, it can be quicker and effective to just…
Randy Torvinen Torvinen's Machine Menahga, MN
Setting crankshaft end play on engines that you do frequently can be made easy and save time. If you do enough engines, you will always find yourself lapping thrust bearings to get desired end play. Start recording the width of thrust bearings after you have lapped them and…
Nick Jones Automotive Machine Fraser, MI
When installing aftermarket rod bolts, in addition to checking the under-head radius clearance, if the nuts are flanged, always check for clearance on the cap where it seats. On some rods, the O.D. of the flanged nut will hit before the face does. It will stress the…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
When balancing V-10 cranks, I use my four V8 bobweights and then two V6 bobweights on the fifth journal. I’ve double checked this by moving them around after the crank is balanced, and there is no change. It works great and eliminates the need to purchase another…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
I adapted this rod weighing setup after seeing my friend doing something very similar. If the point of contact with the scale is not the dead center of the bore on each end of the rod, you will not get accurate readings. I turned some mandrels on…
Jake Sampson AMS Performance West Chicago, IL
When balancing a crankshaft that has a flexplate or flywheel, make sure it fits snugly and there is no lateral movement. Any play can cause the balance not to repeat when the flex/flywheel has been removed and installed. I like to center them up as best I…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
Next time you have set of large journal small block Chevy connecting rods to resize, consider honing the big ends of them for a +.002" outside diameter bearing that the LS engines with fracture cap rods use. You will save yourself a lot of time cutting…
Dave Matton D and D Auto Machine Bloomington, MN
When I straighten a crankshaft that just needs to be polished, I protect the journal surface from the chisel bouncing. Make a pad with a 7 or 8 layers of masking tape and stick it on the journal where you are peening. It protects the journal from the bouncing…
Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN