First, find the length of your welding rod that is equal to one gram. On my welding bench I stamped the numbers 1 through 5 for that distance to give me a visual reference of the weight of the welding rod. As shown in the…
Lyle Haley The Shop Doc Andover, MN
When I build my bobweights a simple piece of PVC for a stand makes it easier. Just zero out the scale and add the weight. Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN August, 2020
Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN
On LS Crankshaft’s we are balancing, I always use a tone ring alignment tool to check that the alignment is correct. Then we place two equally spaced welds to ensure the ring stays aligned. High RPM LS engines have been known to spin the tone ring.…
Jake Sampson Sampson Racing Engines Inver Grove Heights, MN
When using the stretch method on rod bolts that ARP and many other manufacturers use, they want you to snug the bolt before applying load to the fastener. I found a way that myself and any of my employees can duplicate “snug.” I first measure all…
Kody Redman Redman’s Performance Oakhurst, CA
Balancing a crankshaft by drilling large holes in counterweights can leave an appearance of the counterweight that is not pretty. To improve the appearance, we keep a supply of disc style freeze plugs in the diameters of our balancing drills so we can “cap off” large drilled…
Lyle Haley The Shop Doc Andover, MN
When checking rod to cam clearance on stroker engines, you will often find interference. To find out “where you are at”, make a clay "hatchet" on the rod journal and roll it over. Put a little oil on the cam lobe first. It will give you an exact…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
Sometimes it is necessary to remove bearings from the engine without removing the crankshaft. We have a flattened cotter pin that we slip into the oiling hole to rotate the bearings out. Simply put it into place and rotate the engine. The head of the pin…
Adam Cofer Salina Engine Salina, KS
To improve the appearance when balancing connecting rods or other metal objects adding a “soft spot” to one end of your belt sander can help. Machining the end of the platen down about 1/8” will give you a “soft spot”. Finish sanding the part in the…
Lyle Haley The Shop Doc Andover, MN
After being disappointed with a cap splitter, I found the best way to remove tight caps. Clamp the cap in a rod vise and put a rubber coated hammer handle inside rod. Put pressure on the rod by prying against the vise. Then smack the rod…
Scott Ouellette Powerplay Machine Wilmington, MA
We do a lot of crankshaft snout rebuilding. To make the process easier we keep some homespun mandrels that screw into the snout of the crankshaft so it is held secure for welding and machining. Also, by using a copper washer between the mandrel and snout keeps…
Adney Brown Performance Crankshaft Inc Ferndale MI