When adding heavy metal to crankshafts, you always want a nice clean installation. I start with a slightly heavier slug than required and machine the center of the tungsten like a barbell to bring the crank into balance, instead of running it short in the hole or drilling…
Ron Flood Cedar Machine North Branch, MN
I took a BB Chev crank socket and drilled and taped (3) ¼”-20 holes for set screws, 120 degrees apart. You can now use it on Mopar, Pontiac or just about any crankshaft with a 3/16” keyway. Paul Pionessa Pionessa Automotive Lancaster NY February, 2021
Paul Pionessa Pionessa Automotive Lancaster NY
When resizing connecting rods, I set the oil stream to where I want the stroke to end. That makes it easy and an easy visual reference. Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN October, 2020
Randy Torvinen Torvinen’s Machine Menahga, MN
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