by Donnie Hurt | Aug 1, 2019 | ASSEMBLY
EASY CAM CHANGE I had need to change out the cam in a new build 351W. I used sixteen 1/2” longer 5/16” rocker arm bolts and left the lifters and pushrods in place. I rolled the engine upside down and turned the cam around once. I pulled the cam out with the engine...
by Donnie Hurt | Aug 1, 2019 | CYLINDER HEADS
PLASTIC PRESSURE TEST PLATES I started making custom pressure testing plates out of 1” thick HDPE high density polyethylene (same material as kitchen cutting board). This stuff is cheap, machines like butter and can be worked like wood. I cut it with a table saw and...
by Donnie Hurt | Aug 1, 2019 | DISASSEMBLY & CLEANING
CHASING DOWN NEW THREADS If you don’t have a thread chaser for the right bolt hole size, it’s pretty easy to make one. You can modify a bolt of the correct size and thread pitch. Cut the head off & cut a groove in the threads, length wise. Now put it...
by Donnie Hurt | Jul 1, 2019 | ASSEMBLY
NOT JUST FOR SHAVING Many cylinder heads have corrosion in the water jackets that can’t all be blasted or blown out. Marine engines can be the worst. When assembling an engine, to make sure you don’t accidentally drop any loose scale in the bores, simply pump shaving...
by Donnie Hurt | Jul 1, 2019 | CRANKSHAFTS & CONNECTING RODS
ROD ALIGNMENT PINS I like to check rod alignment before I install the pistons. I had SB and BB Chev piston pins centerless ground .0025” under some years ago. Since then I have chucked other sizes short and ground them in the crank grinder slightly under size. I...
