After I have established true TDC and I’m getting ready to degree my camshaft, I will take a sharp chisel and put a small mark on the back of the block and the crank. It helps to find TDC in the future should someone slip a balancer or change something up, causing us...
Here’s a tip on painting around installed plugs on a fresh bare block. I use old paper tubes. I split them longways, cut to the desired length, and made a slit to overlap with the required I.D. of what I want to mask. In the cam tunnel, I use a paint can lid. Big Don...
Dowel pins can cause problems both removing and installing. Once theyve been removed and the block decked, its time to reinstall them. Giant fingers get in the way and trying to finagle the dowel pin and drive with it with a hammer can be cumbersome. I use a boxed...
PISTON TO VALVE Everyone knows the clay method for piston to valve checks. Some people like to use a dial indicator with light “checker” valve springs installed, but that method doesn’t tell you about the actual numbers with the real valve spring installed. So, first...
CORRECT BOLT LENGTH Many older, inline engines have water pump bolt holes that go all the way through the front of the block and can easily contact the front cylinder, if the incorrect bolts are used. I have seen a few engines ruined from having the incorrect length...
BALANCER HUB SEAL TOOL Here's a trick to help center the timing cover crankshaft seal, when the timing cover or block has no dowel pins, or the dowel holes do not fit snug on the pins. Take an old damper and hone the center so that it is now a slip fit onto the crank...