MORE BALANCING TRICKS A quick way to center up crankshaft bobweights is to use a piece of round aluminum rod, machined to 1/2 the difference of the widths of the weight and the journal. Use it to space one side up and snug the bobweight. That centers it right up on...
ROD FIXTURE When I mount pistons onto press fit rods I set my mounting fixture so I get them perfectly centered. But setting the mounting fixture on tapered pin boss pistons is harder to get right. I took an old rod and honed the small end until the press pin slips...
GEARING UP FOR ACCURACY As part of my crank balancing tools, I have an assortment of lower timing gears that I use when balancing a crank that requires the balancer to be installed. Some are slip fit, others I hone to slip fit for ease of removal. This allows me to...
22R SPEEDY SLEEVE TOOL Installing a speedy sleeve on a 22R Toyota crank can be difficult because of the flywheel pilot flange sticking out of the back of the crank. I used a piece of tool steel, drilled a hole in it then installed a spring and a pin to hold it to the...
FINE BALANCING When you are balancing a crankshaft and you need to add a small about of metal in a spot where there is no hole, I use what I call “pixie dust”. Pixie dust is tungsten shavings that I’ve saved from machining slugs to size in the past. Drill a hole...
TAPERED ROD PIN BORE MANDREL Our aftermarket pistons for a LS7 Chevrolet came with SBC .927” pins. The standard LS7 pin is .925”. There is meat in the bushing to hone, but the problem is the shape of the small end of the rod and bushing. They are tapered. It looked...