QUICK CRANK CENTERS To make it quick and easy to mount cranks in the grinder and especially the lathe for polishing, I made inserts for various engine families. Delron or that type of material works great and I give them about .001” clearance so they are reasonably...

STOP THE FLOW I line up the oil stream on my rod machine to where I want to stop the stroke. I try to over stroke approximately 1/2 of the rod width to keep the shoes from wearing unevenly. Randy Torvinen Torvinen's Machine Shop Menahga, MN August, 2022

O’RING END STOP When honing some parts on the rod machine, I use an O-ring on the mandrel as a visual end stop for proper overstroke. This really helps on things like motorcycle cases and multi rod assemblies to ensure proper mandrel over stroke coverage. It also...

INSTALLATION TOOL TOOL When installing a reluctor wheel on an LS crankshaft, using the brand name alignment tool, use a piece of 4.5" pipe, notched and with a bar welded on the back to take the hammer blows. I can avoid banging on the tool and this provides a better...

HOW FITTING On some crankshafts, the pilot bushing bore is undersize or irregular. Driving in a bushing with too much interference would lead to the I.D. of the pilot bushing being too small for the transmission input shaft. Simply mic the bore and adjust the bearing...

PRIMING PUMP You can make a GM-LS engine priming tool using just about any oil pump. I used a new big block Chevy M77 pump that I already had. I tapped the inlet and outlet to NPT threads and installed fittings to adapt to rubber hoses. The pressure side needs to...